GOOD GUYS OR BAD BOYS?

My guest is the multifaceted  Leanne Ellis who writes the Plain Fear series—complex paranormal stories set with the Amish community that touch your heart and lift your spirit. Her topic today is good guys and bad guys.

Mention Russell Crowe to a room full of women, and you’re likely to get many different reactions, from a shrug of indifference to heart palpitations. He has played both the hero and villain in movies but he definitely has that bad boy quality. What about Benedict Cumberbatch? He is quite the villain in Into Darkness. But he still makes hearts go pitter pat. The same is true of any main character in your favorite book. Mention a character like Atticus Finch, and you’re likely to get sighs from a female readership, mostly because Gregory Peck portrayed him so well in the movie version of To Kill A Mockingbird, but also because Atticus makes hard choices and is a strong voice of reason during turbulent times. What about Rhett in Gone with the Wind? 

Good guys and bad boys are throughout literature, and I find them both equally compelling and desirable, depending on the tale to be told.

In my Plain Fear series, I was able to utilize both good guys (some being Amish) and bad boys (some also being Amish), and it was a lot of fun allowing these characters to reveal their true identity no matter what kind of clothes they wore or car or buggy they drove. In the first book, Forsaken, Levi Fisher is more like Atticus Finch, and he must make some tough decisions, choosing if he will fight for the woman he loves. Forbidden, the second book in the series, has Roc Girouard, a Cajun ex-cop, who is definitely a bad boy. His match is a not-so-goodie-goodie Amish woman, who brings out the good in him. In the final book of the series, Forgiven, Samuel Fisher, is an Amish man sitting on the fence, trying to right the wrongs he’s committed and trying to figure out where he belongs in this world—inside the picket fence of the Amish world or battling the evils that threaten his family.

• So do you like to read about good guys or bad boys or both?

Sourcebooks is giving away a set of all three books in the Plain Fear series, US/Canada only please.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

BUY: Amazon • Books•A•Million 

• Barnes & Noble 

• IndieBound

FORGIVEN

Leanna Ellis

What Must We Sacrifice to be Forgiven?

Samuel Fisher has committed a sin of biblical proportions—he killed his own brother, Jacob. Haunted by guilt and talked by a vampire out for his soul, Samuel starts down the same dark path of destruction that led to his brother's death.

A captivating coming-of-age story unlike any other, Plain Fear: Forgiven pits redemption against temptation, love against fear, and simple faith against the intricacies of sin and salvation. In the gripping final battle between hunters and vampires, Samuel must choose where his loyalties lie. The lives of those he loves—as well as his own ultimate forgiveness—hangs in the balance.

SNEAK PEEK

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Deep in the heart not only describes where Leanna Ellis lives in Texas but also the way she writes. Her books, whether romance, inspirational, women’s fiction, or paranormal, are infused with heartfelt emotion. Having written twenty published novels, Ellis has won many awards including the National Readers Choice Award and the Maggie Award.

When not chasing vampires through the darkened recesses of her mind or roping and riding along with her characters through sun-drenched plains, she stays busy driving her children to their multitude of activities, figuring out what to make for dinner (or where to order takeout), chasing her menagerie of crazy pets around the house, and researching the next idea. 

You can find Leanna: website, Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter.

LEANNA ELLIS—ROUGH DRAFTS AND MARATHONS

Attribution: Creative Commons 

Please welcome award winning author, Leanna Ellis's, return visit to Over Coffee. Leanna writes a variety of genres from sweet romances and women's fiction, to dark paranormals such as her Plain Fear series.

What I enjoy about the Plain Fear series is it's rich complexity. The stories are emotionally intense and aren't shy about dealing with the crisis of faith, the heartbreak of betrayal, damnation and redemption, and set against a backdrop a group known for it's strong faith. They are also a riveting read.

Leanna kept me turning the pages with her latest, Plain Fear: Forbidden. You can read my 5 star review on Amazon.

Writing is like running a marathon. Now, don’t think for a minute that I’m a marathon runner, but I do know a few runners. And I’ve spoken to them about the highs and lows of running a marathon. There are times when you want to give up and collapse onto the ground in a heaving, writhing mass of quivering muscles. Those times come in writing a book too. For me, it’s usually in writing the rough draft. Writing Plain Fear: Forbidden, book #2 in my Plain Fear series, felt like I was running out of energy, out of words, out of ideas, and that I might crumple to the keyboard as I crossed that ‘finish line’ of “The End” on my rough draft. 

