Oh, boy! Am I glad to be back! That nasty crud I’ve been fighting for weeks nearly did me in, but I have new meds now that really seem to be working. At least I’m thinking again, sort of. I know everybody is wondering who our next guest on the virtual author tour is. Today we have with us Anne Carter. Anne’s newest book is Point Surrender, a paranormal mystery romance, published by Echelon Press LLC.


Interview with Anne Carter

GRACE: Welcome, Anne! Let’s begin with you telling us about yourself.

ANNE: I like to say I am the poster girl for the overbooked, overburdened and
overwhelmed. I've been writing for a long time, just now getting serious about
it. Serious in the way of wanting to perpetuate my career by actually selling
a large number of books! I'm a wife, a mother, a business owner, a
photographer, an artist, a bookkeeper. I'm a computer addict, love chocolate,
Mexican food, big epic movies and classic rock, swing and big band music. I
was born in the midwest, but have lived in California most of my life. I write
contemporary romance, romantic suspense, paranormal romantic mystery and
(under another name) middle grade readers. I am also a columnist for a chamber
of commerce business journal.

GRACE: When do you have time to breathe? I was going to ask you what animal would you like to be if you could be an animal. Okay, I will ask, but you’d better not say a bee.

ANNE: I always thought it would be great to be a bird. To fly, alone, with
confidence—wow! To just sit down wherever you see fit and rest. Gotta watch
out for those cats, though.

GRACE: When did you actually begin writing, and what prompted you to write?

ANNE: In middle school, I took a class in creative writing. My teacher was so upbeat
and encouraging. I was so proud of the stories I wrote in that class that I
just started writing them on my own. I fantasized about meeting movie and TV
stars. Those fantasies became my first stories and then, novels.

GRACE: Which writer or writers do you most admire, and why?

ANNE: To be true to my genre, I must say Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb. To me (and I must
not be alone) her writing is always entertaining and fresh. I love her style,
am in awe of her ideas, and generally think she's a nice person. To be envied,
indeed--but nice.

GRACE: What do you find is the hardest thing about being a writer?

ANNE: Being a writer in itself is not hard for me. Got pen, paper--go. But promoting
one's books has got to be the albatross around most authors' necks. We are
certainly not natural-born salespeople. When you become published, there is a
short, sweet honeymoon where you actually feel like you've made it. Then
reality--and the real work--sets in. It's humbling.

GRACE: Tell us about your writing–published and in progress.

ANNE: Let's see. StarCrossed Hearts and A Hero's Promise are two parts of a three
part trilogy about Hollywood celebrities, love triangles, exotic travel,
murder, children, heartbreak...they read sort of like daytime drama. The third
and final installment, The Gypsy in Me, is in progress (actually quite dusty,
but still in progress).
Point Surrender is my latest release and my first paranormal romance. The
mystery surrounds a fictional California lighthouse and those who once lived,
loved and died there, and the present day owners who stumble across their
story. The best part about writing this book was the time I spent staying in a
real lighthouse.
Following this book will be Cape Seduction, another in the same genre,
about a 60 year old murder involving an offshore lighthouse, a missing starlet
and a modern day photographer. This one's a real grabber.

GRACE: They all sound like books a romance lover would like to curl up with in a mysterious lighthouse–if it’s not too spooky. You’re a lucky duck, getting to stay in a real lighthouse. You really got the feel of it, and I’ll bet the lighthouse atmosphere helped your story come to life.

ANNE: Oh, yes. Thanks, Grace, for the thoughtful questions.

GRACE: Thank you, Anne, for sharing your writing story with us. We’ll be looking for great things from you.

Learn more about Anne Carter at http://www.beaconstreetbooks.com/!