WELCOME TERESA REASOR, AUTHOR OF HOT SEAL, RUSTY NAIL

If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates? 

“Welcome. Your computer is right this way. We like to read here, too.”

Hello Everyone!

I would love for everyone to give a warm welcome to Teresa Reasor, author of Hot Seal, Rusty Nail. Six years ago, I submitted my first chapter of In the Shadow of Evil and received my first critique from Teresa. I had so much to learn about writing a great story. This dear woman was so very patient as I re-discovered myself in this exciting new career. What she didn't teach me personally, I discovered from her wonderful stories. So...if you enjoy my novels, please take a moment and leave a heartfelt thank you in comments for Teresa Reasor. I owe her so much. 

Before I gush all over this post, I better start the interview. Teresa, I'm more than thrilled to have you here today. Can you tell us a little about yourself--the real Teresa Reasor behind the writer. 

I’m a Marine Corps brat and went to nine different schools in twelve years. I’m a retired art teacher and retired college adjunct instructor.  I still do art, paint, draw, quill, and create sculpture. I write a thousand words a day and I read a thousand words a day. But I never read what I’m writing. And I’m a New York Times and USA Today Best-selling Author.

If I hadn't said so before, congratulations for hitting those two incredible list. It is so well deserved. Please tell us a little about how you came to write Hot SEAL, Rusty Nail.

I came to write Hot SEAL, Rusty Nail because I was invited by Cynthia D’ Alba to be one of eight ladies writing in the SEALS in Paradise series.  I met Cynthia through the Kiss of Death Chapter of RWA when we were members of the critique group called Lethal Ladies. (Which is where I met you too.) I jumped on the opportunity because the subject appealed to me and writing Military Romance is my favorite type of book to write.
 

I love your SEALS in Paradise series and Hot SEAL, Rusty Nail is the next book on my Kindle. 
Doesn't this look yummy? I can't wait to disappear into this story!

Completing a book is an enormous challenge. What was your biggest obstacle and how did you overcome it? In other words, what do you think drove you to complete this enormous project?

Writing is a joy and a compulsion for me. I can’t not write. Even if I’m on vacation I have my computer with me. My biggest obstacle is interruptions. I love my family. I’d step in front of a moving vehicle to save any one of them, but they still don’t understand the creative drive that compels me to write and complete the projects I take on. Because none of them create. They’re content to work a job and come home and just hang. I have too much creative energy to sit still for that length of time. I’m an artist as well as a writer. And if I’m not writing, I’m ready, painting, drawing, quilling (rolled paper filigree) or half a dozen other things. But mostly I’m writing. Sometimes it’s a struggle to get them to understand that writing is something I have to do.

I understand that completely. I talk about living in my writer's cave. My cave is my kitchen table, the center of the household. I write there because I want the family to know I'm there for them, but I still need quiet hours I can just create. It is a balancing game. 

The next couple of questions are my favorite to ask authors. When did you realize you wanted to be a writer and do you believe writers are born or made?

I think it’s a combination of both. As soon as I learned to read, I wanted to write. I wrote my first book in second grade. I believe that if you don’t love to read, you will never be a writer. I also think you have to have determination and perseverance to stick to the process and complete projects. And if you don’t love to write, you won’t be successful at it because it takes more than just putting the words on paper. It takes a keen sense of observation and insight into human nature, with a spark of creativity thrown in for good measure.

How do you think your life experiences have prepared you for a writing career?

I taught primary school Art for 21 years, seven hundred and fifty children a week. And I taught night classes at the satellite college for Eastern Kentucky University for 10 years. Writing was what kept me sane during all that, because the writing was all mine. I could lose myself in another world or century or a different life than the one that faced me everyday. My day and night job put food on the table and put two children through college and supported another one until she was on her own. My weekend job was my joy.  

I didn't write my first story until my senior year in high school. My English teacher, Mrs. Burns, and my sweet mother were the first to encourage the idea that I could be a writer. That dream lived in me for too many years. 

I mentioned my writer's cave above. What is your ideal writing space? 

