Please Welcome author of a Mercenary Way, Tory Richards

I am pleased to have Tory at my blog and I hope everyone who visits here in the next couple of days enjoys meeting the author, and reading a little something about her book The Mercenary Way. Love your cover artist!

Tory will be awarding a $20.00 egift certificate to Bath and Body to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour, and the blog host with the most comments (excluding Tory's and their own) will receive an "Own this Spot for a Whole Year" ad spot ($100.00 value) on Sex Between the Covers Blog.

So, everyone who visits please leave a comment.

First let's learn a little bit about Tory:

I'm a fifty-something author who discovered my passion for writing and story telling at the ripe old age of thirteen. Before I received my first manual typewriter, with pencil in hand, I would jot my stories down on notebook paper. Later, after receiving that desired typewriter I spent hours in my bedroom, where my parents thought I was doing homework. Writing turned out to be a kind of therapy for me, something I didn't realize until years later.

 

I also hold down a full time day job. So basically I'm working all the time. Only writing is a hobby for me, something I do during the quiet of the evenings and on my weekends. My goals are simple and realistic. By the time I retire I'll be happy if I'm just making enough "mad money" from it to be able to travel a little, and spoil my grandchildren.

 

I'll travel any place a cruise ship will take me. I've been to: Greece, Italy, Croatia, Spain, and Alaska just to name a few places. I don't like to fly, even before I found myself on a plane on 9/11, but I will if I'm given enough legal drugs. I collect antiques and art, and I love chocolate, who doesn't? And I'm addicted to good coffee and sweet ice tea.

 

For a while life got in the way of my dreams. A few years ago I decided to get serious and haven't looked back!

Find Tory and her books at:

http://www.toryrichards.com

http://www.debbiewallace.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000953754308

http://twitter.com/#!/ToryRichards

http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=4548655443

http://www.thewildrosepress.com/

How about a short teaser to get things started.

When a ruthless gem smuggler mistakes Sarah for her best friend Susan, she's kidnapped and stashed on an island. Her only hope of rescue is Susan's cousin Clint -- a soldier-of-fortune whose my-way-or-else attitude is as infuriating as his muscular body is distracting.

Clint, ex-Navy SEAL turned mercenary, desperately needs a vacation. Rescuing a kidnapped woman from an island paradise isn't what he had in mind. And when he encounters Sarah's sassy mouth and tempting ways, he soon realizes he's the one in trouble.

What will Tory reveal in her interview? Hmmm...

1.What or who inspired you to start writing? Looking back, I was very young when I decided I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. I think reading fairy-tales inspired me. I was a big fan of the princess finding her prince charming and living happily ever after.

2.How did you come up with ideas for your book? A tough question to answer! My ideas can come from anywhere and anything. A dream, a random thought popping into my head, something I see or experience. With It's All in the Jeans I wrote a lot of the humorous scenes from my experience of living in a retirement community.

3.Have you ever written erotica? What special elements are needed for this genre? LOL...yes! I started out writing mainstream like Cupid's Arrow and The Senator's Daughter, but have evolved into full fledged erotica. As far as special elements is concerned, it depends. Publishers are open to a wide variety of erotica and have a very short list of what they won't accept. Authors have to be willing to go there, if you know what I mean. So far I've stuck with the basic one woman one man storyline. I might venture into other areas later because if there's one thing I've learned as an author, never say never! A few of my erotic titles with Ellora's Cave are Talk Dirty to Me, Breathless Surrender and Her Hands-On Man. For a little over $2 you can have, I mean read, a Quickie.

4.What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio? I'm very blunt. I say it like it is and usually, unfortunately, without thinking first. I'm also a good listener and will offer advice any chance I get:)

5.As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans? Just to continue writing for me. When I can, when I want. No deadlines to make. Writing isn't a job to me, it's a hobby that I enjoy.

6.Do you outline your books or just start writing? I just start writing. Once the book is done, I go back and add a lot of meat to it. So I guess the first draft could be considered an outline of sorts.

7.Do you have an all time favorite book? The Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss.

 

sorry you can't actually click to look inside unless you go to amazon

8.Have you started your next project? If so, can you share a little bit about your book? I have several projects started but lately I've been in a funk. Too much life going on. It happens. I have a werewolf romance started, a couple short erotic romances, and a couple novels I wrote many years ago on a manual type writer I hope to do work on some day.

9.Who is your favorite actor and actress? I love Tom Hanks! Anything he does turns out great and he seems like a genuinely nice guy.

 

10.  Anything else you might want to add? E-books rock! There are still some traditional publishing houses out there, and groups that don't consider eBooks as being published. But let me tell you, just as much work goes into them from both the author and the publisher's side. EBooks have a much longer shelf life than book store books, too. They're cheaper. I'm willing to bet that in the future we'll be more concerned with saving what trees we have left on the planet, and protecting the environment, than holding a paper back in our hands. I've noticed some traditional publishing houses have added eBooks and some well established authors are also writing them now.  

don't want anyone to forget what Tory's cover looks like!

What you have all been waiting for--the Excerpt!

Grabbing his duffel bag, Clint sprinted in the direction of the trees, leaving Sarah to follow. She’d learn soon enough that he wasn’t going to wait for her. They’d almost reached the safety of the trees when the first shot rang out. It whizzed past them ricocheting off a nearby tree, splintering the bark over their heads. He glanced back, swearing. Just as he’d expected, Sarah had come to a halt and was looking around as though wondering what had just happened.

“Keep moving!” he commanded, grabbing her arm. He gave her a violent shove in front of him where he could keep his eyes on her, and ducked when another bullet whizzed past. Soon after, a volley of gunfire erupted, forcing Clint to push her to the ground before they shot her head off.

She screamed when he careened into her and, in seconds, they were slipping on the muddy earth. Keeping his hands on her hips, he forced her to crawl behind a large tree. As they came to rest against it, flying bark sprayed the area around them.

“We have to keep moving!” Sarah cried above the sound of gunfire. “They’re coming!” She tried to struggle to her feet, but Clint easily held her down.

“No!” he said against her ear. “They’re still back at the house. They’re shooting wild, hoping to scare us out in the open. We still have a good head start,” he finished in a calm tone.

“You sound like you’re used to this,” she commented, trembling beneath his weight. She cried out again when another bullet hit the ground in front of them.

Clint forced her head down, lying protectively over her, all the while knowing that if a bullet went through him, it would probably go through her too. “Pray, angel.”

Oh, don't forget two things! 

Please leave a comment.

and most important go right now and buy Tory's book :)