Friday, October 11, 2019

Author Interview with Love Bytes


The following interview first appeared in the October issue of the Love Bytes newsletter, an official publication of the RWA Online Chapter.

Interview with Lucy Kubash
Karen Jones

 

Tell us about your new book.

 My new book is Will o’ the Wisp, a contemporary romance with a touch of mystery and suspense. It was released by The Wild Rose Press on August 7, 2019. Here’s the book blurb.

In spite of a broken heart, Allison Delaney carved out a life for herself and her young daughter on her grandparents' farm. Her child and the horses she rescues are all that matter. Then a sudden threat to their safety puts her back in touch with Shane McBride, the man she never thought to see again. Returning to the small town of Silver Creek brings back a lot of memories for Shane, ones he treasures haunted by the ones that made him leave, but this time he is determined to stay and make things right. Trusting Shane may be her only choice, but now Allison fears not only the threat against her farm but the risk of losing her heart again.

What inspired the story?

Will o’ the Wisp first began as a short story many years ago and was inspired by events that occurred in Michigan. I was writing for a magazine at that time, and when they didn’t accept this one, I put it away in my file cabinet. This was pre-computer days, if you can believe it! I always knew I’d return to the story someday. When I finally did, I decided the characters needed a full-length book to tell their story.

What inspired the title?

Because of the sense of an eerie danger that threatens my heroine Allison and the return of a love that slipped away from her, I wanted a title that evoked a sense of something that you’re not quite sure is really there, that might easily disappear. Or as Allison says in the story, “Something so fragile, so elusive you’re afraid if you look away, it will be gone.”

 What travel did your research involve?

While the story itself is set in Michigan, where I’ve always lived, the hero Shane McBride has returned from living in Wyoming for years. We’ve traveled through that state quite a bit, so I was able to use some of what I’ve learned about it in this story and compared Shane’s feelings about leaving Wyoming to coming back to Michigan after so long.

 

 What was the most difficult aspect of writing Will o’ the Wisp?

The hardest part was learning to let go and let it happen. By that I mean, letting the characters do their thing instead of my trying to force what I thought should happen. When I fought them on it, the story stalled. When I finally allowed them to take the story in the direction they wanted it to go, I couldn’t write it fast enough. Might sound weird, but it’s true. Shane and Allison really took on a life of their own.

What was the easiest aspect of writing Will o’ the Wisp?

 Writing about the animals that are all secondary characters in the story. I’ve always been an animal lover, and the ones in this story all have their own personalities. I loved naming them and learning their stories, which then became important to the plot, especially the horses that Allison rescues.

When did you start writing and why?

I remember making up stories in my head when I was just a kid. In junior high, a few of my friends and I wrote what is now called fan fiction. We wrote stories about our favorite characters on TV. I started writing a historical romance about that time, which remains unfinished, and always enjoyed the writing assignments in school (when everyone else hated them, lol!). I started writing contemporary romance when my children were small and sold my first short story to Woman’s World magazine thirty-six years ago. Those stories are now included in five anthologies available at Amazon. Why did I start writing? I love reading and writing just seemed to be an extension of that, plus I always felt writing lets me live other lives, even if just vicariously. When did you start reading romance and what did you read? I’ve always loved stories with a romance or love interest. I like happy endings. As a teen, because I couldn’t find much romance in my local library, I read biographies of presidents and their wives. Then I started reading Phyllis Whitney’s romantic suspense and Victoria Holt’s gothic romance. For contemporary, I enjoy Kathleen Eagle, Karen White (love her ghost stories), and Luanne Rice. My friend Rosanne Bittner writes fabulous western historical romance, so I try to keep up with them. While I do like an HEA, I also like mystery and crime and am reading Margaret Coel’s Wind River mysteries, Sharyn McCrumb’s Appalachian books, and the Craig Johnson Longmire books.

What was your funniest moment as an author?

My friend Rosanne and I were doing a book signing at a local bookstore. I only had one book out at that time, so not like I had stacks of different ones on the table. A lady came up and asked if one of us was Jayne Ann Krentz. She thought she saw in the paper where JAK was doing a book signing that day. We both laughed. Not in small town Michigan! I’m still not sure how she managed to get Jayne Ann Krentz out of Lucy Naylor Kubash, but it gave us a good chuckle that day.

