A Warm Welcome to Christine Young writing as Ann Christine

First a little background on Christine:

Born in Medford, Oregon, novelist Christine Young has lived in Oregon all of her life. After graduating from Oregon State University with a BS in science, she spent another year at Southern Oregon State University working on her teaching certificate, and a few years later received her Master's degree in secondary education and counseling.

 Now the long, hot days of summer provide the perfect setting for creating romance. She sold her first book, Dakota's Bride, the summer of 1998 and her second book, My Angel, to Kensington.

 Her teaching and writing careers have intertwined with raising three children.

  Christine's newest venture is the creation of Rogue Phoenix Press (click link). Christine is the founder, editor and co-owner with her husband. They live in Salem, Oregon.

Here's the blurb for Safari Moon

Solo St. John, a wildlife photographer, is preparing for a trip to Alaska.  Suddenly, Solo finds women of all sorts invading his privacy, his home and his office, all cooing nonsense words and blatantly throwing themselves at him.  Solo doesn't know why, and he has no idea how to rid himself of the persistent women.  He finally decides to beg a favor of his best buddy Nyssa Harrington. 

In love with Solo for the past ten years and knowing he doesn't return her feelings Nyssa doesn't want to talk to Solo.  She knows if she accepts his phone call, she will not be able to resist the temptation to hope again.  

Now Christine Reveals...

1.      In a couple of sentences, describe the hero’s character. 

Steven Oliver Lawerence O'Neil St. John, AKA Solo, is an extremely likeable character. Handsome, charismatic, intelligent and playful, he has all this going for him, yet he acts like a normal guy. He doesn't know he this great a catch.

2.      What do you like best/least about him?

The best of solo is his fun nature. The worst is his inability to see what is staring him in the face. He has tunnel vision when it comes to his relationship with Nyssa.

3.      And the heroine?

Vanytha otherwise known as Nyssa is generous to a fault. She is intelligent and hard working. Her career began as an investment broker on Wall Street but she soon grew tired of the constant stress and decided there were better things in life than making money. Her worst fault is that she cannot say no to Solo when he asks her on adventures.

4.      How do you relate to her?

Other than hardworking we don't have a lot of similar traits. Of course I love the fact that despite all the things Nyssa goes through, she never really gives up on Solo.

5.      Who controls the story – you or your characters?

Oh my, I always start out in control. When in the story I loose control of the characters varies with each book. It rarely takes the characters very long to take over their story. After all it is their story to tell. And when the characters begin talking to me, watch out. Once they are speaking they don't stop.

6.      What do you think are the main ingredients for a successful book?

In a romance the characters have to be likeable. And I ask, if you are reading a romance and either the hero and heroine are terrible people, will you keep reading? I won't. Characters are so important to a romance and to other books as well. If a reader hates a main character they will most likely stop reading or finish the book unsatisfied. I doubt he or she would recommend the read to another person. After that component of a good romance there are other essentials. The plot must progress in a logical manner and quick pace. POV or point of view must be maintained; one person's pov per scene please. I truly get annoyed with head-hopping. Other elements would be turning points as well as the black moment. But this only touches on a few factors.

7.      What do you most enjoy about writing romance?

Weaving the characters together so the puzzle is complete by the end of the story. In Safari Moon Solo and Nyssa pretty much knew each other's weaknesses. They had been friends for ten years. They called on each other whenever they were in need. Unknowingly they were slowly progressing to a relationship other than best friends.

     8.      What do you like best and least about writing?

Solving the puzzle is my favourite part of writing. The dialogue is fun to write and I really like to write descriptions when I have visited the setting of that particular story. Deadlines are difficult to deal with. Most of the time the deadline is my own. But I find it difficult to stay in the character's head if I keep thinking about the date I have to have this finished.

9.      Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? What would be your tips to overcome it?

I don't get writers block very often. In fact I can only recall one time and it was recent. I had a plan for the hero and heroine. Unfortunately they didn't like this plan of mine. When I finally let them talk to me, I discovered this pair were not the hero and heroine. They actually loved different people. Once I heard their voices, the rest of the story was easy to write.

