Today I’m interviewing fellow Soul Mate Publishing author, Roni Hall about her new release, Montana Wild.
Q: How long have you been writing?
A: I started writing about 8-9 years ago . . as a hobby. Once my kids were grown I found myself with some spare time. Instead of knitting I sat down with my laptop. Writing relaxes me and manipulating words to create a story is FUN.
Q: Tell us about your road to publication.
A: Once I realized my writing was getting to be more than a hobby, I joined RWA (Romance Writers of America) and learned so much about the writing craft. Two years later I joined the local chapter (Greater Detroit RWA) which brought editors, agents and publishers to us for great opportunities. It was there that I was able to pitch Debbie Gilbert of Soul Mate Publishing.
Q: What advise would you give an aspiring author?
A: #1 Don’t quit! Keep learning the craft and believe in yourself.
#2 Join a local writing group. I can’t say enough about our GDRWA group. Every single member, novice or experienced, is so supportive of each other and generous with sharing their experiences, what worked and didn’t work for them. Almost every month, GDRWA brings in an editor, agent or publisher to speak to us and provide pitch opportunities.
Q: Tell us about your latest release.
A: As a nurse, I encountered numerous memorable patients but there was one that always stood out in my mind. Montana Wild was inspired by the spirit of a real patient that touched my life and my heart. However, the rest of the tale is fiction.
Jamie is a spirited young woman that makes some uncharacteristically spontaneous choices once she decides to follow a new friends’ advice and Kiss Life in the Face. Realizing that if you want to make changes in your life, you can’t be a passive onlooker…you have to go after what you want.
Montana Wild Blurb
Spiraling downward after losing two loved ones within one week, Jamie’s world was closing in…until she grabs an unexpected lifeline and escapes. Knowing only New York City, Montana is another world and she is unprepared by how the land, the people and even the animals touch her. After risking her life to save a child, Jamie shares an undeniable bond and the beginning ripples of deep emotions with her co-rescuer, Kevin.
However, her past follows her to Montana and threatens all that she loves there. Jamie has no choice but to hurt Kevin in order to save his life and returns to New York with her ex, Derrick. Broken, Kevin refuses to believe she doesn’t love him and searches for Jamie, only to find her in Derrick’s lair. Once again Jamie tries to protect Kevin but this time gets caught in the cross fire.
Montana Wild Excerpt
Swept up into the sea of travelers at the airport, she focused her attention back to the present as she followed the human current through check-in and security gates. It wasn’t until she was buckled into her seat that she registered the panic present in the far corner of her mind. What am I doing? A sickening wave of nausea rose in her throat as clammy beads of sweat trickled down her face. What the hell am I doing? Get up. Get off the plane now. It’s not too late, go!
Dizzy with indecision, she reached for the buckle on her seatbelt as her alternate conscience spoke up. No, stay. Do I really want to go back to my cramped little studio and spend more time alone? Her fingers released the grip on her seatbelt and she closed her eyes, deliberately trying to relax the tense wires in every fiber of her body.
Uneasy thoughts lingered after her internal schizophrenic conversation and she tried to leave all doubts behind as the plane ascended. Finding it impossible to concentrate on reading, she tried to distract herself by striking up a conversation with the unlucky soul sitting next to her.
“Have you ever been to Montana?”
“Oh yes, my sister lives there and I try to visit her every few years. How about you?”
“No, I’ve never been. This’s my first time and I’m nervous,” Jamie admitted.
“It’s pretty enough, but it’s rough country. I couldn’t live there. What brings you?”
Well, I finally got enough backbone to break up with my abusive, criminal boyfriend Derrick three months ago, and then my best friend and only ally, Noah, left on tour. I have NO family since my father died an agonizing death from lung cancer ten years ago, resulting in my mother becoming depressed and committing suicide two years later. I was pathetic enough to attach myself to one of my patients and become a helpless spectator as death cruelly consumed him. Only days after his death, my only surviving relative and second mother died, leaving me a 31-year-old orphan. So you see, I’m a loser and terribly lonely. So when this man I’ve never met in person asked me to join him on an intriguing escape across the country, I accepted.
That was the whole enchilada she wanted to spew out to the sweet, unsuspecting gray-haired matron in seat 21A. Instead she answered succinctly, “Just visiting a friend.”
AUTHOR BIO
The summer after high school graduation, Roni worked two jobs to pay for nursing school. During the midnight shift as a waitress, a charismatic young man at the counter flirted with her for hours as he consumed seven cups of coffee. Their first date was eventful enough to be a book itself! Thirty-seven years and two kids later, the love story continues. Just like her novels, life can’t be too simple and you must make it an adventurous ride!
Her favorite place to write is in her hammock at their small Michigan cottage where she literally dodges the feeding hummingbirds while being serenaded by the lake’s loons. Besides writing, she loves Slow Rollin’ in Detroit and the combination of good food, better wine, and dear friends.
LINKS
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ronihall02
Web site: http://www.ronihall.com
Email: roni@ronihall.com
Amazon buy link: http://amzn.to/1UZZb4V
Twitter https://twitter.com/ronihall78
Rachel Sharpe's Blog 