From time to time, I “discover” new authors that I just have to share with others. Regan is one such wordsmith, and I’m pleased to provide a stop on her Blog Tour this month.

Hi Regan! I’m so glad to be visiting with you today.

Thank you, Pam, and thanks for the guest spot. I am delighted to be here.

Here are some questions our readers want to ask:

Your fabulous debut novel, WHISPER CAPE, is a romantic fantasy adventure that comes across so believable, it seems like reality. What real-life experiences, if any, inspired some of the scenes?

You’re kind, thank you. As you stated so well above, the story is pure fantasy—well paranormal fantasy. The only thing I can think of that would even be remotely true to any of my life experiences would be the setting. The beach house that Cael rents, is forged from The Little River Inn in Mendocino, California where my husband and I spent one of our wedding anniversaries. It’s a little different, but I’ve tried to keep the view and the surrounding area as true to my memory as possible.

Not every reader comes away with the same response to a book, but WHISPER CAPE‘s fans seem to all agree on one aspect:  Cael is a to-die-for hero. Describe, if you can, how you created this luscious man and how your understanding of him evolved from the beginning.

Believe it or not, this is not a very easy question to answer. I would have to say that Cael is a combination of every good quality of every gorgeous man I’ve ever seen. He is my fantasy man. I’m a sucker for blue eyes. Green or even gray isn’t bad either. Heck, a beautiful man with dark dreamy eyes … I’ll take him. A rock hard body, with muscles in all the right places is a must. But I wanted a man with the opposite color of Addison’s and I gave her golden brown eyes. I wanted a man with a sensitive side, but someone with enough arrogance and strength that he could kick the crap out of any bad guy or demon as well. The fact that he can take a girl anywhere she might like to go at the blink of an eye is just a bonus.

Writing habits. Most readers and writers like to know how an author progresses through the writing of a great novel. In the case of CAPE, did the story come to you wholly formed, or did it sort of construct as you wrote? How long did it take to write, and what was your writing pattern like?

I wish I could tell you that I have great writing habits and that I do it all a certain way, but each story I write, I do it differently, depending on how I’m relating to the characters.  With Whisper Cape, I had no idea what the story would be like. I only knew I wanted to write a novel and I wanted it to be paranormal but different from anything I had ever read or heard about. Basically, I let Addie and Cael run the show.

Talk a little bit about the cover: there is special significance to the background photo?

The cover is actually a picture I took at The Little River Inn, I think I mentioned it above. When I saw the ghostly or angelic figure in the center form by the rocks, I knew I had to include that setting somewhere in the story.

One of the things I like best about WHISPER CAPE is Cael’s ability to teleport Addie around. To me, being embraced tightly to the man of my dreams while traveling through spacial dimensions is an exciting prospect. Authors have favorites, too, and I’d like to know yours. What scene(s) do you yourself swoon over in this book? (C’mon, we all do it…)

You make me laugh. Yes, we do. The idea of traveling somewhere at the blink of an eye has always intrigued me and I’ve always wished I could do it or knew someone who could. There are many scenes in this story that I loved writing. A particular one that comes to mind is the scene in the kitchen after Addie almost kills Cael. I wrote that scene right before dinner one night, and when I finished, I was so excited and pleased with it, I rushed upstairs and reenacted the entire scene in our kitchen for my husband. He stood there smirking at me the whole time. I felt rather silly afterwards. I liked writing the scene with Addie and Gerry when she is being a complete bitch outside on the back deck of the bar and he is trying really hard to understand why. Gerry is one of my favorite characters in this story and I am having a lot of fun with him in the sequel.

Whisper Cape was a very emotional story for me for some reason. There are a couple scenes that actually make me cry when I read them now. It’s silly, I know, but I get so emotional. One is the scene with Cael’s mother explaining everything to Addie and I have to admit some of the love scenes shock even me with the amount of emotion I poured into them.

