Meet Carla Neggers and Saint's Gate - Giveaway (US residents only)

About Carla:



Carla Neggers is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 60 novels, with translations in 24 languages. Born and raised on the western edge of the beautiful Quabbin Reservoir in rural Massachusetts, Carla grew up with tales of her father’s life as a Dutch sailor and her mother’s childhood in northwest Florida.



At a young age, Carla began penning her own stories on a branch high up in her favorite sugar maple. Now she enjoys spending time at the family homestead (now a tree farm) with her six brothers and sisters and their families.



When she’s not writing, Carla loves to travel, hike, kayak, garden, and, of course, dive into a good book. She lives with her family in Vermont, not far from picturesque Quechee Gorge.

Book Description:



When Emma Sharpe is summoned to a convent on the Maine coast, it's partly for her art crimes work with the FBI, partly because of her past with the religious order. At issue is a mysterious painting depicting scenes of Irish lore and Viking legends, and her family's connection to the work. But when the nun who contacted her is murdered, it seems legend is becoming deadly reality.



Colin Donovan is one of the FBI's most valuable assets—a deep–cover agent who prefers to go it alone. He's back home in Maine after wrapping up his latest mission, but his friend Father Bracken presents him with an intrigue of murder, international art heists and a convent's long–held secrets that is too tempting to resist. As the danger spirals ever closer, Colin is certain of only one thing—the very intriguing Emma Sharp is at the center of it all.



A ruthless killer has Emma and Colin in the crosshairs, plunging them into a race against time and drawing them deeper into a twisted legacy of betrayal and deceit.

Carla, welcome to Romance Author Buzz.  Is there a back story to Saint’s Gate?



Emma Sharpe, the heroine of SAINT'S GATE, started to take shape while I was on one of our trips to the Maine coast. I was walking on the rocky coast in the fog and could picture an FBI agent -- a woman -- arriving at an isolated convent...and I knew something bad happens and that she has a past that involves the convent. Visualizing that initial scene helped Emma take shape. I think many of us have aspects of our past (or our present!) that we don't talk about not because we're hiding anything but because it's just complicated. That's Emma!



How long have you been writing and what was your call story?



I've been writing since I was a kid. I grew up in rural western Massachsuetts with six brothers and sisters and would climb a tree with a pad and pen and sit on my favorite branch and write. I did that right through college! In fact, I've started a new blog, "Out on a Limb," that arises out of that feeling of being up on that branch! I'd also sit on a rock in the middle of the wide brook across from our house and write. The first book I sent to an agent, THE VENUS SHOE, wasn't the first book I sold, but it did eventually launch a series of romantic suspense novels published by Avon.



When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer? Have you had other jobs along the way?



Writing was a dream for me early on but I wrote because I loved telling stories. I still do! I started out at the Boston University College of Fine Arts as a music major but switched to journalism, and I freelanced after college. I was lucky enough to sell a book early on. I submitted my first manuscript to an agent right after my daughter was born. I'd type while she was on the blotter next to me! Then she learned to roll over, and I put her on a mat on the floor. :-)



Do you plot your stories or let your characters lead you?



A little of both. It depends on the story but I've discovered there's a basic pattern to how I write. With SAINT'S GATE, I could see Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan before I knew exactly what they were up to. That's not unusual, although sometimes it's the other way around: I'll know what the characters are up to but not exactly who they are! I knew Colin would be an undercover agent with questions about Emma, and that Emma's past with the convent where she finds a murdered nun plays a role in the story. I wrote up a brief synopsis that became a jumping off point. My synopses are never precise road maps but they do give me a sense of the story as a whole. Then I started writing, to get a feel for Emma, Colin and their story, and after 50 pages or so, I came up for air and figured out what was what. That's pretty much how I write most books. I've tried different approaches, but I think as writers we're happiest and most productive when we're true to our own creative process.



Of all of your characters, do you have a favorite you identify with and why?



Interesting question! Each character comes to life for me at some point in the writing process. If Emma Sharpe walked into my house, I'd recognize her. Same with any of the characters in my books. I don't see them as extensions of myself but that doesn't mean their likes, dislikes, struggles and triumphs don't resonate with me. I can identify with Emma's struggle to not let others stereotype or define her based on her past. I think many readers will be able to identify with that struggle, even if they never spent time at a convent!



What are you currently working on?



I just finished editing SECRETS OF THE LOST SUMMER, which is due out in February 2012. It's my return to contemporary romance! I had the idea for a long time, and I'm so passionate about this book. It's set in a fictional small town on the edge of the Quabbin Reservoir -- not all that different from where I grew up. I drew on the history of the four towns that were wiped off the map to create the reservoir in the 1930s. Olivia Frost, my graphic designer heroine, deals with betrayal, dashed dreams, new dreams, long-lost treasure and a very sexy hockey player. Such fun to write! I've just gone back to working on HERON'S COVE, the next book after SAINT'S GATE in my Sharpe & Donovan series. Emma and Colin are in a real mess this time!



