Thank you for conducting this interview for Girl with Pen. This is my last stop on my blog tour and I hope everyone has enjoyed the ride.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Q: How are you feeling now that your latest book is out & on tour?
A: Overwhelmed. There is a brief moment when you sigh in relief. It doesn’t last long though, because there is so much to do on the launch and marketing side once the book is released. I’m desperate to get back to filling my days creating new characters and spinning new tales.
Q: What inspires you to write?
A: Love, sorrow, fear, courage. All the burning issues that life presents us with everyday serve as inspiration. Although there is wisdom in the axiom that we should write about what we know, with the internet, we can know a lot about things we never personally experience. That draws the imagination down many a rugged and twisted path, and opens the writer to wondrous worlds of exploration.
Q: Are you currently working on a new book at this time?
A: Yes, I’m actually writing notes for three novels, but I have only written the character sheets and first chapter for two of them so far.
Q: Do you have a routine you follow when you write? (i.e. listen to music, sit in a certain chair or at a certain desk)
A. That’s a great question. I have back issues so sitting at a computer for long hours is a daunting task. I’ve tried writing in every conceivable place in my house, inside and outside, using every type of device, but I always find I need to be at my office desk to accomplish most of the writing.
Q: How do you go about creating the most “Swoonworthy” character?
A. Swoonworthy may be enhanced by the physical image, but what’s in a person’s heart and mind, now that’s what makes them unique and engaging. Those visceral qualities might be why we would fall into bed with them, but we fall in love with what their words, their thoughts, their tenderness and strengths divulge.
Q: As a child what did you want to do when you grew up?
A. There are those unique individuals who know at a very young age what they want to become and blaze a straight path to their goal. I was not that child. I wanted to be something new every time I encountered someone who grabbed my imagination; a rodeo rider, a nurse, a doctor, a skydiver, a train conductor, a cartoonist, even though I couldn’t draw a straight line and have no depth perception. The list is very long. As a writer, I gain the opportunity to explore all of these possibilities through my characters as well as many other dreams.
Q: When did you first consider yourself a “writer”?
A. Writing has been a part of my career path since my early twenties. But I don’t think I considered myself a writer until I hit my thirties. Then, I actively employed those skills to develop management, communication, and other skills training programs and branched out to many other creative writing platforms.
Q: Do you have a favorite playlist that you listen to when you write?
A. Sometimes, I want absolute silence when I write, no talking, no music, as little noise as possible. However, when I get to the emotional parts of stories or poems, I always write with music. My heroine in Finding My Highlander sings all the time. Following are two of the songs that she sang and that inspired me while writing a number of passages in the book.
Q: Which do you prefer paperback, hardback or ebooks & why?
A. I like the feel and weight of books, even the smell of a new book. But nothing beats the ease of use found with ebooks. I read almost everything on ebooks now.
Q: When you aren't writing what do you do to relax and have fun?
A. Walking with my four-legged helper, Strider. And I enjoy live performances so we often attend plays, musicals, and ballets.
Okay now some fun ones:
Q: What are your favorite types of heroines? Do you like the damsel in distress who needs saving or the kick-ass variety? Why?
A. Always the kick-ass varieties because I believe women have great strength and courage. And when it comes to saving someone, the lovers must always save themselves before they can save each other.
Q: What is your one “guilty pleasure”?
A. Coffee ice cream. Vanilla is okay if I have blueberries and chocolate syrup, but coffee flavoured beats out all others.
Q: What is or was your most embarrassing moment or the craziest thing you have ever done? Come on you can’t hold out on everyone. LOL
A. I’ll go with craziest here. Swimming with black fin sharks in Bora Bora. Some of them were eight feet long and got very up close and personal.
How about a little of This or That:
Coffee or Tea?
Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon or at night.
Kinky or Sweet?
Somewhere in between. More the hot and steamy with lots of emotion and soul searching.
Sunset or Sunrise?
Sunset. I live near the ocean so we have hundreds of sunset photos. In my younger years I was a sunrise person, now it’s 97% sunset.
Dogs?
Dogs. I have always favoured dogs. I think we relate more to them, bu I’ve also had my share of cats over the years.
Shower or Bath?
Bath with fragrant bubbles and a glass of champagne.
Pink or Black?
Both - together if possible.
Can You Share With Readers Your Top Ten Fantasies?
Oh good lord, I’m not bringing you guys into my bedroom!
However, I write time-travel romances because who doesn’t want to visit and explore a few other periods in time. I definitely want that opportunity.
And I’d might enjoy going back a few decades while retaining the experiences and knowledge I’ve gained along the way. I’m infinitely curious about the different paths any one of us might have taken if we possessed even a tiny bit of precognition.
*****
Excerpt
It took several moments for her eyes to adjust to the dimmer light after re-entering the cave. Lorne was still sleeping by the banked fire; she approached him quietly to check his fever, which continued to burn. She rinsed the washcloth with fresh water and gently wiped his face, neck, and arms then reapplied a freshly wrung-out cool cloth to his forehead. At least he wasn’t shaking with chills any longer. That must be a good sign.
“Oh hell, what do I know about such fevers and wounds? I’ve done my best, Lorne.” She patted him gently and tucked the furs up around his chin.
When she looked around, it appeared only she and Lorne remained in the hideout. The sound of the waterfall splashing into the largest pool at the back of the cave entered her consciousness. “Well, sir, it seems you are still in the land of dreams and I am sorely in need of a bath.”
Approaching the large, dark pool below the waterfall, she could see a very faint edge of light at the top of the rock cliff, but she could not discern the size of the pool as the back portion lay beneath a rock overhang where the waterfall cloaked everything in shadow. She quickly stripped to her underwear and stepped onto the rocky edge while unhooking her bra. A sudden movement of water from the shadows at the back of the pool caused Andra to scream. She lost her footing and stumbled forward.
