Friday 6 June 2014

Forever Love by Deborah Armstrong: Interview + Giveaway

Forever Love
by Deborah Armstrong
"Does love at first sight really happen? Is there a difference between love at first sight and obsession?

Davina Stuart, farmer and bestselling author of Second Harvest, shares a flight to Los Angeles with Hollywood's latest heartthrob, Quinn Thomas. Three hours of in-flight speed dating and Quinn's in love. Davina is not so sure. She's older and wiser. She'll settle for a one-night stand but he wants more. Davina's cows and her children are her life. She's not so sure about Hollywood and its glamour. Blue jeans, cowboy boots and her pickup truck are more her style. Quinn is tired of the plastic starlets, his empty bed and his lonely heart. He’d give up everything, including his career, for the love of a woman, his woman. Forever Love follows their whirlwind romance as the widow of two years, who thought her time for romance was over, finds love with a man who has to have her in his life, to love her forever.
 
Hardcover, 326 pages
Published April 1st 2012 by Xlibris Corporation

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Deborah Armstrong is a firm believer in genetics. She attributes her love of the English language, reading and writing to her parents. She is thrilled to have passed on her love of books (with the help of her husband, also an avid reader) to her children. Armstrong lives with her husband, three children, two cats and five hundred cows on their dairy farm in Ontario, Canada. When she’s not writing or working on the farm, she enjoys reading, traveling, watching movies and spending time with her family and friends. Armstrong enjoys strong coffee, chocolate milk and single malt scotch in no particular order.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deboraharmstrongauthorofromance

Twitter: https://twitter.com/debdee99

Website: http://www.deboraharmstrong.ca/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6467157.Deborah_Armstrong


Q & A with Deborah Armstrong


Q:  Tell us a little bit about your main characters.
A: 
My heroine is Davina Stuart. She's 45 years of age, she has three adult children and she's been a widow for two years. Her husband died of a brain aneurism, leaving her to run the family farm. In order to deal with her grief she wrote a journal which her best friend convinced her to have published. It became a best seller and the movie rights were sold. The story begins with her flying out to LA to meet the cast of the movie.

Davi, as her friends call her, is smart, sexy and independent. She's comfortable in her own skin, friendly and charismatic. Those around her are immediately drawn to her. The tall brunette loves to wear faded jeans, T-shirt and cowboy boots and she drives a pickup truck she calls, Buddy. Davi doesn't need a man to complete her. Thinking that she's had her chance at love, she's not looking for a new love, although she won't say no to a fantasy filled night with a Hollywood heartthrob.

Quinn Thomas is the 30 year old Hollywood heartthrob who is tired of the plastic starlets who are eager to share his bed. He's looking for the woman who haunts his dreams, the woman he knows holds the key to his heart. He's got it all - a six-foot-three-inch frame with broad shoulders and a rock hard body, thick dark shaggy hair that hangs to his shoulders, blue bedroom eyes and lips that beg to be kissed.

Quinn has the seat next to Davi on the flight to LA. The moody and reclusive star is immediately smitten by her. He's convinced it's love at first sight. He knows Davi from his dreams. He's willing to be her fantasy for four hours, one night, or one weekend to convince her that they belong together.

Q:  Who designs the covers for your books and what is that process like for you as an author?
A: 
My first cover was provided by the publisher. I thought it was a good reflection of the farm setting of my book. My readers gave me feedback and suggested a hotter, more sexual cover for the sequels. I asked a friend, Katherine Auty, who is a graphic artist if she wanted to do my book covers. I told her what I was looking for and together we came up with the design for Love's Promises. I had two more stories in various stages of development and I decided to have their covers done to act as an incentive to get the stories written. They are part of my story boards - available for anyone to check out on Pinterest.

Picking the right cover for a book is crucial. The cover grabs the readers' attention and it should convey something of the story. Forever Love shows that the story has a farm setting to it, although it doesn't convey the hot and spicy romance aspect to the story. To me, the Love's Promises cover conveys the intimacy between lovers and their promises. My third book, Love's Games, shows a man being touched by two women. Is it man in the middle or something else?

Q:  What is the best advice you have been given?
A: 
The best advice I was given was from my manuscript evaluator. She said to always use word search. I have a post it note on my board that reads, "Have you done your word search today?" I run it when I'm rereading my work to make sure I'm not repeating the same adverbs and adjectives. You may have noticed in Fifty Shades of Grey, Christian only looks at Anastasia in one way - intently. It's also a great way to make sure I've spelled me characters' names the same way all through the book and that I've used the correct words. Sometimes I find American and British spelling of the same words sneak by me. Forever Love was written using American English spelling. My other books are written in British English.

Q:  As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: 
As a child, I dreamed about becoming a teacher for special needs children. When I was in highschool, my focus turned to psychology. During first year university, I realized that I didn't want to become a psychologist. I graduated with a degree in English and History. I found work as a computer operator and programmer. Today, I am the office manager for our family farm, I do volunteer work for a few local charities, and I write when time allows.

As a child, I loved reading. I don't recall writing stories. I read all through highschool and university and wrote more essays than I can remember. I never dreamed of becoming a writer. Writing evolved one summer when I read quite a few of my youngest daughter's romance novels and the idea came to me that I could write a story, too. I wrote Forever Love and Love's Promises with my daughters support.

Q:  If you could have any superpower, what would you choose?
A: 
If I had a superpower, I would magically make an 8th day of the week appear just for me. I would reserve it for writing and only that. No Facebook, no emails, no laundry or cooking, just writing.

Q:  Hard/paperbacks or eBooks?
A: 
Paperbacks over ebooks. I love the feel of a book in my hand. I like the ability to jump ahead to find out what happens next (not all the time!) or to pick up a book I've read and start at a favourite chapter or paragraph. Every one in our house reads and leaves paperbacks in almost every room of the house. It's a great feeling to pick up a book and open it to any page and start reading, whether it's a new story or one that's familiar. I reread my books several times (the good ones) because of the connection I made with the characters. That being said, I have both Kindle and Kobo on my desktop, laptop and cellphone. I always have a book at my finger tips.

Q:  What book are you reading now?
A: 
I am reading two books right now. Gina X. Grant's, Scythe Does Matter (book 2 of the Reluctant Reaper trilogy) and Cynthia Sax's, Flashes of Me. I am a fan of Gina X. Grant's writing. She's a great story teller with an awesome sense of humour. Cynthia Sax has an amazing talent in writing erotica. I met both of these authors through the Toronto Chapter of Romance Writers of America.

  


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