Monday, January 21, 2013

Christine Young Presents Seducing Avery

Please welcome Barb Hab author of Seducing Avery. Barb will be awarding a $10 BN.com or Amazon GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.

Please leave a comment.


SEDUCING AVERY
By
Barbara Han

BLURB:  

Avery McAdams believes in order to truly be herself she needs to keep her head down, her guard up and her focus on her career. Until she’s hired by sexy, charismatic Ryker Li to pull off the event of the century, and he shows up personally to convince her to handle his next party. When she meets him face-to-face, she realizes a piece of her wants him to see her as attractive, which goes against everything she’s convinced herself she believes.

Rich, powerful Ryker has made an art form of getting what he wants, when he wants it, and then moving on. But something about Avery makes him want to stick around.

When he finds everything he never dreamed to look for in a woman, can the billionaire playboy commit to the biggest deal of all? Or will a lifetime of mistrust and suspicion turn them forever into rivals?



INTERVIEW:


1.What or who inspired you to start writing?

First of all, thanks for having me here, Christine. As for my writing inspiration, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to write. Early on, I fell in love with words. Their power. People are amazing and interesting. They’ve always fascinated me. It seemed liked the most normal thing in the world to link those two interests and become a writer. On a side note: I have an embarrassing secret. I used to read the dictionary like normal people would read a novel. I guess you could say I was smitten with words as soon as I learned what the heck they were.  
 


2.How did you come up with ideas for your books?

For SEDUCING AVERY, I’m pretty much bound by marriage contract to say the idea came from my husband. Well, he is a six foot tall Asian. For other books, ideas come from everywhere. GONE came from a dream (if you can call it that). More like a nightmare actually. The next morning, I wrote everything down and tried to forget the whole idea. The story kept coming back to me and wouldn’t leave me alone and I finally broke down and wrote it (three years later). I naively believed if I got it out of my system, I could move on. Nope. That story ended up being the manuscript that caught my agent’s interest, and turned into my second sale.   

3.What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?

Each time I approach a story, I want to find a way new way to tell it. I have enormous respect for the relationship developing between my hero and heroine, whether they’re facing their innermost demons or running from bullets. There’s a point in every story where the hero and heroine are no longer characters but become like best friends. I hope it shines through in my work.


4.As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?

Thanks for asking. I have another story coming out this year I’m excited about. GONE is a story about a woman who wakes up from a visceral nightmare, shaken to the core, needing with everything inside her to save her only son to discover she’s in a mental institution. She’s being told she never had children, and yet her arms are imprinted from holding him and her instincts tell her to trust no one. The hero has never stopped blaming himself for the childhood tragedy that killed his little sister. He knows he can’t change the past, but what if he can help this one person? What he doesn’t realize is he might just save himself.

5.Do you belong to a critique group? If so how does this help or hinder your writing?

A constructive critique relationship can be amazing for your career. A critique partner who becomes a friend is beyond a gift. I’ve been fortunate to find both with mine. *shout out to the fabulous Jerrie Alexander*

6.What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)

Let’s see, the best advice I ever received has to be, “Put your butt in the chair and write.” Nothing else happens if you don’t write the story. Then, repeat. The worst advice I ever received came from a multi-published author who discouraged me from attending my pitch session at a conference. It was my first pitch ever and I let her talk me out of the appointment. My confidence took a shot. I didn’t try to pitch another story for four years, relying solely on the query process. A huge part of this business involves making mistakes, picking yourself up, and moving on. Go out. Pitch. You never know if you’re ready until you try. Plus, I’ve met a lot of interesting writers while waiting for a pitch session. Also important to note:  there are a lot of multi-published authors who are generous with their time and advice. Listen to most of them. 

7.Do you have any hobbies and does the knowledge you've gained from these carry over into your characters or the plot of your books?

I love animals, especially horses and dogs. Good thing for my family that I love to cook. With a husband, three fantastic children, a rambunctious dog, plus a more than full time writing career doesn’t leave a lot of time for hobbies. If it did, I’d be a crafter. Crafters are so cool! I’d write a mystery involving a group of crafters. Then, I’d compete on Craft Wars. Love that show!

8.What is your favorite reality show?

