Tena StetlerAuthor of Paranormal Romance/Suspense & Cozy Mysteries With Magic Spark!

Dec 13th Carol Henry WIth Breakfast With Santa

Happy holidays to all!  Give a big welcome to Carol Henry, author of Breakfast With Santa and other romances. Have a seat and grab an insulated mug. I’ve got hot chocolate, hot cider and coffee. Choose your pot, they’re labeled. Pick your choice of a Snicker-doodle, Chocolate Chip or Peanut butter cookie from the plate. Yep, I baked them myself. Lets see what makes Carol tick and what Breakfast With Santa is all about.  Thanks for joining us!

I’ve been writing for a very long time. Writing Romance?  Didn’t get serious until I retired in December 2000. Previous to that, while working as an Administrative Assistant to a Department Chair at Cornell University, I wrote human interest features for several local papers as I was and still am involved in many community organizations, activities, and am the town historian. As historian I’ve written several history books and tons of articles for my hometown. As a national and international traveler, I also write travel features for many cruise line in-cabin books, travel magazines, and international travel newspapers.  But I also am an avid reader.  I’ve read a ton of mysteries and romance since…forever.

I’m not sure what actually drove me to think I could write a book, but I decided to take a correspondence class, and started writing a few children’s stories, gained a bit of confidence, took a few writing classes while working at Cornell. When I signed up for a summer writing course, I had to produce a ten-page paper taking a non-fiction topic and turning it into fiction. Well, after reading it to the class, everyone wanted to know when the book was coming out.  Thus, Ribbons of Steel was hatched. Granted it wasn’t until years later that I considered doing the research and turning it into a historic novel that it was published in 2015 by The Wild Rose Press. In the meantime I joined RWA, Southern Tier Authors of Romance, and a critique group. My learning curve and confidence (should I say determination) took hold. After fits and starts, submissions, rejections, re-submissions, and more determination, my first romantic suspense novel—Amazon Connection (published in 2008, by the Wild Rose Press)—saw the light of day, and my romance writing career took off.

My story ideas come from my travels, especially for what I like to refer to as my romantic suspense ‘Connection Series’—Amazon Connection, Shanghai Connection, Rio Connection.  The culture and landscape of the countries I visit play a big part in my novels. And I’ve learned from the summer class I took at Cornell, to find something that is really happening in the country I’m placing my characters in, and build a fictional situation/conflict around it. And yes, this requires a bit of research as I go along. Of course, when I travel, I take a ton of pictures, pick up literature that is current wherever possible, and make sure I get into the depths of the interior to explore and take advantage of the adventures.

And yes, to answer the question: Do You See Yourself in Your Characters?  My heroine is a bit like me. I’ve always said I’m not a brave person (of a lot of things, especially heights and creepy-crawlies), BUT, I don’t like to be left behind. And that motto has gotten me in to situations that I’ve been able to use in my novels. Like alligator hunting at midnight and getting stuck in the middle of Amazon’s back of beyond.  My Brand Promise for my Connection Series is: Carol Henry takes you to love in Exotic Places—adventures were the heroine discovers more than the ‘wild and wonderful’ world around her—she finds her inner courage and an once-in-a-lifetime love!

My contemporary novels however, show a grittier heroine who has learned to stand up for herself, and somehow, I find that most of my novels still includes a bit of a travel location that I’ve visited. For example, without my knowing it, I’ve included Hawaii in Juelle’s Legacy, a Lobster Cove Book from the Wild Rose Press, and even the sequel Breakfast with Santa, has my heroine tripping off to Norway to catch up with her fiancée.

I love holiday romances, and besides Breakfast with Santa (loosely based on an event that is held here in town, annually), my novel ‘Nothing Short of a Miracle’ was an original start at writing that I pulled out of my bottom drawer and decided it was worth another look. And it paid off.  It was snapped up, rated #1 as an Amazon Encore Exclusive, and held that title for 21 days, along with my author rank at #7. It remained on the top 100 books for even longer, and is still doing well. Wish you see my happy dance—or maybe not J

Why do I write what I write?  The old saying: “write what you know” kind of describes me.  As you can see, I tend to be an eclectic writer, although most of my novels are contemporary. And, I still have a lot of experiences, adventures, and human interest tales to fill a few more books.

What’s next?  Cairo Connection, of course. Readers have been asking for the sequel to Ribbons of Steel, and perhaps another Lobster Cove book. And my ‘Connection Series’ has been contracted and auditioned for Audible—coming soon.

