Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Welcome Regan Taylor

The lovely and amazing Regan Taylor joins us today, and she's got a wonderful story to tell you all. Please make her feel welcome.

 
1  How long have you been writing? What inspired you to pick the pen up one day and create characters that capture the imagination?
Hmmm, about 20 years – yikes! That’s a surprise!

My first two books were non-fictions. The first was in response to my own experience with carpal tunnel and coming close to losing everything – literally everything. The second was a textbook for college students with disabilities, primarily learning disabilities and to be used in a class teaching skills to help those students make it through university. I began writing fiction in 2005 as a way of dealing with my job as a police dispatcher.

2. What genre would you like to try that you haven’t yet?
I write primarily time travel and what is so great about that, for me, is that I can “go” anywhere I want, meet anyone I want and experience anything I want through that story.  With time travels you can pretty much experience any other genre within the travel itself.

3. Most people envision an author’s life as being really glamorous. What’s your take on this? Can you tell us something unglamorous you did within the last week or so?
LOL. THAT is an excellent question.  It reminds me of the early days of the movies based on Danielle Steele’s books. She would introduce the movie wearing this gorgeous gowns while sitting in an elegant room in her Pacific Heights home.

Unglamorous for me would be calling the plumber because a fixture in my bathroom was blocked up.

4. Plotter or pantzer?
Definitely a pantzer although once the story is written I do plot, usually by talking with a good friend about what I feel are bumps in the story.

5. What do you do when you’re suffering writers block?
You know, for almost a year I thought I had it because I was just so drained, so tired but I kept getting ideas. I just couldn’t get myself to sit down and write what was going through my mind. Then I realized it coincided with the tenant who moved out in mid-September moving in. She’s one of those extremely needy co-dependent type people who always has to have some sort of personal drama going on. She refused to accept any personal boundaries and was constantly trying to push past them. She’s what we call a psychic vampire. Once I realized what was going on, stories started to flow again and I got in gear. Before her I never had an issue. My solution – steer clear of drama-queen-victims!

6. If you could be a character in any of your books who would it be and why?
I ascribe to the theory that our characters are all parts of our own Id. They are factions of us and can do the things we wish we could do if we were younger, more daring, lived in a different time or place. Of all my characters Sami from Traveling Bride is the one who I would love to be. You won’t be meeting her for awhile though. The first draft of her story is done but I have some commitments before I can do her justice.

7. Looking over the past year, what has been the best moment for you in your writing career?
The release of Mistaken Bride, book 2 of my Bride series. Kendrick, the hero, is my favorite one. There is something just so vulnerable and endearing about him. I wish he could come to life and be a part of mine. I love that story and the date of its release was one of my pinnacles.

8. What do you enjoy doing with your spare time, your non-writing time? 
I read. Anything and everything.

9. If you could invite any famous person, dead or alive, for dinner, who would it be and what would you eat?
Oh! Alexandre Dumas!  And we’d have lobster, baked potatoes, creamed spinach and baked Alaska for desert!

10.  What are you working on now? Can you tell us a little about it?
I’m currently working on a book tentatively called The World. It started from a simple discussion at work one day when one of the attorneys had a meeting with a senator about something one of the senator’s constituents didn’t like. The hero has elements of one of my close friends who happens to be a police officer.

11. Are you in love? Have you ever been?
Oh yes. Our story is, I think, a tad different. When we met we were both engaged to other people. We met at a welcome home parade I had gone to with a friend. She was busy ogling a sailor in his dress whites and I told her he may be a cutie, but there was nothing like a Marine in his dress blues. Unbeknownst to me, a Marine who happened to be in his dress blues heard me. When my friend, Kecia, nudged me I turned and looked at him and we had one of those really long moments of gazing into each other’s eyes. She finally tugged on my arm and asked me what was going on. I told her that that was the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with. She pointed out I was engaged. I’m still with my Marine.

Now on to the excerpt of Regan's book:


Mistaken Bride, book 2 of the Bride Series
Western Historical Romance
Awe-struck
AISN B004MDLSPW
Buy HERE

I think most authors fall in love with either their hero, heroine or both while they are writing their stories. For me, I fell in love with Kendrick in Mistaken Bride, book 2 of my Bride Series, when I wrote Brett’s story, stayed in love for his story and even months later and new heroes written, he still holds a special place in my heart.
Hastening west with the information that will clear his brother's wife of murder, the last thing Deputy U.S. Marshal Kendrick Parker expects when he arrives in St. Louis is to come face to face with the notorious Black Bette Barclay. Knowing the San Francisco Marshal's office has a warrant for her arrest, Kendrick arranges to bring the dastardly woman as far as his brother's home in Adler Creek, Wyoming where he will turn Bette over to fellow lawmen. To avoid bringing undue concern to his fellow wagon train travelers, Kendrick concocts the story that Bette is his wife, Mandy.

Journeying to St. Louis to take a position as a school teacher the last Amanda Davis expected was to be arrested for crimes she did not commit. Well almost the last thing. The absolute last thing she expected was to be loaded on to a wagon in a train heading west and told she must pose as the wife of the too good looking Marshal. Prim, proper and a tad prickly she quickly learns nothing irritates the Marshal more than using her extensive vocabulary. While her verbal jabs tend to mostly irritate Kendrick, he cannot help but notice how Amanda is with the children on the wagon train, taking time each night to give them lessons.

After nearly drowning in an icy river, Kendrick takes ill and is forced to stop at a homestead to heal. He soon realizes he has the wrong woman...or is it the right one?
 Buy at any of the following links:


And finally, here are a few places you'll be able to find Regan:

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

A new author for me, I will have to try... the bride series sounds lovely.

Verb said...

The old romantic in me likes the story of your marine. It's nice that things like that happen, isn't it.
I do have a bit of a problem with your name, though. Is it pronounced REEgan or RAYgan?

I was ok until Pres Regan arrived, now I'm insecure ...

Nice interview, thanks for answering the questions