10.  Do you have a writing routine?

Oh my, a routine would be nice. My life daily takes so many twists and turns that I can rarely schedule any time for writing. But when I can, I write in the morning and edit in the afternoon or evening. Speaking of routines gone awry, my two-year-old granddaughter just arrived.

11.  Anything special you require to keep the creative juices flowing?

Reading other books really helps inspire me to write more. I love to write and so it doesn't take much. Also travel brings new ideas. Just a location can create a new world. I visited Atlantic City last fall and have a book waiting in my head. I just don't know when I will get to it. I have books on Hawaiian legends. Each legend is another story. Geez, and my haunted castles call to me every day.

12.  What can we look forward to from you in the near future?

I have a new release coming out in June. It is a futuristic. I loved writing this because there were no barriers. I created the world and enjoyed every minute. Rebel Heart is the first in a three book series.

13.  How do you like to spend your free time?

What spare time? Well, I like to spend quality time with my family. I love to travel. Right now I only have some short trips planned, one to Eagle Crest just outside Bend, Oregon, coincidentally the city where Safari Moon begins. Other spare time is spent on: reading, knitting, needlepoint, jazzercise, running and walking.

14.  What would you most like to accomplish this year?

A huge accomplishment for me would be to finish the edits on my third regency romance title A Marriage of Inconvenience. If I could do that, I would be a very happy  camper.

15.  What is your culinary speciality?

This was a hard one because I love to cook. But my family loves my homemade cinnamon rolls. Now that the kids have all moved away, I only make them for Christmas morning breakfast. They would all be so upset if they didn't seem them on the counter.

16.  Any exciting plans for the near future?

We are looking forward to a trip to Athens, then Santorini, Crete, and last Albania. Hoping to see and take photographs of lots of castles.
Finally a Taste of Safari Moon

Wanted: A professional wildlife photographer to take pictures in the Alaskan wilderness. Experience first hand a real safari moon. Call(555)381-1252 or send resumes to 2286 Main, Suite 2D Bend, Oregon.

Solo St. John was in the middle of an erotic dream about his buddy, Nyssa Harrington, when the click of his front door shutting brought him to instant alert mode. 

Solo looked up, caught a flashing glimpse of a good deal of naked flesh; long legs, perfectly rounded derriere, and a waist he could span with his hands. The intruder's long blond hair curled around her shoulders an inch above the ties of her bikini top.

 

Then he saw the skunk. He blinked twice.

 

This woman and the skunk were not the subject of his brief and very strange dream, a fantasy that made his mind speed along at sixty in a residential zone. This was someone he had never seen before and he resented the intrusion.

 

"Hello," she cooed seductively from his living room. "Will you come out and play?"

 

The skunk stuck a black and white head around the open door to his bedroom. A second later the animal turned and lifted his tail before disappearing into the living room.

Solo was out of bed and pulling on his jeans before the count of five. Yet in that short time, the lady in question, along with the skunk that was now exploring his fireplace hearth, had taken over his living room.

 

The lithe, supple blond sported an expensive camera, and all the while the lady in question babbled nonsense words.

"I'm willing, able, and eager." She posed for him, a pose meant to entice.

Follow all the blog tour

 

  Read more about Christine at these links:   Christine's website

 Rogues Angels blog    Facebook     Twitter    and  BUY Safari Moon

Now leave a comment for the chance to win one of these great prizes:

* A Safari Moon bookmark to one randomly drawn commenter at every stop.
* ebook copy of The Gift (partof A Valentine Anthology) and StarCrossed (part of St. Patricks Day anthology) to one randomly drawncommenter during the tour.
* One commenter during the tour will win the right to have a character namedfor them in her next release--either GhostDance (a western historical romance) or Rebel Heart (science-fiction romance)
* Two randomly drawn commenters during the tour will each win a $25.00 GC toStarbucks
* The host with the most comments (excluding the author's and the host's) willwin a $15 GC to Starbucks

Thank you so much for dropping by, Christine. It has been a pleasure to meet you!