My office. My son had been gone for years and I finally called him and said, “You wouldn’t feel like I was kicking you out for good if I take down your bed and turn you bedroom into my office, would you? He said, “I’ve been gone for 12 years mom, and I love you, but I’m not moving back in.” So my office was born. LOL

Great story. I can hear the same words coming out of my son's mouth. What moment in this journey are you most proud of?

When I submitted two books to a publisher and signed contracts for them both in the same month. Both were historicals, Highland Moonlight and Captive Hearts.

It's time for a few giggles. There is someone you will never meet but whom you desperately need for them to know who you are. The only way to communicate with them is to send them a box with three items. What would those three items be?

A painting (one of mine), a published book (one of mine), and a business card (one of mine).

You’re going into battle. What are you writing, who are you fighting and what is your weapon?

Since I write military romance, historical, and paranormal it could be a contemporary or historical weapon or even a magical device. I’ll go with the magical device, my soul- sucking wand in Have Wand, Will Travel. I’m fighting a clan of vampires who are trying to take over my clan’s territory, which is Scryville, Kentucky. The wand is so powerful it can suck the soul out of any vampire. All it needs is a focus( a person) to direct it. But my character has compassion for even vampires so it’s a weapon of last resort to save lives rather than take them.
  

OHHH...that was fantastic. If I had a prize for the best answer for my crazy question, you would win hands down. AND...I'm loving the soul-sucking wand. 

This next question should be easy-peasy with your imagination. Write a love story in eight words.

Love warm, passionate, breathed a promise along every nerve.

Nailed! It! If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

“Welcome. Your computer is right this way. We like to read here, too.”

LOL! What...not paints? Teresa, what is up next for you?

I have a trilogy of novellas I’m releasing October 3rd under the series title of the Have Wand, Will Travel. The first two were part of the Magic and Mayhem Kindle World. When I got my rights back I edited them and am releasing them as a standalone series.

Have Wand, Will Travel  CLICK HERE

Once Bitten, Twice Shy  CLICK HERE

Adventures of a Witchy Wallflower  CLICK HERE

Book three is a completely new release and has never been published before.

All three are available for pre-order. Currently they’re only available at Amazon.

I have to slip in here for a second. I love the new covers and just added this series to my TRP!

I  have my Military Romance titled Hot SEAL, Rusty nail. It’s one of the SEALs In Paradise series.  I’m 1 of 8 authors writing in that series. My book will be released October 16^th but is available for preorder everywhere.

Amazon 

Amazon Canada 

Amazon UK 

KOBO

Smashwords  

Barnes and Noble 

Apple 

Where can readers find out more about your book and yourself?

Here are all my links.

Teresa Reasor Website  

Amazon Author page 

Twitter 

Facebook

Newsletter  

Blog

Pinterest 

Book Gorilla

Book Bub

Thank you so much for having me on your blog. I’ve loved answering your questions and hanging out here.

Read on,

Teresa Reasor

Teresa, it was wonderful getting caught up. Again, I can't thank you enough for for everything you have done for me. I wouldn't be the writer I am today without your kind and generous advice. If anyone has any questions for Teresa Reasor, please don't be shy. 

That's it for today. I highly recommend Teresa Reasor's books. She has something for everyone. As always, please take a moment for yourself and read a great book.

Hugs to all, 

Nancy C. Weeks

CURIOSITY ROVER FIFTH YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Hello Everyone!

Five years ago today, Curiosity landed on Mars. As a few of you might remember, my first interview on this blog was with my amazing sister-in-law, Joy Crisp.  Joy is Project Scientist for the Mars Exploration Rover Mission. Here is a quick throwback to that original interview. 

Wednesday, September 19, 2012 ...

I have always been inspired by people who follow their dreams.  Today, I’m so excited to introduce a woman I have been in awe with for years. Dr. Joy Crisp, the Mars Science Laboratory Deputy Project Scientist, is here to share with us how she learned to dream, and how her dreams led her to Mars.

Joy, I know that since the new Mars rover Curiosity’s landing in August, you have been living on Mars time.  I can’t thank you enough for taking time out of your crazy schedule to share what keeps your dream alive and how you handle the constant ups and downs.

Would you please tell us a little about yourself?

