I have a special guest today--Elaine Cantrell, author of Never Trust a Pretty Wolf. Dont' you love the title? She's agreed to answer a few of my questions.
Tell us, what
is your life like away from the computer? Tell us something about your
household.
I can
describe my household in one word: chaotic.
My husband and I as well as one grown son and his wife and child live in
a 1964 blue split level. It’s blue
because the painter made a mistake when he bought the paint. I had picked out a nice gray color and
couldn’t wait to see the finished product.
I came home from work, and even from the corner when I turned onto my
street, I noticed the blue house. My
husband and I sat on a little hill in our yard and stared at the house for a
long time that afternoon. We finally
decided we liked it so we didn’t make the painter repaint it. Interestingly enough, after we kept the blue,
another family a little way down the street painted their house blue. Their last name was also Cantrell.
Besides the people in our house, we have two
dogs and two cats so something is always going on. When I’m working, I teach high school social
studies.What authors and genres do you like to read?
Naturally I like romance, but after that my choices may surprise you. I enjoy cozy mysteries, women’s fiction, and action/adventure novels. The Dirk Pitt series by Clive Cussler is one of my action/adventure favorites. I especially like the one where Dirk raised the Titanic. Besides that, I love to read comedies and some Young Adult literature. The one thing I’m not interested in is biographies. I loved them as a child, but as I got older they lost their appeal for me.
What
is the story behind your book title?
The title of my
book is Never Trust a Pretty Wolf. Andy,
my hero, was partnered in a charity game with a mysterious woman named Liesel
Wolf. Andy is a US marshal, and he found
out something bad about Liesel. This
hurt him dreadfully because in spite of her prickly behavior, he was falling
for her. He vowed that he’d never trust
a Wolf again, not even a pretty one like Liesel.
Do
you ever dream of writing in a different genre?
Actually, I’ve made
that dream a reality. I have one
inspirational romance The Sentence with Astraea Press, and I also have a sci/fi
fantasy ready to go. I almost found a
home for it, but the publisher didn’t take it because of one little detail that
I can’t reveal. It would ruin the story
for you if I told you. Keep watch for it. I’m sending it out again in January of
2013. The title is Out of Place.
How
do you see your career in five years?
In five years, my
teaching career will be over. I’ll have
a lot more time to devote to my writing.
I expect to do a lot more real world appearances and attend more
conventions. I may even develop some
workshops to share with others. I’m
hoping that my readership continues to grow each year as more people find out
about my work.
Tell us about your current release…or soon to be release.
My current release
is Never Trust a Pretty Wolf. This book
was born out of a game played by my son and his family. The game is called geocaching. This is the way it works. You hide a cache somewhere and post the
coordinates online where other geocachers can find them. They’ll take a GPS and go looking for the
cache.
When he explained
the rules of the game to me, I started to think about the type of things that
people might hide. I let my imagination
run wild and imagined finding something terrible while you were looking for the
cache. Never Trust a Pretty Wolf is the
result.
BLURB:
Liesel Wolf has a secret, a dangerous secret she’ll go to
any lengths to conceal. When she’s paired in a charity game with sexy marshal
Andy Bryce, a man with secrets of his own, her carefully constructed world
comes crashing down, and Liesel’s on a collision course with her past.
EXCERPT:
“No.”
He took it from her with ease. “I
don’t know why you have this,” he whispered, “but if we get out of here alive
you have some explaining to do. Now, keep moving but stay in control. Remember,
no headlong plunges into the woods.”
Forty‑five
minutes later, they exited the woods near the bridge that crossed the little
creek. Liesel fearfully scanned the inviting, family‑centered area. “I don’t see anyone.”
“Two o’clock. Men in khaki.” Andy
came to a halt and jerked her against him. “Kiss me like you mean it.”
Liesel didn’t mind if she did.
Hopefully the khaki men would never imagine that two lovers out for a stroll
had only moments before been running for their very lives. She prayed the men
didn’t get too good a look at them. Throwing her arms around him, she pressed
her body against his.
She wouldn’t have admitted to
it for anything, but in spite of the danger, she felt a thrill from the top of
her head to the bottom of her feet. Nobody could kiss like Andy Bryce!
Andy took her hand, and they
strolled casually across the bridge as if they’d been on a leisurely little
walk. He kissed her again before they got into the Mustang. The minute they got
in, he put the car in gear and slowly made his way out of the park. “Now,
Liesel,” he said. “Why don’t you tell me why those men are trying to kill you?”
AUTHOR INFORMATION:
Elaine Cantrell was born and raised
in South Carolina. She holds a Master’s Degree in Personnel Services from
Clemson University and is a member of Alpha Delta Kappa, an international
honorary sorority for women educators. She is also a member of Romance
Writer’s of America and EPIC authors. Her first novel, A New Leaf, was
the 2003 winner of the Timeless Love Contest and was published in 2004 by Oak
Tree Books. At present she teaches high school social studies.
