Guest Author & Giveaway with Candis Terry

Today I would like to welcome author Candis Terry, she is here at Book Junkie today to celebrate her new release, Second Chance at the Sugar Shack, a contemporary romance being released by Harper Collins Impulse on July 19th. So please give Candis a warm welcome, enjoy the interview and don't forget to enter the contest!

 

1. If someone were writing a story about Candis Terry, what would your blurb say?
Candis Terry has always believed she is a glass half-empty girl yet she lives a glass-full life. By day, she multi-tasks a family, life in corporate America, and life on the farm. By night, she slips into her imagination and creates stories straight from her heart.


2. Can you tell us a little about your newest release, SECOND CHANCE AT THE SUGAR SHACK, that isn’t in the blurb?
This is a reunion story on many levels. It’s also a story of rediscovery and reinvention. Kate Silver is a heroine much like a lot of the women I know. Over the course of her journey she must learn to juggle a variety of challenges. She’s a woman who does things in a big way — always striving to make things better though not always easier on herself.


3. What was your inspiration behind the creation of SECOND CHANCE AT THE SUGAR SHACK?
I love fish out of water stories and thought taking Kate out of a Hollywood swimming pool swarming with sharks and dropping her back into her hometown pond might be amusing. And if I could toss a meddling ghost, a cranky old lady and a righteously peeved and ultra sexy ex-boyfriend into her slippery path, all the better.


4. What was your favorite scene to write in SECOND CHANCE AT THE SUGAR SHACK?
I have to choose one? Impossible. But I will narrow it down to two. I love first meets, or in the case of this story, re-meets. The first re-meet between Kate and Matt was highly combustible and oozing with unrequited love. It was all I could do to keep my fingers attached to the keyboard while they poured the kerosene and lit the match. Equally, my favorite scene to write was when Kate’s newly deceased mother’s ghost decided to become the backseat driver of Kate’s life. She is one soul who is not lost. She’s on a mission. And the white light will just have to wait until she’s done.


5. Are there other genres you want to tackle?
I believe in keeping my options sitting on the edge of my desk. After all, on a personal level I was a small town girl turned big city chick then back into a small town girl again. I never say never. When a story that might be a bit unusual pops into my head, I always say “Wow. Really? Awesome.”


6. If you could trade places with one of your characters, would you want to and who?
Well, I already have my own hunky hero but if I had to choose it would be Kate because she gets a second chance to mend her relationship with her mother. My own mother is an Alzheimer’s patient and each day she slips a little more away from me. Like a lot of other mothers and daughters we haven’t always had an easy road and there are unresolved issues. I’d love to be able to talk things out the way we used to but those days are gone. So I’m glad Kate and her mother at least have that opportunity.


7. What accent is sure to make you swoon?
I’m Scottish so bring on the brogue!


8. What was the most challenging things you’ve done in the name of research that might have been out of your comfort zone?
Wow. I have no comfort zone. At all. Most challenging? I moved from Southern California to an Idaho farm. I’ve chased wayward cows in my nightgown (what those cows were doing in my nightgown I’ll never know), I’ve wrangled ornery sheep, dealt with a bad-mannered turkey and donated previously unbroken toes to the impatient hooves of a horse who swore he loved me (but only if I had an apple in my hand). I seriously live what I write.


9. Please share with us something that readers would be surprised to learn about you.
Okay, nobody knows this about me, including some members of my family but . . . I was a child performer. I sang, danced and . . . (insert red face) was a ventriloquist. I made a record and I performed on variety television shows. They were grooming me to be the next Shirley Temple. Then along came the Make Love Not War generation and big fat Shirley Temple banana curls clashed with tie-dyed hippie attire. Whew! Missed it by that much!


10. How can the readers stay in touch with you online?
I’m rather chatty so I’d love readers to stay in touch with me on my website http://www.candisterry.com/, Facebook and Twitter

11. If you could ask readers any one question, what would it be?
Second Chance at the Sugar Shack has an adorable puppy on the cover because he’s a very warm and cuddly part of the story. If you get to know this lovable fluff of fur, you’ll know why I’d love to ask readers “What makes you happy?”

This is the first in a series of coming home stories.  In SECOND CHANCE, the heroine, a Hollywood stylist’s estranged mother passes away and she returns home for the first time in 10 years.  The high school sweetheart she left behind is now the deputy sheriff and doesn’t quite know if he’s forgiven her for leaving.  As she settles back into small town life, the two try to fight their feelings for each other, but the attraction is explosive and they can’t resist its pull for long.

 

***GIVEAWAY***

Candis and Harper Collins will be giving away a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate to one randomly drawn commenter.

Contest Ends 7/22

Open to all.