Books-n-Kisses is pleased to welcome Robin Perini to the blog today. We are going to be talking about her new book In Her Sights
Robin: Thanks so much for inviting me to be here. I’m thrilled. It’s so exciting because this is my debut novel, and this is my very first blog tour. Please be gentle…
Q1) Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Robin: I lost my heart to storytelling when I was a child, sitting at the knee of my great-aunt. She mesmerized me with her tales of ‘The Little Match Girl’ and ‘How the Tiger Got its Tail.’ She wrenched my heart, made me laugh and cry. She fed my love of reading and learning. Perhaps it was inevitable that I followed in her footsteps.
I dreamed of others reading my stories and experienced a rainbow of emotions: fear, joy, love, pity, anguish, forgiveness, hope. Somehow my dream came true this year, but it wasn’t easy. I wrote. I studied. In fact, some might know me because of the writing workshops that I’ve given all across the country – on my own or with award-winning author Laura Baker in our standing-room-only workshop, Discovering Story Magic.
In 2011, I sold my first book to Amazon’s Montlake Romance. I’d finally harnessed my secret inner commando and created stories I loved that resonated with people other than my friends and family who love me. Books of suspense and peril. Of family relationships and poignant emotions. Books that bring to life my motto: when danger and romance collide, no heart is safe.
Within months I sold three more novels to Harlequin Intrigue. I’m still floating on the ceiling. My great-aunt has long since passed away, but I look up and smile sometimes. My inner fire for storytelling was her gift to me. I pray I do her justice.
Q2) Have you always wanted to be an author?
Robin: For me, there is no ‘want.’ There just is. I am a storyteller. There was a time where I stopped writing for a few months. It was so hard. I’d just received several rejections letters. I asked myself what I was doing. Then I started dreaming the stories again, and I realized that whether I wanted to be or not, I am a storyteller.
Q3) Who are some of your favorite writers? Who do you feel has influenced your writing?
Robin: I have so many authors who have brought me incredible joy since I was a child. In fact, on my website (http://www.robinperini.com) I have included a page listing many of my all-time favorite books and authors.
Those books typically evoke deep emotions within me. They are my window into pain, joy, insight, and wisdom. One of my favorite authors is Sharon Sala. This New York Times Bestselling Author has written novels that twist my heart through a painful journey, but end in hope. Her ability to touch my soul makes me go back to her stories again and again. That’s what I hope to do in my stories.
Even more than that, Sharon Sala is a mentor to me. She read In Her Sights several years ago. She believed in me and my book at a time when it was hard to believe in myself. I’m not sure I would be here today without her encouragement. She is an amazing writer, of course, but even a more amazing person.
I’d like to be her when I grow up.
Q4) Can you tell us what a typical writing day for you is like.
Robin: Okay, I must confess, I’m a bit of a nut. Just ask my friends and family. I’ve tried a million different ways to write over the years, and for now, this works for me. First, I should say that I have a day job, so I work writing around paying the mortgage, and of course the rest of my life—family, exercise, chores, and occasionally a little fun. 🙂
I’m actually one of those irritating morning people. I write from 5:30 am – 7:00 am weekdays. Mostly to get the adrenaline pumping because I thrive on deadlines—and being panicked! With only an hour and a half, I have to make the most of every second. Also, I write in ‘sprints’. 20 minutes of writing and a 10 minute break. This idea was introduced to me by fellow writer, Angi Morgan (www.angimorgan.com) and it really works for me. If nothing else my body doesn’t go numb from sitting in the chair.
On Saturday, I write for about 5 hours in the morning, and on Sunday, after church, I write for three hours.
I usually write new material on those shorter stretches on the weekdays and revise on the weekends. As for promotion—like working on my website, blogs, designing romance trading cards, Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads, I work on those in the evenings as needed—or as the deadlines loom.
Q5) Can you tell us a little about you book In Her Sights?
Robin: This is my debut novel, so it’s a real dream come true for me to even be here. For a long time, I had to wonder if it would happen. Jazz’s story has been with me a long time, and while I’ve written other manuscripts since she first came to life in my heart, this has always been a story I really wanted to tell. I’m so thankful that Jazz found a home at Montlake Romance.
Jasmine “Jazz” Parker is the only female sniper on Jefferson County’s SWAT team. Always at the ready with calm nerves and steady hands, she never misses a shot. Strong, dedicated, and dependable, Jazz has committed her life to defending the helpless by exacting swift and uncompromising justice, all the while harboring dark, devastating secrets from her past. Secrets she thought she’d buried for good as a teenager.
To keep her past hidden, Jazz keeps a low profile and avoids getting too close to anyone, including the one man she thought she could love—ex-Army Ranger turned reporter Luke Montgomery. So when Luke runs a front page story about Jazz, calling her a hero for her recent victory—saving the life of the governor’s daughter—she feels uncomfortable with the exposure, and rightly so. A vicious enemy from her past takes notice of the article and sets out on a mission to reveal Jazz’s secrets and ruin her life in the process. At the same time, a corrupt cop is out to take Jazz down at any cost. As her world begins to unravel, Jazz is forced to rely on Luke for help—putting his life and the lives of those closest to him in danger.
You can view the In Her Sights book trailer, read excerpts, read reviews, sign up for my mailing list and even request trading cards or a Kindlegraph on my website at www.robinperini.com.
