Cerian Hebert

I’m very pleased to have author Andrea Stein with me today! She’s showing off her book Rough Harbor. And to add to the fun, Andrea will be awarding a $50 GC, winner’s choice of Starbucks, Amazon or Walmart, to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour!  I’ll be listing the other tour stops so please make sure you stop in for more chances to win!

I had a chance to ask Andrea a few questions.

CERIAN: Welcome to my blog, Andrea. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself.

ANDREA: I’m in my mid-thirties, married to my high school sweetheart and have three children ranging from 2-8.  I live in rural NJ, which isn’t as weird as it sounds. I used to work in Information Technology as a business analyst but would write during my lunch hour and when I thought no one was looking…Unfortunately I am not a morning or night person so finding time to write during the day – when I am at my best is a struggle, but it’s one I overcome with the help of a babysitter…and forcing myself to get up early or stay up late.  I love coffee, drink wine, and like to cook.  I really have no hobbies except reading, cooking and watching TV. I have tried crafts and gardening but think everyone’s better off when I stick to writing.  When I get the chance I love the chance to hang out with my girl friends or have some friends over, but with three kids, life and laundry seems like there’s never enough time for that!

CERIAN: I gave up all my hobbies in favor of writing too. I really admire a mom of young kids who’s able to write. I remember those days well! When did you first start writing?

ANDREA: When I was a kid. I wrote a lot as a teenager and then stopped until I was in my mid twenties.  Then there was another gap until my thirties, but since then I have been writing consistently. I have written a lot for the tween genre, including a tween mystery story plus blog posts galore for a tween site, one other romantic suspense, Rough Harbor and there’s a third novel, a straight contemporary romance almost ready for release.

CERIAN: Sounds familiar too. Sounds like you’re making up for lost time! What does your writing area look like?

ANDREA: I write in a couple of different places – most often where I can get some peace and quiet.  But my main spot in the barn, which luckily as a finished room.  There’s a heater and electricity, a big table, and the view of a (small) mountain) out my window.  The mountain is named Hell Mountain – really and it’s a nice view at any time of the year.  The barn is nice because it’s a separate building where I can retire and shut the door – a must when you’re a mom.  But I think I share the barn with a  few critters too, so that can be distracting too – that’s when I retire to a coffee shop.

CERIAN: I am immensely jealous! I would love to have a writing space like that! Especially the view. Hell Mountain would be great inspiration!  Where do yo get your inspirations for your books?

ANDREA: Usually places, or perhaps some incident or moment might catch my attention. For instance I once saw a woman dressed all in white standing by the side of a horse paddock…something about the whole scene, including the weather, the horses and the woman herself have stuck in my memory, and there’s a story waiting to come out there.

CERIAN: As someone who generally includes horses somewhere in my stories, I think that’s fantastic! I hope I can read that story some day.  If your book was going to be made into a movie, who would play your characters?

ANDREA: Gerard Butler and Keira Knightly.  But they would have to fake American accents.

CERIAN: Gerard Butler has got to be one of the most perfect hero-types out there, with or without the accent! Awesome choices! What is your favorite genre to write? How many genres do you write in?

ANDREA:  Romance and mystery.   Mystery can be hard because you have to be very clever to come up with a good ‘mystery’ for your detective and the readers to solve.

CERIAN: Which is why I leave that up to the authors who are clever enough. Okay, now the quick question and answer time.

Answer each of the following:

Favorite animal: Cat
Favorite comfort food: Pizza
Spring, summer, autumn or winter? Autumn – I always feel a sense of renewal in the Fall – probably an association left over from starting a new school year and all of the possibilities.
Favorite book: Wuthering Heights…
Favorite movie: Love Actually
If you weren’t a writer, what would you want to do? Antique dealer
Best vacation ever:  The Jersey Shore with my family and one other  — enough beach, good food and vino to actually feel relaxed…just wish the ocean would be warmer.

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ROUGH HARBOR
by Andrea Stein

 

BLURB:

After a bitter break up and professional set back in London, twenty seven year old Caitlyn has returned to Queensbay to work for Maxwell Randall, an old family friend, at his financial management firm.  So far, bit by bit, Caitlyn’s been rebuilding all she lost after Michael St. John broke her heart …and tried to ruin her professional reputation.

But her past comes back to haunt her when Maxwell unexpectedly turns up dead.  Not only does Caitlyn find her career in jeopardy but her heart is too, when Noah Randall, Maxwell’s son, and her first love, returns to Queensbay.  Once, ten years ago, Caitlyn was sure Noah was the one for her…but the tragedy of her grandfather’s suicide and Noah’s decision to leave town left her bereft…and determined never to trust him again. 

Over the past decade, she’s managed to do her best to forget about Noah Randall and the lingering questions surrounding her grandfather’s suicide.  But now that’s he back in town – rich and more handsome than ever, and she can’t help wondering what if? What if Noah really was the one? 

