Welcome Tracy Sumner, Author Extraordinaire!
I'm welcoming one of my Kensington sisters to One Word at a Time today! Tracy Sumner has been awarded the National Reader’s Choice, the Write Touch and the Beacon – with finalist nominations in the HOLT Medallion, Heart of Romance, Rising Stars and Reader’s Choice. Her books have been translated into German, Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish!
It doesn't have to be December to settle into a great holiday season romance! And while Tracy's most recent work happens to have a holiday theme, JEEZOHHELL, look at that cover! I'd read that any time of year!!! She also has a number of other fabulous works to choose from and she's giving away several today! Your meaningful comment will enter you for a chance to WIN a set of ebooks including the TIDE series and her holiday novella!!
An award-winning holiday novella, TO DESIRE A SCOUNDREL. Tanner Barkley was set on forgetting the love of his life. Until fate threw Katherine Peters into his path for an unforgettable holiday of passion.
Don’t forget the first rule when dealing with scoundrels.
Never wager more than you are willing to lose.
Especially in matters of the heart.
To Desire a Scoundrel: Buy link
“A bad boy…and a lively, independent woman. An excellent sequel!”
~ All Romance Bookstore Reviews
“A searing passion…a sexy tale filled with great verbal repartee!”
~ Romantic Times
Tracy, can you tell us a little about TO DESIRE A SCOUNDREL?
TO DESIRE A SCOUNDREL: A CHRISTMAS SEDUCTION was originally published by Kensington, but I have rights back, and have released the eBook on my own! It’s a sequel to TO SEDUCE A ROGUE, out in early 2012! Yes, I released the holiday novella first – for the Season!
Tell us a little about TO DESIRE A SCOUNDREL what inspired you to write it?
When I finished TO SEDUCE A ROGUE, I really had this great feeling about Adam Chase’s best friend, Tanner Barkley. Very cynical, secretive, sexy, in other words, the perfect hero! And who better to pair him with than the daughter of the somber chaperone in ROGUE? No daughter of such a severe woman could suffer fools easily.
And we all know how foolish a man in love can act.
Then my editor invited me to participate in a Christmas anthology and TO DESIRE A SCOUNDREL was born.
Katherine Peters is made for Tanner, and for the first time, I wrote about a hero who realizes this simple fact before the heroine! (If you recall, in ROGUE, Adam is clueless until nearly the end. Even Tanner tries to tell him the error of his ways. How sad is that?)
When you start writing, do you already have the story plotted out or do you let the characters dictate what will happen?
I do have SOME things I want to happen. It’s often more things I want the characters to SAY. But much of what happens is dictated by my characters.
What inspired you to write in your genre? Is this the genre you started writing in or have you morphed to this one?Do you have a favorite character you have written?
Noah Garrett from TIDES OF LOVE is kinda my guy. He’s a sexy nerd – a marine biologist. Perhaps I should say that he is the perfect guy in my mind. Intelligent+, kinda, tortured, complex, gorgeous.
Who was the toughest character for you to "get right" that you have written so far?
Maybe Tanner in TO DESIRE A SCOUNDREL. It’s hard to write a hero who is very conflicted and closed to love without making him appear “un-heroic”. I like my hero AND heroines to have an edge. I have an edge, so I write with one. But you have to temper that with kindness, caring, vulnerability…something to garner support from your reader. Plus, I have to like them, too!
Do you draw inspiration for your characters from real life? Any fun stories you could share?
Well, this one is really funny. When I started my first novel, TO SEDUCE A ROGUE, I was dating this guy who used to be a marine biologist. And I really wrote the novel without thinking that much about how I knew about marine biology, etc. And later on, I realized that he would probably read the book or hear about it and think it was about him. I was mortified!Because Noah was all my creation. Seriously.
What do you find the hardest part of writing?
Writing! Putting butt in chair and PRODUCING.
Name one thing that your readers would be surprised to know about you.
