Tell us about your favorite character from your books?
Well my favorite character from my Sweetbrier Academy series is the owner of the Academy , Madame Opal Benedict. One reason is because she is a woman who knows what she wants and quietly goes about doing it. She gets to see each of her “ladies” rise above their stations given her help to polish and mold the diamonds that lie among the rough. Secondly, she has the love of a good man. She and Howard have had their rough patches and what I know of her early life will come in a book in the future.
Tell us about your current/upcoming release.
All three of my Sweetbrier Academy books are out in e-book form. Having Faith, the first, is out in print as well. Holding on to Hope is the next to come out in print soon after the first of the year. I don’t have a tentative date on that yet. But , I have done the galley work . I’m looking forward to seeing that on my bookshelf beside the sister book.
I also have a recent release of a book for charity, a contemporary romance in which the heroine is a survivor of Breast Cancer. All the money for that will go to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. That’s very exciting because they picked it up for a year. I will get to work closely with them to promote and raise money for such a great cause. Check out Red Rose Publishing or my website for information on this book.
How would you describe your writing style?
I am what they call the dreaded panzer. I may be listening to the news or reading the emails and one line will strike me. Suddenly, I see the scene, hear the characters voice, it is awful to have to pull over to the side of the road and grab the notebook to jot down notes. Sometimes, the stories come in dreams.
But once I get the ideas. I pull out my trusty stack of posted notes, begin putting down the highlights of each major point, and place them on a manila folder where I can arrange, re-arrange to my heart’s content.
Then I pull out a notebook. Yes, I do the trusted pen and paper routine. Once a chapter is complete I go to the computer and put it in.
Tell us five things about you.
Five things..
1. Ok, I was born and raised a Virginian.
2. My grandparents were two generation from the Civil War meaning they remember their grandparents talking about the events.
3. My grandfather on my mother’s side was the Harbor Master for Norfolk and his yellow tugboat was called the Seaboard. Yet, I’m deathly afraid of boats.
4. I am legally B.S… No it’s not what you think. It means that I have a Bachelors of Science in Education from Old Dominion University. My concentration was in History and Science.
5. In my backyard, I have two bovines. Yes, not every mother can say come see my grandcows but hey? They make great pets.
What is on your bookcase/E-reader right now? What are some of your favorite authors?
Well, I don’t own an e reader of any sort. But, on my shelf are books like Sleepless in Scotland by Karen Hawkins, Kissed by the Devil by Diane Whiteside, and Lord of Pleasure by Delilah Marvelle. On the computer in the ebook section, I have A little White Lie and Trix and Treat by Aliyah Burke. She is mainly a ir/mc author and her work is just fabulous. I recommend her along with the authors named above.
What do you have coming in 2010? Any sneak peeks we can look at?
I am finishing up an undersea anthology of mermaid tales for Red Rose Publishing. The working title is Neptune’s Daughters. I hope that they will come out as ebooks first then be released all in one as a print anthology, but I’ll leave all that in the hands of my great publisher, Wendi Felter, to decide. Let me give you a sneak peek. I hope you brought your water wings.
From Curse of the Mermaid,
Serena swished her flukes, ignoring the situation evolving in her father’s room as her sister cried out her rage. She kept her hands busy by braiding and unbraiding her long flaxen hair while paying no heed to the cries of her younger sibling.
“How could you not have known he belonged to your sister?” her father’s voice roared over the rising lament at his flukes.
She shrugged her shoulders and looked in another direction. She needed to show penance then her father’s anger would cease to exist. It always did. Besides, her sister was young. She could practice on another mortal. His voice rose again catching her attention.
“This behavior will not be tolerated.” He turned toward the child at his fins. “Nadine, we shall find you another one.
“One who won’t so easily be seduced?” He scowled at his other daughter across the room.
She lowered her head so her father wouldn’t see the blatant roll of her eyes.
“They are all alike, those mortals,” she spoke up in her own defense.
Her comment only inflamed her sister’s angst, making her cry harder.
“He was mine, Father. I was going to seduce him, my first. She butted in just like she always does,” Nadine lamented. “She sang for him, Father, after she told me you wanted me. She sent me away on a fool’s errand and took my cull!”
Serena could not help it, a chuckle slipped out. “Fool’s errand did you call it, dear sister,” her red lips lifted in a sneer. “He was no match for you. Your voice has not yet developed its tone. He would have floundered, realizing you were not strong enough to pull him in for coupling, and died a horrible death.”
Her tone, derogatory, making her younger sister howl in agony.
“Enough!” King Neptune bellowed. His deep voice shook the very stool she sat on.
Serena looked skyward through the crystal dome to see the sky grow dark and the sea churn into a tempest at her father’s will. She drew her eyes back to the throne, and could see the anger in the dark purple of her father’s eyes.
