New Release and Interview with Author Ember Leigh

Book Description:

Rose Delaney is a baby bounty hunter, rescuing children from fugitive ex-spouses. All she wants is to return a recovered child to its mother and get back to her regimented solitary life. But when a snow storm leaves her and baby Emmy stranded, Rose has no choice but to lean on the ruggedly handsome rescuer, who thinks the baby is hers. Holed up in their mountain resort-under-construction and unable to contact Emmy’s mother, Rose’s priority is hitting the road—even if Garrett’s erotic touch entices her to ride out the storm.

Construction boss Garrett Galo loves his job, but he never imagined a perk like being snowbound during a whiteout with the sassy brunette he just rear-ended. He’s learned to stay away from women who want a family, especially when they come with a kid in tow. When passionate nighttime encounters flare between them, Garrett begins to question what he’d risk to keep Rose.

This isn’t the time or the place for romance—but will five days on a mountain make these loners reconsider giving in to love?

Buy links for the THE LAST RESORT:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MRD30DX/?tag=thewildrosepr-20

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-last-resort-ember-leigh/1125619766

The Wild Rose Press: http://wildcatalog.thewildrosepress.com/all-erotic/4944-the-last-resort.html

Interview:

I’m thrilled to have fellow author Ember Leigh as a guest today! Ember and I have known each other for a little under a year, and have swapped manuscript critiques and beta reading. She is a very colorful character and amazing writer, and it’s my pleasure to interview her. While I was writing Sonnet Coupled, during the revision process, she gave me some really helpful pointers on a few Argentinean dishes, as her husband is an Argentinean cook! Many of Abuela Graciela’s traits and the delicious dishes Sonnet whips up in the novel got their panache from Ember’s helpful comments.

Ember, it’s wonderful to have you! Let’s get right to it.

1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself (what you’ve published and are working on right now)? What draws you to the world of erotic romance? Thanks for having me, Roxanne! I’d love to share a little more…so I’ve published three novels since 2014, and three short stories. I have a LOT coming down the pipeline though: one other confirmed release for late summer 2017 and two other novels that are still swirling around in Query Land. I’ll be participating in a winter boxed set this year too, and plan on squeezing out at least one more installment to my travel-themed erotic short story series, Erotic Destinations. For whatever reason, I’ve ALWAYS been drawn to writing romance, ever since I was a teenager! It’s just what circulates inside me; all the way down to my bone marrow. I love writing about falling in love, the moment when two people choose each other. I’ll be writing these stories for the rest of my life.

2. You’re a dreadlock and yoga rock star. What do you do when you are not writing? Do you have any specific passions or hobbies other than writing? You basically named my two main hobbies: tending my massive pile of dreads, and yoga! Ha! Just kidding, the dreads don’t eat up any time. I practice yoga daily—it’s the only way I can manage to sit in a chair long enough to get any productive writing done—and now that we’re getting into spring again, gardening is amping up. I just started my seeds for this year’s crop. My other main passion is travel, but I haven’t left the country in a while, it’s been just over a year since my last international trip. It’s okay though, we’ll be leaving again early next year. It helps having an Argentinian husband—gotta go visit the family down south!

3. Yoga is so healthy and such a great way to de-stress. Do you have a day job as well? Which job in the past has inspired you the most for the characters or plot of one of your books? I do, but it has changed over time. Since I made the decision to take writing seriously, I’ve worked as both an analyst for an educational advocacy group based in Washington D.C. and more recently as a bilingual coach for a client services company here in Ohio. I think these jobs, and the ones I had prior to making the switch to remote work, influence my writing in subtle ways. I drew a lot from what I learned about non-profits (working for the D.C. organization and a migrant clinic in Ohio) when I wrote about a heroine’s work with a domestic abuse organization, even though I’ve never particularly worked in the area of domestic abuse.

