About the Author:
Rachelle Ayala is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance and romantic
suspense. Her foremost goal is to take readers on a shared emotional journey
with her characters as they grow and become more true to themselves. Rachelle
believes in the power of love to overcome obstacles and feels that everyone
should find love as often as possible, especially if it's within the pages of a
book.
Her book, Knowing Vera, won the 2015 Angie Ovation Award, and A Father for Christmas garnered a 2015
Readers’ Favorite Gold Award. In 2016, Christmas
Stray won the Readers’ Favorite Gold Award, A Pet for Christmas got an Honorable Mention, and Playing for the Save earned a 2017
Readers’ Favorite Gold Award.
She is also a writing teacher and founder of
the Romance In A Month writing community. She recently released many of her
books in audiobook. See http://bit.ly/RachAyalaAud for
more details.
Message:
Hello everyone. I am a writer who loves to
combine romance with suspense and humor. My foremost goal is to take you, the
reader, on a shared emotional journey with me as my characters grow and become
more true to themselves. I believe stories are the means for us to connect and
experience life in new ways. As a writer, I’m privileged to share my private
dreams and visions with readers. I’m a romantic. I believe in the power of love
to overcome obstacles and feel that everyone should find love as often as
possible, even if it's within the pages of a book. Happy reading and loving!
Download a FREE surprise ebook by
subscribing to her newsletter: http://smarturl.it/RachAyala and
find her books at online retailers Amazon, Barnes
and Noble, Kobo, Apple iBookstore, Google Play, and Smashwords. Borrow her books at Scribd.
Website * Reader’s Guide * Facebook * Newsletter * Facebook Readers Club * Twitter * Amazon *
Google Plus * Blog * BookBub
Interview with the Author:
Welcome Back. It has been quite a while since
you were last here. What have you been up to?
Hi Debdatta, thank you so much for having me here again.
I’ve been up to so much since we last chatted, it’s unbelievable. But I’m
having a great time. Working on my 45th novel, Dog Days of Love.
I’ve won three Readers’ Favorite Gold Awards in three years, got on the USA
Today Bestseller’s List last October—so it’s been crazy busy and lots of fun. I
missed seeing you in London last year, but I’m glad we get to keep in touch
online.
How long on average does it take you to write a
book?
Averages is only a number, and I’ll calculate it for you in
a minute. The spread or range is more interesting. The shortest time was 48
hours when I wrote Christmas Stray
over one weekend. It is the 2016 Readers Favorite Gold Winner in Christian
Romance and caught the interest of a traditional publisher, although in the
end, I didn’t choose to rewrite and triple its size. [Link: http://www.rachelleayala.com/2015/01/how-i-wrote-20000-word-novella-in-48.html]
My longest is my first book, Michal’s Window, which took me 14 months. Of course, everyone’s
first novel is a learning experience, but I remember the thrill I got with
living a double life—imagining and experiencing a fictional world set in
ancient Israel while living in 21st century America.
Okay, here’s the average, as computed mathematically. I have
44 romances and 4 non-fiction books = 48 books, and I started writing December
2010, or 82 months ago. The answer is 1.71 months (or 51 days) per book.
What is your current project?
Book #7 in my Have a
Hart Romance Series about a family of San Francisco firefighters and their
partners. It’s a sweet romance series that started around holidays, but can
also be seasonal. This one is Dog Days of
Love, where a female doctor looking for Mr. Perfect finds herself falling
for her happy-go-lucky dogwalker. It’s a light-hearted and happy end of summer
romance where love is found when its least expected. [cover attached].
The first book of the series, Christmas Lovebirds, [link http://books2read.com/ChristmasLovebirds] is free everywhere.
What is the most difficult part of your artistic
process?
Ah, I’d like to say the toils and struggles, the sleepless
nights and the angst, and the endless rewriting and editing, but that would be
a lie. I actually enjoy the artistic process, because it is a process of
discovering the core story. I get to know each of my characters, their
backgrounds, settings, and social and psychological issues, and then I let them
run amok and act out their story. I love not knowing the ending, because
writing is discovery and that’s what makes it interesting.