For someone who writes HEA (happily ever after) stories, I’m a bit cynical about the long-term prospects of many relationships I encounter. I’m the person who rolls her eyes at weddings. I’m not the crier.
Do you have a guilty pleasure?
Wine! And romance novels. Jack and Jennifer on Days of Our Lives from the late 80s/early 90s. Someone has a website (Devoted to Deveraux) with all the old clips – and I’ve been enjoying the hell out of it.
Does music influence your writing? If so, do any of your stories have a theme song?
I like the theme music from Out of Africa. Makes me want to create.
If your story was optioned for a movie, who would play your characters?
Noah Garrett: Harrison Ford/Indiana Jones -- as the Professor (not the guy with the whip)
Zach Garrett: Josh Lucas (Jake Perry, Sweet Home Alabama)
Tanner Barkley: Leonardo DiCaprio (Billy, The Departed): part bad boy, part sweet man
Adam Chase: Again, H Ford (Han Solo) Stubborn as hell, fights love, vulnerable
Where were you when you got your first contract? Who did you tell first?
Funny! My mother called me (I think I was living in Chicago at the time) and told me an editor with Kensington had called her. I freaked! I submitted my manuscript without including a phone number. They had to TRACK ME DOWN!!!
How old were you when you read your first romance book?
19
What author causes you to “go fan girl”/squeal over/anticipate upcoming books?
Well, Judith Ivory did. But she’s not writing anymore, I don’t think.
If you still have one of those pesky non writing jobs what is it?
I’m a graphic designer. Which I love.
What are you currently working on, and what else is in the wings?
Okay, the grand plan, if I can get the butt in chair deal going, is to finish a Victorian historical with light paranormal elements AND an edgy, sexy contemporary. I don’t know if I can finish both in the year. I also have an anthology coming out with a group of authors in April. Check out my website for release information!
If you could co-write with another author who would it be?
Stephen King. Ashley March in romance. Julie Anne Long.
How do you pick your characters names?
Research, names I hear that I like. What fits the character. What I can break down. I’m very fond of nicknames for characters.
Do you prefer the love at first sight approach or a steady growth throughout?
First sight. It’s a fantasy!
Where can readers find you?
Website: www.tracysumner.com
Twitter: @SumnerTracy
Facebook: Facebook.com/TracySumnerRomanceAuthor
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5259839.Tracy_Sumner
What other works do you have out right now?
Tides of Passion: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005WVPFH0
Tides of Love: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0066B1XTY
Tracy’s story telling career began when she picked up a copy of LaVyrle Spencer’s Vows on a college beach trip. A journalism degree and a thousand romance novels later, she decided to try her hand at writing a southern version of the perfect love story. With a great deal of luck and more than a bit of perseverance, she sold her first novel to Kensington Publishing.When not writing sensual stories featuring complex characters and lush settings, Tracy can be found reading romance, snowboarding, watching college football and figuring out how she can get to 100 countries before she kicks (which is a more difficult endeavor than it used to be with her four-year-old son in tow). She lives in Charlotte, NC, but after spending a few years in “the city”, considers herself a New Yorker at heart.
Leave a comment or question and enter to WIN a set of ebooks including the TIDE series and Tracy's holiday novella, TO SEDUCE A SCOUNDREL!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
11 comments:
Three words in the Romantic Times Review stuck with me as I read about your journey to publication, Tracy.
"...great verbal repartee."
Okay. "Searing passion..." popped my kettle corn, too.
I LOVE when supporting characters from one book appear as love interests in a sequel.
Congrats on the pending release of SEDUCE A ROGUE and your e-pub re-release of DESIRE A SCOUNDREL.
I hope you hadn't planned to keep your steamy side from your mother, because that cliche-alert-ship sailed when Kensington called her.
Hi Tracy,
Love to read about writers and how your stories come together.I haven't read your books, but they sound great! Do you as a writer prefer to write about one genre over another? For historical books, do you like one time period over another?
