Q&A with Robyn Carr + Giveaway

Filed in featured , Giveaways , Robyn Carr , The Geeky Lover Posted on April 3, 2013 @ 7:00 am 19 comments

RobynCarr_AuthorPhotoPlease join us in giving a warm BLI welcome to #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Robyn Carr! Robyn is known for her wildly popular Virgin River Series. Today she is here to tell us more about the first book in her new Thunder Point SeriesThe Wanderer.

Robyn is taking time out of her busy schedule to share a Q & A with us today & there’s also a chance to win something at the end of the post.

Q: Does the title of “#1 Bestselling Author” put extra pressure on you when you’re writing new novels? Or do you have a writing groove you get into where you can just shut the rest of the world out and immerse yourself in the book you’re working on?

A: It probably puts extra pressure on my editor, but for me, my happy place is the same—making up the stories! Developing characters and plots rings all my bells. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy about that #1 slot—it means I’m connecting with the people I write the stories for! But sitting here in front of the computer, making up the story, that’s what drives me.

Q: Your books are centered in small towns and have a true sense of community in them. What do you think are some of the more significant differences between living in a small town versus a big city?

A: I think people tend to feel anonymous in big cities. I think they tend to feel invisible and as if they don’t matter. In small communities where people have to depend on each other to get by, people tend to feel more useful, necessary. There’s intimacy, sometimes forced, for people who grow up close to their neighbors. There’s a kind of transparency. This is the way I grew up. My town wasn’t small, but it was a collection of enclaves where family members all lived nearby (sometimes too nearby!). I lived with my grandparents—my grandfather was a janitor, and he built his own house with his bare hands. Sometimes his sons, my uncles, would help, but he hired the subcontractors and worked alongside them—and this on a working man’s salary. We relied on neighbors and church members, and they relied on our family. I knew that neighborhood and beyond

like it was tattooed on my brain. Bums from the railroad tracks sometimes knocked on my grandma’s back door and asked if there were any chores to do “for a little spare.” And she’d give them a plate of something to eat and sometimes they’d do a few simple chores in return. There was a huge apple tree across the street—HUGE! And we kids climbed it relentlessly and stole the apples, and I bet I was thirty before I realized, the owner knew all along and just came outdoors and yelled at us occasionally to give us a little thrill. There was an old widow woman a few doors up the street who was a hoarder, a very bad hoarder, but we visited her regularly, my grandma and I. We didn’t eat or drink anything, though. My grandfather used to feed a squirrel he had named Bushy Tail, and I was grown before I realized it wasn’t one squirrel—it was any squirrel. There was a family up the street with no car—they pulled a wagon to the market a couple of times a week, and I was in college before I knew they weren’t named the Walkers.

I don’t live that way now, and yet, these are still the people I understand best.

Q: Which comes first for you … characters or the plot? When you’re starting a new series, do you imagine multiple plot lines that will become other books or do you just dive in and start writing?

A: It’s actually the setting that comes first—it has to be intriguing and sexy on some level—I want to see people in my head in that setting and what I see is important—is he splitting logs? Is she paddling into the calm bay? Are they having a greasy burger in a rundown but comfy diner? And then come the characters—what are they up against? What do they need in their lives and why are they in that setting? And then comes their dilemma, which is the plot.

I think what happens in good genre fiction is this—the reader is transported to a special place. It could be a town like Thunder Point or it could be a castle in medieval Scotland. The reader then empathizes with the characters and then assumes their problems and their need for resolution. It’s a tripod—it’s setting balanced with characterization balanced with plot. And if done well, the book is unputdownable.

Where to find Robyn: Website | Facebook | Twitter

The Wanderer by Robyn CarrFormat read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Series: Thunder Point, #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: March 26, 2013
Number of pages: 384 pages
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Formats available: ebook, hardcover, mass market paperback, audiobook
Purchasing Info: Author’s website | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK)

Read our review of The Wanderer.

Nestled on the Oregon Coast is a small town of rocky beaches and rugged charm. Locals love the land’s unspoiled beauty. Developers see it as a potential gold mine. When newcomer Hank Cooper learns he’s been left an old friend’s entire beachfront property, he finds himself with a community’s destiny in his hands.

