#AuthorSpotlightInterview with #TeRuss

Growing up an introvert, Té Russ found solace in literary arts at an early age. She found reading to be a vehicle to broader horizons and writing a form of self-expression. She began writing love stories in her adolescent years as a way to expel her youthful thoughts of love into words. Since then she has gone from writing stories and thoughts of love in journals to attending college for journalism and falling in love, which has allowed those youthful words of love to blossom into a series of stories in her romance novels. Though she has an immense appreciation for the sheer smell that books collectively exert, she also has found balance to her introverted nature with adrenaline inducing activities. So if she does not have her nose pressed deeply into a book or her pen ticking through a pad, you may also find this mother of three jumping out of airplanes, cheering her husband on at the top of her lungs at MMA fights, buzzing down the interstate on the back of motorcycles, or kayaking.

What is your favorite thing about being a writer?

The thing I love the most about being a writer is being able to create brand new worlds and people, whose lives I love to share with readers.

What genre(s) do you write?

I write contemporary romance.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I'd like to say I'm a pantser with a minimal amount of plotting.

Why do you think people should choose your books over another author?

I definitely don't think people should choose my books over another authors. I think there is plenty of book love to go around. But I think people would enjoy my books because my romances are sweet, with emotion and of course a little steaminess!

How long have you been a writer? 

I have been writing since I was a teenager, but I started writing romance in 2011.

How much time did it take from writing your first book to having it published?

I started writing my first book, Dream Lover, in November of 2011 and I self-published it in June of 2012.

What other careers have you had?

I'm currently a stay at home wife and mother of three kids and an English bulldog.

What’s something fans would find fascinating about you?

I went skydiving for Mother's Day in 2013.

How do your family and/or friends feel about your book or writing venture in general?

My husband is my biggest fan! He reads everything I write. My friends support me as well. They are funny though, they tease me and call me "Fifty Shades of Té" (FYI: My books are not like Fifty Shades of Grey LoL!)

Where are you from?

I'm a military brat born in North Carolina raised around the world, but have lived in Texas the majority of my life.

How do you come up with the titles?

I try to use elements from with in the book that relate to the title.

When not writing, how do you relax?

I enjoy reading. I also enjoy watching tv and movies (especially Marvel movies)!

Please tell us 5 miscellaneous facts about yourself.

I like to bake designer cakes.

I like to knit.

I love binge watching shows on Netflix.

I love zumba.

High heels are my vice.

Please share with us your future projects and upcoming releases.

I'm currently working on a book for the So You Think You Can Write Contest for Harlequin.

As far as self-published projects, I have three upcoming releases: Perfection, November 28, 2014, Love After War February 15, 2015 and Just One Night June 21, 2015. I'm also working on another novella that is a follow up to my latest release Homecoming, no scheduled date yet (That will be a surprise release lol).

Where can readers find you?

www.terussnovels.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com/TeRussNovels

www.twitter.com/TeRussNovels

About Homecoming:

Troy Hartford has finally returned to his small hometown in Texas, and the first person he runs into is Veronica Baker. He's amazed at the beautiful woman she's become.

Veronica has been living her mundane life, making sure her father's business continues to thrive. She doesn't even realize that she's not truly living until Troy shows up.

Neither of them can forget the one kiss they shared over a decade ago when they were teenagers, and seeing each other now has stirred up an attraction neither of them can deny...

Excerpt:

“You realize if it hasn’t gotten around yet, the whole town is going to be buzzing soon about you and me,” Veronica said.

“What are you talking about?”

She placed her palms down on the table. “Come on Troy, Miss Stella is one of the sweetest people, but she’s also one of the biggest gossips in Coalton! And her grandkids got her a smartphone and taught her how to use it. Facebook and all! She’s probably on her phone right now making some post about us being ‘together’.”

Troy chuckled and leaned back against the seat. He stretched his legs out under the table, and placed his arms on the back of the seat. “How do you feel about that? About people knowing we’re ‘together’?”

“Is that what we are?” she asked, smiling shyly.

“Well…” he said pensively. “I don’t think we can say we’re just friends. Friends don’t kiss the way we’ve kissed.”

“I can’t argue with you there.”

He sat up and reached for her hands. “There’s obviously an attraction between us. And if you’re up for it, I think we should continue to explore what this is growing between us.”

She looked down at their clasped hands and then looked up into his eyes. “I’d like that too.”

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#CoverReveal #BridgeofHope by #LisaJHobman and #5PrincePublishing

Genre: FICTION / Romance / Contemporary

Release Date: August 21, 2014

Digital ISBN
10:163112062X ISBN 13:978-1-63112-062-6

Print ISBN
10:1631120638 ISBN-13:978-1-63112-063-3

Love is like a snowflake; beautiful but fleeting in its presence…

I’ve been in love. But I’ve also been lied to, betrayed by those closest to me and I’ve suffered loss. Sadly it’s those last three things that stick with me the most. The only real constants in my life are music, Angus my dog and Rhiannon; my guitar.