During the editing phase of WHISPER CAPE, a scene concerning a child’s prophetic vision (of the main characters in an intimate setting) came to be questioned. If a book is obviously aimed at adult readers, should the author consider whether such a scene may be offensive, or stick with their inclusion for the sake of story?

I think that is entirely up to the author. I don’t think any scene should ever be deleted if it changes the story. Breena is a very bright young lady and when I wrote Whisper Cape, I hadn’t taken her age into consideration. In fact, originally, she was much older, somewhere around fourteen. But the story took a different path and Breena had to be a bit younger. It didn’t really affect the story either way, so abiding with what my editor had suggested wasn’t a problem for me.

Butler as Gerry

WHISPER CAPE is a very satisfying read. At the end, one can’t help but wonder what’s up next for Cael and Addie, because of their unique powers and evolving relationship. Further, secondary characters such as Gerry and Maia have so much potential for a story. You know my next question, right?

I adore Gerry. I have said before that Gerard (Gerry) Butler, my all time favorite, is welcome to play Gerry in my story when they make it into a movie. Yes, there is another story in the works involving Maia and Gerry as well as all the other characters. There’s really not much I can say about it, except Maia is implicated in a nasty murder involving one of Gerry’s past lovers.

And your answer brings up another question. Although we see it a lot, one of my favorite questions to explore is… if your book was to be made into a movie, aside from the luscious Mr. Butler, whom would you cast in your starring roles?  [Note:  this interviewer already knows the answer for Cael, but I'd rather Regan share her selection!]

Dapper as Cael

If you don’t mind, I do believe I’m going to have a little fun with this question. I do have a couple of men in mind who could definitely play Cael. Here is a picture of Marco Dapper; and/or my other pick is Henry Cavill (Ed. Note:  YUM.)  HA!  It’s almost too hard to tell them apart. Yes, they both have brown eyes, but with contacts…

For Addie, I have to pick Ashley Greene I loved her in Twilight as Alice. She has a beautiful soft voice that goes so well with her personality, and she can act tough when she needs to. Of course, my husband disagrees with me and he would like to see Megan Fox. I have a couple picks for Maia. One could be January Jones if she dyes her hair and the other could be Kate Beckinsale. Both women have extraordinary talent and can play tough when they need to. You don’t see much of a tough side to Maia in Whisper Cape, but stay tuned.

Ashley as Addy?

After you’ve finished your next paranormal romance, are there other genres you’ve thought about dipping a toe into?

Funny you should ask. I am working on edits for a young adult novel called, Allusive Aftershock, a story of disaster, jealously, hate, and of course, love. I don’t think I could ever write a story without love.

Lovely Kate as Maia

Well, you’re probably exhausted from your tour, so I’ll leave you to pour a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest of us will just have to kick back and wait for your next awesome book! Thanks again for visiting me at Beacon Street Books! I know our readers have enjoyed this time with you, and I hope they will visit you at ReganWalsh.com!

Thank you so much, Pam. I loved your questions and enjoyed answering them.

What’s up next for Regan? Tomorrow her train pulls into author/blogger Angela Kay Austin’s terrific blog where Regan will be revealing WHY she writes romance! Click on over on Sunday for a visit! http://angelakayaustin.blogspot.com.

And thank you to our readers, for tuning in today! Please take time to check out my review of Regan’s dynamite premiere novel. Don’t forget to enter to win an “e” copy of WHISPER CAPE by Regan Walsh — contest will be open for all of President’s Day weekend — and if you don’t get lucky this time, you can click here and support this talented author yourself!

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As they say in the market, it was rather “flat.” That being, some good, some bad, all balances out. Certainly business for Valdata Services declined as I saw three clients close their doors, one being my largest long-term customer. Sad, indeed, and I will miss these great people I interacted with on a daily basis. I wish them all much success (and stability) in the coming year.

