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Romance Readers Want to Know
Every Thursday on the J.Q. Rose blog |
Hello and welcome on this first Thursday in May!
I'm almost giddy with excitement about hosting our two authors this week. Yes, we have two authors to grill, er, ask questions about their writing process. This team of writers also share THE most-often-asked question from readers. Sit back and enjoy getting to know both of these talented authors, Southern author Gail Roughton and writer/publisher Jude Pittman. While both have written successful, amazing stories on their own, they have teamed up to bring their gift for storytelling to create the romantic suspense novel, Sisters of Prophecy: Ursula.
A lucky commenter will win an e-copy of this book. Please leave your questions for the authors or good wishes in the comment box to enter the drawing.Deadline for entry is Saturday, 6 pm EDST. Good luck!
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# 1 Question Romance Readers Want to Know
by Jude Pittman and Gail Roughton
J.Q., thanks so much for having us! It’s great to be
here.
Hands down, the number one
question readers most frequently ask writing teams is “How do you write a book
with somebody else?” And the answer is,
the same way you write any book. One
word at a time. That’s the answer for us, anyway.
Theoretically, we could both
write simultaneously, each working on a different plot tangent or a different
character and then stitch it together. But that’s not the way we do it. In
fact, we’ve never even discussed the
way we do it.
We discuss characters and
plot lines and what ifs, don’t get us wrong, and in fact, sometimes one of us
is actually designated as the particular voice of a particular character or as
the driving force behind a particular plot line. But we don’t work on them
simultaneously. We do it like we’re sitting around a campfire passing a story
back and forth across the flames, you remember the game? Where you end your
segment of the story at a highly suspenseful moment and then pass it to the
next person and let them weave the next segment of the story? Well, basically, that’s exactly what we do
when we write together. We toss the story back and forth to each other as we
sit around a cyber campfire.
Come join us and we’ll roast some smores while we
tell you about our first co-written novel, Sisters of Prophecy. (Spoiler Alert: One of the main
characters of this novel is an actual historical character who’s an ancestor of
co-writer Jude Pittman.)
Back of the Book: Sisters of Prophecy: Ursula by Jude Pittman and Gail Roughton
What’s a girl to do?
Katherine Shipton has a painting that talks, an ancestor who won’t stay in her
own century, and a former boyfriend with a serious ax to grind against her new
fiancé. She already has a full plate, but when said ancestor sends her tripping
back and forth between the 15th and 21st century without benefit of psychedelic
drugs, the poor girl begins to doubt her own sanity. Then her best friend, a
high fashion model with more than her own share of psychic energy, and her
troubleshooting aunt show up on her doorstep in response to a psychic SOS
Katherine swears she didn’t send. Life couldn't get more complicated. At least,
that's what she thinks until her oilman fiancé disappears in the Gulf of Mexico
and a DEA agent knocks on her door.
Excerpt:
Katherine bit her lip. Moment of truth. Time to stop stalling.
Of course it had just been coincidence that the picture talked to her—scratch
that. She’d thought the picture
talked to her at the precise time she’d seen Quentin for who and what he really
was. And it was just coincidence she’d had that damn dream again the night
before Quentin’s surprise call out of the blue. Because that hadn’t been a real
surprise; she’d always known deep down he’d call. He couldn’t just let go. It
wasn’t in him. Still and all, her Quentin epiphany came right after the portrait’s
ventriloquist act. The lady in the tower said the portrait had more to tell
her. She had to give it a try.
She jerked the tarp off the portrait. And waited. Nothing.
Of course nothing. She picked up a brush and loaded the bristles with cobalt
blue.
With the first stroke, roaring filled the studio. Katherine
dropped her paintbrush, slapped both hands to her ears. Well, she’d asked for
it. And she’d gotten it.
“And about time it is, my girl. ‘Tis stubborn you are.” The
same bent crone she remembered stood in front of Katherine’s easel.
“Why are you here? Why did I see you before? And why am I
seeing you now?”
“You know why, child. In your heart, you know.”
“What did you do to me last time? To make me cringe when
Quentin touched me?”
“‘Twas nothing I did. You did it yourself. You opened
yourself to what you already knew was true. ‘Tis in your blood, ye canna escape
it. I just helped a wee bit with the seeing of it.”
“That had nothing to do with blood. I just finally started
putting things together about Quentin.”
Mother Shipton shook her head. “Stubborn. Just like Ursula.”
“I’m not like any Ursula, whoever she is. I’m me. And all I
want to do is paint my pictures and marry the man I love.”
