VISITING DIGNITARY/COLLEEN COBLE

 

ALL RIGHTY LADIES AND GENTS -- PLEASE PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR OUR MOST RECENT GUEST -- COLLEEN COBLE!   (WOOT WOOT)

HI! It's good to hear from you again. It's been a while. I understand you've been very busy. What have you been working on? Good to hear from you, Cie! I've been working a the first book in the Hope Beach series set in the Outer Banks. And of course I had to visit to make sure everything was accurate. :)

What releases do you have coming out in 2012? Blue Moon Promise ships in late January. It's a historical marriage of convenience story, and of course, has lots of mystery and suspense laced through it. In July Tidewater Inn ships. It's a contemporary novel that starts off with a bang. Libby is watching on a harbor cam and sees her friend and business partner kidnapped. When she arrives at Hope Beach, she discovers a family she didn't know existed. Lots of mystery and atmosphere. You have a fairly significant backlist? How many books have you written? Can you give us the titles?   Somewhere around 43 books. My Rock Harbor novels (Without a Trace, Beyond a Doubt, Into the Deep, Abomination, Cry in the Night) are very popular with my readers. There are 4 books in the Aloha Reef series set in Hawaii (Distant Echoes, Black Sands, Dangerous Depths, Midnight Sea) and Distant Echoes is available right now at Dollar General for $3. I did a historical romantic mystery series that's been very popular too called the Mercy Falls series (The Lightkeeper's Daughter, The Lightkeeper's Bride, The Lightkeeper's Ball.) My Lonestar books are hugely popular because they are all marriage of convenience stories set in Texas. My newest release, Lonestar Angel, is the 4th in that series. The others are: Lonestar Sanctuary, Lonestar Secrets, Lonestar Homecoming. The only series that needs to be read in order is the Rock Harbor one. The others can be read out of order. I also have several standalone novels: Alaska Twilight, Fire Dancer, Anathema. The other books are out of print mass markets.   If you had to be “stuck in an elevator” with one of your characters for several hours, who would it be and what would you talk about? I would love to chat with Bree, the heroine of the Rock Harbor novels. She has an amazing search dog, Samson, and I'm just fascinated with all the search dogs can do. Do you listen to music as you write? If so, which artists? What is your playlist? No, I can't concentrate with music playing, not even instrumentals. I wish I could! The business of writing is changing rapidly. Do you find the change scary? Invigorating? How (if at all) have you changed your career plans/path as a result?   Oh it is! The biggest change has been the rise of e-books. It's a great opportunity for us to bring back out of prints book though, and I'm in the process of making those old books available in digital. What is one key bit of advice you would give to a prospective writer? Read craft books. I always have a book on craft in my hand. I also study how other writers in my genre do it. I'm always reading. :)

Now Colleen being the gracious lady she is has offered a giveaway of her newest release for one commenter drawn at random.  So be sure to stop by and say hi, ask any questions you want, and generally make her feel welcome! 

(AND FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE CURIOUS THIS IS THE SYNOPSIS) For Eden, hope is rekindled when her estranged husband delivers the astounding news: that their lost baby girl has been found. Years ago Eden and Clay Larson’s baby was stolen. Kidnappers demanded a ransom, but something went horribly wrong at the exchange: the kidnapper’s car crashed into the river and was never recovered. Eden blamed herself, Clay lost himself in work. Their young and rocky marriage ended. Or so Eden thought. Now she’s met Kent. He’s everything Clay wasn’t: funny, stable, and eager to please her. Just as he’s about to propose marriage at a romantic dinner, Clay arrives and tells Eden she can’t marry Kent. She’s still married to him. He never signed the divorce decree. Even more earth-shattering than this news is that he’s never stopped looking for Brianna. Based on a tip, he thinks their daughter is in Bluebird, Texas, at a youth ranch. All five little girls there are the right age, but he’s not sure which is Brianna. To discover the truth, the couple becomes counselors to the girls at Bluebird Ranch. They move into small quarters in the bunkhouse and oversee the kids as they try to find out more. As they work together, their love for the children grows and their love for each other is rekindled. But as danger closes in, Eden and Clay realize they’ve been lured to this remote West Texas location; their lives and the lives of the little girls are in danger. But as Eden learns, “hope does not disappoint.”