“It’s bad enough a mermaid steals another’s cull, but to do it to your own sister, Serena,” he said and shook his head. “Somehow I thought better of you.”
“You will punish her, Father, please, for me,” Nadine begged. Her earnest tears cascaded down her cheeks to pool at her father’s fins, turning to tiny pearls.
Serena took a deep breath and thought of how to calm the stormy waters. “Father, I did nothing more than sun myself on a rock.”
“Did you smile at him, daughter?” The King leveled his angry glare at her.
“I-I suppose I did,” she began fluttering her eyes, hoping to appear demure. “It’s a natural habit,” she opened her mouth to defend herself further when he roared.
“Silence, speak no more to me about this, child,” his voice edged with fury. “You are no more a daughter of mine. Your actions shame our family and our people. You have brought disgrace upon our name.”
Where can readers find you on the web?
You can find me by slipping over to my website www.nancyoberry.com
If we talked to your muse, what would they say about you?
My muse would probably tell you ,
“This woman needs a bit of organization. She is constantly pulling plots and ideas from thin air. I can only guide her so far before I shake my head. Willie-nillie one plot to the other, I tell you she would make Zeus lose his temper. But she does get her work done, by the gods, it’s out there and most the time a rousing good tale.”
If you were a superhero, what would your name be and would you wear tights and a cape? What super power would you have?
Oh my all that itchy spandex. If I were a super hero- hum I’d be more the secret agent type. No tights or cape, instead I’d wear big sunglasses and a jumpsuit with a leopard print scarf. I’d be the type of super hero that would write faster than a run on sentence, be more powerful than writers block. I’d be able to join the hero and heroine with a smoldering love scene that might ignite pages just sitting on the shelf. I’m not sure what my name would be though.. of course my alter ego would be the shy librarian.
You get to meet any fictional character. Who would it be and what would you do together?
Any fictional character? Wow, that opens up a lot. Hum, if I could meet any one of the characters I’ve read over the years, I’d go with David Balfour from Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. I read that book over and over as a child and loved it. I’d like to go back to Scotland and walk the moors and see the sights perhaps dance in a highland fling and discover courtly love.
Sneak Peek:
Sweetbrier Academy Book Two Holding on to Hope coming soon to print; in eformat right now.
http://redrosepublishing.com/bookstore/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=151&products_id=406
She watched his finger trace the blanket. Hope could feel a tug on her heartstrings. Leaning back, she laid her head against the wool and gazed into his face. “I hear, if, is one of the largest words in the dictionary.” “Hum,” he answered deep in thought.
Hope reached out and touched his hand. “You can’t build new bridges with seeds of doubt.”
He grinned and pulled her right hand toward him. “Is that what I’m doing? Planting seeds of doubt?”
She responded with a coy smile. As he watched her, the color of the flames illuminated her skin. A blush of peach, the iridescent blue of her eyes going from light to dark, his gaze moved further down her face toward her mouth, cherry red and luscious. As he stared at her lips, they parted and her tongue hungrily moistened the dry flesh. Jonathan inwardly groaned.
He wanted her. God help him, he wanted to bury himself into her body and rock her just as her tempting looks fanned the heat of his passion. Sprawled across the blanket, some of her hair escaped from its placement and curled from the dampness around her cheeks. An arm was cast above her head and her face upturned to stare at him waiting to be kissed
Rolling to his stomach, he dropped a hand to her waist. “You are too beautiful for words.”
She smiled, “Hardly beautiful, pleasant.”
“No painter could capture what I’m seeing,” He continued. Lifting his hand, he used his fingers to trace her temple to her chin. “Soft lines, color,” he smiled. “They could not do you justice. You should always be seen by firelight. It brings out the fire in your eyes.”
“And here I thought you were a doctor, I didn’t realize underneath that dark coat beats the heart of an artist.”
His eyes turned warm brown. She felt the focus shift from her face to her mouth. He was going to kiss her.
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3 Responses to “Guest Author Day with Nancy O’Berry”
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Hi Nancy and thanks for coming by.
Holding onto hope sounds like a wonderful story. Will there be more in the series?
Raine D.
Morning Nancy, love the sound of your book and sounds like one we all need to read. Good luck with it. susan L.
Hi Raine and Susan,
Thanks Raine for having me here today. Susan, I hope everyone who loves a good romp will read these three books. When originally written they were to be in a single anthology but with each successive book the stories grew so my publisher put them out as single novellas and the last one a novel. I hope by the summer of 2010 all will be in print. Thanks f or stopping by to read Susan. Check out these books and my other releases at http://www.nancyoberry.com
Happy reading
Nancy O’Berry