VBT - Never Trust A Pretty Wolf by Elaine Cantrell

Welcome to my stop on Elaine Cantrell's Never Trust A Pretty Wolf Virtual Book Tour.  Elaine was kind enough to answer some interview questions for me below.  Please be sure to leave a comment or question for Elaine below as she will be awarding a $25 Amazon Gift Card to one randomly drawn commenter during her tour.  The more often you comment, the better your odds at winning.  You can follow her tour here.  

Interview

Me:  How long have you been a published author?  Are you able to write full time or do you have a full time job outside of writing? 

Elaine:  My first book was published in 2004, so I’ve been writing for eight years.  I won the Timeless Love writing contest sponsored by Oak Tree Books.  The winner of the contest got a publishing contract, so that’s the way I broke into the business.  I’d love to be able to write full time, but so far that isn’t possible.  I’m a social studies teacher, so I do have summers free to write, and my family now understands that when I’m writing I’m not goofing off.  I’m doing something

Me:  Do you have an outline for each book you follow or are you more of a “write by the seat of your pants” type author? 

Elaine:  Oh, gee, I write by the seat of my pants.  I have a starting point and an ending in mind, but I don’t know until I write it how I’ll get my characters from one point to the other.  I see things all the time that I can use in my books, so I don’t want to be tied down to an outline.  I recently attended a family reunion that provided a lot of inspiration for me.  I always change things a little bit so nobody knows who or what I’m writing about, though.  I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.

Me:  Most of the books you’ve written are contemporary romance, do you think you’ll ever write in a different genre?

Elaine:  LOL.  I already have.  My first inspirational romance which is titled The Sentence was released in March from Astraea Press.  I also have a scifi/fantasy novel ready to go, and I’m in the process of working on a romantic comedy which is so much fun I can’t wait to sit down at the keyboard. I’m not submitting anything anywhere until the end of the year, though.  I’ve had three releases since March, and I’m finding it difficult to promote three books at one time.  So far I don’t have any interest in other genres.  I started a historical romance which I loved, but the romantic comedy seemed like more fun to write so I shelved the historical.  I might go back to it when I finish the comedy.

Me:  Can you tell us what you’re currently working on?  Can you share a small snippet of your upcoming work? 

Elaiine:  I’d love to share something from that romantic comedy I told you about.  In this excerpt, my heroine, who has moved to a tiny town, goes to the coffee shop which is in the local funeral home.

The group in black left the room just as Aimee finished her bear claw. “I’m going to the rest room,” Rocky said.

Aimee was sitting at their table waiting for him when a buxom blonde wearing a black skirt and a hot pink blouse that she was almost falling out of stumbled into the room from the funeral home entrance. She saw Aimee and hurried over to her table. “Oh, isn’t this just awful?” she moaned. She threw her arms around Aimee and held on for dear life. “Poor Sheila. So full of life one day, so dead the next.”

Aimee struggled to free herself, but she couldn’t break the crushing grip of the mourner whose tears and heavy makeup were ruining her blouse. The woman swiped her nose with her arm. “We had so many good times together. Only last month we went to Atlantic City and hit the casinos until our money ran out.” She sniffed and tried to dry her eyes on her arm where she had wiped her nose. “Maybe the two of us can go up there soon. We’ll get drunk and gamble to honor poor Sheila.”

OMG!  “I’m sorry, but I didn’t know Sheila. I only stopped in for a bear claw.”

The woman stepped away from Aimee with a disbelieving expression on her face. “I can’t believe you let me share my heart with you. Why didn’t you tell me sooner that you only came for a BEAR CLAW?”

“Because you didn’t give me a chance. You were too busy crying on my shoulder.”

The mourner drew herself up to her full height. “I’ll never tell you anything again.” She stuck her nose in the air and marched away, brushing against Rocky’s shoulder as he returned to the table.

Me:  You have a lot of things for readers on your website from bookmarks to freebie reads.  Will you  continue to add to that section of your site?

Elaine:  I intend to.  Traditionally, I always write a free Christmas story for my readers.  I’ve written everything from inspirational that tear at your heart to contemporary, upbeat things.

Me:  If you could vacation anywhere in the world where would it be? 

Elaine:  My answer will probably change if you ask me the same question tomorrow, but at the moment I’d like to go to Russia.  I’ve always been fascinated by Russian history and would love to see some of the places I’ve read about.  I really got caught up in Russian history when one of my students did a project on the last Russian czar, Nicholas II and his family.  That story reads like something out of a fairy tale.  If you’re the least bit interested, I think you’d like what you find at this site: http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/  There’s a lot of history here as well as interviews and pictures.

Me:  Can you tell us what you’re currently reading?  

Elaine:  Right now I’m reading Double Dare by Rhonda Nelson.  I’ve only read through chapter 2, but so far the book is good.

Five Get to Know You Questions:

Favorite Color?   Turquoise

Favorite Author to read?   Too many to name.

Favorite Hobby?  Collecting vintage Christmas ornaments

Food you can’t live without?  chocolate

Favorite ice cream flavor?  Banana Split

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEVER TRUST A PRETTY WOLF

By

Elaine Cantrell

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: 

The minute the blue Mustang came to a halt, the valet hurried to open the car door for the newcomer. A pair of long, shapely legs unfolded from the car. Andy’s mouth went dry as his eyes traveled from her legs to her face. He had discovered a goddess. An overworked cliché perhaps, but he knew of no other words to describe her.

The goddess had Titian hair which begged him to run his fingers through it, freeing those glorious curls. Even from where he stood, her eyes glowed with an emerald fire. Her skin looked as if it would put satin to shame. As he stared at her mouth, a bolt of fire stabbed him right below his belt. He could only imagine how it might feel to kiss and taste those lush, red lips.

She sashayed up to the porch and held out her hand to Melton. “Good evening, Thomas.”

Melton was having a hard time getting his voice under control, but he finally stuttered, “Welcome, L… Li… Liesel. It’s great to finally meet you in person. This is your partner, Andy Bryce. Andy’s a United States Marshal.”

The light left her face. She shot Andy a look of what he swore was dislike, even though they’d never met. “Oh, but I thought you said the mayor was my partner.”

Melton nodded. “He was. But something came up, and his brother’s filling in for him.”

She didn’t want to be his partner. Andy knew it as surely as he knew his own name. He wondered if she had heard about… Yeah, she could have. The story made most of the big papers. The Marshals had trained him to read people, so he knew Ms. Wolf didn’t like him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

blog:  http://www.elainepcantrell.blogspot.com

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/elainepcantrell

Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/elainecantrell

Pinterest:  http://www.pinterest.com/elainecantrell

Buy links:  

Astrea Press

Amazon

Please remember to leave a comment or question below for Elaine to enter her giveaway.  One randomly drawn commenter during her tour will win a $25 Amazon Gift Card.  You can follow her tour here, the more often you comment the better your odds at winning.