I was super excited to be asked by Emily of Lalone Marketing to take part in an ‘Author Speed Dating’ event right before the signing. Basically, each blogger that participated would get 5 minutes to talk to all 10 authors – hello! Yes, please! I was so excited because I’ve done interviews before but never in person – this was both amazing and scary at the same time, but it was an absolutely wonderful experience.
So, each day for the next two weeks, I’ll be spotlighting one of the authors that I got to sit down and chat with last Saturday – in case you missed it, last week we had S.C. Stephens, J. Sterling, Amanda Bennett, Jillian Dodd and Rebecca Donovan. Monday we had Carey Heywood, yesterday it was Erin Noelle’s turn and today we have Rebecca Shea. Rebecca is an absolute sweetheart – I had the pleasure of meeting her earlier in Austin and I love the fact that she’s tall! I love my tall girls – I’m 5’9″ and she’s 5’11”! Awesome!
We asked last week on our Facebook page for some questions for the authors – so I tried to incorporate as many of them as I could into the interview…I added the name of whoever ‘asked’ the question! Now…let’s get to the interview… 🙂
Lisa: We asked our followers to give us some questions – so I’ll start with those, what are some of your favorite books you’ve read? (question from Kristen Kocher)
Rebecca: Some of my favorite books that I have read…I love a lot books, like I span genre, I love, from the contemporary romance umm…Arsen by Mia Asher, oh-my-gosh, I still think about that one…When It Rains by Lisa De Jong,
Lisa: OMG…yes!
Rebecca: Both of those just gutted me in very different ways…I just was talking about this with the last one (the last interview). Um…I also love mysteries, love Mary Higgins Clark, I love Patricia Cornwell, umm…
Lisa: I grew up on those!
Rebecca: Yeah! I just love to read but I love to read, ya know, a variety – the one thing I don’t read is paranormal. I have never read Twilight which shocks people…
Lisa: I haven’t read it either.
Rebecca: Umm…I don’t like vampires, like I don’t watch The Vampire Diaries – I don’t like any of that stuff, so it’s very – it’s romance or it’s mystery.
Lisa: Is there anything in any of your books that you would change if you were given the chance? (question from Kristen Kocher)
Rebecca: No.
Lisa: If you weren’t a writer what other profession would you be working in? (question from Deborah Favorito)
Rebecca: Umm…well I am a writer but I am a marketing manager for a bank.
Lisa: Oh cool!
Rebecca: So I still work full time.
Lisa: Oh wow…
Rebecca: Yes!
Lisa: How long from concept to completion of your first book? (question from Tanya Gaunt)
Rebecca: 8 months.
Lisa: Nice. What is your go-to snack food when writing? (question from Nicole Montgomery)
Rebecca: Oh my gosh, Laffy Taffy’s – except the banana ones.
Lisa: I don’t like banana either. Which of your characters will you always hold a certain soft spot in your heart? (question from Andie Lea)
Rebecca: Gabe Garcia (from Unbreakable). Always.
Lisa: I love him.
Rebecca: He’s like my perfect…like if I could create a human being, it would be him.
Lisa: There was – oh my gosh – it was right after I finished reading (Unbreakable) there was a song that came on Spotify and it was – I can’t even remember the name of the song, I could find it on my playlist, but it was just something about it that really SO Gabe and I just started bawling.
**Complete side note, I actually went back to my Spotify and it was SafetySuit – Never Stop **
Rebecca: Awww…I love my Gabe.
Lisa: Which character can you relate to the most? (question from Andie Lea)
Rebecca: Umm…in my books? I guess, I would say umm…Regan in Undone.
Lisa: What do you think is the most difficult…beginning or ending a storyline? (question from Andie Lea)
Rebecca: Always beginning. Always.
Lisa: How often are you thinking and jotting notes down about the characters and storyline that come into your head? (question from Andie Lea)
Rebecca: All the time. I will be in the middle of grocery shopping and literally a line…it’s going to be one of those teasers – that is the line that comes to you, so I like jot it in my phone or I keep a little notebook in my purse, so it comes to you in the most random places – I’ll be in the middle of a conference call, and all of a sudden I’ll be like oh I need to write that. Ya know? You just jot it down! It’s really bizarre – they come to you at the most random times.
Lisa: If you could sit down face to face with one of your characters, who would you choose and why?(question from Andie Lea)
Rebecca: Oh gosh…that’s a great question – I’m going to say Landon (from Undone), I’m going to say Landon on that one.
Lisa: Who decides who and what goes on your covers? (question from Lorie Glowania)
Rebecca: With unbreakable I found a picture on Pinterest and I message the photographer in Russia, via Google Translate – Regina Wamba came up with Undone and I saw the picture, Landon was already in my head and I saw the picture and I was like ‘That’s him!’. So I literally messaged her and she is really the one who brought those characters to life on my covers.
Lisa: Nice. Where is your favorite place to write? (question from Cynthia Mae)
Rebecca: Favorite place to write is…umm…I have a little nook, corner desk in my room, I think that’s where I write most of the time – but I’m really – cause there’s not a lot of distractions, I’m very ADHD, if there’s a TV, I can’t write to music, I have to have my head in a corner.
Lisa: Your focus!
Check out Rebecca’s Unbreakable Series? You can check out my review of Unbreakable and an excerpt from Undone.
The Unbreakable Series
Add Unbreakable to your GoodReads ♦ Add Undone to your GoodReads ♦ Add Unforgiven to your GoodReads
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Rebecca Shea is the USA Today Bestselling author of Unbreakable and Undone. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her family and her beagle, Miles. From the time Rebecca could read she has had a passion for books. Rebecca spends her days working full-time and her nights writing, bringing stories to life. Born and raised in Minnesota, Rebecca moved to Arizona in 1999 to escape the bitter winters. When not working or writing, she can be found on the sidelines of her sons football games, or watching her daughter at ballet class. Rebecca is fueled by insane amounts of coffee, margaritas, Laffy Taffy (except the banana ones), and happily ever afters.
I’d be excited to meet any author!! Thanks for the awesome giveaway 🙂
I would like to meet SC Stephens. I really love the Thoughtless series 🙂