I’m
delighted to welcome Constance
Bretes to my blog.
Hello
Constance – It was great to connect with you through our publisher, BeachwalkPress, Inc. where a wide range of quality ebooks in a variety of subgenres are
offered.
I’m
keen to discover what a Contemporary Romance/Romance Suspense Author has to
share and I'm sure your readers are too. But before we
discover more about your latest release - Midnight Escape - here are a few
questions which will hopefully give your readers an insight into some of the
things that matter to you.
Arabella: Authors can release
books, making them available to readers in various ways…via an agent, or
working directly with a traditional publisher, or they can even go the
self-publishing route. Which method of publishing do you prefer, and why?
Constance:
I work through my publisher, Beachwalk Press, Inc. because this publisher works
individually with me on my books so that they are virtually error-free and
grammar correct.
Arabella: Who or what inspired you
to write your latest release, Midnight Escape?
Constance: I was watching the show, Deadliest Catch on
the Discovery Channel. In case you don’t know what the show is about. It’s
about the commercial crab fishermen who go out to the rough Bering Sea crab
fishing. The episode showed a captain whose daughter wanted to take over the
business, so he hired her as the greenhorn deckhand and started her at the
lowliest job on the boat, taking the fish and baiting the pots. As I thought
about the storyline that was forming from this, I kept asking myself how would
I get the heroine on the boat. So I came up with a mob hit, and Jax helping her
to escape the mob by taking her out on the boat.
Arabella: If the person of your
dreams, (husband/wife/partner/or superstar), were to take you out for the
night, where would they take you and what would you do?
Constance: A
romantic dinner at a 5-star restaurant followed by an evening at a concert to
listen to Gordon Lightfoot and a visit backstage with the star for a lovely
conversation.
Arabella: Currently, what is your
most favourite T.V. programme, and why?
Constance: I LOVE The Big Bang Theory, and Last Man
Standing. The Big Bang Theory is geeky and hilarious. Last Man Standing, well,
I just love Tim Allen.
Arabella: When writing a book or
chapter, which do you concentrate on first: plot, character, or setting?
Constance:
Plot. Always the plot. The characters and setting are embellishments to add to
turn it from a plot to a story.
Arabella: How do you research your
novels and characters?
Constance: In the case of Midnight Escape. I spent a lot
of time watching the Deadliest Catch, learning the ins and outs of the boat,
what all the machines do, what the crew do, what sets the men off while on the
job, and stuff like that. I also research the towns in Alaska, the bay area and
the passageway to the sea, where dry docks are and why they exist. I also
research paralytic shellfish poisoning, something that only happens in the
Alaska coastlines. Most of this is done through internet searches, but I do
visit my library from time to time to find books on particular subjects. For
example, in two of my books, Blue As Sapphires and Elkhorn
In The Moonlight, I spent a lot of time researching gold mines. I lived
in a small town that had 4 gold mines, and I research the town’s history with
gold and the people, population, etc. If at all possible, I will visit the
towns in my stories to get a feel for them. Blue As Sapphires was written based
on the town of Phillipsburg, Montana, while Elkhorn In The Moonlight was based
on Basin, Montana, where I lived.
Arabella: A slice of Chocolate Cake, a piece of Fruit, or Burger and Fries?
Constance: Burger and fries. However, I’m picky about the food. I want it fixed correctly, or according to the way I like it. Especially my French fries.
Arabella: What advice would you
give to someone who is starting out on their writing journey?
Constance: Try to take a couple of creative writing
classes at your local college, and know your grammar. Grammar was something
that I never got the hang of even to this day. Now, it’s like trying to teach
an old dog new tricks.
Get
with some writers groups or people who write in your genre. Develop
relationships with them so you can have an even exchange in ideas,
encouragements, and guidance.
Writing
is a lonely business. Vary your quiet spaces to write to include ways that help
inspire you. I sometimes will go to a restaurant, a bar, a back porch, a lake,
a small town, just someplace to help inspire me.
People’s
conversations, habits, reactions, etc. inspire me when adding the setting and
characters to my books.
In
Elkhorn
In The Moonlight (released in February 2019) I sat at the small town
bar and restaurant and listened to the patrons talk about different stuff. Old
miners passing by talking about mining in Butte, Montana before it was forced
to close due to federal regulations, something someone found on the internet,
like a driver getting pulled over for driving a wooden car on the freeway,
music they like to listen to on the jukebox, etc. Sometimes I take a pad of paper, other times,
I make sure my iPhone is charged up and use the note features on the phone.
Constance,
it was great having you on the blog and I hope your readers enjoyed learning
about your research methods . . . T.V. – T.V. – and yet more T.V. Where would writers
and authors be without Discovery Channel, Google, and our local libraries? J
Best
wishes and good luck with Midnight Escape.
Arabella
www.arabellasheen.co.uk
About Constance Bretes
Constance
started writing contemporary romance and contemporary romance suspense fifteen
years ago. She was born and raised in Michigan. After thirty-eight years
working for the State of Michigan, she retired. She and her husband moved to
Montana and lived in the mountainside of a small town, where the story, Elkhorn
In The Moonlight, was based upon. After living there for three years, they
moved to Alabama with their three feline furballs who own her and her husband.
Her hobbies include basket weaving, reading romance books, and jewellery making
as well as writing.
Email:
bretesc@gmail.com
Website:
https://constancebretes.com
Blog:
https://www.constancebretes.com/connies-blog
NL
Link:
https://www.constancebretes.com/news--things.html
Amazon
Author URL: https://www.amazon.com/Constance-Bretes/e/B00IKSKRES/
Bookbub
Author URL: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/constance-bretes
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/conniebretes/
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7737457.Constance_Bretes
Instagram:
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Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/cbretes/
Book Blurb - Midnight Escape
On
the run from the mob, Suzanne discovers that hunky Jax is just the man she
needs.
Suzanne
Pacheco is on the run from the mob after witnessing a murder and helping to put
the killer in prison. Her trip across the country brings her to a small town in
Alaska. But once again the mob’s hitman has tracked her down. She’s
disheartened at the thought of leaving the town she’s developed a real fondness
for, but there’s nothing else she can do. Until she finds help in the
unlikeliest of places and embarks on an adventure like never before.
Commercial
fisherman Jax Devereaux has his hands full fishing for crabs in the formidable
Bering Sea, but when Suzanne needs his help, he adds yet another thing to his
list of responsibilities. He takes her with him to the one place he thinks she
might be safe—the middle of the sea. But there’s danger everywhere. Can he keep
Suzanne safe, and will he lose his heart in the process?
