Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Guest Interview - Terry Campbell


Blurb:
She’s from the twenty-first century...Thrust back in time, Frankie Mathews is the quintessential fish out of water. She’s gone from running a major money market fund to a world where women milk cows. Too bad for Frankie that the nearest she’s ever been to a cow is a “Got Milk” commercial. Now, she has to save the life a Confederate Colonel Benjamin Craig and return to her own century with him in tow, before she changes history beyond recognition—and gets killed in the process.

He’s been fighting the Civil War in 1864...To survive the Union deserters and his grasping, widowed sister-in-law, Ben needs Frankie’s quick thinking and never-give-up attitude that comes from her independence as a 21st Century woman.

But can the two lovers span the centuries between them and find a common future.
Please give a warm welcome to my special guest Terry Campbell!

Tell us about your favorite character from your books.

It’s so hard to choose one. They’re all so different and unique in their own ways. My favorite heroine? Probably Lindsey in Fat Chance. She’s sassy, defiant, and hysterical, from her eating escapades to her clashes with the hero as well as his assistant, Marie. Frankie in Craigs’ Legacy is running neck-and-neck with Lindsey. She’s a thoroughly modern heroine with a chip on her shoulder from being pushed back into the nineteenth century where all her inadequacies are highlighted. Oh, Lordy, let Ben, the hero, push me back with him to any time he wants.

Where do you dream of traveling to and why?

To other worlds and other times so I can experience things I could never do by visiting other parts of the United States or abroad. That’s why I’m such an eclectic reader, sampling women’s fiction, romantic comedy, mystery/suspense, fantasy and science fiction. Um, I plan to go where no spacecraft or long travel time are required. Beam me up, Scotty.

Does travel play in the writing of your books?

Not a lot. Most Terry Campbell books take place in one locale. The commonality is that all of them are in the South. Mr. Wrong is in McLean, Virginia. Intimate Investor is in Richmond, Virginia. Fat Chance is in Dickens, Texas—and yes there really is a Dickens, TX. Our new newest release, Craigs’ Legacy is in Goochland, Virginia, both in the present and past.

Tell us about your current release.

Craigs’ Legacy is a time travel. Frankie gets thrown through a time portal and lands in 1864. For a woman who loves indoor plumbing, electricity, and e-mail, she’s a fish out of water. We soon discover Ben is also a fish out of water; he doesn’t want to run the family business but wants to write. How they come together, grow to love one another, and resolve time paradoxes and staying alive made them unique.

Tell us about your next release.

The Slam Sisters of Serendipity will be released in June by Eternal Press. The Slam Sisters are a group of women, ranging in age from their thirties to their mid-fifties, and they play team tennis together. The book is a series of cozy mystery that team solves. In each mystery, one of the team has something at risk, their husband’s freedom, their job, an inheritance. Mary Catherine Lee Grant (MC) is the leader of this group and tells us about the team’s adventures.

Do you have critique partners or beta readers?

Both—doesn’t everyone? If not, you should. You need someone to go through your work for typos and flow as you go along, and after it’s finished, someone needs to beta read it who has never seen the work before.

Who are your books published with?

I have books published by Black Opal Books, L&L Dreamspell, and this summer by Eternal Press. I’ve also brought out my backlist and it’s available on Kindle, Smashwords, and the Nook.

What do you do to unwind and relax?

Have a white wine glass filled with my favorite read, Merlot. Why the white wine glass, it’s larger, and given I only allow myself one, it had better be worth it. (I’m a cheap drunk.) Then I curl up with my wine and a good book. It has become very easy with my Kindle. I got one for Christmas and have died and gone to heaven—easy to read and my husband has no proof I’m going over my monthly limit of books allowed. I mean, he can’t see them so …

Do you have any suggestions for beginning writers? If so, what are they?

Don’t think you’ll be an overnight success. Sure, it occasionally happens, but in most cases those first books you write can make great paper in the bottom of a birdcage. Did I mention the first 100 pages that should be burned? Learning a craft so it flows and uses proper technique takes time, no matter how creative and talented you are. Also, listen to what those in the industry tell you from their experience. While some of it may not be legit, most will be invaluable. Likewise, be willing to share your fresh perspectives and knowledge of other fields.

What would we find under your bed?

New ideas, some slithery and raw, ready to crawl out and fill my brain while I’m asleep. They have to battle for room, though, with the characters waiting to hypnotize me and make suggestions for their roles in subsequent scenes.

Terry thanks for dropping by today. It's been fun interviewing you!


5 comments:

  1. Great interview Amber. Really good advice for beginning writers Terry!

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  2. Hi Terry! Fun interview. I like the blurb for Craigs' Legacy. I grew up a dairy farm and my mom was the main operator, so it was the norm for me to grow up where women milked cows!! Strangely enough, I've never milked a cow myself!! Nice to meet you. I've been thinking about submitting a story to Eternal Press. It's good to know someone else who has. Nice to meet you.

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  3. Thanks to Marie and Miranda for your comments. I tried to milk a cow, Miranda, *once*. LOL I'm half of Terry Campbell and sorry I wasn't around yesterday.

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  4. Sounds interesting!!! I'll have to add it to my TBR list!!! Reminds me a little of Prada and Prejudice...loved seeing a 21st century girl being thrust into the past!!

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  5. I was sold on the book once I got to the part about the cow in the blurb. That sounds like my kind of heroine.

    Great interview. :D

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