Another downer was my inability to get any writing done; that is, if you don’t count the nineteen essays I wrote for school. After a negative experience with a neurotic and overtly rude correspondent, I lost some ambition which is finally beginning to return.

I probably gained 13 pounds this year, and my school obligations discouraged me from getting to the gym, which I subtly abandoned in August. (They actually called to see where I was!)

On the upside, school was great and I’m 9 units away from my degree. The tutoring job I took at the college was rewarding and enlightening. I met lots of wonderful people this year, writers, teachers, high school alumnus, cancer warriors, mountain dwellers, and a few brave souls still working in escrow. I moved to Android this year, and my 6 year old Highlander is still running like new. My brother survived a life-threatening illness. My sons are both working, my grandson is happy and healthy, my daughter is a beautiful, talented and resourceful teen, and my husband realized his dream of building a mountain home. I am incredibly blessed and thankful.

What for 2012?

I have plans, nothing earth-shattering. I need to get back to the Y. I’ll return to my tutoring job in the spring, along with taking 6 units. I’ll complete at least one novel—hopefully the third lighthouse mystery set in Los Angeles. I’m going to try to re-release a couple of my backlist novels soon. Will continue to work with both the SCV Education Foundation and the Circle of Hope*. I hope to do some public presentations similar to one I did on California lighthouses for the library this past January. Three more units in the fall will finish my degree in English.

January 12, 2011 – Santa Paula, CA – The earliest of California’s 35+ lighthouses have protected its coastal waters for over 160 years, and are thus a big part of the state’s history. According to local So. Cal. author Pam Ripling (who also writes as Anne Carter), these iconic symbols of protection, guidance and times past evoke a variety of thoughts and emotions. In recognition of Blanchard Community Library’s Centennial Celebration of California History, Ms. Ripling will share her knowledge of our West Coast beacons, relating how they came to be and where they are now.

Beginning with an overview of the multitude and variety of light stations constructed statewide, Ripling with focus on a few of her favorites, relating rich historical detail and anecdotal background. Ms. Ripling will also explain how, as a mystery author, she is inspired by lighthouses and works with them as aura-enhanced settings for her novels. Throughout her travels, Ripling has visited many of these lighthouses and will offer an entertaining PowerPoint slideshow to augment her presentation.

Also included in Ms. Ripling’s talk will be a discussion for fiction readers and aspiring authors about the fascinating process of researching her subjects. She will explain why an abandoned lighthouse six miles off the California coast might be the perfect setting for romance…and possibly murder. Using the real-life St. George Reef Lighthouse as her inspiration, Ripling (as Anne Carter) penned her second paranormal lighthouse mystery, CAPE SEDUCTION, (Echelon Press, 288 pp., $13.99), released in the fall of September, 2010.

Extensive research included interviewing one of the last keepers from St. George Reef Lighthouse. While the station in Ripling’s book is entirely fictional, the Coast Guardsman’s memories were invaluable in helping the author create a believable setting for CAPE SEDUCTION. “He described in great detail what it took to keep the lighthouse working—without electricity—in the 1940′s, and what one would have to do to survive locked away in a tower entrapped by treacherous seas.”

Born in the Midwest, Pam Ripling is the author of six published novels, a variety of fictional shorts and non-fiction articles. The married mother of three is a member of Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles and her short story Just Like Jay appears in their newest anthology, MURDER IN LA LA LAND.

Ms. Ripling will be signing a limited number of her books for attendees.

Blanchard Community Library is located at 119 North 8th Street, Santa Paula, CA 93060-2709. For more info on the library’s Centennial Celebration, contact District Librarian Daniel Robles at (805) 525-3615.

Our Lovely Tree

Happy New Year.

Have been thinking about what to say, but I’m so late I’m afraid all the good topics have already been written. And it’s already the 4^th; folks are probably DONE hearing about how bad the ending of LOST was, how sad it was when so-and-so passed away, how shocking it was to see Miley sucking on a bong. Okay, maybe not so shocking, that.

