I am super excited to introduce to you one of my very favourite people and authors, Calisa Rhose. I met this lovely lady (and extremely talented lady!) online through one of my publisher's author loops. Calisa is one of those women it is impossible NOT to bond with and I'm so excited to be a part of the tour for the release of her second book, Risk Factors. Check out the great giveaways she's got going on, leave a comment and don't forget to check out her other stops to increase your chances of winning!
Now, enough of my prattling, you want to hear from Calisa. Here she is...Hi, Calisa! Its wonderful having you come to visit us at the bottom of the world.J Can you tell us a bit about
yourself?
Calisa Rhose is an Okie, born
and bred, through and through, and proud of it. While growing up, when she
wasn’t on the back of a horse, she could be found with pen and paper in hand.
Her writing career began with poetry in her younger days. Then she discovered
Rock-n-Roll and cute musicians. Poetry turned into stories of romance and
dreams. These days she lives with the same man who convinced her to take a
romantic journey with him almost 30 years ago. After raising three strong
daughters she spends her days loving their granddaughters, hoping for a boy
someday, and writing. When she’s not writing, you can find Calisa putting on
her editor hat and working to help other published and aspiring writers.
She is working on more projects
with her favored contemporary cowboys, first responders and firemen, as well as, the occasional
‘other’ heroes- and their sexy female counterparts, those sassy, stubborn
heroines.
Find Calisa at her website/blog http://calisarhose.wordpress.com
When did you first consider
yourself a writer?
Probably when Home released
with WRP! Lol But in my heart I knew when I finished my first serious ms in
’05. Up til that moment it was all practice. J
Do you remember what
inspired you to write your first book?
My first book was actually
hand written and illustrated by yours truly when I was in 5th grade.
It was titled something like “Bubblegum” and I ‘donated’ it to my school
library. I’m still trying to track that little book down! What inspired it?
Probably my love of writing, even back then, and my love of bubblegum! LOL
As for my first published
book- Home is part of a series written by Oklahoma authors that I got involved
in with my local OKRWA chapter mates. You can find the whole series at the
website here http://www.talesofthescrimshawdoll.wordpress.com and they are ALL on
sale right now for .99 on Amazon and
B&N! Home was inspired by my
interest in the Vietnam era in general, but particularly the latter part, so is
set in 1967.
I ADORED Home, and highly recommend to anyone that hasn't had the pleasure to read it yet. (I've even added the Amazon link on the picture for your convenience!)J
I love call stories. Can you
tell us about yours and your reaction?
For Risk Factors I pitched
to my editor at a blog pitch and she asked for the partial. I polished it but
it was two or three weeks later before I finally got the nerve to send it to
her. It took me another two months before I got the nerve (again) to follow up
with her and then she read it on the spot and asked for the full. It was only a
week later I believe that she offered the contract. And to think it might have
all gone a lot faster if I’d sent the partial right away and followed up a week
later! J I learned my lesson. Does that mean I’ll do that next
time?> Prolly not. LOL
Oh, my gosh! A pitch! You were sooo brave! What drew you to write your
chosen genre?
I live in a contemporary
world with firemen, EMTs who fly around in helicopters and where women can be
anything they want, including a veterinarian. What’s not to love about it? But
I also write contemporary paranormal because I’m a firm believer that almost
anything is possible in this world…even shape shifters. My Cherokee ancestors
taught me that. J
What’s the most challenging
part of the writing process for you?
Writing. LOL Rather making
myself write. I find so many shiny baubles that pull my attention from it that
I can easily spend a whole day wrapped up in emails, surfing blogs and playing
on my website and blog. Horrible. Once I tame that beast the hardest part is
probably-as a pantser- keeping facts straight as I write. Viv in this book is
28, but off and on she was 27. Lol I got that all fixed though. I think, hope!
:lol:
LOL - I'm with you, Calisa! I've just come across during edits, that my WIP hero gazes at my heroine with green eyes, when in fact, they're hazel! The curse of the pantser...J
Has anything coincidental
happened in the real world while writing one of your books in terms of the
characters, scenes or world you’ve created?
Not so far, no. I don’t know
if I’d recognize if it had, either. I tend to live in the now a lot and miss
cool connections like that.
Which one of your books is
your ‘baby’ and why?
I think Risk Factors is
right now. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s the latest one, or because of the
journey these characters and I have been through to get to this day. But it
feels different somehow.
What are you working on right now?
Right now- a lot. LOL A
fireman won’t leave me alone so I spend a good amount of time thinking about
that one, but I’m researching facts about heart diseases for a new one. That
hero has been whispering at me for some time and on Saturday he’d had enough of
my ignoring him, so I’ve started that one. I also have a couple of paranormal
things on the back burner simmering and steeping. I’m hoping to submit one of
those this year.
That is exciting news to hear for your fans!! Latest news?
Oh! The long-awaited release
of RISK FACTORS! It came out on March
4th and I’m still dancing.
Where can we find you and
your books?
You can always pop into my website bookshelf and on Amazon,
B&N and most other ebook outlets.
RISK FACTORS - Buy Links:
amazon- http://is.gd/OOGR4t
b&N- http://is.gd/PfGvg9
Book tour competition details:
At the end of this tour I’ll be picking
one winner to gift either a signature rose rock for a USA winner or a $10 GC of choice (Kindle or
Nook) for one overseas or in Canada. Either winner will also get a PDF copy of
Risk Factors!
The more you stalk me and comment, the
greater your chance to win on April 8th. I’ll announce the winner on
the 10th. Thank you for joining me on this fun journey’s end and
good luck to all!
As a special bonus, I’ll be pooling all
my blog hosts and the one with the most comments on their blog for my post will
also win one of the same prizes as the winners! They need your help to win!
Please note, this also includes my two hosts before today, so I’d appreciate if
you check my official
blog tour schedule and give them a chance to win by going to their blogs
too.
Thank you so much for stopping off in this part of the world, Calisa! It was an absolute pleasure having you visit.
Folks - don't forget to leave a comment to be in with a chance of winning some fabulous prizes!
Good luck with Risk Factors, Calisa and all your current and future WIP's.