Q6) How did you come up with the idea for this story?
Robin: I love learning, and one of the opportunities I try to take advantage of is a day-long research event hosted by the Kiss of Death chapter of Romance Writers of America®. One year, the group visited the Arvada Police Department in Denver, Colorado. And the SWAT Team was there. I stood back as others asked questions and studied the interplay between the elite members of this team. My mind started whirling. What kind of man would be a sniper? What would his relationship be with the other members of his team? Then I learned that a woman could be a SWAT team member as long as she could meet the physical requirements. I didn’t really put it all together until I was speaking to another writer friend. I told her that women could be members of SWAT. She asked, “What if your sniper IS your heroine?”
Lightening struck!
Jazz was born. In Her Sights was born. All the questions I’d been asking—including what does it take to be a sniper—crystallized, and the story was inevitable from that moment on.
Q7) What is up next for you?
Robin: November 29, 2011—the release date of In Her Sights—was the culmination of a lot of years of dreaming, and I hope the beginning of dreams I never imagined. So much has already happened since I sold In Her Sights. Within months I sold three more novels to Harlequin Intrigue.
So, in 2012, three romantic suspense novels will be released from Harlequin. Finding Her Son, which won the 2011 Romance Writers of America ® Golden Heart® Award in Contemporary Series Romance: Suspense/Adventure as Stolen Lullaby, will be released in March 2012. In the story, a woman determined to find her kidnapped son, and who is suspected in her husband’s death, reluctantly teams with the embattled SWAT cop assigned to prove her guilt. Cowboy in the Crossfire, in which a woman desperate to protect her young son after he witnesses a murder, is forced into an alliance with the disgraced Texas Sheriff who her family framed, will come out in July, 2012. A third book will hit the shelves, Christmas, 2012.
I truly hope there are many more stories to tell!
Q8) What is the next book on your To Read Pile that you are dying to jump into?
Robin: I can’t wait to read my friend Darynda Jones’ Second Grave on the Left. I loved First Grave on the Right, but my writing schedule hasn’t allowed me to read the second book. I just love her wit. She’s a special writer.
Q9) Is there anything else you would like to add?
Robin: Just a small note to the readers out there. Readers. What an amazing thought. Thank you for taking a chance each time you open a book in the hopes that the story will mean something to you. If I could ask something of you, it would be to keep reading and share your love of reading with others so that the world of stories and books expands and grows and remains strong.
Books-n-Kisses: Robin, again thank you so very much for making Books-n-Kisses a stop on your book tour. I have enjoyed learning more about you and your book. I look forward to reading and see what you come up with next.
Robin: Thanks so much for having me here. I’ve had a blast. And I do love to hear from readers. Please connect with me. You can get in touch via my website, www.robinperini.com where you can view the In Her Sights book trailer, read excerpts, read reviews, sign up for my mailing list and even request trading cards or a Kindlegraph. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads. I’d love to hear from you.
In Her Sights Book Summary
Jasmine “Jazz” Parker, Jefferson County SWAT’s only female sniper, can thread the eye of a needle with a bullet. But she carries a secret from her past that she thought she buried for good at the age of fifteen. Two years ago she even drove away the one man she believed she could love—ex-Army Ranger turned reporter Luke Montgomery—to keep her past hidden. Now, in a fleeting second, the time it takes for one clean shot, one perfect hit, to save the life of the governor’s daughter, Jazz’s world begins to crumble around her.
Luke splashes her face and name across the front page of the newspaper, reawakening her past with a vengeance. A vicious enemy is now bent on destroying her life, forcing Jazz to turn to the one man she can never have in order to stop a killer before she and everyone she cares about pays the ultimate price. Full of explosive action and almost unbearable suspense, In Her Sights is a relentless, steamy thriller surprisingly infused with soul and poignancy.
Robin Perini Bio:
Award-winning author Robin Perini’s love of heart-stopping suspense and poignant romance, coupled with her adoration of high tech weaponry and covert ops, encouraged her secret inner commando to take on the challenge of writing romantic suspense novels. Her mission’s motto: “when danger and romance collide, no heart is safe.”
As a writer, Robin is devoted to giving her readers fast-paced, high stakes adventures with a love story sure to melt their hearts. Robin’s strong characters and tightly woven plots have garnered her seven prestigious Romance Writers of America Golden Heart® finals, and Golden Heart Winner in 2011. Stolen Lullaby, will be published by Harlequin Intrigue® in May, 2012 as Finding Her Son. Her other 2011 Golden Heart® Finalist, In Her Sights, will be published by Amazon’s Montlake Romance November 29, 2011.
By day, she works for an advanced technology corporation, and in her spare time, you might find her giving one of her many nationally acclaimed writing workshops or find her training in competitive small-bore rifle silhouette shooting. She’s a voracious reader and a die-hard fan of the T.V. series, BONES.
YouTube video book trailer embed code:
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Paperback
Price: $13.95
ISBN: 9781612181523
Pages: 262
Release: November 29, 2011
Amazon buy link
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/161218152X/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=tributebooks-20
Barnes&Noble.com buy link
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-her-sights-robin-perini/1106436852?ean=9781612181523&itm=1&usri=in%2bher%2bsights
eBook
Price: $7.99
Kindle buy link
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0053TIBCM/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=tributebooks-20
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