Cooper has never been a man to settle in one place, and Thunder Point was supposed to be just another quick stop. But Cooper finds himself getting involved with the town. And with Sarah Dupre, a woman as complicated as she is beautiful.

With the whole town watching for his next move, Cooper has to choose between his old life and a place full of new possibilities. A place that just might be home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~*~*Giveaway*~*~

 

Thanks to Little Bird Publicity & Robyn Carr’s generosity we have a copy of The Wanderer for one lucky commenter  (Us Only) and we will throw in another one for the international readers!

All you have to do is tell us: Would you like to be a Wanderer like Hank or not?
(You can read our full giveaway policy here)

Please leave a valid email when placing your comment so we can inform you if you win.

*Please Note*: Tell us if you are an international or an US reader in your comment! Thank you!

Giveaway ends on Saturday, April 13th; and we will announce the winner on Sunday.

Good luck!

About Susi


Susi is a geeky vegetarian from Gemany. She just finished university and now works as a civil engineer in steel construction. Besides her reading addiction she also knits like a maniac while listening to audiobooks. Susi also blogs at the Secret HEA Society.

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19 Comments

Join the Discussion
  • Ora April 3, 2013 at 9:55 am

    I enjoy traveling for vacation, however I am always ready to go home. I don’t think I could ever be a wanderer.

  • Patoct April 3, 2013 at 9:56 am

    I like to go on vacations for no more than a wk – always glad to get home.

  • Texas Book Lover April 3, 2013 at 9:59 am

    I would love to travel since I never do but I don’t think I would like to constantly travel I love my home and family a bit to much for that. But I sure could use a vacation…my family hasn’t taken one in about 8 years! Way to long!

  • laurie g April 3, 2013 at 10:50 am

    I like to go on vacations for no more than a wk – always glad to get home.

  • Gmapeony April 3, 2013 at 12:05 pm

    I too like to go for short trips. No place like home.

  • Darline Stewart April 3, 2013 at 2:11 pm

    I feel I am a wanderer, in my mind I am always traveling. I feel like a gypsy at times.

  • aurian April 3, 2013 at 3:21 pm

    Thanks for the nice interview ladies, I enjoyed reading it. I think I could be a wanderer, but in luxury, not on foot 😉
    International follower.

  • erinf1 April 4, 2013 at 10:51 am

    Thanks for the great post and giveaway! I couldn’t be a wanderer. I like order and routine too much 🙂

  • Diane Sallans April 4, 2013 at 2:49 pm

    I’m much more of a homebody to wander too much, but it might be fun to take a long wandering road trip (tho I know I’d be glad to get back home). US

  • Victoria Zumbrum April 4, 2013 at 7:41 pm

    I would like to be a wander. You get to meet different people and see different places. Thanks for the giveaway. USA

  • bn100 April 4, 2013 at 10:07 pm

    Yes, I would. USA

  • Readsalot81 April 4, 2013 at 10:08 pm

    Hmmm.. Yeah 🙂 I think I’d love to be a wanderer. There are so many places in the world I’d love to see – different people to speak to and learn from =)

  • JenM April 4, 2013 at 11:00 pm

    I’d love to be a wanderer. As it is, I spend pretty much all of my spare money on travel, but it’s never enough. There are always more places to see. US reader.

  • Filia Oktarina April 8, 2013 at 5:21 am

    I like to go traveling for vacation, but i know my body will can’t survive. So i just usully going with family for a few day, and then we’re home 🙂
    INT

  • Stephanie @ Love.Life.Read April 9, 2013 at 1:17 pm

    Hmm…I would have to say I like a place to call home. I love the idea of settling into a small town in some other part of the US thought at some point in my life. 🙂 (US reader)

  • Patoct April 12, 2013 at 8:24 am

    Forgot – I am a U.S. reader.

  • Laura April 12, 2013 at 11:24 am

    I love to travel, but only for short periods of time…I always love coming back home too. I’m a US Reader, Thanks for the giveaway!

  • Patty B Coral April 13, 2013 at 1:13 pm

    I am a US reader and would love to read this book.

  • Darline Stewart April 14, 2013 at 11:58 am

    Thanks so much for the win. I will enjoy the book

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