Q&A and Giveaway with Teresa Keefer

1.  Hi Teresa! We always like to start out with our author telling us a few things about themselves that are not in their bio.

When I was growing up I always wanted to live in the city…so when I had the opportunity to move to a city I did. I lived there for 7 years and hated almost everything about it. Now I live out in the country and other than the few times I got snowed in I can’t imagine living anywhere else.
I am absolutely fascinated with the paranormal and when I’m not reading fiction, I’m reading non-fiction books about spiritualism, ghosts, angels, the universe, psychic experiences, etc. I have visited mediums several times in the past and it always amazes me how dead on they have been about things that there was no way they could have guessed at.
My dream, which I’m hoping is well on the way to being true, is to make enough money with my writing to be able to write for a living and do the other things that I enjoy in my spare time for fun. I also want to give back in some manner so I have made a commitment to myself that as soon as I sell 30K books, I am going to set up a fund to give assistance in the way of grants to women who are struggling to be successful in life. We all make mistakes and sometimes the best thing is for someone to give you a hand up to be able to make a better life.

2. Tell us about BLOOD VENGEANCE.
Blood Vengeance started out as an idea for a short story and then evolved into a three book trilogy. Vampires are always seemingly the bad guys/girls and I wanted to make them into something a little bit different with the Vengeance trilogy…so I made the vampires into vigilantes who stalk and eliminate predators of other humans such as rapists and child molesters. The story starts with Vincent Adcock, the leader of the bunch, removing a sexual deviant predator from the streets of New Orleans. He and his group feed off of these people rather than feeding off of innocent people. Abigail Cooper is the leading female in this book and she is a psychic medium who is led to New Orleans and Vincent’s team of vigilantes when she goes in search of her sister who was seduced by the leader of a cult. There are some ventures into historical New Orleans as Vincent remembers his early life and as Abigail ‘sees’ some of the lingering spirits in the city and there are some twists and turns into modern society with prostitution, murder, drugs and underhanded politicians as they search for her sister. Without giving away the end, there is a final battle with bloodshed and more which will lead us into the second book-Vengeance Unleashed where you will learn more about Jude Brittain, one of Vincent’s team.

3. If  BLOOD VENGEANCE was to be made into a movie, who would you like to see cast as Abigail Cooper and Vincent Adcock?
Ian Somerholder would be my choice for Vincent with Dakota Fanning for Abigail.

4. For you, what are the hardest and easiest scenes to write in a book?
The easiest to write would be the action scenes as well as the location scenes. I don’t generally write about a place that I don’t have first-hand knowledge of or done my research on. As far as the action scenes such as the murder scenes in Blood Vengeance I just use my imagination and think what I would like to do to a predator myself. That’s kind of scary to admit about myself but it’s true. I think the hardest scenes to write for me are the ones that are just secondary to the plot because they are boring!

5. What is a typical writing day for you?
Up until February 28 I was employed full time so most of my writing was done at night and into the early morning hours if I got on a roll. So, I am hoping that in my ‘temporary early retirement’ my days will be similar to weekends and holidays when I’ve had the whole day off. That usually means getting up and working out, having breakfast while checking on email and social media, showering and either tossing on some fresh pajamas or sweats (unless I know I’m going to have to go out in public) and sitting down and deciding which WIP I want to work on. I generally work until the words stop coming easily or until the computer screen starts to blur from overuse…well, maybe it’s my eyes that blur…and then taking a break for a bit to read and review some of the books that have been sitting on my TBR shelf. And sometimes I put it all aside and do a craft project or bake something.