Before I revised my manuscript and sent it off to my editor, I scheduled a trip to Ohio to visit a friend of mine, Shelley Shepard Gray, who lives there and writes Amish novels. Frankly, neither of us had much time, just about two days, for me to do some research. We had originally talked about driving up to Holmes County but our time constraints prevented us from doing that. So, she told me about a little enclave in the southeastern corner of her state, right near Kentucky, which had an Amish community we could visit.

First, we checked into a fabulous bed and breakfast Shelley had frequented with her critique group. We had a little cabin, nestled against some woods. The weather turned against us and it rained most of the time. But that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The whole trip, early in the fall with the leaves changing and tumbling around us, the cool night air, and the dark, sinister clouds gave a wondrous atmosphere that fit my book perfectly.

Attribution: Amish on Shaefer Road
Sia McKye 

The small community of Amish huddled in the hills and dales of Ohio and Kentucky ended up being the perfect spot for my characters to have hidden. Maybe it was the time of year, not too long before Halloween, when pumpkin cannons were advertised and freshly pressed apple cider sold, but it all reminded me of The Legends of Sleepy Hollow.

That trip may have been short but it was oh so very sweet. Spending time with my dear friend, who has such a calm, giving spirit, and visiting with a couple of other writing friends while I was there, plus seeing the terrain, which planted a firm picture in my mind, gave me the energy I needed to finish my book. I rushed back home, eagerly writing all the way. I felt like a runner, turning a bend, finding a refreshment stand, a friendly face, a pat on the back, and a gulp of water before racing for the finish line.

There is a lesson in all of that, not just for writers but also for our lives. When difficulties come, and they will, we all need a friend to reach out to, beautiful scenery to inspire us, time to process it all (good food doesn't hurt and neither does laughter), and then we are ready to run the race set before us.

Amazon • Books•A•Million •
Barnes & Noble • IndieBound

PLAIN FEAR: FORBIDDEN BY LEANNA ELLIS – IN STORES AUGUST 2012

How Long Must We Pay for the Sins of Our Past?

She blames herself for her husband's death. But for Rachel Schmidt Nussbaum, redemption may only lie in the ultimate sacrifice.

When a stranger arrives claiming only she can save him, Rachel's impulsive instincts lead her on a perilous journey, one that leads her to a battle that will decide both the fate of her soul and the life of her unborn child.

A far–from–ordinary story of love and desperation, sin and sacrifice, Amish faith and vampire lore, Plain Fear: Forbidden is an imaginative thrill ride that's like nothing you've ever read before. Excerpt Chapter

Leanna Ellis is the winner of the National Readers’ Choice Award and Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart Award. She has written numerous books for Harlequin/Silhouette and has published four books with B&H Publishing. With her husband, two children, and wide assortment of pets, she lives in Texas. For more information, please visit www.leannaellis.com, follow her on Twitter, @LeannaEllis, and “like” her on Facebook.

Photo attributions: photos are my work unless otherwise stated, or are by author/publisher permission, or from creative commons, or wikimedia.

WAITING FOR THE RIGHT TRAIN

“...making it as a writer is sort of like waiting for the right train to come along. While you’re waiting, you’re learning and reading and writing and practicing your craft in any way you can.”

My guest today is Marta Perry. Marta has published over thirty books in her career. She writes Amish Suspense for HQN, Pleasant Valley Amish series for Berkley, and romance for Love Inspired.


I agree with Marta, I think the appeal of Amish stories is the simplicity. Their focus is on God, family, and community. There is a certain appeal to simpler times without all the distractions of gizmos of today’s world. An awareness, if you will, of what is truly important in life.


I truly enjoyed her article and I hope you will too. :-)



Years ago, when I first started writing, (and no, I’m not going to tell you how long ago that was!) I had the opportunity to hear Phyllis Whitney speak. She was one of the first authors to hit it big with the romantic suspense genre, and I had been reading her books and admiring her work for years. I was so star-struck at actually seeing her that I probably couldn’t have told at the time what she’d said. But a story she told about how writers find success has stayed with me ever since.

I’m paraphrasing, but basically she said that making it as a writer is sort of like waiting for the right train to come along. While you’re waiting, you’re learning and reading and writing and practicing your craft in any way you can. And if you’re both diligent and lucky, eventually the right train for you will come along—you’ll find that the latest ‘hot’ thing is exactly what you want to write and what you do well, and you’ll be off on your journey.

Phyllis Whitney had written career books for young adults and ‘little’ romantic mysteries for years, never thinking of herself as anything but a working writer. Then, almost out of the blue, the romantic suspense craze hit, and she was ready to jump onto that train. A number of New York Times bestsellers later, she was still a bit bemused by how it all happened!

