Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Guest Author, Cindy Greene

Today's guest is Cindy K. Green, author of nine books, and seven titles with The Wild Rose Press. Today she is celebrating the release of her Inspirational historical short story, Dilemma of the Heart. With degrees in education and history, you know she knows what she's talking about! So without further ado, here's Cindy!

Who are you?

That is a question I’m still trying to answer. ;) Here are some stats: I’m married with two boys ages 11 and 4. I taught middle school before deciding to stay home and teach my own kids after the second was born. I have degrees in both education and history. To fill the void, I started to write and had my first publishing contract in July of 2006. I have 9 books released at the moment. Four of which just went out of print this December 31st as that publisher went out of business. I have three new books coming this year. I write in several genres: Inspirational, Historical, Contemporary, Fantasy, and Suspense. I have some YA ms I hope to finish one day as well. My publishers are The Wild Rose Press and Champagne Books. (By Grace Publishing and Moonlit Romance just closed their doors) In my free time (ha!), I love reading, photography, scrapbooking, Period Dramas, and spending time with family.

What type of stories do you like to write and why?
I love to write stories with humor that reach to the heart. I dearly love to laugh and I hope my stories bring smiles to readers and yet convey the emotions of my characters. Genre-wise, I love historicals and romantic suspense. My background is in history and research—so I just love that. And there really is nothing as fun as choreographing a fight scene or getting into the head of a villain in a romantic suspense.

What type of stories do you like to read and why?

My reading choices are very similar to my writing favorites. Historicals, Romantic Suspense, Fantasy, Inspirational, Classics and even Non-fiction history. These are the genres I’ve been reading since I was a kid and I probably always will.

When do you read? Where?

I read whenever I can grab a chance. Most often, it is before bed. I read my ebooks on my e-reader after my husband is asleep. Thank goodness for the backlight on the device. On the weekends, I sometimes catch some reading time as I lie on my bed. It doesn’t usually last long. ;)
Where did you get the inspiration for Dilemma of the Heart?

My current release, Dilemma of the Heart, is a historical. I have a degree in history and yet I did not have a historical book or story published at the time. I decided then and there I had to write one and this story of a young woman who had lost her sweetheart during the Civil War came to mind. My inspiration probably also came from my love of watching Period Drama films.

How did you come up with your title and main characters’ names?

The title really describes this story. The heroine has a dilemma of the heart. Can she forget the man who holds her heart and marry the one offering her a future? I purposely named my hero Frederick after Captain Frederick Wentworth in Jane Austen’s Persuasion which just happens to be my favorite book.

How long did you write seriously before your first book was published?

I didn’t start to write seriously until about 6-8 months before I received my first contract. That first book though was not the one published. It is still without a contract, a young adult historical. My first published book was a Christmas novella back in December of 2006. I wrote it in six days.

Why do you write?

Writing is something I have always done. As a teenager, I wrote lots and lots of stories. In college, my fiction writing was put to the side for non-fiction. When I became a stay at home mom a couple years ago, I found I really needed something else to occupy my mind. I returned to writing fiction and I love it! I can’t imagine working on one of my stories in some capacity each and every day.

14 comments:

Kathy Otten said...

Wow, I can't believe how many stories and books you've mananaged to write in such a short period of time. Congratulations on your wonderful success. How do you stay so focused and disciplined? My book took me like fifteen years to write and my short stories take me three or four months.

Anonymous said...

I'm with Kathy. I simply can't find the time to be so productive. It usually takes me 2 to 3 months to finish a manuscript.

Hats off to Cindy, though. She's a fantastic writer. I love her Novel Tea series, and congrats on today being her release day for her first historical. This gal is going places, believe me!

Susan Macatee said...

Great interview, Cindy! You really are a prolific writer. Your new story sounds intriguing.

Great cover!

Cindy K. Green said...

Hey Kathy and Lula! It's been fun these last couple years and waay stressful too. I am lucky that when I'm focused I can write really quick--if inspired. Even with the kids. ;) The last couple months however--with so many distractions-I haven't gotten anything written. I hope to get back to work soon.

Thanks for all the congrats!

Cindy K. Green said...

Hey Susan! Thanks for stopping by. I'd love to hear what you think of Dilemma--coming from another Civil War writer.

Mona Risk said...

Congratulations on Dilemna of the Heart, and writing so many books. I write contemporaries but to relax I read historicals. Two books a year is the maximum I can manage.

Ashley Ludwig said...

Cindy - CONGRATULATIONS, my fellow white rose author! I'm downloading Dilemma of the Heart today - and look forward to reading it soon!

All the best for a stellar release...

~Ashley

Unknown said...

You are quite prolific in your author role.I enjoyed your answers to Liana's questions--I don't know how you do so much! And so well! Celia

Hywela Lyn said...

I enjoyed finding out more about you, Cindy, and congratulations on the new release. Dilema sounds fascinating, I love historicals. I'm sure it will do really well for you, Happy Release Day.

Debra St. John said...

Hi Cindy, Wow! You are one talented lady. What a variety of work you have out there. Congrats on your new release today. I love the cover.

Laurean Brooks said...

You inspire me to keep going, Cindy. All those books in a little over two years! My first has just been released. I even found it on Amazon and Good Reads last night. Yaaaay!

I don't know how many of yours were full length, but between work and other things, "Journey To Forgiveness" took 22 months to write.

With children, you must really be good at organizing your time. Congratulations on doing what you really love to do. Write on!

Cindy K. Green said...

Hi Mona, Ashley, and Celia! Thanks so much for stopping by.

Cindy K. Green said...

Lyn,Debra, and Laurie,

Glad you like the sound of my new release. It is a great cover isn't it. Nicola Martinez did that.

And Laurie, most of my releases over these last two and half years have been short. I do have a couple full lengths and they definitely take longer--although I wrote a fantasy (that comes out later this year) in only 4 weeks. I have no idea how I wrote it so fast. It's a great story. :)

Sheryl Browne said...

Well, it’s no secret I’m a fan of Cindy’s writing. Stay focussed, hun! I’m eagerly awaiting Novel Tea 3. And “Funny Thing” did indeed make me smile. It’s hard work writing, but it’s obviously in your blood.

GOOD LUCK!