This month I am please to welcome fellow Soul Mate Publishing author Rebecca Neely to Work in Progress Wednesday.
Rebecca, December is the month of the solstice, when there are more hours of darkness than of daylight. Do you prefer daylight or darkness? Why? Do daylight and darkness play a role in your book?
RN: I have a love/hate relationship with this time of the year. I live in Western PA, so we have all the seasons. I find it difficult to get out of bed when it’s dark and cold. However, I love the feeling of being the only one awake in the house, silently padding downstairs to make coffee and have a read over my latest manuscript, in my bathrobe, next to the furnace register. There’s something very sacred about that time in the morning. When the sun comes up, it’s almost like the spell is broken. I also find I tend to get a lot more writing done on the snowy and/or cold days, versus wanting to be outside in the sunshine!
Darkness, per se, does not play a role in my upcoming Crossing Realms series; however, enemy Betrayers possess dark energy and they use it to wreak havoc on the good guys, The Keepers…
MJ: Ooh. That sounds fascinating. If you didn’t write, what would be your creative outlet?
RN: I actually have several creative outlets, even being a writer, or perhaps because of it. Not sure! LOL! I love to make my own greeting cards, and sew and draw, mostly in pencil. I love to go to our Joann Fabrics store and peruse the crafts, the fabrics – it’s a sensory experience – touching them, seeing all the colors and the possibilities. In fact, this gives me a boost when I find my creativity is in short supply. Here’s a pencil sketch of my daughter when she was about 9. She was away for the weekend with her father and I missed her. I drew it from a picture I’d taken on my phone.
MJ: Very nice! Other than writing, what would be your dream job? Why?
RN: I’d love to be able to play the fiddle and jam with other musicians. I even took lessons but alas, I’m not sure I ever got the hang of it. <grin> But it was fun while it lasted!
MJ: Describe your ideal/dream writing space.
RN: I think I actually have it. I recently moved, and I finally have my own office space, versus having a desk in my living room. I’m so grateful for this I don’t think I’ll ever take it for granted. The desk I got last year – it’s a secretary, which I’ve always wanted. It’s new though – made too look old, and combines modern with vintage, giving me hanging folder space, and a built in power strip. Awesome! I can hide out in my space, I don’t have to worry about cleaning things up at the end of the day, and I’ve got a window with a great view of the sky. Oh, and I’ve just ordered a comfy chair to go in the corner – I’ve been looking for about 2 months. Yay! I like to work at the desk to write, and sit in a different place to read.
MJ: What do you love most about your WIP hero?
RN: The Keeper is the first book in the Crossing Realms paranormal romance series, coming, estimated, first quarter of 2016 from Soul Mate Publishing. This is my first series, and I signed with Soul Mate for a three book deal, which still amazes and humbles me.
Nick Geary is the hero of this story. The clan leader of The Keepers in the city of Pittsburgh, he’s a human guardian, jaded, tortured by secrets, and doomed to love a woman who’s forgotten him, time after time, for thirteen years.
I love that Nick is strong enough to be weak, when the time comes.
MJ: What do you least like about your WIP heroine?
RN: Libby Klink is a skittish human accountant, plagued by anxiety and her own fears of inadequacy. I’ve given Libby a great place from which to grow: I like least that she has no self-esteem when it comes to her appearance, and men in general. It goes against my grain.
MJ: What genre is your current WIP?
RN: A paranormal romance, and I would say there’s definitely crossover into urban fantasy.
MJ: How did you come up with your hero and heroine’s names?
RN: Nick Geary – I love Irish names, and Geary appealed. Not only do I like the strong sound of this name, meanings include ‘passionate’, ‘wayward’ and ‘spear’. Nick is a warrior, and the other traits sum him up perfectly – he has a wayward soul as the story begins.
Libby Klink – oh, I had fun naming her. I’ve always loved the name Elizabeth (it’s my middle name, in case you were wondering what the ‘E.’ stood for, MJ ) But Libby is definitely no Elizabeth. And she’s no Betty. She’s somewhere between the two. I love that there’s so many different names that come from Elizabeth, and that’s who she is – a lot of different people and traits.
As for Klink? Libby marches to her own drum, and Klink is just deliciously odd as a last name. It’s one syllable, and it’s as perfect an example of onomatopoeia as I’ve ever heard. Klink! She is the sound – odd, out of place and different from everyone else.
MJ: How did you choose the setting for your current WIP?
RN: I grew up near the city of Pittsburgh, and while it has all the ‘city’ trappings, it possesses a small town feel which feels like home to me. The city provided me with a festival of settings and backdrops from which to choose and adds a layer to the story as it unfolds; Pittsburgh still embraces and embodies blue collar workers and all they stand for, and the story pays homage to that throughout.
MJ: Can you share the opening of your current Work In Progress?
The Keeper is the first book in the Crossing Realms paranormal romance series. Here is the very beginning of The Watcher – my current WIP, and the second book in the Crossing Realms series:
“Nearly three moons have passed since he has come to us. It is inevitable that this day has come. It is time now.” His voice thick, his back to a sun that had yet to rise, Mataeus stood with Laird and Eden in the sharp bend of the third switchback winding its way around Mount Verdant. He raised a hand to encompass the landscape, reflected in the other Watchers’ silvery eyes. “Our realm is not yet healed completely. But the mists have dissipated.” He sighed, his heart still heavy over the scourge that had been dealt their realm. “But our energy grows stronger, each day.” He paused. “As does theirs. He must go.”
Laird pressed his eyes closed. “You know what a powerful store of energy it will take. I am not sure we have it to give.”
“Perhaps not.” His oldest friend spoke a truth Mataeus could not deny. “But I believe there is no better way to spend it.”
MJ: You have a book out now–A Mighty Good Man. How can readers purchase it?
‘Hank’ Jerry – she’s a tough talking twentieth century broad looking for a way to reclaim a writing career on the skids.
Jack ‘Gent’ Darcy – he’s a strange blend of gentleman and hood fresh out of prison with a story to tell that could get them both killed.
Forced to return to the small town and the aunt she left behind, ‘Hank’ will do her own time minding her aunt’s restaurant, then it’s back to the city to do damage control.
But when Jack lands on her doorstep, injured and on the run from gang enforcers, she makes the split second decision to offer him refuge, and he makes her an offer she can’t refuse: write his no holds barred story as war counselor inside national super gang, the Creds. She’ll shoot straight to the top, and he’ll bury the gang, then disappear—a win-win.
Only problem is, they can’t help falling for each other, and they’ve both got something to hide that could blow up in their faces. With time running out and gang enforcers closing in, will the trust they’ve forged survive the ultimate test?
3 Days. 2 People. 1 Story. A Mighty Good Man, available from Amazon.
And how can readers stay in touch with you?
My Website & Blog, on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, my Amazon Author Page, on Goodreads, and Pinterest.
They can also join my mailing list at http://eepurl.com/bqiDi5
MJ: Thanks for stopping by, and good luck!
