Guest Author: RaeAnne Thayne




Today’s guest joins me from the northern Utah mountains in the USA. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her a couple of times now at RT Conventions and most recently at the Booklovers Con in New Orleans. I have felt very honoured to be signing at the same events she was signing at as over the past two years as she is a fellow Harlequin author and one whose books I love to read!

It’s a privilege to have as my guest today, RaeAnne Thayne, a New York Times best selling author who sold her first book in 1995 and has now written scores of fabulous romances—“Stories of Hope, Healing and Heart”. Starting out as a journalist and working her way up to being an editor, she now writes full-time in between juggling family responsibilities.

Among her many accolades, she has been nominated seven times for a RITA. If you haven’t read any of her heart-warming romances, I can highly recommend them.

Welcome RaeAnne!I’d love to start out today by asking you to tell us about your latest release and whether it posed any particular challenges for you.

My latest title, THE CLIFF HOUSE, was my first hardcover and also my first completely standalone book, not part of any series. The plot was more intricate and layered than most of the books I write, but I absolutely loved being able to write a story that focused on the stories of three women.

I haven't read The Cliff House yet. It's a treat in store!

You’ve spoken about how much you loved the variety of stories you used to write as a journalist and all the different characters you met. I’m guessing all that experience with different types of characters have been a positive for the development of your story characters into being real and relatable 3D characters. Are any of the heroines you’ve written ones that are close to your personality traits?

Each of them probably carries something of me in them – or at least the woman I wish I was! I tend to write heroines who are caregivers in some form or other, either for children or a parent or even a pet, probably because that’s a big part of my life. I’m a mom of three, including one who has severe disabilities. It’s inevitable that my real life will trickle into my books. 

You’ve written so many stories since your first publication in 1995. Do you launch from one story straight into the next or do you give yourself some downtime in between books? 

I am usually thinking at least two books ahead. Right now I’m finishing up a book and have the next one completely plotted and am trying to plot the one I’ll be working on right after that. Because of deadline and publishing schedules, I don’t usually have much downtime between books but I do like to take a day or two to breathe and sleep and catch up with the rest of my life.

If only we could write books as fast as our readers consume them!

When you’re not writing, what do you like to do to unwind?

I live in a truly beautiful place and love to walk in the mountains near my home. I love to read (of course!) and spend time with my family. I also love to bead as it’s a creative outlet that doesn’t take a lot of brainpower.

The beading sounds like fun, and of course family time is a must but it sounds fabulous to spend time walking in the mountains, too! I've always lived close to mountain ranges and can't imagine living anywhere flat.

Can you give us a bit of an insight into your current work-in-progress?

Right now I’m working on another hardcover, THE SEA GLASS COTTAGE, which features a heroine whose life is upended when she finds out her mother has been in a terrible accident at the garden center she owns. Olivia returns to her coastal hometown to care for Juliet as she recovers. In the process, both of them must face the past and uncover family secrets.

Thank you for joining me today RaeAnne. I look forward to meeting up with you again one day at a signing and trying to keep up with all your wonderful stories.

Thank you so much for having me!

For more information on RaeAnne and her stories, or to sign up to her newsletter, please visit her website: https://www.raeannethayne.com

Thank you all for joining me today on the blog. I hope you'll join me next week for my interview with Tessa Dare. Until then, Happy Reading!

Best wishes,

 Alyssa

www.alyssajmontgomery.com
_________________________________________________________________________________

About the Blogger:
Alyssa J. Montgomery is an Australian contemporary romance author who is published by Escape Publishing (Harlequin Enterprises, Australia). She also 
writes medieval romance as Alyssa James.



 


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