6. Would you like to have a gift, like your character Abigail?
Who says that I don’t?

7. You also have two contemporary romance book out, COMING HOME and YESTERDAY’S PROMISE. Would you tell us about them?
Both of them are contemporary romances that are pretty tame compared to Blood Vengeance. Both take place in small Midwestern towns. Coming Home is set in Eastern Tennessee in a fictional town near Gatlinburg when a young woman returns to her roots and runs into her first love who happens to be the local veterinarian. He thought she had dumped him for a rich boyfriend and she thought he had abandoned her when the truth is someone else had a hand in their separation. So there is some forgiving going on in this one. I have had several requests to write sequels to Coming Home using the secondary female characters so I hope to have A Home for Dixie ready to release later this year. Yesterday’s Promises brings together a couple who had broken up on prom night after someone else played a cruel, jealous joke. She married a football player who ended up being a sleaze bag who dies in an accident with another woman and he is a country music star who married an aspiring actress and model with a drug problem. They both return to their hometown at about the same time and he is hell bent on winning her back while she doesn’t quite have the same idea in mind.

8. We hear you like sewing and crafting. What are some of your recent projects?
I embroidered a pair of vintage kitchen towels at Christmas for my daughter’s grandmother and am getting ready to make a primitive rag quilt for my own bed. I make soy candles on a regular basis and am planning on learning to make my own soaps as well using lavender and such from my garden in the fall. My oldest daughter showed me how to make those lacy scarves out of some special yarn so I’m going to try to get some of those done as well. I have a Facebook page where I sell handcrafted items that has been neglected lately so I’m hoping to get on the ball during this temporary retirement and see what I can come up with.

9. Since you like to cook, we want to know what your specialty is. Care to share the recipe??
I’m one of those comfort food/home style cooks however, I like to experiment a lot. One of my favorite recipes is my basic bread recipe which I can add various ingredients to make something a little different. My other favorite recipe to make is Irish stew with Guinness giving it that rich taste. I can easily share my bread recipe…you add 1 ½ TBSP of yeast to 3 cups of warm water in a crockery bowl that you have heated in the oven a bit…add 1 ½ TBSP of kosher salt. You then add 6 cups of flour (I occasionally mix whole wheat and white together in a half and half combination) and sit the bowl somewhere with a damp cloth on top until the dough rises (usually 2 hours) I then split the dough in half and add my ‘extras’ such as rosemary or flax or parmesan (you just have to experiment with different things) and put each half in a greased bread pan and put them back to rise. When the dough has risen up to the top or above the top of the pan, you bake at 350 until it’s done (I don’t time my stuff anymore because I just ‘know’ when it’s done) As far as my Irish stew recipe…I’m going to share it on my Facebook page on St. Patrick’s Day…and plan on sharing some of my other recipes there too. I am also thinking about doing a cookbook and calling The Romance Writer’s Cookbook, but that’s down the road a bit.

10. Can you tell us about any future planned projects that are whirling in your head itching to make their way to your keyboard?
Yes! I am working on another paranormal trilogy called Sisters Three and the characters are going to be based upon my own daughters personalities(they have no idea and won’t until they get the books or read this interview). They will be witches representing Earth, Wind and Fire and will partner with various smoking hot men to fight an ancient evil that has resurfaced and is threatening to take control of the small town where they grew up. Additionally, my best friend who has been a great inspiration to me gave me an idea that he had for a psychological thriller series. He comes up with these awesome ideas then drops them on my lap on occasion, I think to keep me busy and out of trouble. Anyway, this one he has promised to collaborate on—which means I will do most of the work—while he feeds me character and situation ideas. I don’t want to give too much away quite yet since it is just in the planning stages and there are other things that are more urgent to complete right now. I am thinking to watch for it sometime in 2015. I am also going to write the sequels to Coming Home and I have some other ideas for some more contemporary romances as well. I also write erotic novellas under the pen name of Autumn Drake, and released the first one just a couple of weeks ago on Kindle Direct Publishing called Becoming. It’s about a high class prostitute and is about as X-Rated as they come.

