TODAY I AM DELIGHTED TO INTERVIEW AN AMAZING AUTHOR AND FRIEND
PATTI FIALA
I was born in Bridgeton, Missouri, a
suburb of St. Louis. During my time in Missouri, I explored the Ozarks, swam
in the Mississippi River, played kickball and endless games of hide-and-seek
with the neighborhood kids. Spending summers in Kentucky with my grandmother,
Ruth, are among my fondest childhood memories.
When I was thirteen, my family
moved to Wisconsin to learn to farm. Yes, learn to farm! Taking city kids
and throwing them on a farm, with twenty-eight cows purchased from the Humane
Society because they had been abused, was interesting, to say the least.
I learned to milk cows, the ins and outs of a breeding schedule, feeding
schedule, the never-ending haying in the summer, and trying to stay warm in the
winter. During our first winter in Wisconsin, we had thirty-six inches of snow
from one storm, and we were snowed in for three days! Needless to say, I
wasn’t loving Wisconsin.
I’m married with four children and
three grandchildren. I have learned to love Wisconsin, though I still
hate snow. Wisconsin and the United States are beautiful and my husband and I
travel around by motorcycle seeing new places and meeting new people. It
never ceases to amaze me how many people are interested in where we are going
and what we have seen along the way. At almost every stop we make, the
locals will ask us where we’re headed and offer advice on which roads in the
area are best for travel and seeing the sites. They are also more than willing
to share what others before us have told them about great rides and the best
scenic routes to take.
I come from a family of veterans.
My grandfather, father, brother, two of my sons, and one daughter-in-law
are all veterans. Needless to say, I am proud to be an American and proud
of the service my amazing family has given.
PLEASE SIT BACK AND ENJOY A GREAT INTERVIEW WITH PATTI FIALA
1. What inspired you to write this
book?
a. I was and am inspired by life.
Have you seen the news? Read the papers? Good grief, life is
complicated, unusual, interesting and mind boggling. There isn’t a day
that goes by that I don’t hear or read something and think, that is some crazy
stuff. Keep in mind that my day job is as a paralegal, so I hear some
crazy stuff. So, back to my inspiration. Because of the
complexities and unusualness of life, I write stories that have a little angst
(not too much, life gives us that), a little adventure and a lot of love
(sometimes, life doesn’t give us enough of that).
2. If you had to co-author a book,
who would be your ideal partner and why?
a. I love Sylvia Day. She is my
inspiration and I would absolutely love to know how her mind works, what her
writing process is and how she puts it all together.
3. Tell me a little bit about
yourself.
a. I live in Wisconsin, just outside
of Green Bay, though I was born in Missouri and spent my summers with my
grandma’s family in Kentucky. I call Kentucky home more than Missouri.
I still have family in Kentucky, and visit at least once a year to see
them all. I have four children, all grown and three beautiful grandchildren.
My husband and I ride motorcycles. We ride whenever we can.
We’ve been on some fabulous trips and are looking forward to so many
more. With retirement only about a year away, we are hoping to be on the
road several months each year. I come from a long line of Veterans. My
great grandfathers, grandfathers, father, brother and two of my sons. My
two sons both have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and my youngest is still in
the Army Reserves. I have a concealed carry permit and believe strongly in
the right to keep and bear arms and do so proudly, but not without the
understanding of the awesome responsibility of carrying. Our whole family
will go to the gun range together, or as many of us who can, to practice.
It’s a fabulous privilege. And, lastly, I love to write steamy
romances.
4. What do you do for a living?
a. As I mentioned, I am a paralegal.
The law office I work in deals mostly with business related law. I
have my bachelor’s degree in Human Resources Management with a minor in
Paralegal. The law I work in is heavily geared to employment law,
business law, and litigation.
5. What part of the world do you live
in?
a. I live in the United States, just
outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
6. How long have you been writing?
a. I have been writing for about
three years now, though I have wanted to write my whole life. I let fear
stand in the way for a very long time and finally decided I deserved to do what
made me happy. My husband has been a huge supporter and encourages me to
follow my dreams.
7. What is your writing process like?
Are you a pantster, a plotter, or somewhere in between?
a. I’m totally a pantster. When
I sit to write, I usually have my basic story in my mind, never on paper.
When I have the basic story in my mind and sit down to write, I can go
all day. The story just flows and usually takes me places I didn’t intend
to go when I first started. My characters usually misbehave, but if I
left them go, I’m usually happy with the direction. That’s not to say
there aren’t major revisions along the way.