 

 How and where is your book available and what are you working on now?

Will o’ the Wisp is available in both print and e-book. You can find it at Amazon, B&N, Kobo and many other fine retailers. You can also ask your local library to order it. As an anecdote, I have to add that when I finished revising and editing this book, for maybe the one hundredth time, before sending it out, I decided to submit it on the day of the Great Solar Eclipse of August 21, 2017, because I thought that might bring good luck. It did! The Wild Rose Press accepted it shortly after and now here we are with it releasing in the same month. Currently, I’m finishing up revisions on a sequel to my first book, Chance’s Return. This one is titled, Tetons by Morning and is set near one of my most favorite places, The Grand Tetons of Wyoming. I would also like to finish that historical I once started.






 


Monday, July 22, 2019

It's Official!

My new contemporary romance Will o' the Wisp is set to release on August 7, 2019! Can you tell I'm excited? This book is very dear to my heart and I love the characters, Allison Delaney and Shane McBride. When the story opens, ten years apart stand between them, and they've both been through a lot but have learned how to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and make a new life. Except, what happens when they are thrown together again by circumstances beyond their control?  How will they deal with emotions and feelings, not to mention secrets, that were never resolved? I hope you'll read the book to find out. It is up for pre-order now at Amazon and will soon be available at many other fine retailers. My print books are ordered, and I can't wait for the big day to arrive.




Will o' the Wisp, published by The Wild Rose Press. Pre-order here:
https://tinyurl.com/y687pwdu





Monday, April 22, 2019

I Have a Cover!

It's been eons since I've posted anything here, but I haven't been taking it easy. Not by a long shot. When I last posted well over a year ago, I was waiting to hear from an editor to know if my book, Will O' the Wisp, had been accepted by her or not. A few months later, I received a contract from The Wild Rose Press, and it's been a long process of (what has seemed like) endless rounds of edits. Now that we're approaching a release date, I find my stomach is often in knots as I try to figure out the best ways to promote my story. Whatever approach an author takes, it's always a gamble as to what is most effective. Readers today are picky, and they have a right to be since there are just sooooo many books out there. What will make one book stand out among them? I great cover is a good start and fortunately, I've received one with vibrant colors that really pop and characters that match the ones in the story. One can hope this will be one good way to catch the reader's eye and make them want to know more. Who are these people? What are their secrets and what makes them tick? Here is an excerpt that I hope will also make you want to know more.






  From Will O' the Wisp by Lucy Naylor Kubash


The man who stepped from inside the truck was definitely not Doc. Tall, with shoulders stretching the faded fabric of his denim shirt and shiny black hair that glistened in the sunlight, he would have towered over Doc’s stocky figure. As he started toward the barn, she couldn’t see his face, but the easy swagger to his walk, the way he rolled his booted feet from heel to toe, spoke to her of things she thought she had forgotten. Had worked very hard to forget. Feelings she’d buried ten years ago.  Uncomfortable, she dropped her gaze to her daughter who had come to stand next to Gypsy.


           “Is he Doc’s helper, you think?” Lizzie scrunched her nose. “I don’t think I know him.”


            Sudden awareness clutched Allison’s heart, giving it an extra beat, as if to prove the man walking toward her was still easy on the eyes but hard on the heart. He’d certainly been hard on hers.


             It would stand to reason Doc might call on him to give a hand.


             But why does it have to be my barn that needs visiting this morning?


             Her heart thumped hard in her chest as Shane McBride came closer, stopped short, and tilted his head back to get a better look at her. For a second, surprise lit his eyes to the color of the sky, then, sticking his hands into his denim pockets, he shook his head. A slow grin touched his mouth. The mouth she remembered so well.


             “Allison,” he said in his slow, sexy way. “I…wasn’t sure it was you who called.”






My two characters, Shane and Allison, have been through a lot, both together and apart, but it's the story that begins at their reunion after a separation of ten years that I hope will make the reader want to know more. What kept them apart? Will it still stand between them? And what happens when long-held secrets are revealed?


 As soon as I have a release date, I'll post it here and shout it from the rooftops and anywhere else they'll let me. Stay tuned.




Will O' the Wisp coming soon from The Wild Rose Press.