BLOOD VENGEANCE
The heroine, Abigail Cooper, has a gift. She discovered that she has the gift of mediumship, inherited from her grandmother who visits her from the ‘other side’. When her teenaged sister—Reilly—goes missing with a suspected cult

leader, Abigail uses her sixth sense which leads her to steamy, mysterious, modern day New Orleans.
Abigail herself is met with some danger when she is attacked by a serial rapist/murderer but is rescued by a tall, dark and mysterious man and returned to her hotel room unharmed but missing most of her memory of the attack and the events that followed. However, with help from the other side, she soon comes to understand why.
Her rescuer was none other than the wealthy, attractive, seductive and centuries old vampire by the name of Vincent Adcock. Vincent and his group of fellow vampires have been ridding the south of criminal predators in their own way for many years as a means to feed as well as a means to seek solace from what they are.
Knowing the danger of entering the vampire’s lair, Abigail follows him home from a club one night and puts herself at his and his colleagues’ mercy to ask for their help in locating and rescuing her sister. This comes with a price as she becomes a prisoner in his home.
The tale takes Abigail into a world of vampires, the supernatural, drugs, prostitution, and murder as the group searches for the errant teen. But will they be able to rescue Reilly before the psychotic cult leader uses her for his bizarre ritual in which he hopes to conquer mankind? Will Abigail be able to resist the sexual magnetism of Vincent or will she find herself caught up in an attraction that could result in losing her heart and soul to a creature that is doomed to walk the earth for all of eternity

Available at: Amazon   

Teresa Keefer is a self-published author by night and a ‘temporarily retired’ human resource professional during the day.  Her primary interest is romantic fiction; however, she has been known to dabble in other genres when the mood strikes her.  Being an avid reader of everything from non-fiction to horror to romance and erotica since she was young, her dream of becoming a published author herself became a reality in 2013 when she published a contemporary romance she completed in 2007.  She is a current member of Romance Writers of America as well as the Indiana Chapter of RWA.

Coming Home was released in February 2013 through Amazon’s Create Space and Kindle Direct Publishing.  Blood Vengeance-Book 1 Vengeance Trilogy was completed and released by the same platforms in July 2013 with the subsequent books due to release in 2014.   On Valentine’s Day 2014 she released her second contemporary romance Yesterday’s Promises. She also has written several short stories and essays as well as poetry which may be found on www.fanstory.com. 

First-hand experience breathes life into her stories because they are set in places that she has visited.  Coming Home is set in the beautiful, peaceful Smoky Mountain area of East Tennessee, which is her favorite place to relax.  Blood Vengeance is set in the steamy, seductive New Orleans, a place where she and her daughters visited and to which she hopes to return.  We should also watch for locations such as Las Vegas, New York City, Washington D.C. as well as some fictional locations that she has created in her own mind.  She says that if she is able to start working on her bucket list soon, there will also be a visit to Ireland and hopefully a story from there too.  Her favorite author saying is ‘be careful what you say or do…you might end up in my next novel’.  Not to say that her fictional characters bear any resemblance to actual people, living or deceased.  Readers have said things like ‘she pulls at the heartstrings’ and ‘she makes you feel like you are right there’ when reviewing her books.  She says between book ideas that are fed to her by friends, her own imagination is continually coming up with new book ideas and she has no less than three works in process at a time.

Teresa is a lifelong Indiana resident living in a rural community in the east central portion of the state.  As a single mother of three daughters, she returned to college as an adult and earned an MBA from Indiana Institute of Technology.  Teresa has spent over 25 years in the human resource profession and has often threatened to write a humorous depiction of life in the human resource profession.  Oh, the stories she could tell!  She has been known to debate political and social issues with passion and generally does not back down, sometimes resorting to dry sarcasm to prove a point.  In addition to spending time with her daughters and grandchildren she has a lot of other interests that compete for her time such as cooking, sewing, gardening, crafting, studying spiritualism, and traveling.

Connect with Teresa at: Website   Goodreads   FB   Amazon   LibraryThing  

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