TBR welcomes Rachel Brimble

TBR: Welcome to TBR, Rachel. Will you share a little bit about yourself?

Rachel: I live in South West England with my husband of almost 15 years and our two teen and pre-teen daughters. I’ve been writing all my life but pursued publication when my youngest started school in 2005. I am lucky enough to have had at least one novel published every year since 2007.

When I’m not writing, I love to read, knit, walk and watch TV or socialize with friends and family. I currently write mainstream romance and romantic suspense for Harlequin Superromance and Victorian romance for Kensington.

TBR: Tell us about Finding Justice and where it's available.
Rachel: Finding Justice is my debut novel with Harlequin Superromance and I’m thrilled to say it is book one in what I hope will be an ongoing series (book two coming in August 2013). The books are set in the UK fictional seaside town of Templeton Cove and will feature a mix of mainstream romance and romantic suspense.

The setting is based on a place where I used to holiday with my family as a child – I had an idea for a murder and the victim to be a childhood friend of both the hero and heroine. This is a reunion/suspense story. I hope you like it!

TBR: Please tantalize us with a story blurb or excerpt.
Rachel:

Old friends, new secrets 

Sergeant Cat Forrester lives by her own set of rules. When her childhood friend is murdered, Cat's world is thrown into chaos. Especially because Jay Garrett-a man from her past-is a suspect, and he needs her help to prove he's innocent. After all they once shared, how can she say no? 

The attraction flares between them, and getting involved with a suspect is a huge risk. But the more time Cat spends with Jay, the stronger the tug on her heart. He is the same caring, irresistible man she remembers. Yet she can't let her emotions interfere with the case—solving it is top priority. But as she digs deeper, she discovers Jay has secrets that may jeopardize any possible future together.

Amazon US

Barnes & Noble

Book Depository UK

Image Copyright © 2013 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited

How do you develop your characters?

Rachel: My books usually start to formulate with either setting or situation and then I need to find the right characters to tell the story. I begin by trawling the internet for a ‘visual’ which, more often than not, is a famous actor/actress. This gives me the physical aspects of the character and then I complete a character sketch sheet which includes the character’s goal, motivation and internal conflict––as well as their biggest fear.

This sheet usually throws up plot ideas as I’m completing it as well as pivotal scenes. I then go on write a two to three page synopsis that gives me an outline I can build on and change.  

TBR: While creating your books, what was one of the most surprising things you learned?
Rachel: Writing never gets any easier! I really thought with each book, I wouldn’t run headlong into the same problems each time. I do. My biggest challenges throughout the writing process are the dreaded ‘sagging middle’ and the need to ‘up the stakes’ as the story progresses.

Writing is hard work – involving a lot of blood, sweat and tears. The reward for me is seeing the finished product. Cover art day is always a GREAT day! :)

TBR: Tease us with one little thing about your fictional world that makes it different from others.
Rachel: I’m very proud to say, as far as I know (and my editor knows), Finding Justice is the first ever Superromance to feature all British characters in a British setting. I’m very proud of that and thrilled Harlequin are willing to consider an ongoing series. So far the reviews for Finding Justice have been great. It’s such a relief that readers love Templeton Cove as much as me!

TBR: What's next for you?
Rachel: My next release is another debut for me – this time with eKensington. “The Seduction of Emily” is a Victorian romance set in the famous city of Bath, England (just a short 30 minute drive from where I live). I was ecstatic when eKensington contracted it, along with a sequel. My first two-book contract, yay!

Here’s the blurb and links for pre-order:

Seduction is a wicked game, and no one plays it better than the devilish Will Samson in Rachel Brimble's captivating new novel. . .

Since girlhood, Emily Darson has accepted that she will marry Nicholas, the son of her father's trusted business partner. The marriage contract safeguards her family legacy, Emily's fortune, and everything she values--except her independence. Only when a sinfully handsome scoundrel enters her life does Emily realize quite how much a loveless match will cost her.