I received a bachelor's degree in Geology from Carleton College in Minnesota and a PhD in Geology from Princeton University.  My scientific expertise is in the mineralogy and formation of volcanic rocks on Earth and Mars. I have been a scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory since 1987, carrying out NASA-funded research on volcanic eruption clouds and lava flows on Earth and Mars.  For the Mars Pathfinder Project, I was the Assistant Rover Scientist and Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer Investigation Scientist.  After that, I was the Mars Exploration Rover Project Scientist for the Spirit and Opportunity rovers for six years.  In my current job as Mars Science Laboratory Deputy Project Scientist since 2005, I have worked to maintain the science integrity of the mission and to prepare for and carry out science operations for the Curiosity rover on Mars.

         People of all ages have forgotten how to dream. What inspired you to dream?

What inspires me to dream is being a “rock detective.” I like trying to figure out how rocks formed by studying and interpreting the clues revealed by textures, mineralogy, chemistry, and the local geology.  The rover missions on Mars have allowed us to answer a lot of questions about what Mars was like in the past, and have also taken us to the next level of interesting questions for us to ponder.  To be on the very edge of these discoveries, and to see the detective work as it unfolds, is awesome and exciting.  I am also jazzed that kids and people in the general public find the rover missions interesting and that it inspires kids to be more interested in science and engineering.

We all place obstacles in our path which brings our dreams to a dead stop. I call these obstacles dream killers. What was your dream killer and how did you overcome it?

I’ve never come to a complete dead stop.  But my work on the Mars missions has been a never-ending cycle of encountering problems and either overcoming them, working around them, or accepting them and resetting expectations.  The problems span a wide range of things that the whole team faces: tight schedule constraints, budget issues, technical challenges, complexity challenges, and new bureaucratic challenges!

         How do you keep the dream alive under extreme adversity – external or internal?

What keeps me going is seeing new pictures come down from Mars with amazing surprises and hearing about new things the science team is figuring out.  When working on a Mars rover mission that is years in the making, before it gets to Mars, the dream stays alive with the realization of how exciting it will be when the rover finally gets there.  It also helps that a whole team works through the problems together. The wide variety of people helps bring different ideas, attitudes, and team spirit into the mix and strengthens our ability to get through it. 

When you reached the top, how did it feel?

When each of the rover missions have landed successfully on Mars (Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity), I felt a huge sense of relief and happiness, but also realized my life was about to change tremendously once again as my workday life suddenly changed from planning and preparing for a mission to actually carrying out a mission. Each mission has been more difficult than the previous one so the psychological and scientific payoff keeps increasing.

         How did realizing your dream change you?

         It made all that hard work leading up to the success feel worth it. And it makes me really proud of the team – that we pulled it off.

        What's next? What new dream would you like to reach for?  

My current dream (which I share with the whole science and engineering team) is that we are able to use the Curiosity rover to its fullest and make it all the way over to Mount Sharp.  We won’t know what discoveries will be in store for us until we get there, but the pictures taken from about 5 miles away are stunning!  I want to help enable the science team to get the most out of the mission we can, and participate in the learning. 

Joy sent me two new outreach products that I thought you might enjoy. If you are an educator, you really want to check this out. Amazing information to use in your classroom.

Curiosity’s First Five Years of Science on Mars     

Five years of Martian discoveries after seven minutes of terror.

A Guide to Gale Crater   

The Curiosity rover has taught us a lot about the history of Mars and its 
potential to support life. Take a tour of its landing site, Gale Crater.

If you have any questions for Joy, please feel free to post them in the comment section before or shoot me a email, nancy@nancycweeks.com. You can keep up with Joy and the Mars Rover project HERE. 

Hugs to all,
Nancy C. Weeks

WELCOME BACK SUSANNE MATTHEWS, AUTHOR OF SWORN TO PROTECT

Happy Friday, Everyone!

I'm so thrilled to have Susanne Matthews back on my blog today. She is here to share her new release, Sworn to Protect with us, but she also left us a wonderful post that I think we all can relate. 

"Sometimes, we hang onto those dreams for a lifetime before acting on them. At other times, we just let them fade in to the “just imagine” column..."