“That might be all you want, m’ dear, but ‘tis not likely to
happen unless ye listen to your dreams.”
“My dreams haven’t been exactly instruction manuals. I have
no idea what they’re telling me!”
“Liar. There’s something you have to do, and if you fail,
then you’ll neither marry the man you love nor paint your paintings. ‘Tis
doubtful you’ll live a’tall. There’s things need doing. Back in the past, or
ye’ll ne’er be born. Dreamed of a lady in a tower asking for help, did ye? And
if ye pay no heed, the lives of all between me and thee will be forfeit.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The lady in the tower. What’s her name?”
“I don’t know. I only heard her called Milady.”
“True enough. Well, I’ll give a bit of help with that. She
was born Ursula Sontheil. And what’s your name, child?”
“Katherine Shipton.”
“Your whole name.”
“Ursula Katherine Shipton.”
“And why be that, do ye ken?’
“Because both those names have been in the family since the
beginning of time and the back of beyond and—oh, shit!”
“Ah, so finally ye see a hint of sun over the horizon, do
ye?”
“That’s the reason? The connection? She’s an ancestor?”
“Can’t be telling ye that. Ye must see it for yourself. Time
for a journey, child. A journey t’will help you understand. “
“I can’t go anywhere. I have commitments, deadlines.”
Mother Shipton cackled. “This journey—t’won’t be like any
ye’ve taken before. None will miss ye nor know you’re gone.”
“I’m having a mental breakdown. That’s it, isn’t it? I’m
going crazy and you’re a figment of my imagination.”
“Kitty-Kat, please. Trust me, child. If I don’t exist, I
can’t be after hurting ye, now can I?”
“Why’d you call me that? Nobody calls me that but Grandma!”
“Now what else would I be calling a girl named Katherine?”
Mother Shipton moved to the sofa on the far wall. “Lie down, sweet girl. Let me
soothe that wrinkled brow. And show ye—wonders.
Wonders of the past.”
Katherine backed up to the couch and sat down slowly, eyes
fixed on the solid apparition.
Mother Shipton cackled again. “Well, ‘tis a start. Ye don’t
trust easily and I can’t be after expecting miracles. And a wee bit of caution
and common sense bred into the bones over the years, that’s a good thing. Ye
think for yourself, don’t take well to being told what to do. Lady Ursula could
have done with a bit of it herself, long afore she learned that lesson.”
Mother Shipton laid her wrinkled hand on Katherine’s
forehead and rubbed lightly. “Close your eyes, girl. Lean back. And go
visiting. To another time. Another place. Long ago. Very long ago. Float,
Katherine. Float. None will see ye. None will know ye’re there.”
About Jude and Gail :
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| Gail Roughton and Jude Pittman |
Jude Pittman emigrated from Canada
to the United States with her mom and brother when she was 14. Her time there
included 12 years in Texas where the genus for her first murder mystery took root. In 1992 Jude returned to British
Columbia where she met her husband John. The couple live in Airdrie, Calgary. She’s
the author of the mystery trilogy featuring Indian Creek and P. I. Kelly
McWinter, A Murder State of Mind (Deadly Secrets, Deadly Betrayal and Deadly Consequences)
and Bad Medicine. Descended from the
Shipton line, Jude has always been fascinated with the historical and legendary
stories about her late and often maligned ancestor, Mother Shipton and her
gifts of prophecy. This novel is a work of fiction, but as so often happens,
has its roots in reality.
Visit Jude at Amazon and Books We
Love, Ltd.
(Note from Gail
Roughton—Jude is co-owner with Brian Roberts of Books We Love, Ltd. In her
capacity as publisher, she is always on the look-out for talented writers and has
made many a writer’s dream come true.)
Gail
Roughton is a native of small town Georgia whose Deep South heritage features
prominently in much of her work. She’s a retired paralegal who lived in a law
office for over forty years, during which time she raised three children and
quite a few attorneys. She kept herself more or less sane by writing novels and
tossing the completed manuscripts into her closet, most of which have now
emerged in published form. A cross-genre writer, her books range from humor to romance to thriller to horror and
she’s never quite sure what to expect when she sits down at the keyboard. Now
multi-published by Books We Love, Ltd., her credits include the War-N-Wit,
Inc. series, my name be Cain…and my
color be Se’ben, Vanished, and Country
Justice, the first book in the Southern
Justice series. Currently, she’s working on Black Turkey Walk, the second Southern
Justice novel.
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