Good Monday Morning Readers!
Today, Niki Turner visits
Lagniappe to discuss her
latest release, Santiago Sol.
latest release, Santiago Sol.
Welcome, Niki!
Tell us a little about SANTIAGO
SOL:
I was able to take three trips to
Chile, and fell in love with the nation. When Pelican’s call for submissions to
the Passport to Romance collection included a story set in Santiago, I decided
to take the challenge, which included finding a way to tie three plot elements
into the tale. For Chile, the items were a party dress, a diary, and a walking
stick.
At the time, I was in a writing
funk, and about ready to give up. Again. (Haven’t we all tried to ‘quit’
writing at least once?) Having a fresh project with some prompts was just what
I needed.
In Santiago Sol, heroine Tansy Chastain steps outside her comfort zone
to fulfill the request of an elderly friend and finds herself on the other side
of the world in Chile, at the mercy of handsome and wealthy Sebastian, who’s
hiding his real identity. Tansy’s quest endangers her life, and brings her to a
new place of faith. Sebastian will be challenged to forgive, and to seek forgiveness
as Tansy’s quest collides with his hope for the future.
Do you listen to music
when you write? If so, what's on your writing playlist these days?
It depends on the story for me. When I write contemporary I
don’t need music, but I find that for historical fiction listening to the music
of the era helps me get a better feel for my characters. Thank God for the
Internet, and access to music we might otherwise never hear!
What is the best
WRITING advice you’ve received?
“If you’re writing a romance, the romance IS the plot.” ~
Paula Moldenhauer.
If you weren't a
writer, what would be another dream job?
Honestly, being a writer IS my dream job, since I was a
teenager and wrote my first romance on a 1940s-era typewriter. However, my
ideal writing life included a high-rise apartment in Manhattan… the budget is
not there yet.
Is there anything you
find particularly challenging in your writing?
I fight the same battle with my stories that I fight with my
body: the dreaded sagging middle. Every story I’ve completed has had several
thousand words of blubber in the middle that get cut sometime in the writing
process. I wish it were as easy to hit “delete” on my muffin top!
What
was one of the most surprising things you've learned while writing your books?
I researched the history of women’s skiing for The Skiing Suitor
(Forget-Me-Not Romances) and was genuinely horrified to find out that women
were not allowed to compete in Olympic ski jumping until 2014, even though
they’d been jumping competitively almost as long as men.
What can we expect from you in the
future?
My next two novellas are due to the publisher in
January and April. Fully Persuaded
will be part of volume 2 of the Austen in Austen series from Whitefire
Publishing. First Comes Pie will be
one of nine stories in the Blue Ribbon
Brides collection from Barbour. I’m looking forward to writing these two
stories!
Please include buy
links and your website/FB/Twitter etc links.
Buy link: http://bit.ly/SantiagoSol
(if I get the
Amazon/B&N links before Thursday I’ll get them to you)
website/blog: http://www.nikiturner.net
Facebook: facebook.com/niki.turner
Twitter:@NikiTurner716
Goodreads: goodreads.com/niki716
Pinterest: pinterest.com/niki_turner/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/niki716/
Twitter:@NikiTurner716
Goodreads: goodreads.com/niki716
Pinterest: pinterest.com/niki_turner/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/niki716/
LIGHTNING
ROUND
Biscuits or Dinner
Roll? Dinner roll, because of “Heidi,” and how she hid her soft, white
dinner rolls in her pockets for her friend.
Nora Roberts or Diana
Gabaldon?
AHHH!!! Impossible choice! But if I could only read one for
the rest of my life, it would be Diana Gabaldon. Why? Well, the characters, but
also because I learn so much real, practical information. I was looking for
edible plants on my last hiking trip!
Superman or Batman?
Batman, because he’s a superhero in spite of himself, in
spite of his past baggage, and the fact he doesn’t actually have any
superpowers… just his brains and his brawn. And I like black.
Vacation: Beach or
Mountains?
I live in the mountains, so that’s not a vacation.
Definitely the beach. I crave the beach.
Women’s Fiction or
Romance?
LOL. We’ve talked about this. Romance, but as I get
older I like to see more women’s fiction elements in the story. I’d really like
to see romances with older heroines! We middle-aged ladies need hope and
inspiration, too!
Niki Turner is a novelist, journalist, blogger, and the
production manager for the Rio Blanco
Herald Times weekly newspaper, one of the oldest continuously operating
newspapers in Colorado. Her first completed manuscript earned second place in
the Touched By Love 2009 contemporary category romance contest. She also blogs
at www.nikiturner.net
and is a co-blogger at www.inkwellinspirations.com.
Niki is a Colorado native who grew up in Glenwood Springs—home
of the world’s largest hot springs pool. She married her high school sweetheart
25 years ago. They have four children, four grandchildren, and two West
Highland White Terriers.
In 2014, she published “Sadie’s
Gift” as one of the Christmas
Traditions novella collection with eight other authors. The
Skiing Suitor, one of the Love’s Sporting Chance series published by
Forget-Me-Not Romances, released in August 2015. Her most recent project,
“Santiago Sol,” was published by Pelican
Book Group as part of the Passport to
Romance novella collection. She’s currently working on a new novella for
Whitefire Publishing and another one for Barbour House.
Niki, thanks for sharing!
Readers, thanks for visiting Lagniappe.
What’s the farthest from home you’ve ever traveled?
How did it change you?
I pray you find
"a little something extra"
in each of your days.
Marian
