I'm delighted to welcome Anne Greene, a fellow White Rose author, to My Book Bag. She's here today to talk about her new book, Masquerade Marriage. Tomorrow, I'll be posting my review of that book, so be sure to come back again.
Welcome, Anne! We’d like to know the person behind the writer. Who is Anne Greene, lady next door?
I’d rather stay home and read or write then go to a large party. I like small parties. I’m very active. I’d rather participate in a sport than watch one. I like tennis, swimming, golf, horseback riding, and ocean sailing. I also paint pictures and sing in two choirs. But because I sit behind a computer six to eight hours a day, I constantly fight weight gain.
In my early years I lived in a small farm town in Ohio, and have lived in San Diego, Chicago, and now live in a suburb of Dallas, Texas. I have four grown children, and just recently returned from spending a year in Seoul, Korea where my husband served in the Military. He is a Special Forces Colonel (Green Beret). I love to travel, and I’ve visited twenty-five foreign countries and every State in the US except Alaska. I’ve been in three communist countries. Several of my books, like Masquerade Marriage, are set in foreign countries. Writing is my passion.
Mornings I work out at the gym, do my errands, cook, and clean my house. Then I write from approximately 1:00 to either 5:00 or 6:00 pm if I have an appointment that night (singing – social, etc) or 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm if I have no appointments. Sometimes I don’t work that late, I relax and watch TV or play games. I’m an avid game player. But whenever possible I write six to eight hours a day, excluding Sunday.
I go to church and sing in the sanctuary choir as well as a Celebration choir that goes out to retirement homes to sing for retirees. I never write on Sunday. I love being with my family. I enjoy going out, doesn’t matter where. I like to travel. I like to take walks with my dog. I love spending time with my friends. Oh, there are too many things to number.
I love dogs. I have a white Lhasa Apso and would like to have more, but dear hubby objects. Dogs do interfere with travel.
And if I could go anywhere to tomorrow, I’d like to go back to being twenty-one. LOL.
Oh, yes – that would be a great place to go...as long as we don't have to re-learn all the lessons we’ve learned since we were there before! :) What do you find most challenging and most rewarding about being a writer?
Most rewarding part of being a writer is the actual process of writing. I love it all—from the original concept to the rough draft to the finished work. I even enjoy the four or five polishings. The craft takes years to learn for most writers. Every element is important. But, I think the writer’s imagination is the most important. Her voice, what makes her who she is, and what she is passionate about. Of course, even the most talented writer must learn about characterization, plot, vivid words, and all the ABCs of writing style. And it’s always rewarding to see that contract. Plus I love getting that final book in my hands.
What lessons have you learned during your publication process that you wouldn't have guessed as a pre-published writer?
I would never have guessed how long the process takes. Writing is fun and easy. Honing the craft is not. There are so many facets the writer must learn from a plot that works, dialogue that is believable, characters that are real, setting that puts the reader inside the story, staging that lets the reader follow the characters, characters that react as real characters do, and so much, much more. But those are the easy, fun facets of writing. The hard work comes after the writer is published. Now the writer who is often an introvert, as I am, is expected to give talks, do book signings, hand out book marks, visit libraries and book sellers, and in every way possible sell that little gem that she created. There is no easy journey in writing books and seeing them published.
(((Sigh))) Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just write and let someone else sell? LOL Tell us a little about your most recent release.
In Masquerade Marriage, Brody’s been in love with Megan since he was fifteen. Megan found him hateful then, and is certain he is now in love with her beautiful, older sister. The tension between the two is fun.
Masquerade Marriage is a book of my heart. My paternal ancestors are Scotch of Clan Gunn, which was located in the far north of Scotland in the Cathness area where Vikings intermarried with the Scots. I visited Scotland with the purpose of setting one or more historicals there, and fell in love with the country. The final battle between the English and the Scottish Highlanders changed the Highlands forever. A way of life ended. The drama in this story appealed to me, and so I wrote Masquerade Marriage. I love this time in history and so enjoyed living it as I wrote the book. I hope the reader finds a new world to love as he reads my book.
(See blurb below)
What are you working on now?