I hope you enjoy Just Imagine as much I as did. In my humble opinion, I'm grateful Susanne took the leap beyond just image. I'm off to pick up my copy of Sworn to Protect for my weekend read.  

Just Imagine!

Thank you so much for inviting me to visit your blog today. As I was preparing to write this post, I thought of a number of different topics before settling on Just Imagine, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it’s the perfect topic to introduce my latest novel, Sworn to Protect.

I began my writing career in the fall of 2012 when I penned my first romance/suspense novel, Fire Angel. Since then, I’ve written 19 novels, 2 novellas, 3 short stories and 3 episodes of a sci-fi series I intend to finish later this year. Sworn to Protect is my 12^th romance/suspense title. Crimson Romance will be publishing my 13^th, No Good Deed, in July. I look at the books on my shelf, and I can’t stop wondering where all the unique and unusual ideas have suddenly come from. I was a plain old English teacher for more than 30 years. Now, I’m a novelist—a dream come true. Just imagine how many books I might have written if I had started two years earlier when I first retired from teaching, or even 40 years ago before I started my teaching career!

I’ve always wanted to be a writer and, to be perfectly truthful, I have been a writer for longer than I have been a novelist. In my teens, I wrote poetry which I shared with friends, something I continued to do for many years. In the late nineties, I wrote children’s stories for our local newspaper. One of my dreams is to edit and put those stories together in an anthology. While it’s true that children’s interests have changed, many of the stories carry moral lessons and values still current today. Just imagine what might have happened if I’d opted to stay with children’s lit. Those stories are aimed at children in grades 3-8. The closest to that I’ve gotten now is a YA published last winter called, Prove It!

Before I retired from teaching, I wrote curriculum for the Ontario Ministry of Education’s e-learning courses. Just imagine what could’ve happened if I’d elected to stay with technical writing instead of going on to become a romance novelist.

We all have dreams and aspirations. Sometimes, we hang onto those dreams for a lifetime before acting on them. At other times, we just let them fade in to the “just imagine” column and smile regrettably, thinking of how things could’ve been. But for all the dreams we have, we are also plagued with regrets.

Do I regret teaching? No, not at all. I have some wonderful memories of my days in the classroom and I know I made a difference in the lives of my students. But do I regret not trying to write sooner? Maybe, but the entire landscape of writing has changed incredibly in the past fifty years. I doubt I could’ve done then what I can do today. Technology has made an incredible difference in the lives of authors and I am definitely one. Just imagine what’s waiting out there to be discovered for the authors of tomorrow.

In Sworn to Protect, my hero and heroine get to do something few of us do in our lives. They get a do-over—a second chance to fall in love again and find the happily ever after they lost the first time around. But, like everything else in life, the price is high. Just imagine how you would feel if you woke up tomorrow and didn’t remember the last six years of your life.

Main Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072MHFQJF

The book is available in print form from Create Space and will be added to Amazon within the week. https://tsw.createspace.com/title/7234619

The Blurb:

Four years ago, a car accident robbed Nancy Frost of her child and her mother, taking what was left of her marriage with it in the process. A forensic accountant, she agrees to look at a company’s books in a divorce case, trying to find hidden assets, but her meeting with the lawyer goes terribly wrong when the restaurant is attacked.

The moment US Marshal Neil Copeland discovers his wife has been shot in a Baltimore restaurant, he rushes to her side, determined not to let her down again. As the police investigate, evidence suggests the attack was a ploy to hide a specific hit. When a professional assassin tries to kill Nancy a second time, it’s clear that she was the target and whatever’s going on is a lot more complicated than they think.

When Nancy awakes after a month in an induced coma, not only does she not remember the attack on the restaurant, she doesn’t remember marrying Neil.

Faced with the challenge of protecting his wife from a powerful, faceless enemy, Neil must bring her up to date, dredging up all the sorrow that tore them apart in the first place, hoping something will jar her memory.

As he races against time, can he save her from an unknown assassin and convince her to give the love they once had a second chance?

Find more about Susanne Matthews Here: 

~~~

Happy reading and Hugs to All,

Nancy C. Weeks