Callie Carmen

Callie interviewed with me back in March and I’m delighted to have her back. She’s got more things to tell us and I know you’ll enjoy her stories. She’s got some great advice for new authors at the end of the interview too.

Author Bio:

I started in the book business as a bookstore manager which was the perfect place for me since I was an avid reader. After two years, I moved to the corporate office as a buyer and eventually became a senior book buyer. This was a rewarding career that I loved.

Along the way, I decided to become a stay home Mom. I couldn’t give up working around books altogether. I volunteered to run the book fairs in our small farm town, six per year. At the same time, I started and ran, A Child Oasis Company, with the sole purpose of placing a small book library in the homes of all the needy children in the nearby city. As my children became teens, I found I needed more in my personal life than the volunteer Mom for the schools. I sat down at the computer one day and Patrick, book one of the Risking Love series, was born. Book two, Nicolas is now available and receiving five star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Joseph book three will be out this fall. My latest writing adventure is Dream Catcher which is a short story as part of the Mystic Desire Anthology.

Tell us about yourself.

First I want to thank Eileen for letting me be part of her wonderful blog. Especially today on the publication day of Mystic Desire Supernatural Anthology including my title Dream Catcher.

I grew up in a small New England town that had one stoplight, with four stores on one side of the road and four on the other. The next village was ten miles away and was where we purchased our groceries. My neighborhood was a twenty-minute walk to town, and there was a farm just down the street. Off the backyard were woods that I loved to explore several times a week.

In the summer, I’d spend every waking moment on the lake that was surrounded by magnificent mountains at my parent’s cottage. When it wasn’t windy enough to take out my small sailboat, I’d be in the rowboat with a fishing pole in one hand and a book in the other. It was heaven on earth.

When did you know you wanted to be an author?

It never even crossed my mind to write not even a short story before I sat down and wrote Patrick book one in my Risking Love series. I was an avid reader, so I had a good base to back me up when I did start writing. No one was more surprised than me when I had my first novel published.

What genres do you like to read?  Are these the same genres you write in?

I used to read pretty much any novel that had something to do with the law. For example, John Grisham novels, but a few years back, I started reading romance books. I’ve been hooked ever since. All of the stories that I have written are romance.

Is your book for adults, young adults or children?

For adults. All of my books are love stories with a happy ending. The lovemaking scenes are hot and spicy.

What is your current release or project? 

CURRENT RELEASE: Dream Catcher in the Mystic Desire Supernatural Anthology
Mystic Desire is a collection of short paranormal romance stories. This is a chance to read and discover the work of a diverse group of very talented authors. The themes in this book are varied, as are the collection of characters and artifacts, including Native American dream catchers, mystical jewelry, and characters such as lustful vampires, hot warlocks, a grumpy leprechaun, a ghostly terrier, a zombie apocalypse and things that go bump in the night. From soft and tender love to hot passionate, kinky sex, there is something for everyone in this anthology.

COMING SOON: JOSEPH Book Three in the Risking Love Series

Pretty much everyone Violet ever loved left her; so she all but gave up on true love. That was until she fell for Joseph. Only he belonged to her friend and barely knew that she existed. Or so she thought.

Will one night of uncontrolled passion destroy Violet’s hope of finally having a forever with Joseph? Will he feel trapped and only want Violet for the child she is carrying?

Tell us about the key characters.

The hero in, Dream Catcher is Jake Miller, a bestselling romance author writing under a pen name. He spends far too much time writing, editing, and marketing his many novels. This has left him pretty much on his own and a bit lonely.

The heroine is Angelica Jennings. She is the hardworking successful owner of an advertising agency. In her free time, she remodels her cottage on the Great Sacandaga Lake or reads a recent novel from one of her favorite romance writers. Now that her company has become successful, she wants to take some time to find Mr. Right.

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What is your blurb of the book?

DREAM CATCHER

Long ago, a medicine man had made a matched set of dream catchers as a wedding gift to protect the Chief’s daughter and her warrior husband. He had called upon the benevolent spirits to keep the two soul mates safe and in a loving, healthy marriage.

It was foretold that if the two dream catchers were ever divided the new owners would be drawn together as soul mates. Was that possible?

Share an excerpt.

Dream Catcher by Callie Carmen Excerpt:

The small town of Northville was busting at the seams with town folk and people vacationing at the lake for the Memorial Day weekend. We were about an hour early for the fireworks display, so we sat on the wall of the bridge and talked about everything and anything. By the time he was finished telling me about all the books he had written, several of which I had read, I believed that Jake was indeed my favorite female author, which made me laugh. This big strong man was responsible for some of the most romantic love stories and the hottest lovemaking scenes I had ever read. I found that humorous and delicious at the same time.

I had to remind myself that he wasn’t real—that I was dreaming—but it sure didn’t feel that way. When the fireworks started, he stood behind me with his arms around me and clasped just below my breasts. He leaned down and kissed and lightly bit my earlobe and neck, giving me chills.

“Tip your head back for me, baby. I need to taste you again,” he whispered in my ear.

When his lips met mine, the fireworks going on overhead felt like they were also going off inside of me. I moaned, and he deepened the kiss. This had to be real. I’d forgotten about the others standing around us until shouts of “Fire!” roared out of several of them. We looked up and saw that one of the fireworks had landed on the roof of someone’s home and was burning.

The sirens rang out over their shouts, and I woke once again to my darn alarm going off.

Do you have a favorite scene?

Yes, when Angelica first meets Jake in her dream. It is a sexy and humorous scene.

What advice would you give a beginner?

Social Media: This might not be advice that newer writers want to hear, but it is essential for you to be as successful as possible. Set up your social media sites right away, that means before you even finish your first book. That is not to say that it is ever too late to do this just that it has to be done. If you don’t advertise to let people know about your book, how will they know that it exists? Once they are set up, promote your books regularly. Set up social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Tumblr, Instagram, MeWe, Website, and Goodreads, to name a few. Pick three to start and master those before moving on to others, or you will be too overwhelmed.

Read: Read the genre you want to write in. This is important so you can understand what works and doesn’t work in that genre. Of course, keep reading other types that you enjoy too.

Write What You Know: Write about things you know, you like, and the words will come to you more easily. If you write about something that you are not familiar with be sure to do plenty of research so your story is believable.

Number of Characters: Do yourself a favor don’t have several named characters in your book because as soon as the editor gets their hands on it, you will be editing a lot of them back out again.

Social media links:

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011326206882 https://www.facebook.com/CallieCarmenAuthor/

Twitter https://twitter.com/Callie_Carmen

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/calliecarmennovel/

MeWe https://mewe.com/profile/5aea84c00dc9f110e68a9373

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17829431.Callie_Carmen

Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/callie-carmen-72ba98156/

Tumblr https://calliecarmenauthor.tumblr.com/

Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/calliecarmennovel/

Website link https://www.calliecarmen.com/

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B07BN5PXDF

BookBud https://www.bookbub.com/profile/callie-carmen

Blog link: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17829431.Callie_Carmen/blog

Purchasing links:

PATRICK books2read.com/u/3krqEW

NICOLAS http://books2read.com/u/mqVGQv 

MYSTIC DESIRE https://amzn.to/322Ziq3

CRAVING LOYALTY http://getBook.at/CravingLoyalty