Spotlight #Author #Interview ~ C.j. Fosdick
Please make welcome fellow Wild Rose Press author C.j. Fosdick. I'm thrilled to have another writer of time-travel romances in the Tavern today! In addition, her first book, The Accidental Wife is on sale for .99! A reason to celebrate, so I'm serving sparkling fruit punch and lemon tarts. Get comfy and let's meet C.j....
MM: Welcome to the Tavern, C.j.! So happy you could be here today. I know how each author is unique, so describe a typical writing day. Are you a morning, afternoon, or night-owl writer?
CJ: All three! On productive days I start after breakfast, snack lunch while writing, then drag about the time my dog tells me she is hungry (at 5 p.m. every day!) Hub takes us both for a half mile walk after she eats. News and TV shows are on the evening agenda while I read the paper, eat, work on emails, Facebook, or marketing that is less creative til my eyes burn. On a roll, I can work 12 hours and retire thinking about the next chapter and the next morning reread and edit what I wrote the day before. Life often turns this into a “flex plan.”
MM: A walk at the end of the day sounds like a great time to unwind. Can you tell us about your current work-in-progress?
CJ: Book 3 in my Accidental Series, The Accidental Heiress, is set in Ireland with TT flashbacks to the heroine’s involvement in an Irish scandal spanning centuries that turned “fallen” women into prisoners and penitents. Like the first two books, this one has complicated identity issues with a lens on the transformative power of love. I’m also expanding my most successful short story into a YA novella. Alternating projects is a NEW exercise for this linear writer who falls into a “zone” when the writing smokes, but I need to ramp up production.
MM: Ahh...love Ireland. I can hardly wait to read more about your next book. And good for you on expanding your projects! What inspires you when you’re writing?
CJ: I work best with NO noise except for my favorite Celtic and Scottish music and themes from my favorite movies on Pandora. I often pick up one of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander books or a research book and briefly read something at random for inspiration.
MM: Absolutely love Celtic music (my muse) when I'm writing. What’s your favorite item on your writing desk?
CJ: Besides my laptop, it has to be our new Amazon Echo. “Alexa” answers quick research questions, gives a weather forecast, tells jokes and plays all my favorite musical artists. If only she could massage my back!
MM: Interesting, C.j...I'll have to add "Alexa" to my wish list. Now for some fun questions. Do you prefer...
Champagne or Beer? Champagne
Southern drawl or Scottish burr? The burr has it!
Kilt or Leather pants? Love plaid!
First romance you read? Probably one of the Avon books that revolutionized all romance novels in the 70’s--Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers. I loved the grit and raw emotion as well as anything by the late Kathleen Woodiwiss, particularly Shanna. (I still have both books.)
Print book or e-reader? I read both but prefer the feel of a print
Wishing you all the best with your stories, C.j.!
Blurb for The Accidental Wife ~
When Jessica Brewster inherits a mysterious teacup, she finds rubbing it transports her back to 1886, trading places with her look-alike great grandmother—wife to her ancestor’s magnetic first husband and mother to his charming young daughter. True love, a gypsy, and her ancestor’s troubled brother amp up the charade she’s playing. Is her future in the past? Several lives hang in the balance.
Excerpt ~ The Accidental Wife Excerpt, a Golden Quill Finalist and Top 10 Best Romance and Best Author in P & E Poll, 2015
He rose from the chair like an old man and touched my face with both hands, feathering his fingers lightly across my forehead, into the wells of my eyes, over my nose and cheekbones, like a blind man needing to know who stood before him. I tried not to stiffen at his touch, willing myself not to blink, not to release the fresh tears that had begun to pool. He collared my throat with his long fingers and ran a thumb over my lips. “I want my wife back. Come back to me, Mitawin,” he whispered.
The word on the teacup; the hallmark of my deceit. Our eyes locked, and I felt my throat closing and my knees begin to quiver. For a few seconds his grip tightened around my throat, and I clamped my eyes shut with a fleeting thought. Yes, take my breath...end this tormenting deception.
More about the author ~
Born and raised in Packerland, Cj moved west to the medical mecca in Rochester, MN where her writing career bloomed with published award-winning stories and articles to her novel series inspired by Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander. Rescued horses, dogs, cats, children and one patient husband have motivated the heart of Cj’s craft. Though living on a country hilltop haven for decades, she has ventured down on occasion to climb a Jamaican waterfall, float in the Dead Sea, kiss the Blarney Stone and research settings for her next novel.
Follow along with C.j. ~
