PATRICIA RICE—ROMANCE ADDICT

It’s my pleasure to have romance author, Patricia Rice. I fell in love with her writing when I read Cheyenne’s Lady and Lord Rogue. I still have a copy of Moonlight and Memories and have read it several times. I have quite a few of her books in my personal library.

Any who have followed Pat’s writing career will tell you it’s impressive, her books seem to get better and better whether historical, contemporary, or with a touch of paranormal. Always, Patricia feeds my need of hot strong heroes, feisty heroines, all set in a good solid storyline and romance. Lots of romance, contented sigh…But, Patricia does have one small, um, problem. But I'll let her tell you about that. 

From one Missouri writer to another, hi Sia! And to your readers—Hello, I'm Patricia Rice, and I'm a romance addict.

Really, I've been hooked on love stories since I read PRIDE AND PREJUDICE in fourth grade. I enjoyed the mysteries of Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie, but I also read them for the boyfriends, the romances, and the mysterious lovers. No one introduced me to Harlequins, so I had to hunt love where I could find it:  in Zane Grey (where the wretched hero always rode off with his horse!) or the Brontes. No author was ever as satisfactory as Austen, but an addiction is an addiction. You feed it where you can.

Not until I was in my twenties did I discover Kathleen Woodiwiss and Patricia Veryan and truly got sucked into real romance novels. They were my mind candy as I completed my accounting degree, took CPA exams, worked what jobs I could find, and raised two kids while my husband was overseas or in school. And then he took a job in a rural area where I had no transportation and no job and no bookstores. I quickly read everything in the library, and I was left with no love stories (and no money!) with two young kids and a craving for adult conversation.

Instead of whining, I took action—I wrote my own books. I’d been reading history since high school history courses had left me unsatisfied and needing more. I had an entire library at my disposal and knew how to use it. This was pre-internet, so I learned inter-library loan. And I started out by writing what I knew, which was Western KY, the area I was living in. That made researching setting much easier.

Back then; I had no way of knowing about Romance Writers of America. I knew no authors. I ran across Writer’s Digest magazines and pored over those. I found lists of agents and began sending them my crazy stories. I copied the names of publishers from the front of books and sent blind proposals across the portal of anyone publishing romance. And once I finished one book, I began another, and started another round of proposals. Did I mention I’m also arrogant and stubborn? I learned a method I still employ today—I draft one book while editing another and sending out a third. Mass production! 

But it all ultimately worked out and by now, I have over fifty published romances under my belt, with no intention of stopping any time soon.  Yes, the market reeks and bookstores are collapsing like old toadstools. Bestseller lists are meaningless and Kindles are taking over the world. But I’m still stubborn, still arrogant, and still writing.

Sia said she’s adding a link to an excerpt of my new book, THE LURE OF SONG AND MAGIC. If you’ve not read me before, I hope you enjoy this sample of my two conflicted lovers. And if you’ve read my MAGIC series (Sourcebooks will be reissuing all of them), you’ll know what I mean when I say the couple in LURE are descendants of the magical Malcolms and logical Ives. I hope to spend many more pleasant days feeding my romance addiction and hope you will, too!

·       How long have you been reading romance? Is it your favorite genre? If not, what is?

·       And is there a particular reason you enjoy reading love stories?

A couple of commenters will win free books, so have fun!

You can read an excerpt, sign up for my newsletter, follow me on Twitter and Facebook or connect with my blog (http:www.patriciarice.blogspot.com) by stopping by my website at http://patriciarice.com . A list of all my books, including e-book reissues is available there. I love hearing from readers, so please feel free to stop by and say hi. And if you prefer DRM-free books, my backlist is available at http://bookviewcafe.com/ebookstore/ and http://backlistebooks.com/ with new volumes going up regularly.

THE LURE OF SONG AND MAGIC 

Her voice was a curse… 

When Dylan “Oz” Oswin’s son is kidnapped, the high-powered producer will do anything to get him back. Desperately following an anonymous tip, he seeks help from a former child singing sensation called Syrene, only to find she’s vowed never to sing again. Immune to her voice but not her charm, Oz is convinced she holds the key to his son’s disappearance—and he’ll stop at nothing to make her break her vow.

Only he can make her sing… 

She knows the devastation her talent can bring. There’s more than a child’s life at stake, but Syrene cannot unleash her dangerous siren’s voice upon the world, even for a man who is impossible to deny…Excerpt

BUY: AMAZON, BARNES n NOBLE, BOOKS A MILLION, CHAPTERS INDIGO ca

With five million books in print and New York Times and USA Today’s bestseller lists under her belt, Patricia Rice’s emotionally-charged contemporary and historical romances have won RT Book Reviews Reviewers Choice and Career Achievement Awards and have been honored as Romance Writers of America RITA finalists in the historical, regency and contemporary categories. 

A former CPA, Patricia Rice currently resides in St. Louis, Missouri. For more information, please visit http://www.patriciarice.com/ or follow her on Twitter, @Patricia_Rice.