What is the best thing about your job as an author? What is the hardest thing?



The best thing is doing what I love, getting to work with great people who also love books and writing and talking with and meeting readers. There's nothing quite like talking with readers about a new author they've discovered, or a book they've just read and love. The hardest thing? The uncertainties, but I think most of us face uncertainties in our lives and work. Just have to focus on the present and enjoy the day!



If you were invited on a show to talk about your book, what would the theme of the show be?



Something to do with crossroads, I think. I love to talk about SAINT'S GATE but I'm a writer not a producer! Gah. Hm. A woman caught at the crossroads of art and murder...and at a personal crossroads as an FBI agent...I like that.



Describe a day in the life of Carla Neggers.



Since I'm not particularly regimented, I don't have a lot of typical days, but I do rise early, dive into a pot of coffee, walk (provided it's above zero!) and get started on the work at hand. I love to write in the morning but I can write anytime, anywhere. I haven't climbed a tree with a pad and pen lately, though, as I did as a kid!



What is something you definitely want readers to know about you?



That I love to write today as much as ever. I'm bursting with stories and creative energy!



When the time comes for you to retire from writing, what would you like your readers to remember the most about you and your writing?



Retire from writing???????



Who is your favorite author?



I don't have one favorite, but I love to read. This summer I've reread several novels by Mary Stewart, REBECCA by Daphne du Maurier and OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon. I also try to keep up with books by my writer friends!



What are you currently reading?



THE ACCIDENTAL CREATIVE by Todd Henry. It's non-fiction and one of the best books I've ever read on the rhythms of a creative life. I recommend it to anyone who works in a creative field. Terrific!



Before I let you go is there anything I forgot to ask that you want the readers and fans to know?



I think we've covered the waterfront! Thank you so much!! This was fun. Great questions. I'm still thinking about that theme one... ;-)



Carla, thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview with me!



THANK YOU!!!



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To win a copy of Saint's Gate, follow Carla on Facebook and Twitter.  Tell her what you thought of her interview here.  Please leave your email so that you can be contacted.  Contest is for US residents only.  Winner will be announced September 25th.

CALL ME MRS. MIRACLE - Debbie Macomber

I watched Mrs. Miracle last holiday season and loved it.  This is a press release for Call Me. Mrs. Miacle.



There’s no better time for a little romance than the holiday season, and no better way to stretch gift dollars than a good book. This year, with romance novels more popular than ever (accounting for more than $1.3 billion in sales last year), New York Times bestselling author, Debbie Macomber has crafted a wonderful new holiday story to delight fans this festive season.

And, for the second time, Debbie Macomber’s Mrs. Miracle will star in a holiday movie: the Hallmark Original Movie made from the novel will debut Saturday, November 27, 2010 (8p.m. ET/PT; 7C). Last year, the first Mrs. Miracle production was one of the season’s highest-rated holiday movies.

#1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Debbie Macomber brings you the gift of a story that’s destined to become a Christmas classic, in CALL ME MRS. MIRACLE (MIRA Books, October 2010. $CALL ME MRS. MIRACLE is a story that embodies the holiday season and everything it means and sees the return of Emily Merkle in her first appearance since MRS. MIRACLE, Debbie Macomber’s 1996 novel, and the 2009 Hallmark Channel TV movie of the same name starring Doris Roberts of Everybody Loves Raymond.

This Christmas, Emily Merkle (call her Mrs. Miracle!) is working in the toy department at Finley’s, the last family-owned department store in New York City. And her boss is none other than…Jake Finley the owner’s son. For Jake, holiday memories of brightly wrapped gifts, decorated trees and family were destroyed in a Christmas Eve tragedy years before. Now the spirit of the season means just one thing to him – and to his father. Profit. Because they need a Christmas miracle to keep the business afloat.

Holly Larson needs a miracle, too. She wants to give her eight-year-old nephew, Gabe, the holiday he deserves. Holly’s widowed brother is in the army and won’t be home for Christmas, but at least she can get Gabe that toy robot from Finley’s, the one gift he desperately wants. If she can figure out how to afford it…

Fortunately, it’s Mrs. Miracle to the rescue. Next to making Children happy, she likes nothing better than helping others – and that includes doing a bit of matchmaking!

This Christmas will be different. For all of them.

