Chatting with Veronica Lynch - ATRS Interview & Giveaway!

Afternoon, folks! I've been fortunate to have a number of lovely guest bloggers over at Fantasy Unbound lately, and today the trend continues with All Things Romantic Suspense author Veronica Lynch, who's here to answer my weird questions and share a bit about her latest release. She's also giving away a free mouse pad to one lucky commenter, so be sure to stop in and say hi :-)

As always, let's begin with a blurb and some cover art:

Revenge is a dish best served cold. 

Twenty-five years ago, Fiona Thorpe's classmates voted her most likely to explode. Through hard work and rigorous self-control she is now every woman's fantasy, every man's wet dream. Head held high, and less than half her former size, Fee returns to her high school reunion weekend. Her goal: exact revenge on those who made her life a living hell back in the day. Her first attempts are remarkably easy and give her profound satisfaction. But no one is more shocked than Fee when she discovers the handsome, respected man seated beside her at the opening banquet is a modern day Paladin, who avenges those unable to defend themselves. To make matters worse, he is her former chief tormentor, Mick Dineen. 

Are some wounds too deep to heal? Or can two former enemies find common ground? 

(Pages 68) Sensual. Available soon at The Wild Rose Press.

Veronica kindly supplied us with a quick excerpt from The List:

Frustrated with the holdup, Fee glanced around the room, hoping to see Dru the minute she entered the ballroom. A hand on her arm claimed her attention. “Here comes someone you should meet.” 

“Who?” 

“Last year's Eastman Award winner,” Rafe said, “And a helluva nice guy.” 

“Where?” 

“There, coming toward us.” 

One nano-second later, all thoughts of revenge evaporated like steam out of a boiling kettle. Thick gold hair flecked with gray grazed the collar of his jacket. His features were weathered, as if he'd already lived ten times over. Broad through the shoulders and chest, and narrow at the waist and hips, he possessed the long legs of a broken-field runner. Moving across the parquet floor as if born to a runway, he looked confident and  at ease with himself. Without disrupting that graceful, fluid motion, he undid his tie, then shrugged out of his suit jacket. 

She'd almost given up on finding a man like this. 

This one had the Look.

And now the interview, under the jump.

What draws you to romance?

Recognizing the early germs of the attraction, watching to see how the individual author maneuvers the H&H from Part A to Part B, ending at Part C. I like the ride almost as much as I like the ending.

Do you prefer alpha/omega relationships in stories, or alpha/alpha relationships, and why? 

Gee. If I knew what this means, I'd be the first to answer.

Have you ever written outside the romance genre?

Only op-ed pieces for the local editorial page and that was about violence against women.

What’s the sexiest feature on a man to you?

His hands, because I can imagine how he'd use them on me. On a woman? Her eyes. If she uses them correctly, I can interpret her every feeling.

By night you’re a caped cru— er, romance writer. What do you do by day?

When I'm not tending to my grandchildren, I'm designing and making tote and other styles of bags, infant items (swaddling blankets, diaper bags for both moms and dads, infant slings, boppy covers), princess costumes for my granddaughters.

What was the very first romance you ever read? How old were you?

It was Gone With the Wind; and I was probably 13 or 14. Didn't need to sneak off; my parents were very big on their children reading.

What hooked you on the genre?

I enjoyed the pictures Miz Mitchell drew with words. I loathed Melanie and thought Scarlett was the gutsiest thing on wheels. I didn't like all the things she did, but she never gave up. It wasn't until 30 years later that I learned when GWTW first came out, polls of readers showed Melanie Hamilton was revered and Scarlett was vilified. I've always considered Melanie to be a simpering wimp.

If you could pick anyone in the world to be the cover model(s) on your latest release, who would it be? 

Daniel Craig.

What would constitute your own personal happily ever after?

Being able to get down on the floor with my grandchildren to play without becoming short of breath and needing a forklift to get me back on my feet.

Are you a book hoarder?

If this means do I have a keeper shelf, I have a 10 foot tall bookcase in my office and it is filled; a headboard on my queen-size bed fashioned into a bookshelf where books battle the C-Pap machine for room; a corner bookcase in the bedroom which is over-stuffed; and one or two shelves on both sides of the fireplace in the living room, filled with favorites and dust bunnies fear to tread.

If you were doomed to spend the rest of your life on an island with only one book, one person, one food, and one object from the modern world, what would they be?

The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous; my father; pasta; and my computer—as long as it had internet access.

Do you have a favorite character out of all the ones you’ve written?  

Maggie McGuire from Try Just Once More, written under my alter ego, Kat Henry Doran. She is strong, capable, independent and has the love and respect of her children. It wasn't always like that; Maggie's worked hard to pull herself out of the mire and dregs of alcoholism and remain sober through some pretty horrific traumas. 

Where are your favorite online hangouts?

www.Veronica-Lynch.blogspot.com;  www.KatHenry.com;  www.WildWomanKane.blogspot.com; www.KatsKustomKarryAlls.com.

What’s your current book list:

Those Who Wait, available at www.DecadentPublishing.com

The List, available [March 23, 2011] at www.thewildrosepress.com

Anything else you’d like to add? 

Thanks for having me visit your blog, Rachel. This was fun.


It was a pleasure to have you!



About Veronica:

Over the years, Veronica has had the honor of working at a number of occupations: operating room nurse, malpractice insurance investigator, forensic nurse examiner, victim advocate, wife and mother.

Even if she sometimes wishes they'd remain in the closet, the years she spent in the OR and labor floor, and later advocating for victims of sexual violence, contribute significantly to the voice of her writing. You can't spend thirty years playing hand maiden and mind reader for egotistical surgeons, then twelve years haunting police stations, Emergency Rooms, and criminal courts and not come away with a sense of rampant misogyny, overwhelming apathy, and overt bigotry.

Veronica retired her stethoscope and speculum a few years ago but continues to advocate, quietly, for marginalized populations through Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders.