Elisabeth Barrett-Interview with the Author

 

Elisabeth Barrett’s new July 2012 release DEEP AUTUMN HEAT is the first book in her new Star Harbor series.  WE are pleased to welcome Elisabeth to The Reading Cafe.

 

 

TRC:  Hi Elisabeth and welcome to The Reading Café. Congratulations on the release of your first novel.

Elisabeth:  Thank you very much for having me! I’m delighted to be here!

 

TRC:  We would like to start with some background information. Would you please tell us about yourself?

Elisabeth:  Sure! I live with my amazingly supportive husband and our three little children in Northern California. I’m a card-carrying member of JASNA (Jane Austen Society of North America). I’m a sucker for big band music and jazz, cultivating orchids, and open space preserves. I give nicknames to everything and everyone. I can make up songs and stories on the spot (much to the delight of my kids).

 

TRC:  Have you always had an interest in writing? Do you recall how and when your interest in writing originated?

Elisabeth:  I think it’s safe to say that I always had an interest in writing, but it’s safer to say that I was truly obsessed with reading. I think it was a natural extension to go from reading to writing. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone that I chose a career in law. Brief writing was definitely my thing.

 

TRC:  What inspired you to write your first novel?

Elisabeth:  As I mentioned, I was an avid reader first! I knew exactly the kind of stories I loved – contemporary, small town tales, featuring alpha heroes. The idea for Star Harbor came first. I’m from New England and I lived and worked on Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard when I was younger. I’d always thought Eastern Massachusetts would be an amazing setting for a novel. One day, after sketching out the bones of a story, I just popped open my omnipresent laptop and started clacking away. That story became the first Star Harbor novel – the one featuring Cole Grayson, which is now entitled Long Simmering Spring (Star Harbor #3).

 

TRC:   Deep Autumn Heat (release date July 9, 2012) is the first novel in your new Star Harbor series. Would you please tell us about the premise for your novel?

Elisabeth:  Sure. Here’s the “official” blurb:

Lexie Meyers decides there’s nothing sweeter than watching Sebastian Grayson’s perfect, wicked mouth devour her coconut cake. He’s hot, he’s hungry, and he’s sizing her up like she’s the best thing on the menu. But she’s been burned in the past and flings just aren’t her thing. Too bad Sebastian can’t resist a challenge.

Worldly, famous, and notorious with the ladies, Seb had planned a weekend of fishing and relaxation with his brothers. Until Lexie, with her kissable lips and frosty “get lost” attitude, makes him want to forget his culinary empire and create some magic with her. After he fires up his charm – including challenging her to a televised cook-off to break through her resistance – it’s now hotter in the bedroom than it is in the kitchen and Lexie isn’t sure whether she’s lost her mind . . . or just her heart.

 

TRC:  Lexie and Seb are the main characters in Deep Autumn Heat-will their story continue in your next novel Blaze of Winter or will you introduce new characters with each successive novel?

Elisabeth:  Their story will continue, but it won’t be the main focus of the next few novels. Each successive book will focus on another one of the four Grayson brothers. Of course, Star Harbor being a small town, everyone knows everyone’s business, and we will get to peek in on Seb and Lexie’s life together in future novels.

 

TRC:  Will you please tell us the premise for Blaze of Winter? (release date September 10, 2012)

Elisabeth:  Blaze of Winter is a stand alone book, but it picks up right where Deep Autumn Heat left off…with Theo Grayson, Seb’s twin, having recently arrived from San Francisco. Theo’s in town to get his writing back on track, and while he’s there, he runs into beautiful, guarded Avery Newbridge, who’s taking a break from her social work practice to help out her aunt at the Star Harbor Inn. Theo is very different from his twin, and writing him was both challenging and fun!

 

TRC:  How many books have you planned for the Star Harbor series?

Elisabeth: Right now there are four full-length novels and one novella planned.

TRC:  What has been the hardest or most difficult aspect of writing your novel(s)?

Elisabeth  Making sure that the plot passes the “smell test” – i.e. things are plausible in the universe I’ve created. Though they are fiction, I want the books to be as realistic as possible. I do quite a bit of research to make sure that the details are just right. For example, the heroine in Blaze of Winter is a social worker, and to ensure I really understood her profession, I interviewed several social workers at length. And in Deep Autumn Heat, some legal issues come into play. Luckily, that research I was well-equipped to do myself.

 

TRC:  Many authors bounce ideas between spouses and friends. Whom do you bounce ideas with and why?

Elisabeth:  For my first manuscript (Cole’s story, see above), I bounced ideas off my amazingly generous and awesome friend, Jennifer. What’s interesting is that Jennifer isn’t a writer. She’s just a wickedly smart woman who’s a bang-up editor, and I was lucky she wanted to waste – er – spend time helping me. The next few manuscripts I wrote solo, with no input except from my agent at the tail end. I’d welcome the opportunity to hook up with some critique partners and beta readers, but so far, it hasn’t happened (mainly because I haven’t really gone looking).

TRC:  Have you ever considered writing Young Adult novels?

Elisabeth:  Not as of yet. I’ll never say never, but I find that those most successful at writing YA are writers who nail the voice. And writing with a YA voice is a tricky thing. If you’re on, you’re on. If you’re not, it can be just awful.

TRC:  What are you currently working on?

Elisabeth:  I’m currently finishing up my Star Harbor series – two more full-length novels and one novella. Then I’m moving on to my next series (already in the works). The first book in the series, Return to Briarwood, is about two people whose paths crossed many years ago, and now they meet again under very different circumstances. They struggle with whether it’s possible to overcome the past and find a future together. Each has a lot to reconcile, both with each other and with themselves.

TRC:  Would you like to add anything else?

Elisabeth:  I like to bake. Especially chocolate stuff.

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food

Dark chocolate (anything over 71% cacao).

Favorite Dessert

Deep, dark, chocolate cake (are you seeing a pattern, here?) 😉

Favorite Movie

Tough one. I’m a sucker for Merchant Ivory films, and of those, I’d have to say A Room with a View is my favorite.

Favorite TV Show

Anything on Masterpiece Mystery. I love Inspector Lewis, Case Files, and Sherlock. And Castle. I’m obsessed.

Last Movie you saw

Midnight in Paris. It was amazing. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to watch it again.

Do you have any pets?

Nope!

Dark or Milk chocolate

Dark, definitely.

Favorite Flower

Lavender. I like the smell.

Last Book you read

Hamlet. (I’m not making this up).

TRC:  Elisabeth, we would like to thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. We wish you the best of luck with your writing career and we look forward to your next release in September –Blaze of Winter

Elisabeth:  Thanks again for hosting me! I would like to close by saying that I hope you enjoy DEEP AUTUMN HEAT! If you’d like to drop me a line, here’s my contact information: Elisabeth’s Website | Blog| Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads And if you’d like to pre-order Deep Autumn Heat, the links are here: Kindle | Nook | itunes |