THE SEQUEL TO HALLMARK CHANNEL’S HIGHEST-RATED FILM OF 2009  FIVE-TIME EMMY® AWARD WINNER DORIS ROBERTS STARS IN DEBBIE MACOMBER’S CALL ME MRS. MIRACLE,’A HALLMARK CHANNEL ORIGINAL MOVIE, A HALLMARK CHANNEL ORIGINAL MOVIE WORLD PREMIER NOVEMBER 27 ASED ON THE BOOK ‘CALL ME MRS. MIRACLE’ BY BEST-SELLING AUTHOR  DEBBIE MACOMBER

Hallmark Channel, the biggest holiday destination in television, presents Five-time Emmy® Award winner Doris Roberts in the World Premier of “Debbie Macomber’s Call Me Mrs. Miracle,” a Hallmark Channel Original Movie, Saturday, November 27, (8p.m. ET/PT; 7C). The telefilm is based on prolific writer Debbie Macomber’s upcoming literary release, Call Me Mrs. Miracle and is the sequel to the highest-rated Hallmark Channel Original Movie of 2009. The film also stars Jewel Staite, (“Stargate: Atlantis”), Eric Johnson (“Rookie Blue”) and Lauren Holly (“The Town That Christmas Forgot”).

No one celebrates the holidays like Emily Merkle (Roberts) – Mrs. Miracle as she is known by some – who is back to insure that this Christmas is the most magical and meaningful of all. When Mrs. Miracle appears as a seasonal employee in the toy department at the financially troubled Finley’s Department Store, neither the store’s owners, nor the customers, have any idea of the saintly events that are about to unfold. None of them can even say who hired Mrs. Merkle or where exactly she came from, but her illustrious and angelic spirit will dispel gloom, drive away misery, and prove that miracles happen every day, especially on Christmas. With Mrs. Miracle in charge of the holidays, toys fly off shelves, Finley’s business is saved, and its owners and customers all find renewed faith in the spirit of Christmas. Yes, just when it seemed Christmas might not come at all this year, Finley’s favorite employee proves they don’t call her Mrs. Miracle for nothing!

“Debbie Macomber’s Call Me Mrs. Miracle” is an MRM Productions, Ltd. Harvey Kahn is the producer. Michael M. Scott is directing from a script by Nancey Silvers, which is based on the novel Call Me Mrs. Miracle by Debbie Macomber.

Debbie Macomber is one of America’s leading voices in women’s fiction. Her work has appeared on every major bestseller list, including those of the New York Times, USA TODAY, Publishers Weekly and Entertainment Weekly. There are more than 140 million copies of her books in print. Her 2010 holiday hardcover from MIRA Books, Call Me Mrs. Miracle goes on sale September 28.

Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24-hour basic cable network that provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming available in high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD) to a national audience of 90 million subscribers. The top tier program service is distributed through more than 5,450 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Hallmark Channel is the nation’s leading network in providing quality family programming with an ambitious slate of original TV movies, general entertainment and home and lifestyle content. Hallmark Channel’s sibling network is Hallmark Movie Channel, also available in HD and SD, which focuses on the family-friendly movies with a mix of classic theatrical films, presentations from the acclaimed Hallmark Hall of Fame library, original Hallmark Channel movies and special events.

Watch the video of  Call Me Mrs. Miracle here



Sherryl Woods

Biography

With two other careers to her credit before becoming a novelist and four states in which she's lived for extended periods of time, Sherryl Woods has collected friends and memories, along with way too much unnecessary junk.

"The friends are the only things I've brought with me through the years that really matter," she says. "I could probably live without one more chintz teacup, another tin-litho sandpail or another snowglobe, but I need those friends."

The theme of enduring friendships and families is always central to Sherryl's books, including her latest Chesapeake Shores series — THE INN AT EAGLE POINT, FLOWERS ON MAIN and HARBOR LIGHTS.

Author of more than 100 romance and mystery novels, Sherryl Woods grew up in Virginia. Over the years she had lived in Ohio and Florida, as well as California. Currently she divides her time between Key Biscayne, Florida and Colonial Beach, Virginia, the small, river-front town where she spent her childhood summers.

A graduate of Ohio State University School of Journalism, Sherryl spent more than ten years as a journalist, most of them as a television critic for newspapers in Ohio and Florida. For several years she also coordinated a motivational program for the more than 8,000 employees at the University of Miami-Jackson Memorial Medical Center.

Her first book, RESTORING LOVE, was published in 1982 by Dell Candlelight Ecstasy under the pseudonym of Suzanne Sherrill. Her second book, SAND CASTLES, under the pseudonym of Alexandra Kirk, was published later that same year by Bantam. She began using her own name when she moved to the Second Chance at Love line at Berkley Publishing. In 1986, she began writing full-time and also began her long career at Silhouette Books with the Desire title NOT AT EIGHT, DARLING, set in the world of television which she covered for so many years.

In addition to her more than 75 romances for Silhouette Desire and Special Edition, she has written thirteen mysteries — nine in the Amanda Roberts series and four in the Molly DeWitt series.