8. When and where do you write?
a. I write when the mood strikes me,
as long as the mood strikes me when I am not at work. When I have a story
mostly puzzled out, I will set aside a weekend and let everyone know this is my
writing weekend – Leave Me Alone. I have a dedicated office at home, but
lately have found that I prefer to stand while writing, so I will often take my
laptop into the kitchen and stand at the counter for long periods.
9. What sorts of conditions are most
conducive to productivity?
a. I like having music on or the
television, especially home DIY shows. I need noise or music. I find that
when I need to, I can tune out things I don’t want or need to hear. When I need
a break, I have the background noise to fall back on.
10. What's your favorite aspect of
being a writer?
a. The creativity. I love being
able to invent people that I would like to know or be related to. I love
inventing scenarios and situations.
11. Your least favorite?
a. Marketing. YUCK. It is
so dang time consuming. There is so much out there and it’s so darn
frustrating sometimes. And, it takes away from my writing time.
12. What are the biggest challenges
you face as a writer?
a. Time, always time. Still
working full time, I have to fit the writing, marketing, editing, cover design,
teaser creation, formatting, uploading, swag creation, etc. into a few short
hours a week. It never seems to be enough. My to-do list seems to
grow rather than shrink.
13. Who are some of your favorite
writers and why?
a. I mentioned Sylvia Day before.
I love her books, her characters and her writing style. I like Jill
Shalvis. She is so darn funny and her characters are light-hearted and
fun. I like S.C. Stephens. Her writing style grabs hold and hangs
on. Lauren Dane is fabulous. Gosh there are so many fabulous
writers out there.
14. What are your favorite books?
a. I love steamy romances, not
necessarily erotic, but I love being titillated and some steamy, panty melting scenes.
But, I want there to be a story to go along with it. I love it when two
people need to fight to stay together. Not always fight with each other, but
there are usually outside forces to battle and win.
15. What writing tools do you use, if
any?
a. My mind and my laptop. I
suppose you could say Pinterest. I create boards for every book.
Any inspirations I have for characters, clothing, places, foods, drinks,
houses, bikes, anything, I locate and pin to my Pinterest boards and look at
them often for additional inspiration. I also create music lists on
Spotify to go with my books as well.
16. How long does it typically take
for you to write your first draft?
a. It depends. My first book is
455 pages. That took me about a month to write. It went through
many revisions and, even recently, another revision as I am republishing it
this month. Dog Days of Summer took about that same about of time for the
first draft. Rydin’ the Storm Out took about three weeks. I have
others coming soon, that have taken about 2-3 weeks. I like to write them
and then put them away for a little while. I’ll pull them back out and
look them over in a few weeks and usually make some changes. Two weeks
ago, I wrote a short story for inclusion in an anthology in a day. I
started on Saturday morning and before six o’clock Saturday night, I was
finished with it. That was a fun day.
17. Your final draft?
a. Oh, that can be a while. As
I mentioned, I’ll put them away a bit and come back to them. I would say
another month or two after the first draft.
18. Who's your favorite character
from one of your books? Why?
a. Grayson Kinkaide from Second
Chances is my favorite H. He was my first and he’s simply unforgettable.
19. If you could have one superpower
what would it be.?
a. Ooooo, I would like to be Storm
from X-Men. I could control the weather. I would like that.
People I disliked would find themselves in perpetual thunder, lightning
and just plan crappy weather all the darn time. While people that I cared about
would enjoy all the warmth and sunshine they wanted.
HERE IS INFORMATION ON HER FANTASTIC BOOK
Rydin’ the Storm Out
Storms roll into our lives when we
least expect them. It’s our passion and desire that help us hang on and keep
Rydin’ the Storm Out.
*
Working at Rolling Thunder
Motorcycles has been enough for Ryder, until now. He's always been the shy,
quiet one. He watched his father find love and didn't think it was possible for
him. Until he met Molly. Something stirred inside of him, but would he take the
leap out of his shell to ask her out?
Molly has always been head strong and
devoted to her work. Building up her photography business has always been top
priority. Vowing to not make the same mistakes as her mother, she put love on
the back burner. That is until she is hired to shoot a wedding and the groom’s
son catches her off guard.
Is Molly ready to take that leap and
realize not all men are the same? Will Ryder and Molly be able to move past
their own insecurities and calm the storm that rages inside them? Or will they
be Rydin’ the Storm Out alone?
DETAILS ABOUT THE BOOK AND WHERE TO FIND THE BOOK
Title: Rydin’ the Storm Out
Publication Date: January 9, 2015
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Pages: 226
Publisher: Rolling Thunder Publishing
Format: eBook and Paperback
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24146271-rydin-the-storm-out 
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