Giveaway and Interview with New York Times Bestselling Romantic Suspense Author, Carla Neggers

GIVEAWAY: New York Times Bestselling romantic suspense author, Carla Neggers has stopped by to chat and give two (2) copies of her December 2009 MIRA release, "Cold River: A Black Falls Novel"  Oh my gosh, I'm already biting my nails and white knuckling my comfy chair.  Okay...I'm pulling it together and I'm not going to...SCREAM!

All right *taking a calming breath* to enter the giveaway please leave Carla Neggers a comment including your email.  Giveaway is open to ALL and will run until midnight (American) est January 10, 2010.  Remember:  No Email.  No Entry.  Good luck to everyone and please try and stay warm.

"GET SWEPT AWAY IN A RIVETING NEW NOVEL BY

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR CARLA NEGGERS"

Title: COLD RIVER: A Black Falls Novel
Author: Carla Neggers
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: MIRA
Release: December 2009
Format: Print
Buy Now!:  eHarlequin/Amazon/ B&N.com/Borders
               

Book Description:
An elite smokejumper and a self-made woman lock horns as they search for the architect behind a network of killers in COLD RIVER (MIRA Books, December 2009, $7.99 U.S./ / $8.99 CAN.), the newest novel in New York Times bestselling author Carla Neggers’ Black Falls series.

Cold RiverHannah Shay and Bowie O’Rourke led hardscrabble lives, growing up on the wrong side of the tracks in Black Falls, in the heart of Vermont’s Green Mountains. After the deaths of her parents, Hannah was forced to singlehandedly raise her two younger brothers. Despite this hardship, she has made a success of herself. She is co-owner of the popular Three Sisters café and is about to graduate law school. Bowie has been less fortunate. A wild youth and brushes with the law have seen him spend some time in jail. A stonemason by trade, Bowie pretty much keeps to himself these days to avoid violating his probation. Friends since childhood, Hannah and Bowie still feel they are judged by where they come from rather than what they’ve made of themselves—especially since Drew Cameron was murdered.

Sean Cameron has returned to Black Falls from his home in California to help his family discover who engineered their father’s death. Drew Cameron’s killers were dispatched by their mysterious employer before they could be apprehended but the relentless Cameron siblings are determined to bring the individual(s) behind this network of killers to justice. So, when Hannah Shay treks up Cameron Mountain to the site where their father was killed, their suspicions are raised. And, when she seeks out Bowie immediately after, they are sure she knows more than she’s saying.

But Hannah’s unwilling to divulge anything when Sean confronts her. Sean senses that Hannah is trying to protect Bowie. Hannah believes Bowie is innocent but suspects he may have evidence that can shed some light on the case. But she’s not about to tell Sean that. The Camerons have always thought Bowie was trouble and are all too willing to believe that he was somehow tangled up in this mess.

However, when Hannah’s life is endangered she begins to wonder if, perhaps, Sean is right and she is protecting a killer….

SMALL BIO OF CARLA NEGGERS

New York Times bestselling author Carla Neggers is always plotting her next adventure, whether it’s in life or for one of her books. Her fertile imagination and curious nature make her ready for anything. It is also these qualities that sparked her love of reading as a child and continue to drive her passion for storytelling today.

With her trademark blend of action, suspense and down-to-earth, realistic characters caught up in extraordinary circumstances, her novels never fail to take her readers on an exciting journey.

Growing up in western Massachusetts, the third of seven children, Carla would grab a pad and pen and climb a tree to spin her stories. Just before she was born, her Dutch immigrant father and Southern-born mother packed up the car with two kids and all their belongings and headed north to start a new life. They settled in an eighteenth-century carriage house on 90 acres and began a long process of renovation.

After graduating as valedictorian of her high school class, Carla studied music at Boston University before graduating magna cum laude with a degree in journalism. She enjoyed a brief stint as a freelance journalist, then turned to writing fiction full-time and now has more than 50 books to her credit.

Travel and research both play a large part in Carla’s writing. COLD RIVER, Carla’s newest novel, is set in her home state of Vermont during the dead of winter. “The plot is pure fiction—a mastermind killer is lurking in a small town in the heart of the Green Mountains—but I know what it's like to snowshoe in frigid temperatures, confront long, dark northern New England winter nights and enjoy the beauty of the mountains after a snowstorm…all of which I drew on in writing COLD RIVER.”

To research COLD RIVER, Carla met with search-and-rescue experts with the Vermont State Police. Her novels have taken her atop the northeast’s highest peaks, onto a shooting range with a police academy instructor and across the world as she scouts out locations and seeks the authenticity that imbues her writing.

The author’s greatest pleasure comes in those moments when she feels she’s gotten the story just right—when it all comes together on the pages of her book, exactly the way she’s envisioned the tale in her mind. Then, when readers connect with the story, her satisfaction is complete. “Everything comes down to the finished book,” says the author. “When I hear from a reader that the story resonated, and that he or she had a great time reading it, I know I’ve done my job and done it well.”

When she’s not working on her next book, Carla enjoys traveling, hiking and kayaking. She’s always planning the next trip and the next adventure—either of which just might inspire a new story.