But things changed when she walked into my place of work. All blue eyes, curves and a warmth that could melt even my hardened heart. I was taken over by feelings that I didn’t expect so soon. Guilt plagued me and I took my anger out on her.

On Mallory.

But I fell fast and hard and there was nothing I could do to stop it. When she too became the victim of heartbreak I was the only one who understood her pain but I was the last person she wanted help from.

Would I ever convince her that we could be friends? And would I ever accept that she couldn’t love me back?

#LaunchDay for #AspenCreek book 4 #IndomitableSpirit

Could I possibly be more excited? Indomitable Spirit brings my love of Colorado, passion for writing, and my martial arts all into one place! I am thrilled to share with you the story of Kym and John. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it.


Available from 5 Prince Publishing www.5princebooks.com  books@5princebooks.com

Genre: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary

Release Date: April 24, 2014

Digital ISBN 13: 978-1-63112-034-3 ISBN: 10: 1631120344

Print ISBN-10: 1631120352 ISBN-13: 978-1-63112-035-0

Purchase link : www.5princebooks.com/buy.html

Indomitable Spirit:

Caught between the traditional Korean culture of her mother and the fun-loving Irish heritage of her father, Kym O'Byrne has never felt truly at home ... until she inherits the O'Byrne Karate School in the sleepy Colorado town of Aspen Creek. Staying focused and disciplined is her game, but something buried deep within the eyes of the grouchy handyman, John Larson—father of some of her most promising students—threatens to turn her strict world on its end ...

About Bernadette Marie

Bernadette Marie has been an avid writer since the early age of 13, when she’d fill notebook after notebook with stories that she’d share with her friends. Her journey into novel writing started the summer before eighth grade when her father gave her an old typewriter. At all times of the day and night you would find her on the back porch penning her first work, which she would continue to write for the next 22 years.

In 2007—after marriage, filling her chronic entrepreneurial needs, and having five children—Bernadette began to write seriously with the goal of being published. That year she wrote 12 books. In 2009 she was contracted for her first trilogy and the published author was born. In 2011 she (being the entrepreneur that she is) opened her own publishing house, 5 Prince Publishing, and has released her own contemporary titles. She also quickly began the process of taking on other authors in other genres.

In 2012 Bernadette Marie began to find herself on the bestsellers lists of iTunes, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble to name a few. Her office wall is lined with colorful PostIt notes with the titles of books she will be releasing in the very near future, with hope that they too will grace the bestsellers lists.

Bernadette spends most of her free time driving her kids to their many events—usually hockey. She is also an accomplished martial artist with a second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do. An avid reader, she enjoys contemporary romances with humor and happily ever afters.

www.bernadettemarie.com

www.facebook.com/authorbernadettemarie

www.authorbernadettemarie.blogspot.com

@writesromance on Twitter

info@bernadettemarie.com

Excerpt of Indomitable Spirit

Crisp wind blew off the lake and down through the small mountain town. The streets were bare as the sun crested the mountaintop and sent the lake shimmering in gold and orange hues. Kym O’Bryne stood on her deck, wrapped in her heavy robe and fuzzy slippers, nursing a warm cup of coffee that steamed in the brisk November air.

She’d lived in many places. Korea, Ireland, California, and New York to name a few. Each place held its own mystique when fall began to give way to winter. But she’d never experienced anything like the change in the seasons in Colorado.

Already she’d been up for hours. She’d tended to her grandfather. In April he’d turned ninety, and though sharp as a tack, he was becoming frail. It had become her duty to take care of him and she did so with honor. She’d run three miles on her treadmill, within her warm house, and had trained in her dojang, which was downstairs from where she lived. She’d inherited the failing karate school for her thirtieth birthday.

Kym shook her head at the thought. She always assumed she’d run a school. What had made her father purchase the school and hand it over to her, she’d never know. It wasn’t what she considered an ideal location. It was, however, her grandfather’s dream to see his grandchildren carry on the family tradition. Though, when you saw the name O’Bryne on the door of a karate school, it didn’t actually give the impression of traditional Korean training.

She shook off the cold and walked back into her home, slipped a piece of bread into the toaster, and finished her cup of coffee. Kym thought of her brothers and their minimal success with their schools. Both of her brothers, Ian and Liam, were Irish through and through. Ian with his blond hair and Liam with his red, both sported emerald green eyes like hers. They’d inherited them from their father, Todd O’Bryne of Dublin, Ireland.

She took her toast from the toaster when it popped and buttered it generously and then slathered strawberry jelly on top of it. It was her little bit of indulgence.

With her toast in hand she sat at the kitchen table, flipped open her laptop, and was pleased to find an email from her mother. She smiled.

Oh, it was a grand thought that Todd and Mi Sun O’Bryne had retired back to Dublin, where her father was born. Her mother sent a picture of them standing in front of a pub once owned by her father’s family. They looked happy.

Her mother’s name fit her so well. Mi Sun stood for beauty and goodness and that was what her mother always radiated.

