Ready for a romance on the high seas? Please help me welcome author Grace Colline! She’s written an entraining love story aboard ship. Let’s take a look at her bio and then find out more about her writing process and the story she’s brought today.
After moving to Georgia in 2002, I became busy as a foster mom and department chair at another community college and writing kinda fell off the map for a while even though my husband kept at me to keep writing. I also pursued my love of fiber arts (using a spinning wheel to make yarn from wool and other fiber) and so the phrase “spinning a yarn” has a double meaning for me.
Enter my daughter, Crystal who is also a writer. She was determined to get me writing again and in August of 2019 presented me with several romances and informed me that I had six weeks to write a book to pitch at the upcoming Moonlight and Magnolias writing conference in October. So, I wrote one. Then another. Then I finished writing a couple novels that had been sitting around for years. Now I am back to working at getting my novels published.
My husband and I have adopted three children, and I am now an online professor leaving me lots of time for writing. I write just about every day, and spinning seems to help the muse along.
Author Social Links: Website * Facebook
Betty: What inspired you to write the story you’re sharing with us today?
Grace: I had written a story where a minor character loses the girl, and he kind of demanded his own story!
Betty: Which character arrived fully or mostly developed?
Grace: Captain Desmond Coulter arrived having been introduced already in An Inconvenient War.
Betty: Which story element sparked the idea for this story: setting, situation, character, or something else?
Grace: Character—as I said, Captain Coulter wanted his own story.
Betty: Which character(s) were the hardest to get to know? Why do you think?
Grace: I had the hardest time with the captain’s sister—she was very similar to myself and so I kept second-guessing myself.
Betty: What kind of research did you need to do to write this story?
Grace: I had to do a lot of research on square-rigged ships, their anatomy and how they sail to try and be as authentic as possible.
Betty: How many drafts of the story did you write before you felt the story was complete?
Grace: I tend to write a complete draft the first time around and then go through the editing process once or twice before sending it to my editor.
Betty: How long did it take for you to write the story you’re sharing with us? Is that a typical length of time for you? Why or why not?
Grace: It took about two months, which is pretty standard for me.
Betty: What rituals or habits do you have while writing?
Grace: LOL! I eat a lot of chocolates and do a lot of spinning on my spinning wheel so at the end I have a lot of yarn to knit with.
Betty: Every author has a tendency to overuse certain words or phrases in drafts, such as just, once, smile, nod, etc. What are yours?
Grace: Look and then, I have to do a search for these before sending off to the editor!
Betty: Do you have any role models? If so, why do you look up to them?
Grace: Jane Austen—she did so much for literature with just a few books. I can only imagine what she would have accomplished had she lived longer.
Betty: Do you have a special place to write? Revise? Read?
Grace: My chair for all three—I have a bad back so it is my most comfortable place.
Betty: Many authors have a day job. Do you? If so, what is it and do you enjoy it?
Grace: I am an online Biology professor for a community college. I only work part-time, and I enjoy it—though I would love to write full-time.
Betty: As an author, what do you feel is your greatest achievement?
Grace: I have written a science fiction novel that is a love story…not a typical romance. It is with an editor right now, and has been about twenty years in the making.
Betty: What other author would you like to sit down over dinner and talk to? Why?
Grace: Jane Austen or Catherine Tinley. The former for obvious reasons, the latter because she is a contemporary Regency novelist and I would love to learn all about her—how she started, research, etc.
Betty: Success looks different to different people. It could be wealth, or fame, or an inner joy at reaching a certain level. How do you define success in terms of your writing career?
Grace: Initially I just wanted to see my books in print. However, I do want to one day make a living at this, so there is that goal waiting out there for me still.
Captain Desmond Coulter knew there was something wrong with the newest cabin boy—but he didn’t expect to find a girl in disguise. Now the Tempest is miles out to sea, and he is quickly becoming captivated by her warm smiles and vivid green eyes. It’s more and more difficult to think of her going back to London without him…
Eleanor Warburton knew only that she had to escape her father, the admiral’s, clutches and his terrifying plan to marry her to the most illustrious suitor. She had been willing to do anything, even disguise herself and sneak aboard a random ship. But now her father is threatening to bring forth his mistress and humiliate her mother…what is she to do? To follow her heart means to destroy her mother—if only she could find a way to catch the captain and free herself at the same time.
Buy Links: Amazon
I’m not much of a sailing fan, but I am intrigued by romances at sea. Thanks for sharing your behind-the-scenes look at your process, Grace!
Happy reading!
Betty
Best-selling Author of Historical Fiction with Heart, and Haunting, Bewitching Love Stories
Visit www.bettybolte.com for a complete list of my books and appearances.
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