Tell us a little about Breakfast With Santa:

Six years ago Katelyn experienced heaven in Mark Logan’s arms. But when Mark joined the Special Forces, he left her with shattered dreams—and, unbeknownst to him, carrying his unborn baby. Now, he’s back in Lobster Cove, and she’s engaged to another man. But with her fiancé in Norway, Katelyn volunteers to play an elf at the annual Breakfast with Santa event.

Mark Logan-aka Santa–can’t keep his eyes off Katelyn in her sexy elf outfit, which brings back feelings better left hidden. After all, he only returned to Lobster Cove to keep his two-year-old son safe from kidnappers, not to rekindle an old romance.

Katelyn, conflicted between her renewed feelings for Mark and the secret she’s kept from him, flies to Norway to reaffirm her feelings for her fiancé. But when she arrives, she discovers a startling truth. Will unearthed secrets be the key to her happiness or heartache?

A Peek Between the Pages of Breakfast With Santa:

Mark had all he could do to keep his eyes and mind on the kids all morning. Carrying on a conversation with them while watching Katelyn Sullivan out of the corner of his eyes was driving him nuts. She was more beautiful now than she had been six years ago. And hot damn, the elf outfit was just about the sexiest getup he’d seen in a long time. On her, it was like a beacon sending out come-hither signals, like the lighthouse next to her parent’s restaurant. And he had no trouble receiving those signals—loud and clear. They had drifted apart after high school when she went off to attend college and he joined the military. Was she in a relationship now? There’d been rumors, but folks in town weren’t being very forthcoming with details. Lobster Cove’s rumor mill tended to be part myth, part truth, and all wrong sometimes, if he remembered correctly. Hell, he could only imagine what they’d been spreading about him—where he had disappeared to, and why he was back with a two-year-old son in tow. Secret missions for the military left little room for confiding in family or sharing secrets with loved ones. Not sure what his parents had told anyone, but he did know they’d kept his career and his wife’s death to themselves. Of course, they didn’t know the entire story, either.

Dammit! He was tired of guarding secrets.

Katelyn herded a pair of twin boys in his direction. His heart raced as she drew near enough for him to touch her. Instead, he lifted the two four-year-olds on to his knees.

“Ho, ho, ho, Miss Elf. Who do we have here?” He looked directly into her eyes instead of the boys’, hoping she’d recognize him.

She didn’t.

“This is Ryan and Ethan Holmes, Santa. They have a list for you to take back to the North Pole.”

Mark ignored the list and continued gazing into Katelyn’s baby blues. The boys wiggled, diverting his attention back to the main reason he was there—to play Santa. He sighed as she walked away, and vowed he’d find an opportunity to talk to her before the end of the day.

Buy Links:

Amazon Author Page, The Wild Rose Press Author Page

Barnes & Noble: Carol Henry Page

More about the Author!

Carol Henry writes Destination: Romance—Exotic Romantic Suspense Adventures for The Wild Rose Press. A world traveler, Carol writes about her visits to exotic locations for major cruise lines’ deluxe in-cabin books Porthole Cruise Magazine, and takes pleasure in weaving her own adventures with her ‘characters’ and readers in her “Connection” Series—Amazon Connection, Shanghai Connection, and Rio Connection—where the heroine finds more than the ‘wild and wonderful’ world around her—she finds her inner courage, and a once-in-a-lifetime love.

Her contemporary novels include Nothing Short of a Miracle—a holiday romance picked up by Amazon Encore and became a #1 Best Seller; and Juelle’s Legacy and Breakfast With Santa—part of the Lobster Cove Series through The Wild Rose Press.

Her books have garnered awards from Preditor’s and Editors Readers Poll’s, placing 5th in Best Book/Ebook in 2015 for Breakfast with Santa; 2014 for Juelle’s Legacy, and 2013 for Nothing Short of A Miracle. All her novels continue to garner 5 STAR Reviews.

Carol has taught middle school creative writing classes, as well as adult classes on Beyond the Basics, and has been a speaker at various venues. A member of Romance Writers of America® since 1984, she is also a member and past president of RWA’s Chapter, STAR–Southern Tier Authors of Romance, since 2001; and is a member of Sisters in Crime. She is the Co-founder and Chairman of the local Write Now Writers’ Group, is a New York State Historian for her hometown, and has written several history books on the town and village, as well as her historic fiction novel: Ribbons of Steel, an 1877 historic family saga, based on the 1877 Railroad Strike.

Carol’s books are available as Ebooks and book-in-print from The Wild Rose Press and Amazon.com; ebooks are available online at all Ebook stores including Barnes & Noble. You can visit Carol’s website at http://www.carolhenry.org

Find Carol at:

Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/carolannhenry

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6582676.Carol_Henry

It was wonderful having you with us today.  Please feel free to stop by anytime. Please everyone enjoy Breakfast With Santa!

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