I'm super excited to have the pleasure of featuring author Teresa Keefer today! So read our Q & A and then read about her book Blood Vengeance which is a definite TBR paranormal! ~ Leslie
Teresa Keefer is a self-published author by night and a human resource professional during the day. Her primary interest is romantic fiction; however, she has been known to dabble in other genres when the mood strikes her. Being an avid reader of everything from non-fiction to horror to romance and erotica since she was young, her dream of becoming a published author herself became a reality in 2013 when she published a contemporary romance she completed in 2007. She is a current member of Romance Writers of America as well as the Indiana Chapter of RWA.
Coming Home was released in February 2013 through Amazon’s Create Space and Kindle Direct Publishing. Blood Vengeance-Book 1 Vengeance Trilogy was completed and released by the same platforms in July 2013 with the subsequent books due to release in 2014. She also has written several short stories and essays as well as poetry which may be found on www.fanstory.com.
First-hand experience breathes life into her stories because they are set in places that she has visited. Coming Home is set in the beautiful, peaceful Smoky Mountain area of East Tennessee, which is her favorite place to relax. Blood Vengeance is set in the steamy, seductive New Orleans, a place where she and her daughters visited and to which she hopes to return. We should also watch for locations such as Las Vegas, New York City, Washington D.C. as well as some fictional locations that she has created in her own mind. She says that if she is able to start working on her bucket list soon, there will also be a visit to Ireland and hopefully a story from there too. Her favorite author saying is ‘be careful what you say or do…you might end up in my next novel’. Not to say that her fictional characters bear any resemblance to actual people, living or deceased. Readers have said things like ‘she pulls at the heartstrings’ and ‘she makes you feel like you are right there’ when reviewing her books. She says between book ideas that are fed to her by friends, her own imagination is continually coming up with new book ideas and she has no less than three works in process at a time.
Teresa is a lifelong Indiana resident living in a rural community in the east central portion of the state. As a single mother of three daughters, she returned to college as an adult and earned an MBA from Indiana Institute of Technology. Teresa has spent over 25 years in the human resource profession and has often threatened to write a humorous depiction of life in the human resource profession. Oh, the stories she could tell! She has been known to debate political and social issues with passion and generally does not back down, sometimes resorting to dry sarcasm to prove a point. In addition to spending time with her daughters and grandchildren she has a lot of other interests that compete for her time such as cooking, sewing, gardening, crafting, studying spiritualism, and traveling.
Links to Teresa Keefer-Author-
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7192736.Teresa_Keefer
http://www.facebook.com/TeresaAKeefer
http://www.amazon.com/Teresa-A-Keefer/e/B00E1NM82K
http://www.librarything.com/author/keeferteresa
1. Where are you from? I was born in Warsaw, Indiana and except for a few years in Indianapolis (which I hated) I have lived in the north central Indiana area
2. When you aren't writing what do you like to do with your time? Oh my goodness, this is a big one! I enjoy so many things that I run out of time to do it all. Besides spending time with my family and friends, I like to do crafts, cook, read, go to the movies, dining out, and gardening.
3. Did you always know you wanted to be a writer? I can remember making up stories long before I was in school and drawing little cut outs to go with my stories. But I've wanted to be a lot of things including a nurse, an attorney, and an airline pilot. Now I just want to write!
4. When did you first consider yourself a writer? I've been writing for a lot of years...poetry when I was a teenager and then toying with story ideas as an adult but I think the first time that I considered myself a REAL writer was when I got my first paperback copy of my first novel Coming Home which is a contemporary romance that I wrote in 2007 and didn't publish until 2013.
5. What inspired your book? When I came up with the idea for Blood Vengeance I was trying to combine elements of romance, paranormal, thriller, and erotica to appeal to a greater number of readers. I would have to say that with the popularity of Twilight, The Sookie Stackhouse books, and Fifty Shades I wanted to use a little of each concept. I chose the New Orleans setting because I am FASCINATED with the history of the city and probably have romanticized the steamy atmosphere of the French Quarter.
6. Are any characters or experiences based off of your life or someone you know? I have been up close and personal with some actual mediums.
7. Which writer, if any, would you consider a mentor? I absolutely look up to Stephen King after my best friend bought me his autobiography "On Writing" and LOVE Nora Roberts' work.
8. What are you reading right now? I think I have a book addiction because I am jumping between several right now...Intoxicated by a fellow Indiana author and friend Jeana Mann, Blood Red by Heather Graham and Assertiveness for Earth Angels by Doreen Virtue
9. What are your current projects? I am putting the finishing touches on Yesterday's Promises, a contemporary romance for release in the upcoming weeks. I have a good start on the sequel to Blood Vengeance and have started working on a new idea for a trilogy called the Sisters Three.
10. What is something you hate doing? Why? Honestly, I can't think of anything I hate doing.
11. Do you ever write naked? :) While under the influence? Never naked but under the influence quite frequently
12. Most embarrassing story? How embarrassing are you looking for? I'm the queen of embarrassing situations. Like having my 'battery operated toothbrush' kick on in my suitcase while they were tagging my baggage when I was leaving on a trip for Vegas and having the lady call me back and loudly tell me that something was vibrating in my bag?
13. Biggest pet peeve? Waitresses who call me 'hon' or 'honey' or 'baby'...it drives me absolutely nuts!
14. Ebooks or Paperback? Both. But I do love my Kindle app on my phone because I can shop on Amazon anytime that I want to!
15. Do you judge a book by it's cover? Absolutely not. I judge by the blurb on the back cover maybe or even a review, but never by the cover. Books or people!
16. Do you listen to music while you write? What is your current favorite? Sometimes I do and my favorite music is country. My first book, Coming Home, is spun from the song Strawberry Wine by Deana Carter
17. Puppies or Kittens? Do I have to pick? I love all animals and have a dog, two cats, and a miniature horse right now. I would love to have the facilities to do animal rescue.
Abigail herself is met with some danger when she is attacked by a serial rapist/murderer but is rescued by a tall, dark and mysterious man and returned to her hotel room unharmed but missing most of her memory of the attack and the events that followed. However, with help from the other side, she soon comes to understand why.
Her rescuer was none other than the wealthy, attractive, seductive and centuries old vampire by the name of Vincent Adcock. Vincent and his group of fellow vampires have been ridding the south of criminal predators in their own way for many years as a means to feed as well as a means to seek solace from what they are.
REVIEW
4 1/2 HOT FUNNY STARS! I'm a sucker for a good paranormal and Teresa did an awesome job with this one! Abigail is beautiful and gifted. Vincent is mysterious and hot. The vampire family is funny and I fell in love with them all. This story is beautifully written and was a very enjoyable read. I can't wait for the next one! ~ Leslie
I read her "Coming Home," and thought it would make an excellent expose' of the way lives change over time, but actually stay more basically the same. Might make a great movie?
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