Hey Folks, Please welcome fellow author Valerie Commer as she shares a little about herself and her work with us.
Joana: Valerie, welcome to my blog! I’m so
excited you could join me for a chat. When did you first decide to submit your
work to be published? Tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step.
Valerie: Thanks, Joana! I appreciate the
invitation. I started writing in 2002. It always seemed logical that if I was
going to do this gig, getting published was the goal I should work for. I may
be a slower learner than most, but I knew that my first few books were not good
enough. I started entering (and finaling in) contests in 2007 and seriously
seeking an agent in 2009 with my seventh novel. So I guess you could say it's
been a process!
Joana: Please tell us a little about your
book/one of your books without giving
too much of a spoiler away.
Valerie: At the moment, I have only one
release. My debut, a novella from Barbour Publishing, releases on Tuesday! Only
a few more days. It's called "Topaz Treasure" and is the first
novella in a 4-in-1 called Rainbow's End. The over all premise of
the collection is:
Join
a geocaching adventure in the spectacular Lake of the Ozarks wilderness, with
Lyssa, the reluctant volunteer whose former nemesis is now her chief sponsor;
Madison, a city girl paired with an outdoorsy guy who gets on her very last
nerve; cautious Reagan, who meets an equally cautious guy; and Hadley, who
doesn’t know enough about guys to realize she’s met a womanizer. Will they find
the treasure they’re looking for … or something else entirely?
My novella features Lyssa, a closet
believer who steps out of her comfort zone to help run her church's geocaching
challenge, but runs into her former humanities professor who made fun of
Christians, only to discover he's seeking truth--and romance.
Joana: Do you plan all your characters out
before you start a story or do they develop as you write?
Valerie: I'm a believer in understanding my
characters' GMC before I start writing. Not the truck! Goals, motivation, and
conflict. I have to know what they want, why it matters deeply to them, and why
they can't easily get it. It also helps if the main characters' goals collide.
I know many authors who do detailed
character sheets before writing. I don't. As I write and discover certain
things--like what kind/color of car they drive--I make a note of it, but I
don't try to figure everything out in advance. Where's the fun in that?
Joana: How much research do you do for your
books? Have you found any cool tidbits in your research?
Valerie: I write contemporary romance, but
there's still always something that needs researching. For "Topaz
Treasure," my main research was setting oriented. I haven't been to the
Lake of the Ozarks area in a lot of years, so I tracked down information two
ways. One, through their Chamber of Commerce. The gal I emailed with was very
helpful and put me in touch with the owner of On the Rise Bakery and Bistro,
which is the setting for a scene or two in each of the four novellas. She
couldn't help me with the specifics of a particular trail in a nearby state
park, but I tracked someone down through a Facebook group who was eager to give
me the details I needed.
Joana: What is your writing process? Do you
outline, write by the seat of your pants or a combination of both?
Valerie: I'm a combo writer. I
"pantsed" my first novel, and it was a disaster. Then I tried plotting
the next few, and that didn't work so well, either. I found I was forcing
characters to do what I needed them to do. After nine full length novels (and a
novella!) I'm still trying to find the happy balance of how much information I
need ahead of time. In Real Life I'm a bit of a control freak, so it's hard to
trust that my muse will come up with all the good stuff if I just let it roll!
Joana: Do you write full time? What did you
do before you became a writer or still do?
Valerie: God really blessed me with the
perfect job for a writer. I'm the only employee in a small-town flooring shop.
Most weekdays I have 5-7 hours to myself, so long as I get the door and the
phone, etc. My bosses got me internet and are delighted that I can occupy
myself. So you could say I write full time.
Joana: Do you have a ritual when it comes
to writing? Example….get coffee, blanket, paper, pen, laptop and a comfy place.
Valerie: I arrive at work at 9 am. I plug
in my laptop and open up the shop, check for messages, etc. Sometimes I have a
few business phone calls that need to be made right away. But I'm usually at my
desk by 9:30 with the mocha I brought from home in my thermal mug at hand.
After a quick look at my email and Facebook, I'm ready for the day's task,
whether it's working on my newest story, doing edits, answering interviews, or
other marketing-related work. Lots of that right now with THE BOOK about to
release! :)
Joana: Describe a typical writing day for
you.
Valerie: I do most of my actual writing
during work hours, as that's when my mind is the freshest. I try to use
evenings for setting up blog posts, research, and cruising other people's
blogs. It sounds like I'm really productive, and I wish I were. In reality, I
spend way too much time on Facebook and Pinterest.
Joana: Please give us a sneak peek at your
future books. What’s on the horizon?
Valerie: There's nothing I can share at
this time. My agent has sent out several proposals on my behalf, and I continue
to write while I wait.
Joana: What is your favorite genre to read
and who is your favorite author?
Valerie: For many years I read mostly
speculative fiction. Two of my favorite authors there are Jill Williamson and
Kathy Tyers, though I cut my teeth on Anne McCaffery. More recently, I read a
lot of romance, and my favorites make me smile. If I had to pick ONE go-to
author, it would have to be Sandra D. Bricker, but others I gravitate to
include Janice Thompson, Jenny B. Jones, Mary Connealy, and Lorna Seilstad.
Life is short and full of hard stuff. A smile makes everything better.
Joana: Is there anything else you would
like to tell the readers we have not touched on?
Valerie: My novella is part of the
Romancing America series from Barbour Publishing. They hadn't been doing non-seasonal
4-in-1 collections for several years, and then relaunched the line. I worked
with the marketing department at Barbour to create a website and blog for all
things Romancing America. Each book--and its
four authors--are featured for four weeks with a variety of posts that include
anything from research tidbits to setting photos to excerpts and interviews. It
was great fun to kick off this venture, and we'll be starting in with posts
about Rainbow's End in a couple of
weeks. Meanwhile, there's lot of cool stuff from the preceding books. Come
visit!
Joana: Where can the readers learn more
about you and find your books on the web?
Valerie:
Thank you Valerie for sharing with us today. I wish you all the best with your future endeavours.
Here's some more information about Valerie:
Valerie
Comer's life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of
contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie grows
much of her own food and is active in the local food movement as
well as her church. She only hopes her imaginary friends enjoy their happily
ever afters as much as she does hers, gardening and geocaching with her
husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters. Check out her website and
blog at http://valeriecomer.com.
Rainbow's End (4-in-1
collection published by Barbour, May 1, 2012):
Join a geocaching adventure in the
spectacular Lake of the Ozarks wilderness, with Lyssa, the reluctant volunteer
whose former nemesis is now her chief sponsor; Madison, a city girl paired with
an outdoorsy guy who gets on her very last nerve; cautious Reagan, who meets an
equally cautious guy; and Hadley, who doesn’t know enough about guys to realize
she’s met a womanizer. Will they find the treasure they’re looking for … or
something else entirely?
"Topaz
Treasure" (first novella in Rainbow's
End) by Valerie Comer
Closet believer
Lyssa Quinn steps out of her comfort zone to help coordinate the Rainbow’s End
geocaching hunt her church is using as an outreach event. She’s not expecting
her former humanities prof–young, handsome, anti-Christian Kirk Kennedy–to be
at the Lake of the Ozarks at all, let along in a position to provide
sponsorship to the treasure hunt. How can she trust someone who once shredded
her best friend’s faith?
Kirk’s treasure
hunt takes him down a path he hadn’t intended as he searches for opportunities
to connect with Lyssa and her intriguing sparkle. How can he convince Lyssa
there is more than one kind of treasure? And can she remind him of the greatest
prize of all?
Buy Rainbow's End: (various links)