I’m always working on three or more books at once. Many of my readers have asked for a sequel to Masquerade Marriage, and I’m working on that. And, I just today submitted a new historical romance to my publishers that I hope she loves. It is the first book in a series of a three- to five-book family saga. I have a lady detective book I have every hope of seeing published soon. I’m working on a woman test pilot in WWII book, and several proposals for novellas. I also have a couple contemporary mysteries.
I do a great deal of research for all my books, including the contemporary ones. I always visit the setting and get some good pictures. Then I find books about the history and time. Small details I research on the internet, but the important ones come from non-fiction books. I am extremely careful in my research because if a reader discovers one error, then I lose credibility. If I’m writing detective, I have a detective look over the manuscript before I send it out. If I’m writing WWII stories, I find someone who has been there. I always find a person who has done the job I’m writing about to look over the finished manuscript. Of course, when I go further back into history I have to rely solely on the non-fiction books. But I enjoy research and often do far more than I ever use in any one book.
You are a busy lady! What other author has most influenced your writing style?
My writing style is fairly unique. I don’t know that any other writer has influenced my style. The type of book I write is most influential to my writing style. My contemporary books have a totally different voice than my historical books. But a thread of suspense and lots of adventure and romance lurk in all my books.
What is your quirkiest writing habit?
I may only have a single occurrence or a single setting when I start. Then the story just emerges. It’s like watching a movie and putting everything down on paper. I think I’ve written so many stories in my head before I became a writer that I never have trouble deviating from the course. I have no patience with either plot outlines or character sketches. Plots and characters are the fun things that come from writing the book. Each chapter brings me a new discovery. I am a very definite seat of the pants writer.
Definitely with you on that SOTP thing. What one piece of writing advice has been most beneficial to you?
Don’t send out a manuscript until it is ready. To me that means my manuscript has to sit on the shelf for at least two months and then I look it over again to see if there is anything more I can do to polish it. Too often I’ve sent out work that I just finished and that I thought was polished and ready to go, only to discover after it was rejected that—whoops, it did need another go-over to make it shine. Then the next time I sent it out, the manuscript was accepted.
Thank you for hanging out at My Book Bag today, Anne!
ABOUT MASQUERADE MARRIAGE:
A SECRET LIST
He was born to a clan of noted warriors and musicians. Yet to protect his loved ones and escape the dark fate of his brothers, he abandons his identity. Hiding from relentless soldiers who want him dead, he vows to protect the woman he loves more than life, more than freedom, more than Scotland. But his presence throws her into danger.
A VOW HONORED
She weds a stranger to save his life. But do vows make a marriage? When does a marriage become a marriage? What if she holds a different love inside her heart?
A SACRIFICE MADE
Steeling himself against the pain, he condemns himself to a life of heartbreak without her. Wanting her desperately, knowing he can’t have her, he surrenders her and heads alone to certain death. Outlawed, with a price on his head, does she love him enough to give up castle, lands, and family, and risk the agony of surrendering her heart a second time?
ABOUT ANNE:
ANNE GREENE delights in writing about wounded heroes and gutsy heroines. She writes both historical and suspense novels. After falling in love with several countries and their people, Anne set a number of her books in exotic locations. She and her hero husband, Army Special Forces Colonel Larry Greene, have visited twenty-five countries, including three communist countries. A visit to Scotland resulted in her newest book release, Masquerade Marriage, published by White Rose Publishing. When she’s not deployed with her husband, Anne makes her home in McKinney, Texas. Two of her four children live nearby. Tim LaHaye led her to the Lord when she was twenty-one and Chuck Swindoll is her Pastor. In 1990, Anne graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Literary Studies from the University of Texas, Dallas. Her highest hope is that her stories transport the reader to an awesome new world and touch hearts to seek a deeper spiritual relationship with the Lord Jesus. To learn more of Anne and to view pictures from her extensive travel, visit her at AnneGreeneAuthor.com.
REMEMBER TO VISIT AGAIN TOMORROW FOR MY REVIEW OF MASQUERADE MARRIAGE.
This week Elaine Marie Cooper takes the crown over at Clash of the Titles. The category was Most Romantic Moment and the excerpt was from her novel The Road to Deer Run. She beat out her competitor Lorna Seilstad with a 54% to 46% vote.
Professional History:
