We're happy to have Trish Perry with us today talking about her book Unforgettable. To learn more about Trish and her book, read on!
Title: Unforgettable
Publisher: Summerside Press
Cover blurb: Rachel Stanhope tries to see the good in everyone. But even her good graces are challenged when she meets Josh Reegan outside her Arlington, Virginia dance studio on a brisk fall morning in 1951. Admittedly, he’s attractive, but she finds his cynicism and cockiness hard to tolerate.
A hard-news journalist and former World War II Air Force pilot, Josh considers distractions like ballroom dancing frivolous wastes of time. He has yet to shed his wartime drive to defend good against evil whenever he can. Yes, Rachel’s confident nature is a refreshing challenge, but he wouldn’t tangle with her if his newspaper hadn’t roped him into covering one of her studio’s competitions in New York City.
Between Arlington and New York, between the melodrama of ballroom antics and the real drama of political corruption, between family involvement and romantic entanglement, Rachel and Josh have their hands full. The last thing either of them expects is mutual need and support. But once they stop dancing around the truth, the results are unforgettable.
1) How did this story come to you?
I honestly struggle to remember the genesis of some of my books. Summerside gave me this particular title, and the timeframe was inherent in the title (since the books in this line—the When I Fall in Love series—are each set during the era when the title song was released). Beyond that, I simply designed my two main characters and then waited until I could imagine them crossing paths numerous times because of their professions. The plotline developed from there. I always play with the long-range plot structure as I go along, since sometimes things happen between the characters that I didn’t originally foresee. I love it when that happens.
2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
I hadn’t yet worked with Summerside but I was interested. When I suggested an idea for Summerside’s Love Finds You line, they contacted my agent and said they were more interested in working with me on their new nostalgic romance line, When I Fall in Love. There were a few song choices available to me, and I love Nat King Cole’s Unforgettable and consider the fifties a fun time frame, so I chose that one.
3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
I was working on my second-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do when I finally decided to hang up my dobok (uniform).
I used to sing lead in a rock band.
I keep a loaded shotgun under my bed. (Mercy. I’m much nicer than all of this makes me sound. Honestly.)
4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
In April my second Tea with Millicent book (Tea for Two, Harvest House Publishers) will release. Very excited about that!
I just turned in my manuscript for my Christmas novel, ‘Tis the Season, which will be coupled with Debby Mayne’s Deck the Halls in Summerside’s September release, Love Finds You on Christmas Morning (I got an LFY title after all!). Now I’m working on my share of devotions for Summerside’s Your Grace is Sufficient But Decaf is NOT, which is a follow-up devotional to Delight Yourself in the Lord…Even on Bad Hair Days, which released March 1. I teamed up with a few fantastic authors for those two devotionals.
5) Parting comments?
I know the typical comment here tends to be along the hang-in-there lines (that’s what I usually say, anyway), and that’s good advice. But just to add to that, could I encourage unpublished writers to add to your personal numbers? I mean, write and submit as much, and as often, as you can. There are many factors to getting contracts in this business, and the more work you have out there representing your capabilities, the better your chances of finding the publisher(s) with whom you fit.
6) Where can fans find you on the Internet?
My site is http://www.trishperry.com/. I feature fellow inspirational fiction authors twice a week, and they give away signed copies of their latest releases to readers who comment.
I’m also on Facebook as Trish Hawley Perry and on Twitter as TrishPerryWrtr.
