During her tour, PJ will be awarding a rack card with dog tags to FIVE randomly drawn winners and a Grand Prize of a Kindle Paperwhite loaded with books from fellow authors to a randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too.
Welcome, PJ. Please tell us a little bit
about yourself.
I
was born in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri named Bridgeton. During my time in
Missouri, I explored the Ozarks, swam in the Mississippi River, and played
kickball and endless games of hide and seek with the neighborhood kids.
Spending summers in Kentucky with my grandmother, Ruth, are the fondest
childhood memories for me.
At
the age of thirteen, my family moved to Wisconsin to learn to farm. Yes, learn
to farm!
I
come from a family of veterans. My grandfather, father, brother, two of my
sons, and one daughter-in-law are all veterans. Needless to say, I am proud.
Proud to be an American and proud of the service my amazing family has given.
Please tell us about your current release.
Dog Days
of Summer is a book about Jeremiah (Dog) Sheppard, the single father of
grown twin sons and owner of Rolling Thunder Motorcycles, Inc.
Joci is the single mother of a grown son, Gunnar, and owns a
marketing and graphic design company.
They meet when Gunnar asks Joci to come and help them organize the
Veterans Ride for Rolling Thunder. The sparks fly when they meet, but Joci has
been cheated on in two past relationships and she isn’t interested in getting
involved with Jeremiah. Also, LuAnn is in the picture. LuAnn is the sister of a
friend of Dog’s but she wants to be more.
Dog has to get Joci to learn to trust him. Joci has to work around
LuAnn. LuAnn is just a pain in the butt.
This book isn’t filled with angst and drama. It’s an easy read and
great for someone that wants to read about people falling in love and learning
how to foster a relationship.
What inspired you to write this book?
What inspired you to write this book?
Bikers. My husband and I are bikers and so are most of our
friends. The characters in Dog Days
are based on real characters. As I was waiting for a charity ride to start one
day I looked around and thought, “These are my characters. They each have a
life story.” Dog Days was born. You
know the saying, “Truth is stranger than fiction?” It’s really true. I have had
people tell me these characters aren’t believable. But, they’re real. Their
stories have been tweaked a little, but each character is based on someone I
know.
Excerpt from Dog Days of Summer:
Excerpt from Dog Days of Summer:
Gunnar said, “Conference room is this way, Mom.”
Joci nodded once and followed behind Gunnar
as they made their way through the store and up the stairs. Joci noted the
store was neat and tidy. There were racks of clothing on one side of the store
and parts, accessories, and motorcycles on the other. The store was well-lit
and colorful. The logo painted on the wall, though, was boring. Rolling
Thunder Motorcycles, Inc. was painted in silver lettering on a white wall
with nothing else. No real logo other than the name.
Entering a room off to the right at the top
of the stairs, Joci stopped in her tracks as she crossed the threshold. Dog was
sitting at the conference table, which was a large, well-worn oak table
littered with beer cans, papers and miscellaneous food wrappers. About eight
other people were either sitting at the table or standing around talking.
As she stood in the doorway he looked up from
his reading and stared at her.
“Dog, this is my mom, Joci. Mom, this is
Jeremiah Sheppard, but everyone calls him Dog.”
Joci watched as Dog stood to his full height,
and rounded the table toward her. Well-built, broad shoulders supported the most
beautiful head and face Joci had ever seen on a man. Long blonde hair and
bright green eyes held her attention as he came to a stop in her space. He
reached his hand out to shake hers, but Joci stood transfixed as she looked
into his eyes.
“Nice to meet you Joci. Gunnar has told me a
lot about you. I appreciate your time in helping us plan next year’s event.”
What exciting story are you working on next?
Dog Days is the first book in a series, I am finishing up Rydin the Storm Out, which is Ryder’s story. Ryder is one of Jeremiah’s twin sons.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Last year when I finally sat down and started writing. I have
always had stories floating around in my head, but I didn’t think of myself as
a writer until I started writing. There is so much more than writing. The
marketing, the sales, the advertising, looking for beta readers and revamping a
story after someone has ripped it apart.
Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
Finding the time is the hard part. I work full time as a paralegal
in a small law office. I write in the early mornings and late evenings. I have
been fortunate to work a job where I can have my Friday’s off, so that is
writing day. I try to squeeze it in whenever I can.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I need to have noise when I write. The stereo, television, something
that makes noise. When the house is quiet, I can’t think.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a dancer. I don’t know why, that’s way before
dancing with the stars came out. And, to be honest, I’m not even that
coordinated, so I don’t know where that came from.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I would like to thank you all for reading this and reading Dog Days of Summer. Writing has been
such a great pleasure for me and creating characters I would want to know in
real life has been such a joy. I hope you enjoy them as well. I encourage you
to touch base with me either on Facebook or from my website and let me know your thoughts,
ideas, or experiences. Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Other ways to connect with me:
You Tube | Street Team | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads author | Goodreads book | Amazon Author Page | RebelMouse | Google+ | LinkedIn |
Follow the links for the playlists for each book:
Buy Links:
Thanks, PJ!
5 comments:
Thanks for hosting!
I really loved the excerpt. I enjoyed your comments very much.
I love the Excerpt, very interesting.
Thank you all for your time. Glad you like the blurb and excerpt.
Informative interview
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