Meet the Author: Rose Gordon

First, let me say a huge thank you to Donna for having me on! Thanks so much.

I'd originally written out my story. No, not my love story or even my whole life story, but the story of how a third grade girl who couldn't even read her own name became a USA Today Bestselling Author fifteen years later. But that's not really what people want to know—they want to know personal things. So I asked on my blog and on Facebook for some random, everyday questions for me to answer. So here goes:

1. Where do you live? In a house. Next! Actually, I live in a very small town in Oklahoma that has only two stoplights—one of which was put in only three years ago. This particular “town” is actually no longer really a town as just a few months ago, the address I live at changed “cities”. I still have rural water and trash, and if I call 911 nobody knows who is to come because if I call from the front of my house, the call goes to one county and if I'm in the back of my house, the call is routed to a different county. Smalltown, USA right there.
2. If you weren't writing books, what would you do? Crunching numbers. My degree is actually in business administration with an emphasis on accounting. Accountants are the same as writers, they just express themselves with a calculator instead of keyboard.

3. Two truths and a lie: 1. I was a teen mother. 2. I married my high school sweetheart. 3. My husband is two inches shy of being a foot and a half taller than me.
4. Excluding your books, what was your biggest accomplishment of 2012? That I rode 150 miles on the back of a tandem bicycle with my husband without ever once uttering the word divorce! In September we rode our tandem bicycle from Tulsa, Oklahoma to the capitol building in Oklahoma City for roughly 150 miles spread out over two days as a fundraiser for MS. We'd had very little training and the longest we'd ever ridden before this was twenty-six miles at once, so more than seventy miles in a day was quite a challenge! But we survived.
5. Do you pull any of your book ideas from your family? Absolutely. There are so many things in my books that are just twists on things that I've been through or that I've encountered in one way or another. As they say, write what you know. That's exactly what I do.
6. What are the hardest scenes to write? Love scenes. Believe it or not, these are some of the toughest scenes to write because you have to portray emotions though facial expressions, reactions and a very few murmured words (the less, the better during these scenes) all while describing two people sharing the most intimate bond there is. Not to mention, I always get a little red in the face and keep glancing over my shoulder to make sure nobody has walked up on me while I'm doing these. It's even worse when I go back to re-read them for edits. At least with writing them, I can get up, walk around and fan myself off. When reading it straight through, I have to sit there and read it all right then!
7. What are your hidden talents and hobbies? I have a few hobbies: attempting to scrapbook, burning dinner, pretending I play the accordion, being chased by my five and seven year old through the backyard or chasing after our pom-a-poo (half-Pomeranian, half-Toy poodle) named Sir Rhett at 3am in the backyard wearing not much more than a T-shirt and knickers. Talents? Yikes, I don't know if I have many of those, either...well, except I can without fail make my kids laugh, which, let's face it, at this age is vitally important as it keeps them happy and I know in a few years, I won't be nearly as much fun for them to be around.
8. Any advice for aspiring writer? Keep at it and be true to your characters. It's easy to feel pressured to bend your story into what you think will make others happy, but resist the urge! I'll far better remember a unique story than I will one that I feel like I've read before. And when you feel like you're not making progress, don't panic. Some stories come slow, and that's okay. Your story is as unique as you, keep it that way.
9. What do you have planned for 2013? More books! I have one that will come out the end of January, titled His Jilted Bride, then another that will come out in April and is the last in the Banks Brothers' Brides series, titled His Brother's Bride. Then onto the American West for me. Hopefully, I'll have four new books come out this year!

Thank you again, Donna, for having me and for all of your readers for reading it. I've enjoyed answering your questions.

About the Author:

USA Today Bestselling Author Rose Gordon has written ten unusually unusual historical romances that have been known to include scarred heroes, feisty heroines, marriage-producing scandals, far too much scheming, naughty literature and always a sweet happily-ever-after. When not escaping to another world via reading or writing a book, she spends her time chasing two young boys around the house, being hunted by wild animals, or sitting on the swing in the backyard where she has to use her arms as shields to deflect projectiles AKA: balls, water balloons, sticks, pinecones, and anything else one of her boys picks up to hurl at his brother who just happens to be hiding behind her.

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