Author Interview - Loree Peery

Today we have fellow white rose author Loree Peery talking about her new release Rainn on my parade. It released last week and is available HERE and in print and amazon.com and amazon.co.uk

How did you come up with your premise?

Rainn on My Parade is book two in the Frivolities series. I hadn’t planned a series, but sometimes the characters take over (with a little divine direction, I believe). When Rainn said to Eric in Moselle’s Insurance, “If the daughter looks anything like the mother, you’ve got a good thing going here.”

Is there a story behind your book? How did the story evolve?

I’d already planned to write a reunion story with Moselle as the heroine’s name. When the women in my writer’s group critiqued or listened to the progress of that story, they kept talking about how much they liked Moselle’s mother and aunt. So I started thinking about stories for the older widows.

For those who are not familiar with this story, would you please give us the blurb?

After firefighter Rainn Harris rescues Geneva Carson from being stuck in a tree, she feels she owes him. Helping to care for his autistic niece comes easy, but her attraction to Rainn is a different story. Being drawn to a man twelve years her junior metes internal havoc as Geneva attempts to balance responsibility and personal fulfillment. And the prospect of becoming a middle-aged mom to a special -needs child sends Geneva into a tailspin of conflicting emotions.

As the custodial parent for his young niece, Rainn is determined to be a better parent than his absentee sister. When Geneva agrees to help care for Mia, Rainn is overjoyed. He admires Geneva’s compassion and enthusiasm for life, and expects she’ll be a positive influence on Mia. What he doesn’t expect is to fall in love with the beautiful and vital woman. But Geneva’s hung up on their age difference, and he must convince her of his sincerity before they will ever have a chance at happiness together.

As tension threatens to pull them apart, both must learn to rely on the Lord to direct their futures—whether that means two lives joined or paths in opposite directions.

Are there any fun tidbits about this story you can share with us?

Oh boy, my age is showing. In dialogue, Rainn said Geneva looked “foxy,” but the editors told me that expression is dated. When I shared that with my youngest daughter and said how exciting it was to be publishing an older woman/younger man romance, she said, “Mom, it’s called cougar.” Now, that expression doesn’t sound pleasant to me at all. I have yet to look that up. Do mother cougars eat their young or something gross?

Hmm I’d say foxy too. Guess I’m showing my age as well.

How did you decide on the setting?

The setting was the first thing that came to me after I visited a couple crazy women’s shops in a neighbouring town. Frivolities was born. One of my writer friends told me she wanted to live in Frivolities.

When will it be released?

The e-book will be available April 1. And I’m really looking forward to holding a print book in my hand.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

The Nebraska Sandhills. I dream of a house high enough that I could see a vista of native pasture, sunrises, and sunsets. It doesn’t bother me at all to not go anywhere accept church. But loved ones can’t always come to me. And there are amenities of being close to a city.

What hidden talent do you possess outside of writing... something you do for fun, but are good at?

I have an eye for taking pictures. My daughters and granddaughters think I should have them available to sell. But I find it still stressful, and time consuming, to get a few on Facebook!

What’s your favourite colour?

Right now it’s purple. I have an affinity for cobalt wine bottles (hubby gathers them from the recycle bins). Green has always been at the top of my list. And, depending on my mood, red and yellow as well.

What are you most passionate about, other than writing?

I believe the Lord’s return could happen any day. My greatest desire is for all my children and grandchildren to come to the knowledge of saving grace.

Name some of your most favourite things.

Photo albums. I have one for each grandchild. A picture on my wall of me sitting on my mother’s lap when I was three, and she’s reading to me. The concentration on my face is priceless. My green tea CR-V, which my honey gave me for our 35^th anniversary.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?

I’d call it more procrastination than anything. Writing creates writing. Even if I don’t have a plan as to where I’m going, if I just start typing, I’m soon in the zone. Not always, some days I may only write a passable paragraph, or a page, which depends a lot upon interruptions.

How do you develop your plots and characters?

Each story has been different. I have umpteen notebooks on craft, and have attempted and tossed many processes that work for other writers. Sometimes I start with a character, a setting, a dilemma, or even dialogue. I’ve finally developed a chapter by chapter goal that involves plot elements or turning points with a scene idea. But most of the time, it’s the writing that gets me to where I want to go. And in the process, I delete a lot of what goes into the first draft.

Are you working on anything at the present you’d like to share with us?

The third book in the Frivolities series is with my editor now. The fourth is finished and my critique partners are having a look.

How do you come up with the titles to your books?

They usually just happen. Sometimes I’ve brainstormed. When they don’t come easy, I pray. And I should have said that earlier. When I struggle with any aspect of my writing it’s because I’m trying to do it on my own strength.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I would say the feedback when I wrote for, and then became the editor of a large church women’s ministries newsletter. (Now, that was a mouth full!)

Describe your writing space.

After my son moved from home the third time, I took his room and turned it into my study. The room houses eight oak bookcases, of which my husband built two. They hold mostly hardcovers, well over 1,000. On top are special collections of books and Gone with the Wind collectibles. Sprinkled throughout the shelves are other special mementos from former co-workers, family, friends, and writing events. One bookcase is for writing reference, including a shelf of filled craft/business three-ring binders.

File cabinets are tucked in the closet, along with crates of filled journals and paperback “keepers.” My TBR stack and a tote of books I’ll pass on to my daughter, wait on the floor. Copies of manuscripts are stored in decorative rectangle hatboxes in the center of the room.

My desk is an antique I refinished. It features a drawer almost as big as the desktop, with deep secrets going back to 1990. The stained glass Tiffany lamp is a retirement gift from co-workers in Modern Languages at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I hadn’t realized I needed a lamp until they gave it to me.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I like to be outside, tinkering in my rock and flower gardens, taking walks, watching birds, just sitting. Coffee or lunch with special Christian friends or other writers are highlights. I especially like movies or lunch with my husband. I’m looking forward to a ladies retreat, and enjoy Bible study.

Do you have any strange handwriting habits, like capitalizing all your “r”s or dotting your “I”s with heart (or anything like that)?

Such an interesting question. I juxtapose printing and cursive. And I write my r’s a very old-fashioned way. In recent months I met a cousin I had never known. He is a few months older than me and writes his r’s the exact same way. I need to ask him if he went to country school. Maybe it was a sign of the times.

You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?

The unsolved homicide of my father. That act has affected generations of my family. But, it has enabled me to have the outlook of overcomer.

What is your heritage?

German. My maiden name is Mosel, which is a river in Europe.

Have you ever cried during a movie?

Oh, my goodness, yes. My kids and grandkids have made fun of me. It doesn’t take much. There are certain commercials that bring a tear. Watching performances by Jackie Evancho or Susan Boyle do the same.

If you were granted three wishes by a genie, what would they be?

(I’d like to have a picture of Clare coming up with these questions. Does that count?) (LOL ummm maybe)

I’d like the rooms in my home painted and updated. I would LOVE the ability to be a tech whiz. And, I guess I’d like some of my writing friends who really deserve to be published, see their names in print.

If you could see anyone tomorrow (dead or alive), who would it be?

My mother. Over the years I’ve had so many questions about many things, I’d like to talk to her about.

:) thanks for stopping by.

The review is coming. I'm on the last chapter :)