I also love socializing with readers and writers, but I
don’t like marketing—which I define as running ads, throwing money at
promotions, and blasting social media. I’d rather interact on a personal level,
not to sell books, but to exchange ideas and share experiences.
Do you hide any secrets in your books that only
a few people will find?
Ha, ha, I don’t know if I hide anything, but I don’t run a
tight ship and remove every dangling conversation, clue, or story weed [hmmm, that’s
a new concept]. You know, the gun that was introduced and never used, or the
quirky neighbor who walks on and says a few outrageous things and is never
heard again. That’s because those quirks or danglers can be mined for future
stories. You never know when a tiny detail in one story explodes into a whole
new story. My philosophy is never waste a villain, never waste a funny
situation, never waste a hidden gem. Maybe that’s why my house is so cluttered.
Whenever I throw something away, I find a need or use for it a few months
later.
Have you found secrets in my books?
Who do you personally favour more and why? Rob
Reed or Jay Pak Ahn?
Ha, ha, what a trick question. Of course, Jay Pak Ahn is the
epitome of hotness, excitement, and fastballs. He’s also kind and dedicated to
his work and loyal, but since you asked me personally, as in would I be able to
handle the travel, road trips, ups and downs of a professional athletic career?
In my fantasy life, definitely. But personally? I like to stay home and write.
Walk around the same lake with the same friend and have all the comforts of an
emergency room doctor living under the same roof. Prescriptions get written.
Wounds get taken care of. I don’t have to wait in line at the ER for minor
injuries. Rob Reed is quiet, but has a sense of humor, loyal, and very sweet.
So personally, he’s a better fit for me. Did that answer disappoint you?
Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Both. I’m energized when I’m being creative and deep in the
minds and scenes of my characters and stories. I can’t imagine anything better.
But I can’t sustain it for long, because my brain travels ultra fast and my
emotions get too intense, so I have to back out of it and unwind. This is
especially true if the story includes psychopaths, abuse, or issues that harm
my characters. That’s why I alternate stories between dark and angsty and
light-hearted and humorous.
What are common traps for aspiring writers?
Worrying about what everyone else thinks. You worry about
“rules” and you listen to everyone’s opinions and advice. But you need to find
what works for you. That does take trying different things, trial and error, to
eventually figure out your own process. There are gurus everywhere and they can
only share what works for them. Try and see, then discard and modify. I
eventually settled on the method I talk about in Romance In A Month and my Love
Stories writing books.
So best advice: Try different things until you find your own
process, then hone it and share it.
Have you ever been on a literary pilgrimage? Do
you plan to?
I’ve always fantasized about planning an Agatha Christie
trip, but for me, these things are always in the future, which means I haven’t
gotten around to it yet. Just yesterday, I realized that the present was the
future to all my past, and I still haven’t done anything about it.
Do
you Google yourself?
I Google my pen name to see how many
pirated books are out there, but I don’t do anything about it. I have not
Googled my real name for a long time because I would cringe to see what the
other ones with my same name are up to. Not that there are many of us. I can
see why it would be lucky to have a very common name. Sure, you’ll have people
who’d been in jail with your name, but you’re also more anonymous than those with
an uncommon name.
Thanks so much for having me on your
fabulous book blog. You’ve really built a wonderful meeting place for those of
us who love books.
Read about my newest release at https://www.rachelleayala.net/what-s-new
Please find out more at my website: http://rachelleayala.net
You can get two free books if you join my
newsletter. http://rachelleayala.net/newsletter
I write both sweet and steamy and in
between, so check out my booklist for more details. http://rachelleayala.net/books
Rachelle’s Newest Release: Summer Love
Puppy
Could you ever forgive someone who stole
your dog?
http://www.rachelleayala.com/2017/10/newrelease-can-love-rebuild-ruined-past.html
Read the first Chapter at my blog: http://www.rachelleayala.com/2017/10/newrelease-can-love-rebuild-ruined-past.html
Thank you so much for the interview! It's an honor to be on your book blog and meet your followers. Best, Rachelle
ReplyDeleteI love reading about the writer's process. The bit about story weeds is charming, and i neber thought about it like that before.
ReplyDelete*never
DeleteThanks, loved the insight. Danglers...story weeds...interesting ...
ReplyDelete