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.