Thanks for stopping by Tracy, adding your books to my TBR list :)
Michele
mharper1023@gmail.com
Hi Tracey,
I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure of reading one of your novels yet, but I'm definitely putting them on my list! :D
Thanks for sharing a bit about yourself--I always enjoy a good author interview! And thanks for the great giveaway too. :)
Enjoy!
TBQ
http://tbqspersonalbookpalace.blogspot.com
The_Book_Queen AT yahoo DOT com
Hi, Tracy. You're a new author for me but not for long. Your works sound amazing and I look forward in reading them.
Thanks,
Tracey D
booklover0226 at gmail dot com
Thanks, everyone for the wam welcome! Yes, the Kensington call was pretty funny. Can you imagine sending out a manuscript and leaving off contact information? All I can blame that on is age! I was still young then. Now, I have age and what I call "mommy" brain!
Regarding genres and settings. That's a timely question! Okay, SO FAR, I have written about my native locales, South and North Carolina. All historical novels or novellas.
SCOUNDREL and the Feb release, ROGUE, were set in the SC, 1850/1852. I was a journalism major, and ROGUE story's is centered around the profession at that time. Probably not a lot know -- unless they've studied or read about it for some reason, but editors routinely backed up stories at the end of a pistol or sword. No kidding! A lot were killed. Newspapers were very politically-driven, owned, etc. And I am ,for some reason, always very focused on my character's career. (And, yes, I do research, but the heroines typically have careers, too. What they could for the times.)
The TIDES books, you know the funny story about the marine biologist. And I visited Beaufort, NC, where the 2nd marine laboratory was actually built. And the town was lovely -- very much Pilot Isle. I do think I hit the setting on the nail with these. I could feel the ocean and warm breezes while I wrote, so I think it conveyed well on the page. **I'm actually going to release Caleb's story (he's brother #3) this year!** I never contemplated this before 2011. I thought his story was told...but I've been thinking about it. And gotten reader feedback, so I think it's time. Always asking about Caleb. It should be fun since Noah is my dream man. Caleb is nothing like the guy I would choose -- but I'm thinking about how he's the most physically intimidating of the three brothers -- and the most vulnerable/emotional. And he was in both Tides books already. This is nothing new, but interesting.
As far as contemporaries go...I actually have a novella coming out in April. It will be sold as part of an anthology and separately as well, since the anthology mix is cross-genre. (For the strictly romance reader who do not want mystery, too, etc.) I also have two contemporary novels/works-in-progress, too. Perhaps one released in 2012, I'm hoping!
My dream is to write both! It's time that's the issue. I'm a FT creative professional with a young son, so time is the killer! :)
If you read my stuff, you'll see that I tend to have a bit of a modern voice. I don't sound like a regency writer, for example.
Can't wait to add Tracy's books to my to-read list on Good Reads (aka the list I pull up every time I have money to burn at my local bookstore). AND a giveaway to top it off??? Crazy awesome!
Thanks for the chance!
jenn.cunha(at)gmail.com
Hi Tracy!
Thanks for coming over to One Word at a Time!!
I'm dying to know about your covers! They're gorgeous! I see you're a graphic designer -- did you create them yourself or did you have them created? Any advice on designing/creating covers?
Thanks for cover comments! I actually set out to design them -- and the Tides covers are my "art direction" I'd say. But cover design is a speciality, and I soon found myself wanting more depth in the covers -- and more brand direction/assistance. So, I scouted out designers and found Kim Killion @ Hot Damn Designs! She's a Photoshop guru (which you need for covers) and I absolutely love them. I know the Tides covers are a bit modern for historical novels, however, these are fairly "modern" historicals. And sexy. So I wanted to show that. I hope it worked.
I can't wait to see what Kim designs for the contemporary covers. And the next Tides novel -- which has the tentative title of TIDES OF DESIRE.
I guess my advice would be to pony up for a good, solid cover. It's crucial. Absolutely crucial that they be good.
To desire a scoundrel sounds fantastic! What's your favorite thing about historical romances?
Thank you for the giveaway!
Nat
Hi Joan! When will you post the winners? =D
Post a Comment