Carla lives in Vermont, where she and her husband have recently renovated their mountain house not far from picturesque Quechee Gorge.

Learn more about the Author of Today!

Interview with one of Todays Most compelling Romantic Suspense authors, Carla Neggers.

CSM: Please help me welcome New York Times bestselling author, Carla Neggers to Over the Edge. Carla, my readers and I are so psyched that have dropped by to spend time with us. Thanks so much!

Thanks for having me, Christine. What a nice diversion from all the snow! Although I do love go get out and snowshoe and cross-country ski…and read by the woodstove.

CSM: Tell us more about yourself. Readers love learning new and interesting things about an author, and this would give you a chance to make them feel close.

I live on a hilltop in Vermont and grew up in rural western Massachusetts, but I've lived in Boston and the Albany (NY) and love to travel. In September, I spent two weeks in Ireland on my own on a personal, research and writing retreat. It was fantastic! I stayed in the same village the entire time and just walked the hills, wrote and indulged in Irish food, music and fun. My husband and I were in Ireland together in the spring. Many of my books are set or anchored in New England, and with THE ANGEL, THE MIST and now THE WHISPER (July 2010), I've added Ireland as a setting. Now you can see why.

CSM: Besides being a total book junkie I’m also a music junkie. When I’m writing I have a sound track playing either in my mind or in my cd player. What’s your sound track? What type of music is on it?

Something we have in common for sure! I started out as a music major in college and love classical music. One of traditions is to listen to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony on his birthday (December 16), but when I'm writing, I trend to Dropkick Murphys—they're so energizing! I also listen to traditional Irish music and various movie soundtracks, e.g., The Lord of the Rings trilogy (especially the first one) and, believe it or not, the Harry Potter movies (again, especially the first one).

CSM: How would readers find out more about you?

Readers can visit my website – www.carlaneggers.com -- and sign up for my periodic e-newsletter. (I also offer a monthly contest.) I also have a photo blog there. I'm on Facebook and Twitter, and I blog every other Wednesday at Running with Quills (www.runningwithquills.com).

CSM: When did you write your first book?

I wrote my very first book as a kid—I'd climb a tree with a pad and pen and sit up on my favorite branch and write. I didn't know anything about the publishing business. I just wrote what I loved to write.

CSM: Where and when do you write?

My office is on the lower level of our home, attached to a screen porch, with a giant, very old sugar maple outside my windows. I can write anytime, any place, but mornings are my favorite.

CSM: What is your must-have book for writing?

Hm. I guess I'd have to say a good dictionary!

CSM: What is your advice for aspiring writers?

I hesitate to give advice, but what's worked for me first and foremost is to write what I love. So that's what I tell aspiring writers: Write what you love. Also, finish a manuscript first. Then pop up and see what's what with the business.

CSM: What genre(s) do you write?

I focus on getting the story that's in my head onto the page, but I write suspense with a strong romance. I get to combine action, adventure, relationships, humor, intensity, research—I love it all.

CSM: Among that you’ve written which is your favorite book and why?

Hm. I guess I just don't think in terms of favorites. I give my best with each story I write and I'm always so excited about the one that's percolating in my head…I just keep writing. I work hard, but as you can probably tell, I'm not a tortured writer. I love what I do.

CSM: Tell us more about your December 2009 MIRA release “Cold River”.

COLD RIVER is the second book in my series set in the fictional village of Black Falls, Vermont—with a touch of Washington, DC. The story's tightly connected to COLD PURSUIT, the first book in the series—we find out more about the network of professional killers that caused so much violence in Black Falls. Normally my books are total stand-alone stories, even if they're part of a series, but in this case, it's probably easier to start with COLD PURSUIT and then read COLD RIVER. I'm writing the third book, COLD DAWN, now, and it's more of a stand-alone that can be read out of order. It's Rose Cameron's story. There's a golden retriever in it…I love goldens!

CSM: Would you share a little bit about your Febuary2010 MIRA release,” On Fire”.

I'm thrilled to see ON FIRE getting reissued with a brand-new cover—it's a stand-alone story about an oceanographer who's Jacques Cousteau-type grandfather is suspected of murder. She goes up against her old nemesis, now an FBI agent recuperating on a tiny island off the coast of Maine. The story was a lot of fun to write.

CSM: Any new projects, works in progress?

THE MIST, which came out in hardcover last summer, will be out in paperback on March 30. It's the third book in my series set in Boston and Ireland, with touches of Maine. THE WHISPER comes out on June 29 in hardcover—an archaeologist believes a harrowing night she spent in an Irish cave is connected to a serial killer arrested in Boston. I'll be putting an excerpt up on my website soon!

CSM: I want to take this time to thank you Carla Neggars for stopping by and sharing with my readers and myself a little bit about yourself. This sure has been loads of fun. I hope you enjoyed being here as much as we enjoyed having you.

Thanks so much, Christine! It's so nice of you to invite me, and I appreciate your thoughtful questions. My best to you and all your readers. Happy reading!!