Will Samson has advanced from expert pickpocket to confidence trickster of the highest caliber. Now he has come to Bath to exact vengeance on the man who destroyed his mother--the man Emily will soon marry. But from his first glimpse of the enemy's bewitching, spirited fiancée, Will's plan changes.

Amid the ballrooms and salons of elegant society, heated glances explode into scandalous kisses. Revenge is sweet, but surrender will be irresistible. .

Amazon US

Barnes & Noble

Amazon UK

TBR: Any other published works?
Rachel: Here is a list of my published works and upcoming releases during 2013:

Searching For Sophie (Novel) – The Wild Rose Press (July 2007)

Reluctant Witness (Novel) – The Wild Rose Press (Oct 2008)

The Sharp Points of A Triangle (Novel) – Eternal Press (Jan 2010)

The Arrival of Lily Curtis (Novel) – The Wild Rose Press (Jul 2010)

Transatlantic Loving (Novella) – The Wild Rose Press (Sept 2010)

Getting It Right This Time (Novel) – Lyrical Press (Jan 2011)

Paying The Piper (Novel) – Lyrical Press (Sept 2011)

Love’s Debt (Novella) – The Wild Rose Press (Sept 2012)

Finding Justice (Novel) – Harlequin Superromance (Feb 2013)

Upcoming releases:

The Seduction of Emily (Novel) – eKensington (Apr 2013)

16 Marsden Place (Novel) – Omnific Publishing (June 2013)

A Man Like Him – Templeton Cove book 2 (Novel) – Harlequin Superromance (Aug 2013)

TBR: Who are some of your favorite authors and books? What are you reading now?
Rachel: I have MANY favorite authors but my biggest inspiration for both her books and rate of production is Nora Roberts – just love her books, including the JD Robb In Death series. It amazes me how prolific she is!

Right now I am reading, The Summer of Living Dangerously by UK woman’s fiction writer, Julie Cohen and also Death by Darjeeling by Laura Childs. I have recently discovered US cozy mysteries and just loving them! :)

TBR: Where can readers find you on the web?
Rachel: I’m a Twitter maniac so readers can easily discover the madness of my day-to-day life by following me – here’s my links:

Website

Blog

Twitter

Facebook

TBR: Readers, Rachel will give away a download of any of her books to one lucky commenter. She'll pick a winner on Thursday, March 28th and announce the winner here. Be sure to leave your email address so she can contact you.

Thanks for visiting TBR, Rachel. All the best to you.

TBR welcomes Rachel Brimble

TBR: Welcome to TBR, Rachel. Will you share a little bit about yourself?
Rachel: I’m a Brit living in South West England, near the historic city of Bath. I live with my husband, two young daughters and mad 8-year-old black Lab, Max.

I am lucky enough to be able to stay at home and write full-time, so I write from 8.30 to 3.30 Monday to Friday with bits in between thereafter, as well as a couple of hours on Saturday and Sunday…if possible.

When I’m not writing (which isn’t often!), I like to read, knit, watch US crime dramas, UK period dramas or see friends and family. Oh, and a glass of wine often features in there somewhere, too!

TBR: Tell us about Love’s Debt and where it's available.
Rachel: Love’s Debt is a Victorian romance novella set in the UK maritime city of Bristol. It is about two people from entirely different backgrounds fighting the effects of poverty.

Strong and optimistic, Milly and Joseph are destined to be together…

Available from The Wild Rose Press.

TBR: Please tantalize us with a story blurb or excerpt.

Rachel:

To keep herself from the depths of poverty, Milly Shepherd needs to be appointed manager of the Red Lion Tavern.  The elderly owner is in failing health and has promised her the job permanently if no one more suitable applies.  Milly will fight with her entire being to make the job her own.

Joseph Jacobs needs to supplement his income to pay off his father’s creditors and save him from debtor’s prison.  Though the job as manager of the local tavern looks promising, Milly is favored by both the owner and customers.  Instead, Joseph swallows his pride and agrees to tend bar.

As they work together, their attraction grows, their goals cross, and both Millie and Joseph find they must face their fears …the question is whether they face them alone or together?

TBR: Are you a plotter or pantser?

