Author Angela Hayes: Author Interview- Brenda Whiteside

It's Friday folks. Another work week is under our belts and we're ready to get our weekend on!

To help celebrate I've got author Brenda Whiteside with her new book,

The Art of Love and Murder.

Happy Friday Brenda and thanks for being with us.

Thanks so much for having me on your blog today, Angela. I’m excited to have your readers learn about my latest release, The Art of Love and Murder, the first book in my Love and Murder series. I hope everyone enters the Rafflecopter drawing for a tote bag of items that relate to the book. The more you enter, the more chances you have to win. This link will direct you to all the blogs on my tour: http://brendawhiteside.blogspot.com/p/contests-and-give-ways.html

Readers, be sure to read through the interview. You'll find the rafflecopter code at the end of this post.

Brenda, can you tell me three words that describe yourself starting with A, B, and C?

Tough question! I got out my dictionary when my mind froze up. I came across ancient and ageless, and depending on the day, they both apply. But seriously, I’ll go with active. My husband says I don’t know how to relax. For B, I’ll go with blurry-eyed. Not sure that’s a real word but my mom uses it. It describes my state this time of year. I live on a small farm and between chores and my writing, I get very little sleep. C=control freak. But please give me a break here because I’m working on this. What I’ve always considered being helpful, well, not everyone sees it this way.

What are your three favorite things?

I’ll answer this as in addition to writing. I love family time, especially if it involves my nineteen-month-old granddaughter. She’s an absolute delight. Road trips are a favorite thing. Getting in the car and taking off for anywhere is relaxing and fun. Reading would be a third thing but it has to be in a great setting like on the beach or curled under a blanket in a mountain cabin.

As the holidays approach, what traditions do you have?

We started a tradition when we moved to the prairie and began farming. We have three generations living on the same land, me and my husband, my son and his wife, and our granddaughter. We celebrate Winter Solstice. After researching it, we’ve combined a few of the traditional customs. We have a meal made with as much of our farm food as possible. Presents to each other are opened. Once the sun is down we have a campfire and each of us speaks of the past year and the year ahead. We had to add smores although I doubt any traditional Solstice celebrations incorporated the gooey treat.

Will there be more books in your series, or can you tell us about any previous books?

I have four more books planned for this series. The Art of Love and Murder is book one. Lacy and Chance are the stars. Book two, Southwest of Love and Murder, is at the publishers and going through the process. This book is about Lacy’s best friend, Phoebe, and Chance’s twin brother, Mason. Phoebe and Mason run into murder and mystery while finding love on a ranch in Chino Valley, Arizona. In book three, A Legacy of Love and Murder which I am currently writing, Lacy and her daughter, August, go to Austria to find more about Lacy’s father. But it’s really the story of August and the Austrian Inspector Tobias Wolf. Nazis, murder and love all tangle together. In book four we’ll go back to Flagstaff, Arizona for Penny’s story. We met Penny in book one as the hotel clerk where Lacy stayed. Book five will be set in Chino Valley again and will involve murder and love for Mason’s and Chance’s father.

Favorite item of clothing in your closet?

Anything denim. I have jeans, of course, but also denim skirts, jackets and a coat.

Blurb:

Lacy Dahl never questioned her past until the deaths of her adoptive parents and her husband. A husband who wasn't what he seemed. Her research uncovers secrets about the mother she never knew; secrets that dispute the identity of her father and threaten her life.

Sheriff Chance Meadowlark is still haunted by the murder of his wife and the revenge he unleashed in the name of justice. When he meets Lacy he is determined not to become involved, but their pasts may make that impossible. As they move closer to the truth, saving Lacy may be his only salvation.

Lacy begins to think the present is more important than her past...until Chance's connection to her mother and a murder spin her deeper into danger and further from love. Will the truth destroy Lacy and Chance or will it be the answer that frees them?

Excerpt:

Momentarily struck dumb by his eye color, she stared back. Why hadn’t she noticed until now? Although not as light as hers or her father’s, the professor’s eyes were a startling green shade.

His hand nudged her arm. “Lacy?”

She jumped. “Oh, yes.” She slipped the tissue from the half-carved wolf. Another glance at his eyes and goose bumps riddled her arms.

He lifted the wood close to his face, using both hands as if handling a delicate hummingbird. His thumb traced the neck of the creature to the juncture of where it emerged from the wood. When he brought the piece to his nose, closing his eyes and breathing deeply, Lacy wanted to turn away from the oddly erotic gesture.

He swallowed, opened his eyes and set the wolf back on the tissue. His attention shifted to the photograph of the chest. He touched the photo, a smile on his lips. “Where is the chest?”

The chest. Like he knew it, had seen it before. “I’m having it sent. You’ve seen it before?”

He didn’t move, stared out the window as if deep in thought. “I’d like to show you something, Lacy.”

“All right.” She waited, watching his profile.

He turned and stared into her face a moment. “You’re so very lovely. A creation full of life and passion, surpassing any art form.”

His hypnotic voice floated on the classical strains drifting from the living room. She couldn’t speak. Didn’t know what to say. She’d been lifted upon a pedestal of admiration. With any other man, she might consider his words a means to a sexual end. The professor’s intentions, however, were crystal. He admired her like a work of art.

Buy Links:

TWRP

http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=726&zenid=d06039eba05c5b010fb8a707eecd4259

Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Love-Murder-Brenda-Whiteside-ebook/dp/B00K0N0Y6M/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1399254400&sr=1-1&keywords=the+art+of+love+and+murder

ARe

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-theartofloveandmurder-1496046-149.html

KOBO

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-art-of-love-and-murder

MEDIA:

Visit Brenda at www.brendawhiteside.com.

Or on FaceBook: www.facebook.com/BrendaWhitesideAuthor