Interview with paranormal romance author Rebecca Graf

Debut novelist Rebecca Graf is here to talk about her paranormal romance Deep Connections. She's giving away 10 copies of her book (winner's choice of e-book or paper) during the tour, so enter below for a chance to win.

Bio:

A former accountant of 20 years, Rebecca started writing online until she wrote the first draft of a story. From there with the encouragement of friends she produced her first novel, Deep Connections. Rebecca was born in Kentucky and grew up in lower Alabama. From there she married and moved to Wisconsin where she resides today with her husband and three children.

Welcome, Rebecca. Please tell us about your current release.

Deep Connections is a paranormal romance full of suspense. It is about a woman named Brenna who is feeling an attraction with Slaton, but just as Slaton makes his move to further their relationship, they find a stalker is after Brenna. He’ll go to any lengths to get her, including murder.

What inspired you to write this book?

I actually had a dream of two people who had this deep connection show itself when they touched. During my waking hours, the dream expanded and with the encouragement of a friend I put it down in words. It grew from there.

Excerpt:

Brenna’s eyes fluttered open to see a blur of trees flying by. Her head pounded and her stomach began to roll from the pain she felt and the fast-changing scenery. A careful look at her surroundings told her she was in an older model car. She inhaled deeply to calm herself, but confusion set in as her senses were assaulted by unfamiliar smells. The old smell of the car was tainted with something repugnant and caused her nose to crinkle in response. Her eyes widened in fright as terrifying memories began to flood her mind. Turning slowly, afraid of what she might see, a gasp involuntarily escaped her vocal cords when she saw he was as repulsive as she remembered. Who was he and what did he want with her?

Sensing her stare, a pair of dark, soulless eyes turned towards her. A smile appeared on his unkempt face. “Well, well, sleeping beauty awakes.” Brenna’s stomach rolled again as she felt his eyes slide hungrily over her body. She pushed up against the door in an effort to put as much distance between the two of them as she could, but he shook his head in disapproval. “No need to be dramatic.” He turned his attention back to the road. “We both know you won’t jump out.”

She set her teeth and glared at him. Eyeballing her surroundings, she saw that there was no end to the trees that lined the road, no sign of civilization. She assumed they were still in the same state as when he grabbed her from the parking lot of the school where she taught. Deep down inside, she knew death awaited her no matter what. The look in his eye was not merciful. Yet jumping from the car to end her life seemed too selfish. As she was not one to keep such joy to herself, she quickly swung her body around and slammed into her abductor. Might as well let him in on the fun!

The force of her body colliding into his sent the car spinning out of control. She began fighting with all her might to prevent him from regaining control. Two sets of hands fought for control of the steering wheel. Profanities were shouted as the fight intensified. The car spun to the edge of the road where a small depression nestled in the forest. The tires left the ground when it hit the slight downward shift of the terrain, the car flipped and somersaulted twenty feet down the hill. As it took its final turn before slamming into a large pine tree, the passenger door flung open from the movement. Brenna thudded on the forest ground and barely missed a clump of trees. Stars exploded in her head and every bone in her body ached from the impact. She looked up to the fading light and let the darkness take possession.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I’m actually working on two. One is the sequel to Deep Connections called Dark Connections. I can’t say much more about it until everyone has read the first book. I am also working on a piece called Trust Me that is about a woman who is kidnapped, but finds herself learning to trust the kidnapper as a savior instead. Those she had trusted in the past might just be the ones she should be running from.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

When I stepped away from my full-time accounting job and just wrote for a living whether I got paid or not.

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?

Full-time? Yes and no. I mainly write, but my friend and I started a publishing company which is taking up a lot more time than the writing side of me would like. There are days when I cannot write at all, and it drives me crazy. But I do write for various online sites as well as working on my books.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I listen to my characters. People think I’m crazy, but as I’m writing, sometimes the characters take over and instruct me on what I’m doing wrong. In one book, I killed off a guy that I really liked. Drove me crazy, but every time I went to change it I couldn’t write anymore. He had to go.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a teacher. I’m striving for that. I’m going back to school to get my history and English degrees. I want to teach even if it is indirectly through my writing.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

If you want to write, then do it. You’ll never be a writer if you keep making up excuses. It is true that a writer just writes. They have to or they go crazy.

Thank you for having me here.

I enjoy connecting with readers, and you can find me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/RebbecaGraf and on Twitter as @rebeccagraf.

My pleasure. It's been great getting to know a little bit about you and your writing. Readers, enter a Rafflecopter giveaway for 1 of 10 copies of Deep Connections - your choice of ebook or paper.