Today, Beth D Carter is visiting the blog to tell us about her latest release, Come with Me, the first part in her new series.
How long have you been writing? Can you tell us a bit about your journey to publication?
I’ve been writing my whole life, I think. I started reading my mother’s Harlequin Presents when I was about 10 or 11, and wrote my first romance at 14…long hand in a spiral notebook. Never thought I’d actually be a published author. When ebook publishing exploded, I was able to hope and dream. I sent my first book, Black Leather Pants, to four publishers and one accepted. That was 2009 and eleven years later I have almost eighty published works.
Wow, that’s impressive! What do you enjoy about writing romance?
I love that there’s always a happy ever after. That you can come home from a hard, stressful day and relax with a good story that takes your mind off the buttholes you had to face.
Can you tell us – or hint at – what you’re working on at the moment?
I am working on book 3 in the Those Who Survived series. It’s titled My Tether, and centers on an ex-convict and an Amish woman. They have a very interesting dynamic together. After that I’m going to work on a Christmas story, which will wrap up my 2020 writing year. I’ll start plotting out my stories for next year.
Do you have writing habits – such as always getting up early to write, or writing in the evening? Or do you write when the mood takes you? Are you a plotter or a “pantser”?
I’m a total pantser, although I do have a direction in which my story will go. I let the character guide me. I don’t have any writing habits. Back before Covid 19 I used to like going to Starbucks, but I probably won’t do that for a while.
Do your characters ever surprise you, or do you “know” them as soon as they pop into your imagination?
Some take me by surprise. Some I know their whole character arc right off the bat. Sometimes I thought I knew my characters only to have them take a complete one eighty and shock the hell out of me.
Where do you write? Have you got a little nook at home, or do you write wherever you happen to be on a laptop or on your phone?
I am most comfortable writing on my couch, sitting next to my husband. I like having some type of mindless tv show on, like HGTV. Because I work four days of the week, I’m able to focus on what needs to get done in a short amount of time. So I can sit down, open my laptop and write a scene or two before needing to get ready for the next day.
Tell us about your latest release
Come With Me (Those Who Survived) is about a virus that attacks positive blood, in effect killing 85% of the world’s population. Lainey is one of those who survived and she meets Nolan, whom she doesn’t really trust. When I wrote this, it was before Covid 19, and I wonder if people are too fed up with a pandemic to want to read this story. I hope not. I really like Lainey and Nolan.
About the author
I began reading my mom’s Harlequin Presents in the fifth grade, and from the first story I knew I wanted to write romance novels. I like writing about the very ordinary girl thrust into extraordinary circumstances, so my heroines will probably never be lawyers, doctors or corporate highrollers. I try to write characters who aren’t cookie cutters and push myself to write complicated situations that I have no idea how to resolve, forcing me to think outside the box. I love writing characters who are real, complex and full of flaws, heroes and heroines who find redemption through love.
Find out more about Beth at her website, and follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Bookbub and Amazon.
Find Beth’s books at: Amazon, Evernight, Smashwords, Kobo, Nook and Apple.
Those Who Survived Part One
Lainey is one of the few that survived the virus that ravaged the human population. In order to remain safe, she stays away from people, preferring to live on her own. Not trusting anyone. Until one night she’s attacked and rescued by a stranger who insists that there’s still good in the world.
Nolan has a fantastical story of a new civilization in Canada, and urges her to go with him. Lainey doesn’t know if she believes him or not, but the unknown is enough to scare her away. Yet day after day he slowly breaks down her walls, opening her up to the possibility that she might be strong enough to take a chance not only on him, but herself as well.
Excerpt
“You’ve amassed quite a bit of provisions.”
“I scavenged the homes of people who left. I never went into the ones where the dead were.”
“Because the houses had become tombs?”
She sat down on the couch. “For a while, when the wind would blow a certain way, I would catch a whiff of the dead. It made me want to throw-up. I think the remaining people made an exodus out of here because of the smell.”
He sat down next to her. “Why didn’t you go with them?”
“Didn’t really have anywhere to go,” she replied with a shrug. “I’ve thought about leaving for a long time but always wondered where would I go? What would I face out there? Without a solid plan, it just seemed too risky.”
“And you don’t take risks,” he concluded.
“No, I don’t.”
“I was a risk.” He tapped his chest. “Bringing a stranger into your sanctuary was a huge risk.”
“You had a dozen times you could’ve hurt me,” she said, taking a deep breath. “Something tells me I can trust you and my instincts are rarely wrong. You can help me put the fence up so I’ll be protected, and then you can continue on your journey.”
“There’s another option you know.”
She cocked her head. “What’s that?”
“You can come with me.”
This was the second time he’d mentioned that, and like the last time, she shook her head. “I’m not cut out for that type of unknown. Besides, I don’t know you.”
“You know me more than you think you do. Come on, name three things you know about me.”
“I don’t-”
“I bet you could quote just about every English lit novel ever written,” he said, interrupting her. “You don’t trust that easily, but when you do, your devotion is complete.” He folded his arms across his chest. “And your least favorite color is red because it reminds you of blood.”
She blinked, completely taken aback. “How could you possibly know all that?”
He shrugged. “Observation. Come on, say three things about me now.”
“You…used to be in the navy. And you’re from Arizona.”
He nodded. “And?”
“I, uh, don’t know your least favorite color. Or your favorite.”
“I like green and hate purple,” he said. “But you got two out of three. That’s a start.”
She admired his confidence but didn’t hold out much hope he’d be around long enough for her to learn anything else about him. All the while, ignoring a little voice that had been gaining volume in her head, pushing her to do that very thing. To run. Escape. Yet fear held her back.
“You’re wrong, you know,” he murmured. “The person who would bike ride all the way from Malibu to Sherman Oaks is completely up for an unknown adventure.”