Her parents’ was a love story you’d have read in a book or seen in a movie. The tall, gangly Irishman who followed his wanderlust and landed in Korea, where he met the small, beautiful, and graceful daughter of a rice farmer. Both father and daughter dreamed of seeing the world. Todd and Mi Sun were married and lived in Korea for five years, where Ian was born. Then Todd took his family, father-in-law included, and moved to Ireland. That was where Kym was born.

Named after her mother’s family Kym, Kym was born with the Korean features of her mother, except for the emerald green eyes she’d inherited from her father.

After five years it was off to America to live in Sacramento where little Irish Liam was born and the first school of the Kyms and O’Brynes was started.

It seems like a lifetime ago, Kym thought as she cleared her place at the table. She closed her laptop and moved to the cabinet to find the tea to make for her grandfather.

Now Ian, Liam, and she owned schools all over the country that taught Tang Soo Do to the masses, changing lives as they went along.

Kym, however, never thought her chance to change lives would be tucked in a small community in the Colorado mountains with less than three thousand people.

When she reached for the canister of tea, she found it was empty. That she should have known, it was on her list, but she’d forgotten to stop at the store. She wished she’d remembered, because the temperature had dropped at least thirty degrees from the day before and now she would have to bundle up, warm her car, and head out to find tea for her grandfather.

John Larson pushed through the front door of the Aspen Creek Market. How, he wondered, could kids eat through four boxes of cereal, two boxes of Pop-Tarts, and a box of frozen waffles in a week? They were going to break him.

He pulled out a cart, and with his head down, he started on his mission.

“Good morning, John. How are you this lovely morning?”

On a slight oath he turned to see Gloria, the cheerful clerk, standing at the register with her red apron barely encompassing her oversized chest and stomach.

“Mornin’.” He pushed forward as quickly as he could. The last thing he needed on a Sunday morning was to be caught up in one of Gloria’s hour-long renditions of what her grandbabies did this week that no other child has done before—like eat and poop. He just didn’t need it.

He fretted over the cereals that his sons liked because there was a heroic character on them and then over to the ones with a princess, for his little Abby. But in the end he reached for the generic bag of cereal with the name that sounded name brand, but wasn’t. He threw two different ones into his cart and with a grunt he took off to finish his shopping.

A woman’s yelp made him shoot his head up when his cart collided with another. He found himself staring into the most mesmerizing green eyes he’d ever seen. How odd they seemed on the very petite Asian woman standing before him.

His tongue swelled in his mouth and he couldn’t speak to apologize as she glared at him.

“Sir, don’t you think an apology is in order?”

He stood there, staring at the long, dark hair that fell from beneath her sensible stocking cap, over her shoulders and down her back. It had been a very long time since a woman’s beauty had rendered him unable to think or talk.

“Well, then I’ll apologize for having my cart simply parked here in the way of your moving one.” She huffed out, reached for a box of tea bags, and tossed it into her cart.

He simply watched as she backed up her cart and started around him. She stood erect, and, though she was probably only five feet tall, he thought she could easily walk among the city streets without anyone messing with the little ball of beauty and fire.

She stopped and shot him another look with those beautiful, cool eyes. “I haven’t found too many people in this town who weren’t treated to manners as a child, but I guess there is always a first.” She went on her way, moving down the next aisle as John continued to get his breath back.

Once he shook off the utter irritation and delight of the little woman, John went back to filling his cart with things his children would, no doubt, devour before he got home from work the next day.

When he headed toward Gloria to check out, he noticed the dark-haired woman who had stunned his brain with just a few words walk out of the store.

He unloaded his items onto the conveyor as Gloria began to scan the boxes, bags, and cans.

“Where’s your veggies?” she asked, analyzing his purchases.

“Pardon me?”

“Those kids need veggies.”

“Yeah, I’ll get some next time.” That would shut her up for a moment, he hoped. Then he realized he needed information, and if anyone in town had it, it would be Gloria. “Hey, who was that woman that was just in here?”

“Oh, Kym?”

“Kym?”

“Just took over the karate school. Lives above it with her grandfather. Surprised you didn’t know about it.”

He shrugged. “Been busy, I guess.”

“Heard. Fixing up Malory’s bakery?”

“Yeah.”

He wondered if he’d heard about her moving to town. Then again, people were always talking, and he was usually in his own world. There was too much on his plate to worry about town gossip. Until now.

He carried the bags to his truck and tossed them in the back. As he did he saw her, Kym, he reminded himself, dart out of Malory’s bakery with a cup of coffee. No doubt it was one of those fancy blends that she’d brought in just for those who had to have it. He didn’t see the point, but then again John didn’t need anything that was fancy.

Kym hurried to her small Honda and drove away. John stood at the back of his truck and watched her disappear around the curve of the lake and behind the trees. It was a good thing she lived and worked at the same place, he figured. Sooner or later it was going to snow, and that little car wasn’t going to go anywhere.

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