Meet The Authors

As most of you know, I am relatively new to Gather. I was a contestant in the first round and spent, as did most of the contestants, an enormous amount of time reading and rating stories submitted. Now, here we are in round two, doing the same thing.

On Friday, a comment from a Gather friend of mine in her story thread, said she hadn't known I was a military wife. The comment made me realize that while I know the stories, I don't know much about the authors of those stories.

I got to thinking about that and wondered why some of them started to write or chose the genre they did. What did they do in their spare time, when did they find time to write, and what were their plans after the contest?

Having an inquiring mind, I decided to find out more about some of the authors. What started out simple curiosity developed into so much more. With their permission, I would like to share what I have learned for the next few days.

With out further ado, may I introduce:

Tracy Beltran:  One would think degrees in accounting and business administration would preclude a novelist's soul, but Tracy is full of surprises, much like her novel. Tracy B. certainly knows how Fate can drop an unexpected event smack dab in the middle of life. A single mom, Tracy balanced a job and raising her son until the day she met her own destiny...They were later married by a minister dressed in leather who rode in on a Harley, by the name of Reverend Wright Hand. Tracy, her husband and four children, now make their home in Phoenix, AZ. They are watched over by their own ‘Shadow', a fabulous black lab mix, named Oreo.

When did you decide you wanted to write?

When I was 8 years old and I wrote a story for an assignment where I let my poor little sister die of pneumonia. The entire class believed it and I loved it when I looked up after reading it aloud and they were all crying.

Why did you choose the style or the sub-genre?

I didn't choose it. It chose me. The characters hung out in my mind and told me what happened to them. Their story flowed from my fingertips and into the computer.

What's your favorite line of your own chapter?

Oh it's hard to pick! "This woman went through more emotions than a man who just caught his wife and his mistress in bed together." or "For a fleeting moment, he wondered if another bump on the other side of her head would do too much damage."

When do you find time to write?

I haven't been able to write at all for the past month or so! Usually, I write on the weekends and evenings after the kids are in bed. Sometimes, I find myself awake at 2 am writing like a madwoman even though I have to be up at 6 to go to work. That makes for very long days, but when the characters won't be quiet, I don't have much choice except to keep writing.

How did you find the contest?

Honestly, I stumbled across it. Fate was on my side the day I decided to begin researching how to find an agent or a publisher. I did a Google search and one of the first hits was the notice that the contest was starting within a couple of weeks so I submitted my first chapter.

What are your plans after the contest?

I am polishing up some of the things the readers pointed out and I am looking for similar problems in my other chapters, then I am going to harass poor agents and publishers until one takes me!

What do you do when you're not writing?

Gosh, I work and I have a great husband and four children. There is nothing else besides them and writing.

What are your goals as a writer?

I want reader's to become involved with my characters. I want readers to laugh and cry and love right along with my hero and heroine. If I can take someone out of my mind and make them real to another person, then I have succeeded as a writer.

Thank you so much for your wonderful idea and including me in it Sylvia! I am honored after reading so many thoughtful comments from you!

May I introduce, my second author:

Jerrica Knight-Catania.   Jerrica lives in New York City with her adoring husband, Eric and cat, Dr. Snuggle. She has a Vocal Performance Degree from the Manhattan School of Music and has been privileged to travel the country, performing in a variety of musicals. In the summer of 2006, she decided to take a break from performing and discovered that writing was her new, and very true, passion. Be sure to check in at www.jerricasplace.com. It is still under construction, but will go live very soon!

When did you decide you wanted to write?

A year ago, August...In July 2006 I picked up my first Regency Romance (An Offer from a Gentleman, Julia Quinn) and by the time I had finished the Bridgerton series in early August, I knew I wanted to write.

Why did you choose the style or the sub-genre?

I had never read Regency Romance, and I didn't even know what the Regency was, but as soon as I started reading it, I realized that that was the story that had been inside me my whole life. I was the girly girl who always wanted to be a princess...my mom even changed our house into a tea room for my 16th Birthday party. All things English and all things romance had always appealed to me, I had just never realized there was an entire genre of books pertaining to both!

What's your favorite line of your own chapter?

Wow...that's a hard one...that's like saying "which of your children do you like the most"! LOL! But if I had to choose, this last little part of chapter 2 would be my favorite:

Miss Blake, I believe I was the first person to ask you to dance this evening and am perhaps the only one who has not yet been so engaged. He flashed her a smile that could have melted the glaciers of the Arctic, let alone a girl's heart. When she did not answer right away, he said, I promise I won't bite.

That is the second time you've said that tonight, Lord Glastonbury, and yet I still find it incredibly hard to believe.

His grin broke into a broad smile that lit the dark night, and Phoebe wondered how on earth she would get through their waltz without losing herself in that smile.

When do you find time to write?

My husband works all day Saturday and Sunday, so I get alot of writing done then. And my "day job" (which is really 3 evenings a week answering phones at a law firm), allows me the time to write as well...as a matter of fact, my second book was written almost exclusively from work (shhhh...don't tell my boss!)

How did you find the contest?

I belong to a historical romance crit group on Yahoo and someone posted the contest info there.

What are your plans after the contest?

To start on my revisions and continue with the writing of book 3

What do you do when you're not writing?

What DON'T I do might be easier to answer! My hubby and I are kind of overachievers, so we work part time day jobs to pay the bills and own our own businesses on the side - I'm an Avon lady, he's an Apple Computer Consultant - and one day we plan to have actual "stores". We are very committed to health and mind, so we spend time every day working out and meditating together. Friends and fun are also very important to us, so we find time every week to hang out and drink beer. Editing my own manuscript, critiquing others from my crit group and learning French are also on my daily "to do" list. 2 days a week I take care of a 7-year old little boy after school, and the rest of my time I spend coloring and watching TV. Somehow, I still get 8 hours of sleep every night!

What are your goals as a writer?

To reach out and grab someone, share emotions, tell a story? All of the above. If you tell the story that's in your heart, you will inevitably reach out and grab someone. :)

Thank you so much, Sylvia! I'm so thrilled to be a part of this!

This was my pleasure Ladies. There you have it, some background on two up and coming authors and a peek into who they are. Both have well written entries in the First Chapters Romance Contest. If you haven't had a chance to read these two, you are missing a treat. Tracy's:  Fate And Destiny, a Romanic Thriller:

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977126615

and Jerrica's:  A Scandalous Overture, a Regency Romance.

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977126555 

In my next article, I will introduce two more authors.  I hope you will stop by to meet them.