Oh, it’s a tie between House Hunter’s International and 30 Minute Meals with Rachael Ray. Do those count? Who doesn’t like to explore new houses and cook the best meals, like, ever?

9.Who is your favorite actor and actress?

This question is so unfair. There are so many interesting celebs, it’s hard to choose. My all-time favorite actress is probably Sarah Jessica Parker. I just adore her and her funky yet classic sense of style. As for my favorite leading man, I’m going old school with Sean Connery. Who didn’t love him as Bond?  

10.         If you were a casting director for the film version of your book, who would play your lead roles?

Oh, good question. While Avery is confident on the outside, she feels inadequate internally. (I think we all do in some way, right?)  So, hmm, I’d love to see Emma Watson play the role. I love that she can be strong yet vulnerable, and I’d like to see her break out into bigger roles post-Harry Potter. For Ryker, no question, I’d call Daniel Henney. His career is hot and I’d love to see him as a romantic lead in a US-made film.

11.         Anything else you might want to add?

I would love to connect. You can find me in several places:
Facebook
My newsletter has prizes and cool things just for subscribers. 








EXCERPT:

"When you despise something, you'd be surprised at what you're willing to do to avoid it." She picked up the blanket, noticing how the air in the room had gone thin. Avery couldn't swallow. Her throat dried up and her stomach quivered. Being near this man made her pulse thump at the base of her throat. Because when his gaze landed hard on hers, it spoke pure sex.

Thick, sooty lashes framed the most intoxicating shade of exotic brown eyes. His high cheekbones framed hard planes on his face, anchoring perfectly full, perfectly formed lips.

Looking at those lips almost made her forget he thought himself too important to attend the charity event he lent his name to. She quirked an eyebrow at him, curious as to why he really stood here in her office? After all, he'd been too busy or too good to show last night. Then again, why would a man like him waste an evening on orphans when he could have any supermodel he wanted at his side, and in his bed?

Coffee. She needed caffeine. She gripped the Styrofoam cup and took a sip.

His thick lips curled. "What is it now?"





AUTHOR INFORMATION:

Barb Han lives in North Texas with her husband, has three beautiful children, a spunky Golden Retriever/Standard Poodle mix, and too many books to count.

When she’s not writing, researching, or otherwise getting lost in a story, she volunteers at her children’s school, is in the kitchen ‘creating’ dinner, or can be found on or around a basketball court.

Writing contemporary romance and romantic suspense has been a dream come true for Barb—something she’s wanted to do for as long as she can remember. She left her corporate job, at her husband’s urging, and has been happily playing with her imaginary friends ever since.
In her down time, she plays video games and loves reading with her children. She also enjoys traveling with her family. Many of the places she visits end up in her books.


LINKS:

http://www.barbhan.com
 I'm on Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/BarbHan
Twitter @BarbHanAuthor
Goodreads

14 comments:

Goddess Fish Promotions said...

Thank you for hosting today.

Jerrie Alexander said...

Good morning! Thanks for the plug! I learn more about you all the time. Did not know you liked cooking shows.

Seriously folks, this is a great read.

Barb Han said...

Good morning, Jerrie! Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Barb Han said...

A big thanks to Christine for hosting me this morning. This interview was a lot of fun!

Rita Wray said...

Great interview. I love House Hunters International, I watch it all the time.

Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

Barb Han said...

Isn't that a great show, Ingeborg!! And that qualifies as reality tv, right??

MomJane said...

Loved your interview. I think this is a really great story. Loved the excerpt.

Barb Han said...

Thanks so much, MomJane! I'm so pleased you loved the excerpt.

Genene Valleau, writing as Genie Gabriel said...

Hi, Barb! So wonderful your husband is both supportive and an inspiration. Hope your tour goes well!

Barb Han said...

Hello Genene! I LOVE your name!! Thank you so much for your kind words. I feel so blessed to have married such a great guy!

Catherine Lee said...

I was not familiar with Daniel Henney. He is very handsome. Is that what your hubby looks like too?

Barb Han said...

Hi Catherine! Isn't he gorgeous!!

Mary Preston said...

Interesting casting for your book. You never know!!

marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Barb Han said...

Hi Mary! Wouldn't it be fun to see them play the roles? Thanks for stopping by!