4. Are you a person who makes their bed in the morning, or do you not see much point? I totally make my bed! I never used to, either—I didn’t see the point. When I met my husband, he very seriously shared with me once that he believed making a bed was a good start to the day. I’ve done it ever since. And I’ve also noticed that now he NEVER makes the bed. My, how the tables have turned…

5. It’s interesting in marriage how husbands and wives tend to swap roles as the years progress. I love that he was already conscientious before you married him! Sounds like a keeper. So, what inspired you to first start writing, and when did you finish your first book? I don’t know what the initial inspiration was, other than it’s just been this constant burbling thing inside of me. Kind of like the sulfur springs at Yellow Stone. Ancient, smelly, gorgeous burbles. I knew when I was 9 that my goal in life was to be an author. That goal hasn’t wavered even a smidge since. I completed my first “novel” at age 9, but it was only about 20 pages. My next actual full-length novel was done at age 16. I haven’t stopped since.

6. Do you ever experience writer’s block? If so, what do you do to get out of it? I don’t know if I’d call it writer’s block as much as writer’s procrastination. Scenes that present difficulty, or aren’t as clear in my head—you know, the ones that require serious effort—are the ones I try to put off doing as long as possible. So I’ll just compulsively do anything other than write while I’m supposed to be writing. I sometimes keep a running list of all the things I’ve done while I was supposed to be writing. Some of the recent entries: make tater tots from scratch…clean the bathroom…find laundry to do that didn’t even really need to be done…the list goes on. Eventually, the pressure of a deadline OR the inspiration I was looking for will naturally lead me back to the scene for completion. I think I need a better method, though.

7. Any awesome dreadlock hair tips? Be patient; let your hair FULLY dry after a shower; and for god’s sake, don’t use conditioner!

8. Very cool. I’m taking notes here. Do you work with an outline, or just write? I also work as a ghostwriter and those projects usually involve fully fleshed out plots. I LOVE it. I just wish I could make outlines with the same level of detail for my own stories. I think instead of outlines, what I tend to produce are “meandering gists”. Good enough, I guess!

9. Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published? What advice would you give to a fellow writer starting out? Honestly, my biggest challenge was that my novel wasn’t READY. It wasn’t solid enough. I was in love with it, because it was my first book, but truly, it needed a lot of work. And that only comes with lots of dedication and time. It was hard for me to see past my own enchantment with my “baby” and see it for what it truly was—a somewhat-decent first novel that could have been a LOT better. The best advice I can give is to get as many writer-eyes on your work as you can. This means: beta readers who are active writers and/or actively publishing, preferably in your genre. Handing your novel over to friends and family is fun and exciting, but the feedback is often colored by their love for you (unless they are ruthless reviewers which, in that case, give them all your work!), which means you might not get the feedback you need to get better.

10. It’s absolutely pivotal to get beta readers and get your novel critiqued. Having a fresh pair of eyes on your manuscript is a dealbreaker in helping it get to publication. Now, If you had to go back and do it all over, is there any aspect of your novel or getting it published that you would change? No, I think my journey has been just right. I’ve been appreciative of all the struggles, missteps, lessons and successes. I’m learning more every day, and I don’t expect that to stop anytime soon. Every author’s journey is totally unique, too. There’s no RIGHT way to do it—you just gotta DO IT.

11. Amen to that. I recently read one of your slow burn novels, and loved it! Is anything in your books based on real life experiences/characters, or is it, in the words of Willie Wonka, a world of pure imagination? This is hard to answer as an author, right? Because no, nothing comes directly from my real life, but also everything peripherally comes from my life in some way, too. I think the emotional content in my novels exists in my heart. There’s definitely a longing and an ache that I try to channel, because it’s inside me too. I think maybe most romance writers might identify with that—or maybe not? Jeez, I’ve never asked. Do you identify with that? Each character, each storyline, and each setting has something pulled from real life, but it’s never an entire person, place, or thing, if that makes sense. Rather it’s a woven tapestry of disparate elements; yarns I’ve acquired through the entire journey of life.