Noah Randall left home ten years ago to seek his fortune – vowing never to return until he’d made a success of himself – and show Caitlyn Montgomery just what she’d given up.  He returns to find that Caitlyn Montgomery has only grown more alluring with time. Noah’s always wanted he couldn’t have…and now he wants Caitlyn again.  But she’s determined not to make the same mistake twice.

While Noah and Caitlyn are revisiting old ground – and forging a new relationship, there’s trouble brewing in Queensbay.  Old secrets and new lead Caitlyn to believe that perhaps her grandfather didn’t kill himself – and that Maxwell’s death was no accident.  But just how far will someone go to keep her – and Noah – from finding out the truth…and will Queesbay prove to have troubled waters after all?

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EXCERPT:

Caitlyn Montgomery carefully let herself in the side door with the key hidden under the flowerpot. Police tape fluttered along the back of the house, the side that faced the water, but here, under the small overhang, there was nothing, only a chilly October breeze and the more distant sound of the water lapping at the rocky shore.

 The house was quiet, the silence of sadness. Her footsteps echoed across the polished wood flooring of the hallway as she crossed onto the marble tiles of the foyer. She knew it well, had almost grown up here, and had spent many nights here in the recent months, playing chess and sipping whisky with an old man.

 The door to Maxwell Randall’s study swung silently open. Caitlyn crossed the floor quickly, her sneakered feet sinking into the plush carpet. She came around to Maxwell’s desk, an ornate, obnoxious thing meant to look like something a Gilded Age Robber Baron would have owned.

 It was just as he’d left it. Empty. Maxwell hadn’t been one for bringing work home, she discovered. His desk was clear, a simple blotter aligned in the middle. A phone off to the right, a brass lamp off to the left. A pad of paper and a can of pens and pencils sat within reach. There was no computer, no planner or desk diary. She supposed if there had been one, the police would have taken it.

 Slowly, methodically, she leaned over and began to open the desk drawers. Nothing in the two large ones flanking the right, nor the left. She turned her attention to the middle drawer, the thin one. It stuck a bit, and she felt her heart flutter in anticipation. She knelt down, to get a better view. Caitlyn pushed a strand of her brown-black hair behind her ear and squinted in concentration as she carefully slid her hands toward the back of the narrow drawer.

 “What are you doing?”

 Her head jerked up, hitting the side of the drawer as she rose to her feet.

 “You?” Caitlyn said, surprise radiating through her.

 There was a pause. Caitlyn drew herself up to her full height and looked at Noah Randall, all six-feet-one of him, standing in the doorway.

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AUTHOR BIO AND LINKS:

Hi, I’m Andrea Stein an author, mother, wife and blogger and a certified mom-chauffeur. I have been scribbling stories for as long as I can remember, including my first adventure story, inspired by an obsession with Out of Africa (book, movie and biography) about a young girl stranded in Kenya. It was serial fiction handwritten, given to my sister, who couldn’t read my handwriting. That story dies after one installment, but the next year I got a word processor (not a computer, but an ACTUAL WORD PROCESSOR) that showed about twenty lines of text at a time. This was before laptops were widely available and this allowed me to be able to type to my heart’s content in the privacy of my own room. Which I did. I think I spent the time writing stories about my “frenemies” to amuse myself. I also listened to a lot of the Cure and New Wave music. I have since moved on to a happier place.

 Even though I read lots of different types of books, I write romance novels with a twist. More like contemporary romance than romantic suspense (I don’t write about serial killers or FBI agents) but I usually like to include a puzzle or mystery for my hero and heroine to solve.

 Rough Harbor is my second novel, set in a small New England town. Coming soon is Ivy Cottage, also set in a small New England town on a river.

 Other than writing I spend most of my time reading, watching TV, cooking, cleaning, taking care of kids, trying to keep the house clean and folding laundry. I love Twizzlers, chocolate and shows on the WB. For me, reading has always been an escape, a way to escape the ordinary and dive into a world that feels real – but with all of the ‘boring’ parts edited out.

 As for the rest of my life, I grew up on Long Island, spent a lot of vacations in small New England towns, went to college in New York City, married by high school sweetheart, worked, had kids, stopped working, and kept on writing. Now I live in rural New Jersey (yes, there is such a thing), and though I don’t own any horses, I do have a barn, which I share with squirrels.

There’s something successful writers always tell new writers about their secret to success. Just do it…Bum Glue…write 1ooo words a day…write for two hours a day….Keep writing. And they’re right. I got more successful with my writing when I started to do it consistently. I don’t write every day, but I shoot for five days a week. This means that the words and pages pile up — and I have stories to shape, make and mold…and share.

 I hope you enjoy my books, currently available at http://www.amazon.com

 Links – Website:

Andreasteinbooks.com

http://www.facebook.com/AndreaSteinBooks

https://twitter.com/andreasteinbook

OTHER PLACES TO CHECK OUT ANDREA STEIN AND ROUGH HARBOR

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