About the Book:
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Greg Rodwell will shatter your heart and wreck your soul.
Or so she thinks.
Although we didn’t go there, that innocent night we had together wasn’t so virtuous on my part. The truth would not only blow her mind but rock our world. Beyond twisted, I have wrongs to right, a woman to win, and vows to break. My heart be damned.
Interview with Ren Alexander
How did you come up with the idea for your current story?
My current WIP belongs in the realm of K. Bromberg’s Everyday Heroes Series. I’m writing REBEL ROOK, which tells the story about The Malone brothers’ cousin, Dylan “Rook” McGrath, embarking on a career as a police officer in Sunnyville, California. Abiding by his own rules, Dylan meets Natalia “Tali” Welch, a waitress with a dark past involving police officers, who buries her dreams to work at two dead-end jobs to support herself. Striking up a friendship with Dylan, she soon falls for him but discovers he’s twenty-two to her thirty-one. Freaking out and ashamed she’s almost a decade older, she pushes him away, calling him a kid, which Dylan must prove he is man enough for her, regardless of his DOB.However, if we talk about UNSCREWED, that book comes from a totally different place. Greg “Rod” Rodwell is my pride and joy. He’s my favorite character out of all my books. He’s the office clown with a tarnished heart. He loves to tease, especially his best friend, Hadley Beckett, who Greg fell in love with at some point during their friendship. Unfortunately, it’s Greg’s fault that Hadley married the local “faux” celebrity douchebag (his words, not mine) sports anchor, who is also Hadley’s ex-boyfriend. With writing the Wild Sparks Series, Greg starts off as lighthearted and funny, but as the series progresses and events take place with Hadley, a darker side of him emerges as he grapples with his unrequited love for his BFF. He also reveals a tragic event that happened to him in high school that he still can’t escape. If you’ve read the Wild Sparks Series and love Greg Rodwell, this book will blow your mind. You think you know Rod, but you don’t. Not even close.
Tell us about your writing process.
I don’t really have a process per se, but I find that I write the best in my office, listening to the same song on repeat while sitting in the dark with my laptop. It may not work for everyone but it helps block out the world around me since I’m easily distracted. Wait. What was I talking about?What is your favorite scene in the book?
My favorite scene in UNSCREWED, there are a few, but my favorite is Greg and Simone at the ball field before their softball game. Really, Greg and Simone anywhere. Their banter is off-the-charts funny and hot rolled into one. She’s his match but he refuses to light that flame since she’s Hadley’s sister-in-law. She’s also in college, which he wants nothing to do with a college girl. Still, needing help with his newborn daughter, Simone offers to help him. Greg finds that he needs Simone in more ways than one.Did any of your characters inherit any of your quirks?
Yes. All of them have a part of me, but many are modeled after real people I know too.What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve received as a writer?
Write for you. Write the stories you want to read and don’t worry if people will like them. You’ll capture readers but no two people ever read the same book the same. That has resonated with me and helps not to take reviews so personally. Reviews are for the readers, not the authors.Who would be your dream cast as your characters if your books were made into a movie?
First of all, my books are LONG. They’d have to make seven or more movies for my five-book Wild Sparks Series. I tell as much of their stories as I can without making the book the size of an encyclopedia, though Beckoning the Wild Sparks is close. A series on TV or a streaming service would be a better fit, I think. They would have to cut out a ton for shorter and fewer movies. Every scene has an impact and not just fluff.To tell the truth, I wrote Chasing the Wild Sparks at the same time a cop serial, Golden Boy, debuted on CBS in 2013. Theo James played the role of Walter Clark, and the first time I saw him, I knew that was my Finn Wilder, especially with his hair, how it changed in the lighting on the show from brown to blondish. Casting the movie, I’d find it hard to cast anyone else, but obviously I would. However, Finn Wilder is his if he ever wants it.
Rod is based on a person I know and me. He’s unique to say the very least. For him, I like a few actors, Skylar Astin, Chris Wood, or Jordan James Smith. It would be really hard to cast Greg Rodwell. I’d be super picky of capturing his spirit and many facets.
For The Keys to Jericho, that was written with Alex Pettyfer in mind. Definitely. But whatever. I’m open. It’s really all about the hair.
Also from TK2J, Matt Barr would be perfect for Dash, as long as he could get the platinum blond, styled yet chaotic hair right. Again, it’s all about the hair. Always.
Morgan, I love Lauren London.
Anyone else, I’m mostly open to suggestions. LOL
How do you spend your free time?
Worrying that no one will read my books, get my characters and that I’m a fraud in the real-author world. You know, all the same things other authors think about in their downtime. I also sit and answer interview questions when I’m supposed to be writing. Again, as any other author.What’s next for you?
Currently, I’m writing REBEL ROOK for K. Bromberg’s Everyday Heroes World and will release March 25, 2021. I’m so excited to bring my Sparks world into hers. Dylan McGrath was introduced in Beckoning the Wild Sparks. Also, I’m writing the follow-up to UNSCREWED, which is UNHINGED. The book is also going as well as the title and has had to be rewritten twice. It’s getting there but there is no release date as of yet.Name five fun facts about yourself.
I wouldn’t say “fun” but:1. I’m right-handed but can only drive left-handed. If my right hand is on the wheel I could drive into a ditch at any time.
2. I’ve owned the same car for 14 years. I will keep it even after buying a new one.
3. I’m a huge Beastie Boys fan but rarely listen to their music when I write. Rebel Rook may be different, though.
4. Lizzie Borden is my eighth cousin. I only found that out about three years ago. In college, I wrote a twelve-page research paper about her parents’ murder and then her trial. I was always fascinated by her. Go figure.
5. I’m also a great-granddaughter of Catherine de Medici, Queen of France under King Henry II. So bow to me, peasant! Just beware of the axe. That first swing is a doozy.
About the Author:
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Ren Alexander was born in Wheeling, West Virginia. She graduated from West Liberty University, where she received a B.S. in criminal justice. Although interested in that field, her true passion was reading and writing. She currently lives in Detroit, Michigan with her husband, two daughters, and two cats.
Ren's novel, "The Keys to Jericho," was chosen as an "Official Selection" in the Romance category of Apple Literary's 2017 Annual Book Awards.
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