Welcome, Booklovers!
On this beautiful autumn day in the Midwest, I’ve moved the Coffee Chat to the deck. Pull up a chair and join us. Today’s guest is Anna M. Taylor with her featured Gothic romance, A Little in Love with Death. Sounds like a terrific Halloween read!
Good morning, Anna. What may I get you to drink?
AMT: Tea straight, no chaser. And thank you for the opportunity to be a guest on your blog.
Ally: My pleasure. I’ll prepare our drinks while you share your background with readers.
On this beautiful autumn day in the Midwest, I’ve moved the Coffee Chat to the deck. Pull up a chair and join us. Today’s guest is Anna M. Taylor with her featured Gothic romance, A Little in Love with Death. Sounds like a terrific Halloween read!
Good morning, Anna. What may I get you to drink?
AMT: Tea straight, no chaser. And thank you for the opportunity to be a guest on your blog.
Ally: My pleasure. I’ll prepare our drinks while you share your background with readers.
Bio:
Anna M. Taylor is the gothic romance and women's fiction penname of Anna Taylor Sweringen, a retired United Church of Christ and Presbyterian Church USA minister. She has been writing seriously since joining Romance Writers of America in 2003. Her first published work appeared in 2008 under her inspirational romance penname, Anna Taylor. Her first erotic romance was published in 2016 with The Wild Rose Press as Michal Scott. Her Haunted Harlem contemporary gothic romance series launched in June 2020.
Ally: Something unique/unusual that isn't in your regular bio: “I wrote X-Files fan fiction for years under the pseudonym Rev Anna.”
Author contact links:
Website: https://annamtaylor.webs.com /
Twitter: https://twitter.com/revannable
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2667164-anna
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/AnnaM.Taylor/e/B0894LFCTV?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000
FB Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/annamtaylorAuthor/
Anna M. Taylor is the gothic romance and women's fiction penname of Anna Taylor Sweringen, a retired United Church of Christ and Presbyterian Church USA minister. She has been writing seriously since joining Romance Writers of America in 2003. Her first published work appeared in 2008 under her inspirational romance penname, Anna Taylor. Her first erotic romance was published in 2016 with The Wild Rose Press as Michal Scott. Her Haunted Harlem contemporary gothic romance series launched in June 2020.
Ally: Something unique/unusual that isn't in your regular bio: “I wrote X-Files fan fiction for years under the pseudonym Rev Anna.”
Author contact links:
Website: https://annamtaylor.webs.com /
Twitter: https://twitter.com/revannable
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2667164-anna
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/AnnaM.Taylor/e/B0894LFCTV?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000
FB Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/annamtaylorAuthor/
INTERVIEW:
Ally: How did you get your first book or story published?
AMT: The inspirational romance writers chapter I belonged to had a program called Finish the Book. If you finished a book within one calendar year, one of the published members would critique the first twenty-five pages. I finished my WIP on December 31st. The review I received was very encouraging so I entered it into the chapter contest and to my pleasant surprise, won second place. At about that time RWA had doubled down on its serious intent criteria to maintain your general membership in the organization. Back then that meant proof you were submitting, so I sent my story to an inspirational publishing line. I figured I’d receive a rejection and then could apply for PRO status. Instead the book was accepted. Thus my publishing career was launched.
Ally: What's the best writing/marketing advice you can pass on to other writers?
AMT: Marketing should be an extension of your creativity, not an added on chore. Once you think of it in this way, you’ll naturally find the marketing activity or activities that are fun and energizing for you.
Ally: What three books in your genre would you recommend to fans (after they’ve read your books, of course!).
AMT: Eve Silver’s Dark Desires, Daphne DuMaurier’s Rebecca and Louisa May Alcott’s A Long Fatal Love Chase (not a romance but definitely a fabulous gothic love story).
Ally: Describe what you would consider the perfect get-away weekend.
AMT: My husband, I and our cats in a hotel in the country that has paths where he and I can go on nature walks, a pool for late night swims, room service galore and two queen-sized beds so we can snuggle on one when we want then have our own when one of us (mainly me) needs to be writing but the other wants to sleep.
Ally: What is your next writing project? Anticipated release date?
AMT: I’ve got two slated for Valentine’s Day. The first is the third novella in my Haunted Harlem series entitled 10,000 Midnights Ago. A young woman disappointed by love in the present is lured into the past by the promise of love. The second is the first novella in my Hot Haunted Harlem series which I’ll be writing under my Michal Scott erotic romance penname. A sexually repressed woman in her forties finds release with a ghost haunting the Hamilton Grange. It’s a race to see which one or if both hit that release date.
