BBB: What’s the funniest thing that has happened to you while writing a book? VLT: I eat at the computer. In other words, I eat while my laptop is in my lap. Crumb City. So when I got the black screen of death while on deadline, I knew it was from all the glop in my keyboard. I’d backed up on flash drives, and I had a clunky old computer I could use, but I liked THIS one. So I turned it upside down and banged it really hard so all the crumbs fell out. It came alive! I never tell this to techies. They faint.
BBB: What character was the toughest for you to get onto the page, and why? How did you finally crack it?
VLT: A Frenchman! The hero of Casual Hex is French, and I couldn’t get him right. I finally HAD to go to Paris. I know. Research is a drag. That trip totally fixed my issues and my French hero came alive. I’m thinking I need another French hero because I love Paris and need a tax deduction.
BBB: What were you like in school?
VLT: Funny you should ask because I just re-read what people wrote in my yearbook. Apparently I was sweet. Or is that what everybody writes in yearbooks?
BBB: What would you say are the main advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing versus being traditionally published or the other way around?
VLT: Those readers who love finding a print book in a bookstore or some other venue are very disappointed if they have to order either an ebook or a print book online. They want to see exactly what they’re getting and they want to hold it in their hand. But the plus of self-publishing is an enormous amount of control over the cover, the content, and the marketing. And some readers love the ease of ordering ebooks and having them instantly appear on their ereaders. I’m a pleaser who wants everyone to be happy, so I may have to do both for the foreseeable future.
BBB: Please tell us more about Riding High and the storyline that drives it.
VLT: I took a chance with this book and the two that follow it, Riding Hard and Riding Home. In Riding High, the hero, Regan, is recovering from an incident six months earlier when he came home to find his fiancee in bed with his best friend on Christmas Eve. He leaves Virginia and finds a new love in Wyoming, but at the end of the book, his best friend contacts him and wants to make amends. Riding Hard is the best friend’s book, and Riding Home is the ex-fiancee’s book. I wanted to redeem both of those people, and I hope that I’ve succeeded. We all make mistakes.
BBB: How many more books will there be in the Sons of Chance series?
VLT: I haven’t made the big announcement yet, but I guess readers are starting to suspect that the series is coming to a close. The final book will be Christmas, 2014, but I’m moving right into another series that is set in the nearby town of Sheridan, Wyoming. And there will be connections between the series so the cherished characters from Sons of Chance won’t be lost forever.
BBB: What sets the Sons of Chance series apart from other books in the same genre?
VLT: That would be for readers to say. I’m too close to the series to evaluate that.
BBB: What types of characters can readers expect in your world?
VLT: I’m a big fan of the reluctant hero. So readers can expect a giant dose of that, plus lots of humor and heart. Cowboys have a natural alpha streak, but mine usually have a touch of beta in them, too. My characters are lusty but straightforward. I adore them all, and they always make me smile. I hope they make readers smile, too. I’ve been told that they do.
BBB: What advice would you give to your younger writing self?
VLT: I would tell her to brush up on her knowledge of point of view. Yikes. I just read my first published book, Mingled Hearts, prior to re-releasing it as a self-published book. My younger self had a whole lot to learn about point of view. But I would tell her to take the long view, because this career would be a roller coaster and she should be prepared for a wild ride.
BBB: Is there a message in Riding High that you want readers to grasp?
VLT: Oh, yeah. We’re all human and we all make mistakes. If someone truly regrets what he or she has done and isn’t simply going through the motions, then forgiveness is very healing.
BBB: What has been the toughest criticism you’ve been given as an author?
VLT: About 15 years into my career I decided to take a screenwriting class and the professor told me I was too facile and glib with language. At first I was devastated, but as I processed that in the months and years afterward, I realized that he wasn’t used to working with people who had written and published as much as I had. Yes, my writing was polished, but that didn’t mean it was glib. My ability with language was hard-won and I shouldn’t be ashamed of how well I use words.
BBB: Have you written a book you love that you have not been able to get published? If so, can you tell us more about the storyline?
VLT: No, I haven’t. Except for the first book I wrote, which was not worthy of publication because I hadn’t learned enough, I’ve published everything else. These days, if I wrote a book I loved and nobody would buy it, I’d publish it myself.
BBB: Please describe your current writing area? Is it perfected or what do you want to do to make it that way?
VLT: I write all over the house! With my little netbook I can do that. But mostly I sit in a cushy chair facing my quartz fireplace. Quartz is a good stone for creativity and I have a whole wall of it. In winter I burn wood, and in the summer I arrange lights in it so it simulates the glow of firelight. I guess I’m like a cave woman telling stories around an ancient firepit.
BBB: What’s coming up for you for the rest of 2014?
VLT: This summer is all about the Sons of Chance from Harlequin Blaze. In September, a digital novella collection titled THE PERFECT MAN will be in print for the first time from NAL. I’ll also re-release AS TIME GOES BY in September, a Harlequin from the 80s that I’ve edited and am self-publishing as an ebook under the Vintage VLT banner. JINGLE SPELLS comes out in November. Three friends and I created a Christmas anthology for Harlequin Nocturne and I love what we’ve done with it. It’s one of my favorite projects. Then, late in November, LAST CHANCE CHRISTMAS will signal the final book in the Sons of Chance series, making a total of 17.
Buy a print copy of Riding Highfrom Amazon by clicking here
Books in the Sons of Chance series in the order they should be read:
Wanted! Ambushed! Claimed! Should’ve Been a Cowboy Cowboy Up Cowboys Like Us Long Road Home Lead Me Home Feels Like Home I Cross My Heart Wild at Heart The Heart Won’t Lie
Cowboys and Angels Riding High Riding Hard
Riding Home
About Vicki Lewis Thompson
Author Bio:
A romance-writing career has brought Vicki Lewis Thompson many wonderful things: New York Times bestseller status, the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award from Romance Writers of America, thousands of readers, many dear friends, and the cutest little yellow convertible in the world. Although she’s written more than a hundred books, she continues to be fascinated by the many ways that a man and a woman fall in love. The age-old story remains a challenging puzzle to be solved anew with each book.10 Quick Things About Vicki
Favorite Food? Coffee ice cream
Favorite Color? Red
Favorite Movie or TV Show of all Time? Big Bang Theory
Favorite Drink? Red wine
Favorite Book? Any Regency
Favorite Season? Fall
Favorite Online Hangout? Facebook
Favorite Animal? Cat
Favorite Band or Musician? Sara Bareilles
Mode of Travel? (Trains, Planes or Automobiles) Ships
Connect with Vicki
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