Guest Blogger: Kristi Gold

In 2002 I stumbled across a Desire authors' chat and one of the participating authors was Kristi Gold. I was new to reading romance and had never read any of her books. But the one she was promoting sounded interesting and I bought it. Then I went searching for her backlist. I loved her voice, her style and the way her books are liberally sprinkled with humor and passion. Her Alpha heroes, especially the sheikhs, are to die for. A few dozen fan letters later, we decided we'd one day collaborate on a romance based on our common Alabama background. I still have a photo she sent me with the following printed on it: Dearest Marilyn, I would be honored to star in the film version of your blockbuster novel Twisted Redneck Love. Please keep me in mind. Love, Mel

That's Gibson. However I'm thinking Matthew McConaughey might be more to my liking these days. But thus was born a friendship and every year at RWA we gather in the "Executive Conference Room" as she likes to call it and catch up, have fun and oh yeah... talk a little about writing. Please welcome Kristi Gold to the Writing Playground blog.


I’m so happy to be back on the Playground and a belated Happy New Year to all! I must confess that I wasn’t exactly sad to see the end of 2006, although I learned quite a bit the past year. I learned I can eat fast food three nights in a row and not feel too guilty. I learned that laundry can pile up and the world doesn’t come to a stop until I’m almost out of underwear. I learned I have fingers that will ache if I over do it at the keyboard. Most important, I learned that life happens and that chaos is inevitable at times.

That chaos began mid-summer when my husband and I decided to put our house on the market in order to downsize right before we moved our last kid to college out-of-state. I resigned myself to the fact that once prime real estate selling season was up, i.e. August, we wouldn’t have an offer until next spring. Wrong. We sold the house in October, made a mad dash to find a replacement, then moved the first of November—right in the midst of finishing one deadline with another looming. Of course, it was my bright idea to renovate our new abode while trying to write during the process. I’m proud to report I did get the book finished and turned it in two weeks before Christmas. I also somehow managed to locate the tree two days before the holiday among the boxes that I’ve only recently unpacked and apparently multiplied when left alone to their own devices. I’ve now decided that the old adage “that which does not kill us makes us stronger” is patently true, otherwise I might be on life support.:)

As far as my career is concerned, I’ve recently made a move from Silhouette Desire into Special Edition. Admittedly that was scary, leaving a line that has been my mainstay for some seven years. But as life is a series of changes and challenges, so are decisions writers sometimes have to make for the sake of their craft and the need to grow and explore other venues. Through Jenna’s Eyes (written to the sounds of hammers and drills) will be out in June and features another sibling from the O’Brien family I introduced in my November and December Desires.


Speaking of growth, I also have a February release that will launch the new Everlasting Love program, Fall From Grace. This was actually a story I began ten years ago but set aside when I turned from writing more mainstream romance to series books. Fortunately it survived several computer crashes and a lack of direction to find a home with Everlasting, which just goes to show timing can really be everything—and it’s not such a bad thing to be a hard drive packrat.

Now I have a favor to ask all of you. My extremely talented web designer, Roxann Delaney, has developed a Fall From Grace book trailer that opens immediately when you go to my website. If you have a moment, take a look and be sure you have the volume turned on. Not only am I proud of the finished product, I’m very curious to know if this trailer serves as an enticement to learn more about the book. Your comments are more than welcome and greatly encouraged.:)

Again, I’m so glad I’ve been given the opportunity to come out and play!

Kristi

A postscript from Kristi:

Acck!! I've blown out my bandwith? I knew I should've laid off the holiday chocolate! And did I mention I've crashed several computers?:)

Okay, another burning question. How much does a cover influence your purchase of a book? I ask because I had an, uh, unusual cover back in May. Just wondering if that comes into play for some of you, even if the author is normally an auto buy.

Hopefully our problems with the website will be resolved by day's end. If not, my sincerest apologies.:)

Kristi


P.S. One person who visits Kristi's website and comments on the trailer will win a copy of Fall From Grace, which is not yet available in stores. Lucky you! I've read the book twice already and loved it! Or comment on her question about covers and qualify too.