LINKS:
website: http://www.elainecantrell.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/elainepcantrell
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/elainecantrell
Buy links: http://www.http://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=662245&mode=product&product=11343720
Vonnie,
thanks so much for hosting me.
Readers, it’s your
turn. What would you hide in a cache if
you were playing the geocaching game?
Leave a comment and that enters you in a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift
certificate.
My tour dates can be found here:
http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2012/06/virtual-book-tour-never-trust-pretty.html.
26 comments:
I've heard of geocaching, but don't know much about it. I can see how it would spark a writer's imagination.
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Thank you for hosting Elaine today.
Marybelle, my son loves the game. And yes, it does spark my imagination.
I'm taking some workshops this week, but I'll be back around lunch time. See you soon.
Great interview. My 10 year old nephew has just gotten involved with geocaching through his boy scout troup. He had a great time while learning important skills at the same time.
I think I'd hide something that would make the person finding the cache wonder about me - maybe an unsigned letter or medallion of some sort.
Nice to meet you Elaine. This game is almost as interesting as your book. I'll have to look in to both.
I think I would leave a cache of those brain teaser puzzles made of wood or wire and such. I would also leave an unsigned note about myself.
Hi Elaine!
We have so much in common...outside of romance my favorite reads are cozy mysteries and Clive Cussler books. I've finished all of the Dirk Pitt and Kurt Austin NUMA ones so I've moved on to the OREGON series.
Hmn? In a cache (I'll be in author promo mode here) I'd leave a little scroll with a short excerpt from one of my books on it.
debrastjohn08@yahoo.com
I've heard of geo-caching! I actually heard about it through my local library, and one day spent about 45 minutes discussing the game with a librarian who plays all summer. It sounds like tons of fun. She said they usually fill the cache with pens, key rings, magnets, little "gifts" that if otherwise damaged from the elements or even stolen, won't hurt anyone's pocket book.
And Vonnie, I'm with you about learning new words. I actually look one up a day from this nifty book I have called "The Words You Should Know to Sound Smart". I stole it from my mom. LOL Today's word is...sangfroid (san-FWAH), which means the attitude or state of possessing a cool head and steadfast composure in the face of danger, adversity or stressful situations. This is so not me.
The book sounds wonderful Elaine! Here's to a successful tour and many sales, my friend!
I'm always excited about learning new things and new words. So I love it when a guest here at Vintage Vonnie teaches me something new. And, AJ, I'm known to be sangfroid. It's usually after everything's calmed down that I fall apart. Thanks, lovely ladies, for stopping by to wish Elaine great sales and awesome reviews. Whooo-hooo!
Wow this gives me hope. My son-in-law and daughter also live with us - just the sheer family numbers add up to chaos and I rarely meet another geocacher! Very best of luck with your book tour.
Katherine and Sandra, I like the idea of a note, but Debra has a good idea. Leave an excerpt from your work. Debra, you'll like the Oregon series. It's one of my favorites. AJ, I think we should play the game as soon as possible, but I don't want to find anything like my characters did. Marry, just leave them at home and go out to have some fun.
I'm in workshops today, so I'll check back again whe I'm free. Thank you all so much for leaving a comment.
Er, I meant Maddy, not Marry.
That's very cool-- and strange!-- about your blue house, Elaine.
I would hide... One of my favorite books, so maybe the person who found it could enjoy it, too :-)
justforswag(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
I've never heard of geocaching, now I feel like an idiot.
Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com
Congrats on the new release. I've gone geocaching with my nephew and niece. It's rather interesting. This book sounds fantastic. Can't wait to read it.
e.balinski(at)att(dot)net
Very interesting-the geocaching and your book! I used to do orienteering, but never with GPS! A new thing to try sometime! Best wishes from me.
Chelsea, it's almost unbelieveable, isn't it? I didn't tell you this, but both houses are split levels.
Ingebord, don't feel bad. I never heard of it until my son started.
Joanne, I hope you find only nice things!
Nancy, I'm googling orienteering. I've never done it.
I would love to leave a really complex puzzle that would lead them to somewhere unique.
Sounds really awesome.
MomJane, that's pretty much what happens in the book.
The geo-caching game reminds me of people leaving information and items typical of their particular era in a time capsule for other generations to find. I would leave an older laptop with twitter and facebook postings, blogs that captured the essence of the time, family pictures, and my diary. I would also leave basic information about a mysterious occurence from the past that has a bearing on the present.
Susan Shapley
susanshapley@sutv.com
I have heard of geocaching as a hobby. It was clever of you to use that game in your book.
Nice to 'meet' you Elaine. Your book sounds like one I'd enjoy. I'm adding it to my tbr. Great excerpt. Interesting game geocaching. I'd have to read up on it more, but it sounds fun to play.
I read one just before coming here, Vonnie.
Physiognomy= the features of somebody's face, especially when they are used as indicators of that person's character or temperament. This has given me an idea!
Sounds good.
Becky01x(at)gmail(dot)com
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