Books-n-Kisses is super excited to welcome Rebecca York to the blog for the first time.  We are talking about her newest book “Bad Nights”.

Rebecca, can you please share with us a little about yourself

RY:  I started writing romances in the early eighties  when they first became “the next big thing” and quickly found  out that I needed more of a plot to keep my interest—which is why I write romantic suspense.  Luckily, dumb little eighteen-year-old me was smart enough to marry the right guy. He loves being married to a writer, always supports my career, and loves going to conferences with me.  He takes care of all the business stuff I hate, and I keep his clothes clean, cook for him, and manage all the tasks he hates, like gardening. We’ve got two kids. One’s a Foreign Service Officer and the other is a librarian turned massage therapist.  Our three cats sit on our laps when we’re trying to work at the computer.

 Have you always wanted to be an author?

RY:  I always loved making up stories, but I thought I could never be a writer because I’m dyslexic and can’t spell.  My husband takes care of that for me. I started my career writing for a local newspaper, but I did want to write fiction.  I couldn’t imagine writing anything as long as a whole book, so I began with a kids’ science fiction novel. It’s not easier to write for kids, but it’s shorter.

Can you share with us your typical writing day.  Is there anything you have to have while writing?

RY:  I get up, feed the fish, and get myself a cup of coffee.  I read the paper and the news online, check e-mail and browse my social media sites until I realize it’s almost lunchtime, and I haven’t written anything.  Then I get to work and write ten pages.  If I haven’t done them, I may still be working until ten p.m.

Most challenging or rewarding part of writing? 

RY:  I love getting a synopsis finished.  I hate looking at a blank screen, and I like editing best.

Can you please tell us about your latest book?

RY:  My latest book is Bad Nights in which a hard-bitten Navy SEAL, Jack Brandt, and a woman college professor, Morgan Rains, go up against an evil militia leader and his men.   Jack and Morgan seem totally unsuited for each other, but as they escape through the woods, evading the bad guys, they come to trust and respect each other.  It’s the story of two people falling in love against a background of suspense and danger.

How did you come up with the idea for this story?

RY:  I wanted to find a plot that would lean on the talents of a Navy SEAL.  I saw two people escaping through the wilderness, having to work together to survive.  Of course, that turned out to be only part of the book. I also had to deal with how Jack and Morgan react to each other when they get back to civilization and what happens when she is kidnapped by the bad guys. By that time, Jack has fallen in love with Morgan and will do anything to save her.

Can you share with us your current work in progress?

RY:  Every since I saw the movie, The Naked Jungle, I wanted to write a book with a virgin hero  who was effective in every way except that he wasn’t quite sure how to cope with a wife.  The Naked Jungle’s set in the Amazon in the 1800’s.  To make a virgin hero plausible, I knew I couldn’t write a contemporary.  So I wrote Nightfall as science fiction romance set on a dangerous planet far in the future that was colonized only by men and their sons.  I’ve had a lot of fun writing it.  I’m editing it now, and it will be out in October.

 Who are some of your favorite authors?

RY: Ken Follett, Clive Cussler, Lee Child, Mary Jo Putney, Lisa Kleypas
      

Do you feel that any of your favorite authors have inspired your writing style? 

RY:  I read Ken Follett’s Key to Rebecca just as I was starting to write romantic suspense, and I loved the way he wove a romance and a suspense plot together. I’ve written a lot of werewolf books, and two of them got me into the field—Darker than You Think by Jack Williamson and The Wolf’s Hour, by, Robert McCammon.  But most of McCammon’s books were too hard-core horror for me to enjoy.  Again, his The Wolf’s Hour was a great blend of suspense and romance.  I think of my actual style as unadorned—pretty straightforward without dwelling a lot on the description of the characters.  I’m more interested in what’s going on emotionally with them than how they look.

 Open your book to a random page and tell us what’s happening.

RY:  Okay, I’ve turned to the page where Jack and Morgan are wet and cold and have to share a sleeping bag in a cave, and he can’t stop himself from getting turned on.

What is in your To Read Pile that you are dying to start or upcoming release you can’t wait for?

RY:  I want to read the next book in Marcus Sakey’s Brilliance series, but he hasn’t written it yet.  I also want to read the next book after The Fifth Wave, by Rick Yancey, but that’s also not out yet.  And I just bought the second and third books in Hugh Howey’s Wool series. I’ll read them next. 

Is there anything else you would like to add?

RY:  Yes, if someone who was constantly bullied by her teachers for her awful spelling can become a writer, anyone can.  I love my life as a writer.   I get to make up stories for a living, and I can work at home which means I can putter around the house and garden when I want.  (I just went away to pull weeds for fifteen minutes.) I can also get up and start a pot of soup or bake lasagna while I’m in the middle of my workday. 

*****

Bad Nights

by REBECCA YORK

N STORES SEPTEMBER 2013

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New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Rebecca York’s newest series will keep you on the edge of your seat

When Professor Morgan Rains goes out to investigate a strange sound coming from her backyard, the last thing she expects to see is a naked man covered with burns and bruises. Jack Brandt is a former Navy SEAL on an undercover mission, and he’s barely managed to escape from a terrorist militia’s torture. Jack and Morgan are thrown into a pressure cooker of danger and intrigue, and they soon find themselves falling in love. When Morgan is captured by the terrorists, Jack must rescue the woman whose life now means more to him than his own.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Rebecca York’s writing has been compared to Dick Francis, Sherrilyn Kenyon and Maggie Shayne. Her books have been translated into twenty-two languages and optioned for film. She lives in Maryland, near Washington, D.C., which is often the setting of her romantic suspense novels. Rebecca’s next romantic suspense novel from Sourcebooks Casablanca, Betrayed, will be in stores in July 2014. For more information, please visit http://rebeccayork.com/.

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