And the year to come? My plans? I have plenty. In the writing arena, I’ve made some decisions concerning my backlist, which has been just sort of sitting without much support from me. These three books are going to get a minor makeover and be re-released under my own publishing byline by this spring. New edits, new covers, new prices. I mean, why not?

Becoming a publisher means I can publish some other things, too, experimental works and some shorts for a couple of

Great Room Ready for Drywall

new authors just wanting to dip a toe in the water. I’ll need an editor or two, and some help with the cover art. Cover art must be first rate, it’s the very first impression and if it’s shoddy or amateur, no level of quality in the book will make a difference.

That being said, my books with Echelon (CAPE SEDUCTION, POINT SURRENDER) will stay with Echelon. I have no desire to move them, and will continue to promote them alongside my newly released backlist work. If I’m right, all will benefit. I will focus heavily on ebooks this year (as if I haven’t for twelve years already!), although with the help of sites like Amazon’s CreateSpace I can re-release my older books in paperback as well. I’m glad for that, for those people still digging in about paper.

Once I reach a level of completion with this project, I’ll be able to resume work on my next lighthouse mystery. ANGEL’S GATE is started, but I felt it was heading toward a proverbial cul-de-sac and I need to back up and take a turn. I’m hoping to be able to convince the PTB to let me inside the real Angel’s Gate Lighthouse in Los Angeles Harbor. I just need to meet the right person!

Upcoming:

On January 22^nd, I’ll be speaking at the Blanchard Community Library in Santa Paula, California. The topic? Lighthouses, of course! Specifically, California’s lighthouses, and how they helped shape our history (it is California history month, after all.) I will focus on a few specific beacons, then segue into those that inspired my work. Really looking forward to this event.

Considering Romantic Times Convention on April 8 at the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles. Pricy, but lots of fun. Will advise.

April 30/May 1, in addition to my yearly stint signing with Sisters in Crime/LA, I’m joining a small consortium of authors in a booth at the L.A. Times Festival of Books, this year being held at the University of Southern California. I hope UCLA fans won’t stay away!

The cabin in the mountains is coming along nicely! Should be done late February. I can’t wait to hunker down with my books and hot toddy before a roaring fire…

Outgoing:

Over the holidays, my niece and I took a day off and drove up to Santa Barbara for lunch. To our astonishment, both Barnes and Noble and Border’s were selling out their inventories, both closing their doors on December 31^st. These stores are across the street from each other. I guess Santa Barbara book buyers will have to turn to the web. And ebooks?

Speaking of those minute miracles, I am rapidly filling up the new COLOR NOOK my husband bought me for Christmas! Man, do I love this device. I’ve always been somewhat of a gadget person, but this thing is fab. Does almost all that an iPad does – for half the money. I’ve loaded it up with songs, photos, books – I can do a crossword puzzle, check Facebook, write an email and edit my latest manuscript – and I can do it in the dark!

Follow up:

Further to my “Long Lost Relatives” post, I was contacted by my newly discovered cousin’s ex-wife. I wrote her back, giving her all the info I had and the one photo from my website. She has yet to respond, but I can wait. It’s been my whole life, after all.

Why couldn’t you have a vampire in the Old West? Who said a sci-fi tale couldn’t also have paranormal elements? Crime thrillers with gay cops? Authors suddenly had the freedom to write what they wanted to write, not necessary what some big publisher’s marketing person thought was the next big craze in fiction.

Wonderful, right? Yes. Freedom is a good thing. However, there is one fact that should not be completely overlooked. Creating a multi-genre manuscript can whittle down the book’s broader appeal. The more genres crammed together, the narrower the slice of the populace that will like them all. This is akin to niche writing.

I’m bringing this up because I recently noticed something about my own work.

