My guest is USA Best Selling romance author, Rebecca York. Those of you who have read her wonderful stories know she writes, romance, suspense, and paranormal. Very talented lady. Rebecca has written a new detective series, Decorah Security. I have the opportunity to read (Squeee!) and review these three stories. Dark Moon is the first in this series and where I'm starting. So stay tuned for them. I love the touch of paranormal in these.
As prolific an author as Rebecca is, there was a time the idea of writing the stories playing out in her head was an impossibility in her mind. Why? I'll let Rebecca tell you about that.
Welcome, Rebecca! I've enjoyed your books over the years. I'm so glad to have you visiting today!
Sia, thanks so much for having me.
I’m the
person who thought she could never become a writer. Since I’m dyslexic, I had a hard time learning to read (partly
because they were only teaching the memorize-the-whole-word method), and I’m a
terrible speller. Stories buzzed around
in my head, and I acted them out with my dolls, but I never thought I could
become a writer because I got slammed for my deficiencies by so many
teachers. (I’m the kid who was called
up to the front of the room so the teacher could yell at her in front of the
whole class.)
Kids react
to that kind of treatment in various ways.
It hurt, but it also made me stronger and determined to succeed.
After I got
married and had children of my own, I wanted a part-time job. When I took a seminar at my local community
college aimed at women who looking to enter the work force, I kept coming out
high in writing interest. Also, one
thing they emphasized in the seminar was that if you wanted to work part-time,
you’d have to go out and dig up a your own job.
Which led
me to my idea of writing a newspaper article about the seminar. Luckily for me, my husband volunteered to
correct my spelling and typos. And
luckily for me, he’s been proofreading for me ever since.
It took me
about twenty-five hours to write that article, but I sold it to a local paper
and went on to write hundreds more articles. I read some of them in a writing seminar at the same community
college. Other people in the class were
writing novels, and I wanted to try one, too.
But the idea of working on such a large project scared me. I told myself that a chapter of a book was no
longer than the articles I’d been writing.
At the same time, I decided to make sure I could plot at least a quarter
of the story before I started writing.
Even back then, I was more comfortable outlining before I jumped into
the writing.
I wrote my
first book, a children’s science fiction novel called INVASION OF THE BLUE LIGHTS (now available as an e-book), in that
seminar. I read chapters in the class
and revised. Then I revised a lot more
before I sent the book out. It was
rejected four times, until an editor at Scholastic held it for nine months
before sending me a two-page single-spaced revision letter. I was smart enough to know that was a good
letter and revised the manuscript according to her suggestions (adding some new
scenes of my own). She bought it, and I became a published author.
I’ve been
writing actively for the past–um–40 years.
And I’ve been very lucky in my career.
I went from kids’ science fiction to romance, to romantic suspense, to
paranormal romantic suspense (with a significant side trip into
cookbooks). Recently, I’ve also written
a couple of fantasy historical novellas for Carina Press. DARK
MAGIC was out last year, and SHATTERED
MAGIC will be out in late summer.
I can see
the publishing industry changing.
There’s more opportunity for authors to follow their own bliss rather
than write to a publisher’s specifications.
In line with that observation, my most exciting recent project has been
a new detective series called Decorah Security. I’m putting the stories out myself on Amazon, BarnesAndNoble.com
and other e-book outlets
I wanted to
launch with three titles. While I was
writing two Harlequin Intrigues (SUDDEN
INSIGHT, out in January, and SUDDEN ATTRACTION, out in February), I
wrote a Decorah novel, DARK MOON, a
novella, CHAINED, and a short story,
AMBUSHED. They’re all tied to a security agency run by a crusty old Navy
Seal, Frank Decorah. His agents have
paranormal powers or take on paranormal cases. (Each of them are linked to Amazon where you can read the blurb and purchase)
All three
are available wherever e-books are sold.
I’m also
currently working on an exciting new romantic suspense series. Because it’s still under wraps, I can’t say
much about it yet.
- How do you feel about the e-book market?
- Are you trying out some of the books available electronically?
Sudden Attraction
They were never supposed to meet. Hidden on a New Orleans plantation were secrets Gabriella Bodreaux was never supposed to uncover, either. And after Luke Buckley saved her life, she couldn't get him out of her head...and she couldn't get out of his.
At the slightest touch, they established the most intimate connection of their lives. So vulnerable, so dangerous...so right. Now they knew everything about each other—almost.
He came with a secret identity, but wasn't the type of man who would run away from trouble. He could keep her safe. But when being together meant exposing themselves to more danger than either could prepare for, they had to reconsider just how "chance" their meeting really was....Excerpt
Do check out Sudden Insight and read the excerpt.
Buy: Amazon Barnes and Noble, eHarlequin
~*~*~*~
Ever
since she can remember, Rebecca York has loved making up stories full of
adventure, romance, and suspense. As
a child she corralled her friends into adventure games or acted out romantic
suspense stories with a cast of dolls. But she never assumed she could be an
author because she couldn't spell. Her life changed dramatically with the
invention of the word processor and spelling checker--and the help of her
husband, Norman Glick, who spots spelling errors from fifty paces away.
She and her husband live in
Columbia, Maryland. They have two grown children, Elissa (a
librarian) and Ethan (a
Foreign Service Officer), and two grandsons, Jesse and Leo. Rebecca holds a B.
A. in American Thought and Civilization from The George Washington University
and an M. A. in American Studies from The University of Maryland. She heads the
Columbia Writers Workshop.
Find
Rebecca: Website (which is worth checking out1) Facebook, Twitter.