*****
Blurb:On a windswept cliff above San Francisco Bay in 2013, 27 year-old Andra Cameron, the last member of her family, prepares to scatter her family's ashes to the wind. An earthquake catapults her to the Scottish Highlands in 1705. She wakes, aching and bloody, to the sound of horses thundering through the trees. Terrified and with no other options, Andra accompanies these rugged warriors. She can't deny the undeniable attraction that ignites between herself and the handsome but gruff Kendrick. Will she trust him to provide protection in the harsh reality of 18th century Scotland and with her secret, or will she find a way to return home to the 21st century?
Laird Kendrick MacLean and his men, escaping a recent skirmish with their worst nemeses, clan Cameron and their Sassenach allies, are shocked to find an injured, unprotected female in their path. How could she not know her kin and how had she landed in the middle of the wilderness alone? His men suspect she's a spy or a witch. Still, Kendrick will not abandon an injured woman, even if she speaks unusually accented English, and her name is Cameron. Will he ransom her to others or will their closed hearts open to each other? Although he questions her every utterance, this feisty, outspoken woman inflames his desire like no other.
MY REVIEW:
FINDING MY HIGHLANDER IS THE FIRST BOOK I HAVE READ BY ALEIGHA SIRON AND I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED. ANDRA CAMERON IS PULLED BACK INTO TIME SPECIALLY SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS IN 1705 BY AN EARTHQUAKE WHILE TRYING TO SCATTER HER FAMILY'S ASHES. SHE IS RESCUED BY LAIRD KENDRICK MACLEAN AND HIS MEN. DESPITE THE AIR OF MYSTERY AND SECRETS SURROUNDING ANDRA, KENDRICK OFFERS HIS PROTECTION. AS KENDRICK GETS TO KNOW ANDRA, HE IS IMPRESSED BY HER COURAGE, SKILLS AND TALENT. THEIR IS AN UNDENIABLE ATTRACTION BETWEEN THEM. AS THEY GET TO KNOW ONE ANOTHER, ANDRA AND KENDRICK FIND THEMSELVES FALLING IN LOVE. WHAT WILL HAPPY ONCE KENDRICK LEARNS ANDRA'S SECRET? WILL HE BELIEVE HER?
I REALLY LOVED ANDRA AND KENDRICK. ANDRA PUTS KENDRICK IN HIS PLACE AND ISN'T AFRAID TO BE WHO SHE IS. ANDRA IS SO BRAVE AND ADJUSTS TO THE LIFE OF SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS IN 1705. BOTH ANDRA AND KENDRICK ARE VERY STUBBORN AND DETERMINED TO GET TO THE TRUTH ABOUT ANDRA AND HOW SHE CAME TO BE HERE. THERE IS A LOT OF CHEMISTRY BETWEEN BOTH ANDRA AND KENDICK. I ENJOINED THE CONSTANT BICKERING BETWEEN THEM. IT WAS VERY ENTERTAINING AT TIME. THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER WONDERFUL CHARACTERS IN THE BOOK I WOULDN'T MIND KNOWING THEIR STORY. I WILL DEFINITELY BE READING MORE BOOKS BY ALEIGHA SIRON. I ENJOYED HER WRITING AND STORY SO MUCH. I WAS COMPLETELY DRAWN IN THE STORY. IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A SCOTTISH HIGHLANDER ROMANCE FILLED WITH ACTION, ROMANCE AND TIME TRAVEL, I RECOMMEND FINDING MY HIGHLANDER. YOU WON'T REGRET IT. 4 STARS
Buy Links
Amazon us: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DFGYURE/
Amazon uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01DFGYURE
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/finding-my-highlander-aleigha-siron/1123595128
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/finding-my-highlander/
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/625227
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/ebook/finding-my-highlander
*****
Author Bio and Media Links
After more than twenty years writing and delivering management and other training programs for modest-sized to Fortune Five Hundred companies, and ten years developing community crisis-intervention training programs, Aleigha turned her writing efforts to her first loves, fiction, and poetry. Her poetry has appeared in numerous anthologies and university presses over the past few decades. Following a difficult period in her life, she discovered solace in romance novels that inspired her to write in this genre. As she says, "who doesn't desire a guaranteed happy-ever-after scenario?" Always interested in the concept of time-travel, she knew her first few stories would follow that theme.
When not writing, her trusty four-legged companion/helper, Strider, accompanies her on sunset walks along the shore. During these quiet walks under an expansive sky, with the whoosh of waves across the sand and her gaze drifting over the rolling sea, her best glimmers of inspiration come to mind. Following the recent discovery of distant Scottish ancestors, she embarked on a trip to the Highlands. Although she had already developed the characters for Finding My Highlander, her trip to the Highlands enriched the characters and enhanced the story direction. This is her first full-length romance novel. Aleigha is working on a prequel to Finding My Highlander, and another time-travel novel set in a later period.
WWW (Aleigha’s WebPage): http://aleighasiron.com/
Aleigha Siron’s Book page at Tirgearr Publishing:
http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Siron_Aleigha/finding-my-highlander.htm
Tirgearr Publishing Home Page: http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com/index.htm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Aleigha-Siron
*****
GIVEAWAY!
Make sure to follow the whole tour—the more posts you visit throughout, the more chances you’ll get to enter the giveaway. The tour dates are here: http://www.writermarketing.co.uk/prpromotion/blog-tours/currently-on-tour/aleigha-siron/
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I love that it enhances my imagination.
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