I write (what I call) romantic mystery, with paranormal (ghostly) elements. When I go to mystery festivals, I focus on the mystery surrounding CAPE SEDUCTION. When I’m among romance readers, of course I mention the romantic thread or subplot. But here’s the rub:  I’ve noticed that conventional mysteries have specific elements that readers look for. Police procedurals, amateur sleuths/cozies, noir, to name a few. My book doesn’t have any of that. It’s a mystery, because there is a murder, an unfolding story about who/what/why/where/how the murder occurred, but no cop, no sleuth (other than the female protag, who is not any kind of regular sleuth.) So I have trouble classifying this book in the mystery genre.

Now. I was recently invited to participate in an all day on-line book launch party at a popular romance reader site. What fun! There were around 12 romance authors participating. But as I watched the rotating cover art at the side of the screen, waiting for my cover to pass by, most of what I saw was fairly explicit sexual scenarios between men/women, and men/men. I’m talking lots of flesh, here. Groping. Garters, fishnets. Bare chests, a thumb tugging down the waistband of a pair of briefs. The excerpts, too, were pretty explicitly sexual (dare I say, racy?)

Now my book has sex, but it’s just a scene or two that happens between characters and moves the development along. It’s not the main thrust of the story. The readers, the visitors to the “party” virtually fanned themselves over the covers and excerpts, citing this one or that one as “hot!” Clearly, my book didn’t feel like playing with the others.

Don’t get me wrong: I have no problem with these books! They are P O P U L A R for a reason. I don’t often read them, but that’s just my preference.

I might add that being termed “paranormal” doesn’t always help a lot, either. If you list your book as paranormal, it’s thrown in with all the vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, witches, warlocks and various other-worldly creatures. So one must further classify “supernatural” and even then, weed it out from the tales about mediums, seers, and those with ESP! (I even hesitate to mention that now, so strong is the stigma attached to the word.)

So, what to do? I appreciate all comments and thoughts. For now, I will continue to look for my niche, which I thought was lighthouses. Oh, did I forget to mention the lighthouses?

It’s all about not wanting to be interrupted. I could sit at the computer for, say, 30 minutes between tasks and start working on a story. But for most writers, 30 minutes just won’t cut it—it takes that long, sometimes, to really warm up to what I’m writing. So I’m reluctant to put fingers on the keyboard unless I have some significant, quality time to write. I just can’t be rushed.

Oh, Yum.

The book launch for the Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles anthology MURDER IN LA LA LAND was just a kick! I believe nine of the 12 authors and two of the three editors made appearances at The Mystery Bookstore in Westwood. The crowd was fun and receptive, the bookstore staff was generous and accommodating. I enjoyed meeting Paul Marks, Terri Nolan, Jane DeLucchio, Kathy Kingston, Donna May, Kathleen Piche and Lenore Carlson, all extraordinary LA LA authors. I’d already had the pleasure of meeting Gabriela Vazquez,  my terrific editor Eric Stone, and it’s always a lark chatting with the witty and behatted Michael Mallory. Also on hand was the charming Naomi Hirahara, another of our fine editors. Missing were authors Jack Maeby (whom I’ve met before), Patricia Morin and Jude McGee—we’ll catch up at a future event. (Jude is off gallivanting around Spain, poor kid!)

Lots of positive feedback on my short entry, “Just Like Jay.” I’m encouraged to start writing shorts again. If I ever get my chores caught up.

Do you sigh? Do your characters sigh? Mine do, I found out. Yep, these guys are real mouth breathers. A recent “search and destroy” on my WIP revealed my 26 cases of sighing. Dissatisfied, mournful bunch, eh? Oh, I’ll admit, a few times they’ve huffed. A groan or two escapes. The boring but necessary “exhaled” makes an appearance. But these few descriptive verbs aren’t enough to deal with 26 occurrences of the almighty sigh. What should I do? Is it just me, or do others labor over descriptions for the troubled, bored, wistful or otherwise disenfranchised character? Help!

Pam sighed, thinking that no one would likely answer her plea…