When she's not writing or reading, Sherryl loves to garden, though she's not at her best on a riding lawn mower. She also loves tennis, theater, and ballet, even though her top spin has long since vanished, she's never set foot on a stage, and she's way too uncoordinated to dance. She also loves baseball and claims anyone who's ever seen Kevin Costner in "Bull Durham" can understand why.


Sherryl, thanks for stopping by Romance Author Buzz to talk about your latest release, Home in Carolina.

Is there a back story to Home in Carolina? Can you tell us about the Sweet Magnolias series?




Sherryl: I began the Sweet Magnolias series a few years back with a trilogy about three women who've been lifelong friends in a small South Carolina town. I loved the way these women interacted and supported each other and readers seemed to relate to them, too. I added a fourth story after that, but readers continued to plead for a story about Ty Townsend and Annie Sullivan, who were barely teenagers in the second book, A Slice of Heaven. I told everyone they were way too young to have a story of their own. Now they've been out in the world and lived a little and, in Ty's case, made some monumental mistakes. So, their book, Home in Carolina, is a story about reconciliation and forgiveness. Two other women in the next generation of Sweet Magnolias will be featured in Sweet Tea at Sunrise and in Honeysuckle Summer in May and June. And, of course, all the old familiar faces will be around as well with a couple of surprising twists.

Do you plot your stories or let your characters lead you.

Sherryl: I have to do some plotting just because of the way I write my proposals for my editor, but believe me, it's a pretty loose, short-story version of the book. Then I just sit down and fill in the many huge gaps.

How long have you been writing and what was your call story?

Sherryl: I started writing back in 1980 after quitting my newspaper job, and sold my first books fairly quickly. The first two, in fact, came out in 1982. Believe it or not, I never really anticipated writing novels. I loved journalism, but I think that trained me to look for stories everywhere. Maybe that's why, over 100 books later, I've never really run out of ideas.

What are you currently working on?

Sherryl: Right now I'm deeply involved in next spring's Chesapeake Shores trilogy, a follow-up to the three books that were out in 2009 and to A Chesapeake Shores Christmas, which will be out in late September of this year. These are continuations of the stories about the O'Briens, a family that also seems to have struck a chord with readers.

Of all of your characters, do you have a favorite you identify with and why?

Sherryl: I honestly don't. People who know me well say they can find a bit of me in many of my characters, and I try to make each book both better and even more creatively challenging so writing each one stays fresh for me.

What is the best thing about your job as an author? What is the hardest thing?

Sherryl: The absolute best thing is hearing from readers who can relate to something in one of my books or who tell me how much a particular book has helped them through a rough spot in their lives. There's nothing more rewarding about this job.

As for the hardest, it's staying on top of all the business aspects of publishing. I believe in being actively involved in those decisions, even though it would be a whole lot easier to pretend that books succeed through sheer magic.

Describe a day in the life of Sherryl Woods.

Sherryl: I live in two different cities, so my days vary a bit depending on where I am. In Miami, I'm at the gym in my building by 5:30 a.m. a few days a week (hating every minute of it, by the way), at breakfast with friends by 6:30, back home at 7:30 answering emails and then writing until I hit my page quote for the day -- anywhere from 10 to 15 pages, depending on where I am in the manuscript. In the afternoon I do all the business related stuff.

In Virginia I have breakfast, try to fit in a bit of gardening, then pick up my day with emails and writing on the same schedule as Miami.

What is something you definitely want readers to know about you?

Sherryl: That scenery counts. I have to be by the sea, whether it's the Atlantic I can see from my balcony in Florida or the Potomac River across the road from my house in Virginia. I actually visited a cousin in North Carolina on my way north last week and fell in love with her house and her neighborhood, but there wasn't a speck of water in sight, at least not the kind I'm used to. I couldn't imagine being content without the sound of waves to lull me to sleep.

When the time comes for you to retire from writing, what would you like your readers to remember the most about you and your writing?

Sherryl: That I always tried to write stories about real women encountering real problems and not just surviving, but triumphing.

What are you currently reading?

Sherryl: The Summer Hideaway by Susan Wiggs.

Before I let you go is there anything I forgot to ask that you want the readers and fans to know?

Sherryl: That if they happen to know Trace Atkins or Rafael Nadal, I'd like an introduction! Of course, Nadal, who for a few blissful moments was seated just a few rows behind me at the Sony-Ericsson tournament watching the Roger Federer match, is young enough to be my son...okay, grandson...but he has the best smile on the tennis circuit. As for Trace, hey, I'm not immune to those bad boys, either.

Sherryl, thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview with me!

For a list of Sherry'ls currect books, check it out here.

To purchase Sherryl's books, they can be found at EHarlequin

To win a copy of one of Sherryl's books, stop over on her Facebook page and tell her you read her interview on Romance Author Buzz and come back here and post your contact email.

Contest Ends May 15th.