Rachel: I’m a combination of the two – although as each book is written and I recognize what works and what doesn’t, I am leaning toward the pantser. I write a two-three page synopsis first of all, trying to focus on the goal, motivation and conflicts—and then a character sketch for the hero, heroine and if I have one, the villain.

Then I free write the ‘crappy’ draft from start to finish – the hard part comes in the following drafts!

TBR: How do you develop your characters?
Rachel: See above – my characters evolve organically as I write the first draft. I slowly get to know them, see their likes and dislikes, their emotional scars and issues as I continue to write. Then when I go back to the beginning, I can add in subtle hints of their internal conflicts, what makes sense for them to do and not do in any given situation.

By the end of draft one, the characters are extremely real to me so I can add in all the little nuances in the following drafts and hopefully, make them three-dimensional and believable people.

TBR: Do you have a favorite quote you’d like to share?
Rachel: “Set it up the way you want it to be.” – Iyanla Vanzant.

TBR: Which of your characters would you most/least like to invite to dinner, and why?
Rachel: I’d love to meet all my characters in real life – both the good and bad! They are so amazingly real to me, I’m sure the conversation would be easy and natural. Plus, they could tell me a bit about themselves that they wish I would have written into their stories, lol! J

TBR: While creating your books, what was one of the most surprising things you learned?
Rachel:  That it never gets any easier! When I started out writing and used to think of Nora Roberts or Jodi Picoult, even my childhood favorite, Enid Blyton, I used to think that must find it so easy having so many books behind them. Um…no!! Every book is hard (at least for me) and I still struggle with the ‘sagging middle’. Once I hit the 30-35,000 mark, everything seems to ground to a halt and I’m filled with huge self-doubt.

The only way around it is to push through and hope you can clean it up later!

TBR: What's next for you?
Rachel: I am so unbelievably excited about 2013! I will have at least four full-length novels out next year. Two romantic suspense Superromance novels with Harlequin, a Victorian romance with Kensington and a romantic comedy with Omnific. I still have to pinch myself that this is happening – it’s a dream come true! Harlequin will release the first book, Finding Justice, in February with the others following in April, June and August. 

Finding Justice cover Copyright © 2013 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited

TBR: Who are some of your favorite authors and books? What are you reading now?
Rachel:  As I’ve already mentioned, Nora Roberts is my absolute favorite, followed by Jodi Picoult and British Victorian romance author, Jean Fullerton. Having said that, there are lots of others in between! Another particular favorite is Robyn Carr’s Virgin River series.

TBR: Where can readers find you on the web?
Rachel:

http://www.rachelbrimble.com/

http://rachelbrimble.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rachel-Brimble/181873201887441?fref=ts

https://twitter.com/RachelBrimble

TBR: Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers?
Rachel: Do you have a favorite romance sub-genre? As you can tell with my 2013 releases, I love to be versatile! Is there a sub-genre you would like to see more of??
 

TBR: Readers, Rachel Brimble will give away a free download of any of her books to one lucky commenter. She'll pick a winner on Saturday November 17th and announce the winner here. Be sure to leave your email address so she can contact you.

Thanks for visiting TBR, Rachel! All the best to you.

TBR welcomes Rachel Brimble

TBR: Welcome to TBR, Rachel. Will you share a little bit about yourself?
Rachel: I have been writing seriously for about six years now and have six full-length novels and one novella published. I am married with two daughters and a third child by the name of Max, my black Lab, Max. We live in South West England, very close to the famous Georgian/Regency city of Bath.

When I’m not writing I like to read, knit, walk the English countryside and socialize with friends and family.

My vices are white wine, jelly donuts and TV crime and period dramas :)

TBR: Tell us about Paying The Piper and where our visitors can buy it.
Rachel: Paying The Piper started out as a romantic suspense but as I started writing the suspense lessened and the romance grew. Although this is a darker, grittier story than I have written before I consider it a mainstream contemporary romance set against a backdrop of UK pubs and clubs.

