Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Interview with Debbie Peterson, BOUND BY OATH AND HONOUR

Can you give us a brief overview of your latest book? Is it part of a series?
Bound by Oath and Honour is the first book in the series. Those bound to the oath are an ever growing number of elite guardians who were once mortal. The central characters of this book are a guardian named Micah Berrington and Tala Westbrook, the mortal he is sworn (if even grudgingly) to protect. In so doing, Tala stumbles right into the middle of an ongoing conflict concerning a race of Shifters from another dimension. This conflict will continue in future books. However, the main characters will focus on different guardians and the person they are assigned to protect.

Have you ever had a minor character evolve into a major one? Did that change the direction of the novel at all?
Not the novel itself, but the one that followed. In Spirit of the Revolution, the main characters visit Scotland. While the characters are there, they tour a castle haunted by medieval knights. I had such writing the ghost of Sir Cailen; I knew he had to have a story of his own. Thus, Spirit of the Knight was born.  

Did you try the traditional route to publishing, i.e. querying agents/publishers?
Many years ago I did go that avenue. While going the query to agent/publisher route, I wrote four different novels. At that time, e-books weren’t even on the horizon. I had the usual rejection letters that most all authors receive at one time or another. I think I could’ve papered an entire wall with all of mine. But in that mess of form rejections, I had some very personal, very encouraging letters written by both publishers and agents. Those letters I treasured and those kept me going. One of my earliest novels came very close to being published, but since the publisher only chose so many books per year, mine was ultimately cut.

Perhaps that was for the best because shortly thereafter I found out my very brilliant daughter was dyslexic. The school’s solution to her problem? Put her in special education classes. No thank you. I pulled her out of school, put the writing on hold, and home taught her. Best decision I ever made.

How long before you got your offer of representation/your first contract? Was it for your first novel?
After my hiatus, I found I hated all of my previous books, deleted them, and started fresh. The first book I wrote was Spirit of the Revolution. While the book made the rounds to various publishers, I wrote Spirit of the Rebellion and submitted it to The Wild Rose Press. After several weeks, I received a letter back. My wonderful editor said if I made a few changes they would publish the book. Said changes were made and a contract issued. The process from first book to contract took a little over two and a half years.

Are you currently under a traditional publishing contract for future books or do you have manuscripts that you will self-publish? Are you doing both?
The Wild Rose Press has published most of my stories. They have published Spirit of the Rebellion, Spirit of the Revolution, Spirit of the Knight, Court of the Hawk and now, Bound by Oath and Honour. Shadow of the Witte Wieven was published by Inkspell. The prequel to Shadow of the Witte Wieven, Van Locken’s Witch (written after the fact) was self-published.

What factors influenced your decision to self-publish your book?
My own curious nature and the desire to experience what self-publication was all about. For me it was neither amazing nor demoralizing. It was, however, a lot of hard work. So thank you publishers and editors!

What is your writing process? Do you listen to music or do you like silence?
Process? I wished I had something remarkable to share. Alas, I just sit down and write! As far as music goes, I have to have it—and all of it has to be instrumental. If not, I sing along with the music and the lyrics can sometimes creep into the manuscript. That’s not a good thing!  I have several mood lists I can choose from and therefore, I can select appropriate playlists for the scene. Since my music collection continues to grow, my lists never get boring.

Do you outline your story or just go where your muse takes you?
I tried outlining once. It just didn’t work for me. My characters (or muse if you will) take on a life of their own and therefore say and do whatever they please, regardless of what I might have planned. I can’t tell you how many different roads they’ve taken me down that I didn’t intend to explore. That’s all right though; the book ends up being far better than what I first imagined.

Besides Amazon, are there any other sites where your books are for sale?
You can get my books in several different places such as: Barnes and Noble (website only), The Wild Rose Press, Google Play, Kobo, Apple Bookstore, and All Romance EBooks to name a few.

What’s next for you?
Right now I’m working on the next book in the Bound by Oath and Honour series. This one will focus on Levi. I’m also working on another ghost to mortal romance and truly, I don’t which of the two will be finished first.



BLURB:

Fresh from her photo shoot in Northern England, wildlife photographer Tala Westbrook makes a promised stop at the family manor in Staffordshire, desperately in need of renovation. Though she didn’t plan to stay longer than it took to find a contractor, she is caught up in an ancient paranormal war. Despite the danger all around, she finds herself falling for the handsome, enigmatic man assigned to protect her.

Micah Berrington, elite guardian from the realm of the Bewitan Fierd, is used to protecting men of strength in the greatest of peril, not a female looking for someone to repair her home. Yet the assignment is far more than it seems and so is the beautiful woman destined to capture his heart, regardless of the cost.

Buy Links:
  
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Debbie is an author of paranormal and fantasy romance because she has a soft spot for fairy tales, the joy of falling in love, making an impossible love possible, and happily ever after endings. She loves animals of every persuasion, music, art, beautiful sunrises, sunsets, the smell of rain, and thunder storms.

When she is not busy conjuring her latest novel, Debbie spends time with the members of her very large family in the lovely, arid deserts of southern Nevada, where some of those spectacular sunsets occur. She also pursues her interests in genealogy—which she also teaches—mythology, and history.

Connect with Debbie:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5447772.Debbie_Peterson

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