Taken as I was by Phyllis’s story, I certainly never expected that lesson to apply to my own writing life. I was working along, writing the series books I love for Love Inspired and Love Inspired suspense, and feeling terribly fortunate to have someone actually pay me for doing the thing I loved best in the world. I wasn’t really expecting anything else. Then, in an existing story set in my native rural Pennsylvania, I introduced a few Amish characters, wondering what my editor would say to that.

Her reaction was immediate—do more of that! The popularity of Amish fiction had just begun, and to my surprise, I found I was ready to jump on that train. I’d already built an audience for my work, and suddenly something in my own backyard, something that fit my own Pennsylvania Dutch heritage and lifestyle, was exactly what editors were looking for. Every publisher wanted an Amish author for his or her list, and there I was, ready and waiting.

No one has been able to fully explain the current popularity of Amish fiction. Why, in the midst of a wave of paranormal romances, would stories about simple families living without most of modern technology suddenly find a place?

My own feeling is that many of us are drowning in a sea of technological advances and constant input. The internet and the twenty-four hour news channels feed us a continuing diet of scary stories, and while what’s happening half-way around the world engrosses us, we don’t find the time for face-to-face interaction with the people around us. Maybe, especially in a time of economic uncertainty, we experience a longing to live for a few hours in a simpler society, where families are close to each other and people can work together without the interruptions technology brings. Maybe we can even draw strength from visiting a community in which people still have time to talk and are ready to drop everything to help a neighbor.

The ironic thing about the popularity of Amish fiction is that it has developed around a group of people who really want to be left alone to live separate from the world, as their faith teaches them. For the writer, this is a touchy business. I value my relationships with Plain People, and I try to write about them honestly and with respect. I can only hope I’m managing to do that in a way that doesn’t offend.

Like Whitney, I’m still a bit bemused, even as I’m writing a series of Amish romance trade books for Berkley and an Amish suspense series for HQN Books. Still, as she said, I was ready to jump on board when my train came along.

Someone more mathematically minded than I am could probably create an equation from this. Maybe Preparation + Opportunity + Timing = Success!

I’m not saying that every career is meant to go in this direction, but I do believe there’s something almost magical about the results when the one subject about which you’re prepared to write, about which you can be most knowledgeable and passionate, suddenly penetrates the popular culture and creates an opportunity that couldn’t come in any other way.

Murder In Plain Sight Blurb:

There are secrets buried in Amish country...


Did a sweet-faced Amish teenager brutally murder a young woman? To save her career, big-city lawyer Jessica Langdon is determined to defend him—against the community’s bitter and even violent outrage. Yet without an understanding of Amish culture, Jessica must rely on arrogant businessman Trey Morgan, who has ties to the Amish community—and believes in the boy’s guilt.

Jessica has threats coming from all sides: a local fanatic, stirred up by the biased publicity of the case; the dead girl’s boyfriend; even from the person she’s learned to trust the most, Trey Morgan. But just when Jessica fears she’s placed her trust in the wrong man, Trey saves her life. And now they must both reach into a dangerous past to protect everyone’s future—including their own. EXCERPT

BUY:  Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books a Million, eHarlequin

Marta Perry realized she wanted to be a writer at age eight, when she read her first Nancy Drew novel. Most girls reached the end of that book wanting to be Nancy. Marta wanted to be the person who created the story.

The dream lay hidden for years while she pursued other career goals, but eventually it re-surfaced, and she began to write, beginning with short children’s stories for Sunday school take-home papers. After seeing hundreds of her short stories published in a variety of magazines, Marta finally started work on the novel she’d always wanted to write. Thirty-some published novels later, she still feels the same excitement when she begins a new book.

A lifetime spent in rural Pennsylvania and her own Pennsylvania Dutch roots led Marta to the books she writes now about the Amish. The Pleasant Valley Amish series from Berkley Books are longer, more complex emotional stories with Amish main characters, while the Amish Suspense series from HQN Books are more adventure-filled books set in Pennsylvania Amish country. She also writes a Love Inspired series, The Bodine Family, set on the South Carolina coast where she and her husband have a second home.

Marta lives with her husband in a century-old farmhouse in the Pennsylvania countryside, but spends winters at their vacation home in South Carolina. When she’s not writing, she’s active in the life of her church and enjoys traveling and spending time with her three children and six beautiful grandchildren.

Website: http://www.martaperry.com/home.html

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