12. I definitely identify with that. I think as an author you sort of have to sprinkle who you are into your characters, and while they may not be replicas of your individual history or experiences, it’s certainly cathartic to interweave bits and bobs of what’s inside you into the people you write about. Great answer. Can you tell us about your latest release? My first romantic suspense The Last Resort just came out with The Wild Rose Press last month. It features a baby bounty hunter named Rose who spends her life rescuing kidnapped babies and returning them to custodial parents. Pretty bad ass, right? Her latest gig crosses through PA in the winter, and a gnarly snowstorm totals her car. Luckily, she’s rescued by a guy named Garrett…he takes her back to his resort-under-construction up in the mountains, so she and her baby bounty Emmy can ride out the storm. And, well…five days trapped on a mountain with a sexy entrepreneur…we know what happens. Except Garrett doesn’t know Emmy isn’t hers—and Rose needs to get out of dodge fast, because there’s no way to let Emmy’s mom know that she’s alive. The clock is TICKING in this book!

13. What project are you working on now? I’m working on edits for a recently-contracted novel called Breaking The Rules, which will release with Loose Id later this year. It’s the first book in a series, so I’m also trying to finish book #2 ASAP!

14. I hope you can finish it without too much hassle. Series books are great, I wish you all the best of luck on it! Are there certain characters you would like to go back to? I think I want to revisit most of my characters…have a little follow-up novella just to see where they are and what they’re doing a time down the road. I think that would be kind of fun. Maybe that could be a project someday!

15. What music are you into? Who’s your favorite band, and why? My musical tastes are varied! From classical piano to 20’s jazz to house music…my recent obsessions have been Nicholas Jaar, The Knife and Miike Snow, though. One of my all-time favorite bands is Muse. Oh God—and Radiohead. All hail Muse and Radiohead. I can’t even say why—it escapes words. You just either know or you don’t.

16. Muse is fantastic! Alright, down to the nitty-gritty. So you survive a plane crash and are stranded on a deserted island. You can only have three items (one of them can be a person). Go. MY HUSBAND…a billion sheets of paper (pencil included…counts as one item?)…and like, I don’t know, food? Will there be fresh fruit on this island? If this deserted island doesn’t have its own native fruits and vegetables, then I’ll use food as my third. But if it has a nice variety of mangoes and root vegetables, then I’ll pick something else, like a photo album of all my loved ones. Or maybe something practical, like a wormhole to get back to civilization. (Pfff–practical wormhole.)

17. A wormhole is essential for any desert island strandee. Most excellent. Is there anything that you would like to say to your readers and fans? Please keep reading. It means so much to me.

18. Pick One:

Mustache or Hipster Beard? Hipster beard, any day!

Jareth the Goblin King or Kylo Ren? *looks around* Who are these…? Jareth? Seriously? Girl, no. Labyrinth! If you haven’t seen it, watch it!

Kylo Ren (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Print Book or Kindle?  PRINT!

Restaurant or Food Truck? FOOD TRUCK! You’re baiting me, now…*wink*

Alpha male (Gale) or Baker Boy (Peeta)? Gale & Peeta? These are flying over my head…have I mentioned I’m disconnected from modern society in a lot of strange, key ways? Anyway, screw it—I’ll take alpha male. Give me Gale. Whoever he is.

:O… The Hunger Games. Read it! And oh, I’ll give you Gale.

That’s all she wrote, baby! Thank you so much for joining us today, Ember! Be sure to connect with Ember on social media (links below), and check out her new release, The Last Resort, today!

 Author Bio:

Ember Leigh has been writing erotic romance novels since she was far too young. A native of northern Ohio, she currently resides near Lake Erie with her Argentinean husband, where they run an Argentinian-American food truck. In addition to romance novels, Ember also writes travel memoirs and occasionally updates a couple of blogs. In her free time, she practices Ashtanga yoga, hops around the world, and eats lots of vegetables.

Website: www.emberleighromance.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/EmberLeighAuthor

Twitter: @EmberLeighAuth

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8045833.Ember_Leigh