Ally: Which questions did you choose for the lightning round?
AMT:
Ally: How did you get your first book or story published?
AMT: The inspirational romance writers chapter I belonged to had a program called Finish the Book. If you finished a book within one calendar year, one of the published members would critique the first twenty-five pages. I finished my WIP on December 31st. The review I received was very encouraging so I entered it into the chapter contest and to my pleasant surprise, won second place. At about that time RWA had doubled down on its serious intent criteria to maintain your general membership in the organization. Back then that meant proof you were submitting, so I sent my story to an inspirational publishing line. I figured I’d receive a rejection and then could apply for PRO status. Instead the book was accepted. Thus my publishing career was launched.
Ally: What's the best writing/marketing advice you can pass on to other writers?
AMT: Marketing should be an extension of your creativity, not an added on chore. Once you think of it in this way, you’ll naturally find the marketing activity or activities that are fun and energizing for you.
Ally: What three books in your genre would you recommend to fans (after they’ve read your books, of course!).
AMT: Eve Silver’s Dark Desires, Daphne DuMaurier’s Rebecca and Louisa May Alcott’s A Long Fatal Love Chase (not a romance but definitely a fabulous gothic love story).
Ally: Describe what you would consider the perfect get-away weekend.
AMT: My husband, I and our cats in a hotel in the country that has paths where he and I can go on nature walks, a pool for late night swims, room service galore and two queen-sized beds so we can snuggle on one when we want then have our own when one of us (mainly me) needs to be writing but the other wants to sleep.
Ally: What is your next writing project? Anticipated release date?
AMT: I’ve got two slated for Valentine’s Day. The first is the third novella in my Haunted Harlem series entitled 10,000 Midnights Ago. A young woman disappointed by love in the present is lured into the past by the promise of love. The second is the first novella in my Hot Haunted Harlem series which I’ll be writing under my Michal Scott erotic romance penname. A sexually repressed woman in her forties finds release with a ghost haunting the Hamilton Grange. It’s a race to see which one or if both hit that release date.
Ally: Which questions did you choose for the lightning round?
AMT:
- Memorable book you’ve read – Beverly Jenkins’ Topaz
- Most watched tv show – Love It Or List It
- A movie you’ll always remember – A Raisin in the Sun
- Favorite comfort food – Mint chocolate chip Smashmallows
- Favorite quote – “The time is always right to do what is right.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
- A supernatural ability you’d love to have – the ability to heal all diseases mental, emotional, spiritual and physical
A Little in Love with Death
Pub date: Oct. 31, 2020
Genre: Gothic romance
Heat level: sweet
Ten years ago no one -- not even the man who said he loved her -- believed Sankofa Lawford's story of being attacked by a ghost. Ten years later a new ghostly assault brings her back home to a mother going mad, a brother dangling at his wits’ end and a former love wanting a second chance. She’s at a loss what to do because the painful memories of her own attack prove stronger than her desire to heal her family or to find love again.
Mitchell Emerson believes science and reason can account for the ghostly happenings at Umoja House. He seeks a rational explanation that will prove him right and hopefully regain Sankofa’s trust and love. Instead what he learns leaves his own beliefs shattered.
Now reluctant allies, Mitchell and Sankofa uncover years of lies that threaten to pull them apart until help comes from an unexpected ally: the ghost itself.
Pre-Order/Buy link:
Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Little-Love-Death-Haunted-Harlem-ebook/dp/B08JD5FD16/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=a+little+in+love+with+death+anna+taylor+sweringen&qid=1601482330&sr=8-1
Pub date: Oct. 31, 2020
Genre: Gothic romance
Heat level: sweet
Ten years ago no one -- not even the man who said he loved her -- believed Sankofa Lawford's story of being attacked by a ghost. Ten years later a new ghostly assault brings her back home to a mother going mad, a brother dangling at his wits’ end and a former love wanting a second chance. She’s at a loss what to do because the painful memories of her own attack prove stronger than her desire to heal her family or to find love again.
Mitchell Emerson believes science and reason can account for the ghostly happenings at Umoja House. He seeks a rational explanation that will prove him right and hopefully regain Sankofa’s trust and love. Instead what he learns leaves his own beliefs shattered.
Now reluctant allies, Mitchell and Sankofa uncover years of lies that threaten to pull them apart until help comes from an unexpected ally: the ghost itself.
Pre-Order/Buy link:
Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Little-Love-Death-Haunted-Harlem-ebook/dp/B08JD5FD16/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=a+little+in+love+with+death+anna+taylor+sweringen&qid=1601482330&sr=8-1
RSS Feed
