An amazing story! Definitely a keeper.
A must read. A good page turner.
A enjoyable read. An average book.
A book that has flaws and is hard to finish.
Terrible and couldn't finish it.
I'm so happy to welcome friend and author Nancy Straight on Romance Book Junkies for her book tour of "Meeting Destiny". I was lucky enough to interview Nancy and I would like to share that with you.
Hi Danielle,
I’m so happy to be on your blog today, thank you for having me!
I know you get asked this question over and over but can you tell us a
little about yourself? Maybe something juicy. ;) You’d like me to tell you
something juicy and believe me - I wish there were something juicy to tell
you!! I LOVE Starbucks’ White
Mocha Latte and Mountain Dew, (but not together). I have a lead foot so I set
cruise control when I drive, even in 25 MPH zones. I almost never win when I
play Angry Birds, but have my 7 year old close, so he can clear the hard levels
for me. I’m a huge fan of the show, Big
Bang Theory, on CBS. I have a stray cat that I feed every night and morning but
she’s never let me get closer than within 3 feet of her – I keep thinking
eventually I’ll wear her down and she’ll let me pet her. I share my life with
two fantastic sons, three rotten dogs and a husband that I adore.
When did you first start writing? Are you a full time author or do you do it on the side?
I started writing Meeting
Destiny about three years ago (Aug 2009).
As I was writing, I had no plans ever to try to publish it. I wrote it for me. I guess you could say it was a story in my
head that was just screaming to get out.
When I’d finished it, I let a friend read it and was surprised when she
believed others would like it, too. After
much prodding, I decided I’d publish it and see what happened. Meeting Destiny has been downloaded over
30,000 times in just the last six months, so I think she was right. LOL!
I’m not a full-time
author. I write because I love it and
it’s a real rush to meet so many people that have been touched by my stories
all over the world. Maybe someday.
Do you have a author that has really inspired you?
Just one? OMG there are
hundreds and the list grows every time I finish reading another great story! Shelly Crane, Rachel Higgins, Charlotte Abel,
Amy Bartol and Shannon Dermott are amazing.
Their writing styles are all very different, their books are not at all
similar to each other - but I was completely absorbed while I read their stories. You know the feeling, “Let me grab my Kindle
while I’m drying my hair,” kind of absorbed.
How long does it normally take you to write an average book or your last
book?
Each book has been remarkably
different, I think it’s based on how set the story is in my mind before I start
typing. Meeting Destiny took a
year. Destiny’s Revenge was three
months, Destiny’s Wrath was three weeks (can you say, obsessed?). My latest book, Blood Debt, took three months
and I’m writing its sequel now, Blood Ties, two months in and almost finished.
What do you think makes a story great?
For me? You’ll probably think I’m nuts, but I judge a
story based on my physical reaction to it.
I can forgive typos and grammatical errors. I can even look past poor character
development if I love the plot. For me
to be hooked; a story has to make me: laugh out loud, cry, my heart race or any
physical reaction – if it does, it’s a great story. It means the author has found a way to reach
through my kindle and drag me into the pages right along with their characters.
Can you describe your book "Meeting Destiny" in one sentence?
Lauren comes face-to-face with
her Destiny, Max; she recognizes him immediately as the man that has plagued
her dreams for years, after befriending a murder suspect they get caught up in
a world of the paranormal she never knew existed.
Have you done lots of research for your books or do the stories just
come to you?
The Destiny Series was a story in my head for a while and I was really just letting it out, so I didn’t do any research. My second Series, Touched - yes, hundreds of hours on the computer and a few trips to the library. The series has Centaurs as the paranormal characters and I had no idea how much I didn’t know about Greek Mythology until I started researching.
What are you currently working on?
The Destiny Series is complete
(although some friends have made some pretty compelling arguments for a forth
book). The Touched Series is what I’m
focusing on now: Blood Debt (Book 1)
released on 7/15 (Yay!!). I’ve finished
the first draft of Blood Ties (Book 2) so it is being edited right now, and
have just started Blood Bound (Book 3).
From the titles, I should add the disclaimer that the series does not
have any vampires. LOL! The touched series is about Centaurs.
Can you tell us about some of your prior achievements?
Meeting Destiny made it to #11
on Amazon’s Best Seller list one day – that was wicked cool!! – Although
considering that it’s a free e-book I’m not a millionaire.
I was in the Marine Corps for
10 years and have traveled all over the world.
I put myself through college
and grad school before I turned 30 in between family, work and fun.
Is there anything that I didn't cover that you would like to talk about
or say to your potential readers?
I respond to every message,
tweet and email that is sent to me. I
don’t have an agent or a publicist so anyone that contacts me can be sure the
response is from me. I love connecting
with people that have read my books and I SERIOUSLY love to get recommendations
on books I should read. I could write
faster, but my love of reading keeps me off my computer and in my Kindle!
