Please welcome author Shirley Hailstock to Conversations today. Sit back with a cup of coffee and enjoy her guest blog about how she wrote her latest romantic suspense UNDER THE SHEETS and answer questions from her readers. Enjoy!
Lisa ~
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First, a little about Shirley Hailstock:
Shirley
Hailstock, a bestselling, award-winning novelist, is the author of over
twenty-seven novels and novellas. Holding a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from
Howard University and a MBA in Chemical Marketing from Fairleigh Dickinson University,
she left her job in the pharmaceutical industry and is now a full-time writer.
Shirley is a past president of Romance Writers of America and a former officer
of Women Writers of Color. She lives in New Jersey with her family.
________
About Under
the Sheets:
One of the most frequent questions asked of
an author is where did you get the idea
for this book. It’s usually asked
with a tone of awe in the readers’ voice as if they would never have thought of
such a plot. It was the idea for Under
the Sheets that came to me first.
As you know most writers started out as readers and continue to love to
read. The idea came to me while I was
standing in a bookstore (back when bookstores were plentiful) looking at a wall
of romance novels. With all those books
in front of me and the thousands I’d read hovering in my mind, I’d never read
one that had anything to do with the Witness Protection Program.
Since I love romantic suspense and I’d lived
in Washington, DC for many years, it was perfect that I should write a story about
something that was new and would catch the attention of an editor. In the long run, it worked, but I’m getting
ahead of myself.
At the time I started the story there was
little written or known about the Witness Protection Program. This was perfect, since it meant I could make
up whatever I wanted, well almost. There
were a few things about the program that are true, like you can’t separate
families. This is why my character keeps
her pregnancy a secret until she’s already in the program.
After I got the idea for the story, a woman
going into the program without her husband, I played a mention “what if” game
and came up with the rest of the story.
As I wrote, I discovered more about the characters and the complications
to a person whose life is disrupted by leaving everything she knew behind. And from the other characters point of view
at losing someone he loved and trying to adjust and begin again.
One of my friends and fans described Under
the Sheets and me asking a question.
If you changed everything about
yourself, would someone who loved you know who you were? Then she said I took 411 pages to answer
that question. If you haven’t read Under
the Sheets, I hope you will.
It’s the first book in the Lies and Liars series.
Questions
from Readers:
1. Most people are either creative or
pragmatic. You seem to defy that. How can you be both at the same time?
I can’t answer that question. I suppose the only thing I can say is this is
how my brain is wired. For years I
worked as an accountant. I even taught
accounting at a major university in NJ.
It’s a logical profession.
Everything must be in place in order for things to work. In writing, there is a logical progression of
story building, but in order to do that the creative side must be
functioning. I consider myself lucky
that I can do both. Maybe being a Gemini
helps.
2. You write both for a print
publisher and e-books for yourself. Why
are you doing both?
It’s always a good idea to hedge your
bets. In today’s economic climate having
all your virtual eggs in one basket could mean losing everything. I have more than one print publisher and when
I the rights to previously published books reverted to me, I thought about
publishing them myself. After attending
a conference in March 2012 where the subject of self-publishing was extensively
discussed, I decided to make a true effort to return the out of print books
back to availability thought self-publishing.
I have eight books currently available electronically, including Under
the Sheets, and I’m working on more.
3.
Where can readers find your
books?
The books are available at most
e-reader sites. If you don’t have an
e-reader, you can download a free app for your computer. My e-books are at the following locations:
Amazon.com - http://amzn.com/B008XYGBUS
BN.com -
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/under-the-sheets-shirley-hailstock/1113728873?ean=2940014907262
Smashwords.com -
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/under-the-sheets-shirley-hailstock/1113728873?ean=2940014907262
Kobo.com -
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Under-the-Sheets/book-QFzhDCpzvkOAh9KEG9K1Kg/page1.html?s=XYwBZGfrVECwE2GEyyK-xw&r=1
If you don’t see your e-reader above,
check it anyway. Smashwords delivers the files to many platforms.
4.
I’m a writer and I’m thinking of
self-publishing my book. Do you have any
advice?
Lots of it. Some of it is the same advice I’d give to
people who want to publish in the traditional way -- sit down and write. You have to have a product. Once that is done, you can put it where you
want, online or through a traditional publisher. But don’t skimp on services. There are things that need to be paid for
(i.e. editors, cover designers, formatter, etc.). Put the very best you can do forward. You want to build a readership and providing
an inferior product will work against you.
About UNDER THE SHEETS:
Robyn
and Grant Richards’ happily ever after was short lived. He is captured and held prisoner in Lebanon
and her government-coerced testimony against a crime network whisked her into
Witness Protection as Brooke Johnson.
Five years later a critical accident involving Brooke’s daughter forces
her hand. She reveals Grant’s location
to the doctors. Never believing he’d
deliver Kari’s rare blood type in person, her powers of acting indifferent are
sorely tested when she comes face-to-face with the only man she’s ever loved.
Grant
could swear his dead wife stood in the hospital waiting room -- until she
turned around and only her hair reminded him of Robyn. Yet there was something about her and her
precious daughter that had him flying in to see them more often than
necessary. Despite Brooke telling him
she didn’t want a relationship, he refused to take no for an answer.
Being
with Grant endangered them all. The
crime network may have gone underground, but they would never stop looking for
Robyn or anyone she loved.
Order UNDER THE SHEETS at AMAZON
Web Links:
My website is -
http://www.shirleyhailstock.net
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ShirleyHailstockfan
(please go and Like my page)
Twitter: @shailstock (not very good at
twitter, it’s another learning curve)
Pinterest: www.pinterest/shailstock
E-mail - shirley.hailstock@comcast.net