Jimmy Betts is my favorite hero so far :)

Buy Link:

http://www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_25&products_id=424

TBR: Please tantalize us with a story blurb or excerpt.
Rachel:

Blurb: 

Nightclub manager, Grace Butler is on a mission to buy the pub where her mother’s ashes are scattered – except the vendor wants to sell to anyone but her. And the vendor happens to be her father…with a secret Grace will do anything to uncover.

 Social worker and all-round good guy, Jimmy Betts needs cash to buy a house for three special kids before their care home closes. In a desperate bid for cash, he agrees to a one-time ‘job’ for bad-man Karl Butler. But in a sudden turn of events, Jimmy finds himself employed by Karl’s beautiful, funny and incredibly sexy daughter, Grace.

Their lives are so different except for one unifying thread – they are both trying to escape the binds of their tyrannical fathers. But is the key to their liberty each other?

TBR: Are you a plotter or pantser?
Rachel: A combination of the two – I always start a story with either a premise or a voice in my head (hero or heroine) usually shouting out their problem and asking me to help them fix it. I then write a two-three page synopsis and character sketches which usually throws up a few starting conflicts.

After that, I start writing the ‘dirty draft’ where nearly everything then changes, lol!

TBR: Do you have a favorite quote you’d like to share?
Rachel: “Set it up the way you want it to be.” Iyanla Vanzant

TBR: What's next for you?
Rachel: I have just sent the final edits to my editor at The Wild Rose Press for my next venture into the Victorian romance genre. It is a novella set in Bristol, England. Here’s the blurb:

To keep herself from the depths of poverty, Milly Shepherd needs to be appointed manager of the Red Lion Tavern.  The elderly owner is in failing health and has promised her the job permanently if no one more suitable applies.  Milly will fight with her entire being to make the job her own.

Joseph Jacobs needs to supplement his income to pay off his father’s creditors and save him from debtor’s prison.  Though the job as manager of the local tavern looks promising, Milly is favored by both the owner and customers.  Instead, Joseph swallows his pride and agrees to tend bar.

As they work together, their attraction grows, their goals cross, and both Millie and Joseph find they must face their fears …the question is whether they face them alone or together?

Hope to have a release date soon! I’ll keep you posted :)

TBR: Any other published works?
Rachel: I am published in Victorian romance, contemporary romance, romantic suspense and comedy.

I love writing across the sub-genres, it gives me freedom and keeps my writing fresh. I don’t choose my next venture though, my characters tell me where and when their stories are set. Here’s my backlist:

Searching For Sophie – romantic suspense from The Wild Rose Press

Reluctant Witness – romantic suspense from The Wild Rose Press

The Sharp Points of a Triangle – romantic comedy from Eternal Press

The Arrival of Lily Curtis – Victorian romance from The Wild Rose Press

Transatlantic Loving – contemporary novella from The Wild Rose Press

Getting It Right This Time – contemporary romance from Lyrical Press

Paying The Piper – contemporary romance from Lyrical Press

TBR: What’s the most challenging aspect of writing? Most rewarding?
Rachel: The most challenging aspect for me is the plotting and most of all, avoiding the ‘sagging middle’. I struggle with this each and every project. I am plagued with self-doubt and long to go back to the start or worse, delete the entire thing! You have to push through it. A blank page can’t be edited. That’s all you need to remember to succeed in this business!

TBR: Who are some of your favorite authors and books? What are you reading now?
Rachel: Favourite authors are Nora Roberts and Jodi Picoult – my favorites books of theirs are Montana Sky and The Chesapeake Series from Nora and My Sister’s Keeper and Plain Truth by Jodi. All time favorite is Gone With The Wind and new favorite is The Help – there’s a theme there! ;)

I am currently reading Please Don’t Stop the Music by UK writer, Jane Lovering & Outlaw in Petticoats by Wild Rose Press author, Paty Jager.

TBR: Where can readers find you on the web?
Rachel:

http://www.rachelbrimble.com/

http://rachelbrimble.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rachel-Brimble/181873201887441

Twitter: @rachelbrimble

TBR: Thanks so much for visiting TBR, Rachel. All the best to you!