Just for fun:
Hardback or Paperback? - Ebook!!!
My house is cluttered with paperbacks and hardcovers, yet my little tiny kindle
has over 400 books on it!! (Much easier to dust!)Dog ears or Bookmarks? – Dog ears if I own it, bookmarks if the library does.
YA novels or Adult novels? - YA Novels (But I do enjoy steamy romance from time to time!!)
Library or Bookstore? - Bookstore
Reading glasses or No glasses? – No Glasses
Snack while reading or No snacks? Snacks: Nacho Cheese Doritos & ICE CREAM!!!
Beach or Mountain? Beach
Vampire or Werewolf? Vampire
Hot or Flirty? Flirty
Movie 1st or Book 1st? Movie 1st (The books are always better.)
Meeting Destiny
By Nancy Straight
By Nancy Straight
Other books in series: Book 2 Destiny’s Revenge and Book 3
Destiny’s Wrath have been released
Genre: Paranormal Romance
ISBN: 978-1-4507-2109-7 (E-book) / 978-1468121377
(Paperback)
ASIN: B003U2RUP8
Number of pages: 295
Word Count: 98,000
Book Description:
Lauren is visited in her dreams for years by a stranger
claiming to be her destiny. Destiny becomes reality when paths cross during a
failed robbery attempt. Lauren and the stranger experience chemistry like no
other and now her doubt over her long time relationship with her high school
sweetheart is not her only secret…someone else knows about her keen intuition
and sixth sense. A mysterious clairvoyant seeks Lauren out and tells
her not only of her life now but what the future may hold. Soon Lauren is in
the middle of a murder investigation and a questionable friendship with the key
suspect. Law enforcement, friends and family are concerned for Lauren but
unfortunately they are unaware of the true danger…Sinister forces are at work
and will stop at nothing to destroy Lauren’s abilities.
Available for free at Amazon, BN,
and Smashwords
His words made my heart soar, my whole body felt warm and my
heart rate began steadily gaining speed.
Knowing how badly this visit could have gone, I couldn’t help but push
my luck, “Max, I need to ask you one more thing. Could you stay just another minute?”
Max glanced at the watch on his wrist, and I could tell he
really did need to leave. “Yeah, but
I’ve already been gone for way too long.
My partner’s got to be looking for me by now.” He moved a hair closer to me, and I could
hardly contain my excitement.
“I know this isn’t the best place, and I understand if you
tell me no, but if I don’t ask, it’s going to drive me crazy. I was wondering if you feel anything weird
around me?” This sounded so strange, but
I didn’t know how best to articulate my question. I needed to know if it was only my
imagination.
Max looked me straight in the eye, “Weird, like what?”
I felt the flush of embarrassment on my cheeks as I asked
quietly, “Like, chemistry, a little?”
Max stood still as a statue staring at me sitting almost
straight up in my bed. His smile faded a
little as he leaned into me and whispered, “You mean like this?” He softly slid
his hand behind my head, pulling my lips up to his. Gentle at first, then increased intensity
until I found that I had wrapped both my arms around him, wires protruding from
every direction, and my entire body tingled.
I grew lightheaded as he eased his face away from mine. He gently lowered my head back to my pillow
and moved his hand to my face. Max
traced my lips with his index finger.
After a few outlines of my lips, he responded quietly, “Chemistry,
huh? No, I hadn’t noticed.” His wide smile reappeared with a vengeance.
My heart monitor went crazy, jumping well into the 100s as
an alarm blared to life as if to tell the world what had just happened. Max reached over and pushed a button on the
monitor and the alarm muted instantly.
As he leaned in for what I was sure was going to be just as passionate
as our first kiss, his pocket beeped.
Max stopped, rolled his eyes and fished in his pocket,
pulling out his blackberry. He looked at
the screen with disappointment in his eyes.
“Hey, we just got a call. I
really have to go. Don’t get me wrong,
I’m all for continuing this conversation tomorrow, but I really can’t
stay.”
“I’d like that, too,” unable to say anything else.
He kissed my cheek, “I can’t wait to tell Missy about
tonight. Bye.” Max darted out the door as he sprinted off to
save someone’s life. The jealous part of
me hoped he was being called to help an old fat man.
Nancy was born in Sioux City Iowa, left the
cold of the Midwest in 1991 and only returns
to see family in the summer time. She spent ten years traveling the world as a
US Marine and settled in rural SC with her husband and two children. She
has three rotten dogs, enjoys RVing with her family, reading and writing all
types of Paranormal literature.
Twitter: @NancyStraight
1 comments:
Great interview!
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