New interview with romance author Meg Benjamin

Romance author Meg Benjamin joins me today to talk about her new paranormal, Away.

During her virtual book tour, Meg will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky 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!

Bio:

Meg Benjamin is an award-winning author of contemporary romance. Her newest series, the Folk, is a paranormal trilogy set in Colorado. Meg’s Konigsburg series is set in the Texas Hill Country and her Salt Box and Brewing Love trilogies are set in the Colorado Rockies (both are available from Entangled Publishing). Along with contemporary romance, Meg is also the author of the paranormal Ramos Family trilogy from Berkley InterMix. Meg’s books have won numerous awards, including an EPIC Award, a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion from Virginia Romance Writers, the Beanpot Award from the New England Romance Writers, and the Award of Excellence from Colorado Romance Writers. Meg’s Web site is http://www.MegBenjamin.com. You can follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Meg loves to hear from readers—contact her at meg@megbenjamin.com.

Welcome, Meg. Please share a little bit about your current release.
Away is the first book in a new paranormal series, The Folk. My hero is a member of The Folk, a complex society of magical beings living in the foothill suburbs of Denver. You might call them fairies, but you probably shouldn’t do that in their hearing. My heroine is mortal, but one night she sees her brother in the parking lot at the club where she works—the same brother who disappeared and supposedly died in the mountains ten years earlier. She hires the hero to find out what’s happening, thinking he’s a private detective. He’s actually a police officer for the Folk rather than a detective, but he decides to help her anyway. The search for her brother turns up a much more sinister conspiracy that threatens my hero and heroine, as well as the Folk themselves.

What inspired you to write this book?
I love writing paranormal books, although most of my other books are contemporary romance. I love the idea of parallel worlds, that the supernatural lies just beneath the surface. And the supernatural can appear when you least expect it.

Excerpt from Away:

“Almost there,” Bertie called cheerfully. “What would you like . . .” He stopped, squinting at something in front of him.

Annie looked too. The fog seemed to have disappeared, leaving darkness behind. A peculiar kind of starless sky. She swung her Cyalume farther in front.

And saw absolute blackness ahead.

A wall of darkness had appeared in the road, snuffing out the light. The illumination from their chemlights seemed to bounce back, unable to penetrate the gloom

Behind her, Grim brought the car to a stop. “What is it?”

“Darkness,” Bertie said tersely. “All dark.”

A sound seemed to grow in front of them, a roaring grumble, like a distant waterfall. A distant waterfall that was somehow getting louder. Annie bit her lip, piercing the dark with her suddenly puny flare.

“It’s coming closer,” Bertie said softly.

Annie stared. The wall of darkness was moving, blanking out everything it touched. Annihilating the night around them.

 

What exciting story are you working on next?

Book 2 of the Folk, Unseen, is tentatively scheduled for an August release. It includes some of the same characters as Away, along with some new faces. It’s set in a mountain town, Animas, which is based on Crested Butte and includes a version of their famous Vinotuk Fall Festival. I love Crested Butte, and I had a lot of fun writing a romance based there.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Before I wrote romance, I was a college teacher, and I wrote lots of things that were part of my job. I can still remember the first article I had accepted by a journal, realizing I could actually do this for a living. Through all the other ups and downs, I still get that feeling when somebody likes my work.

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?
I’m retired from my day job now, so I do get to write full-time. I find that I work better in the afternoon for some reason, so I usually get my chores done in the morning. Then I spend the afternoon in my study, although I try to spell myself so that I don’t spend the afternoon sitting down. I’ll write for thirty minutes and then go do something else for five minutes, just to give my brain a rest and my muscles something different to do.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I’m a planner, more’s the pity. I have to know where I’m going and how I’m going to end before I start. That doesn’t mean I won’t change things once I get going, but I need that outline in my hand before I can actually get started.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be the two things I ended up being: a writer and a teacher.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I really enjoyed writing The Folk, and I’d like to do more books set in this world. Many thanks to Soul Mate publishing for taking the series on. I hope everybody enjoys it as much as I did.

Links:

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