Katheryn Lane's Blog, page 6

Writing Romance by Bestselling Author, Alexandra Sellers

First Alexandra, can I say how great it
is to interview another romance author, especially one that writes sheikh romances!




Great to meet you, Katheryn!  And thank you for having me on your blog.  As Jane Austen says, "If the heroine of
one novel be not patronized by the heroine of another, from whom can she expect
protection and regard?"  For
"heroine" read "sheikh romance novelist"!




First, I believe you have been writing
for quite a few years, including writing romance novels for Harlequin.  




Yes, my first book was published in 1980, by Dell.
And my second was then commissioned by Harlequin, and after a few more books I
went to Silhouette, which was then a Simon & Schuster imprint. Harlequin
had to buy the whole imprint, I like to think, to get me back…




Can I ask you what it was like when you
first got ‘the call’ when Harlequin said that they wanted to publish your work?




There is nothing in the world like it, is there? It
was Vivien Stephens who called me.  She
was the editor at Dell then. She moved to Harlequin later, too. 




Was your first book a sheikh romance?




Not quite. THE INDIFFERENT HEART (dreadful title!)
was set in Morocco, but my hero was French. 
I was utterly entranced by the magic of that world. I can still remember
seeing a donkey eating an orange, and the colours! The image burned into my
retina forever.




You have published many romances, how
many are sheikh novels?




I think about seventeen of forty are sheikh
romances.




What first got you interested in sheikh
romances?




I've been
focused on the Islamic world for a long time now, with great love and
admiration. I read stories from THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS at the age of 9 or
10, and I think that laid out the road for me. Then in my twenties I came upon
THE SUFIS by Idries Shah, which was another body blow to my narrow western
worldview.  Subsequently I read many more of his eye-opening books. That
got me so interested that finally I took a degree in Persian and Religious
Studies at the University of London, graduating in 1992. I didn't do any of
this with the idea of writing sheikh romances, but one day my editor suggested
that I should put all that background to good use.




What inspires your books?




I'm glad you asked that question. Love.




Have you visited the Middle East? What
did you think and did you meet any handsome sheikhs? 




Yes, many times, if we include the Near East and
Central Asia in the definition of Middle East—I've been to Egypt, Israel, Iran,
Turkey,Yemen and Morocco. I love all those countries and of course the men can be breathtakingly handsome! Also with a
wonderful proud posture and an inner strength and authority that is very
attractive.




In your sheikh romances, how much is
fantasy and how much is based on reality?




Well, if you are asking about the background, of
course the souks and palaces and mosques are real, up to a point. This is the
premise of my Sons of the Desert world: neither Genghis Khan's horrifically
destructive invasion, nor the equally ugly Crusades, nor the later western
conquest of the Arab nations, ever happened—or at least, did not affect the
countries where my stories are set.  That
vitally important world that existed up to the 13th century: the
Golden Age of Islam which inspired our own Age of Reason; the great seats of
Arab learning in Baghdad and Damascus and elsewhere; the unmatched and
unmatchable art; the breathtakingly beautiful palaces and mosques; the magical
souks; the power, the authority…that world still exists in my books. I take
ruins—for example, the Sheikh Lotfallah mosque in Isfahan, that even today is
so soaringly, tenderly beautiful that the only possible response is tears—and
carry them alive into the here and now. 
In my world, the nations of the Middle East were allowed to progress and
develop in their own organic way, neither trampled under by Mongol hordes and
Crusaders nor hot-house forced by the power greed of the British Empire nor the
later, broader western world greed for oil and dominion.




If on the other hand you mean emotional reality—of
course. Love is real. It inspires, it transforms, it solves every problem, if
we let it.




Sheikh romances have been very popular
ever since E. M. Hull published The Sheik in 1919. Why do you think this
particular genre has had such a long-lasting appeal?




I don't think it's always been as popular as it is
today, by any means. I think there was a decades-long gap when not much was
happening in sheikh romance. When I wrote my first sheikh novel in 1997—BRIDE
OF THE SHEIKH—there really weren't all that many sheikh romances being
published. Now of course there are at least half a dozen sheikh romances
published every month across various lines. Why? Well, partly I think it's a
cosmic forces, collective unconscious thing—the world needs balance. There is
so much Islamophobia and so much hatred of the Middle East and Arabs going on
that our psyches are in danger of being taken over by that hatred, whether we
consciously share it or not.  And so
nature finds a way to redress the balance with love.




In a more ordinary way, I think it's because,
contrary to popular notions amongst so many hidebound and 'brand conscious' romance
editors at the moment, women like to
read about the mysterious and powerful masculine.  And that role is easier for an Arab prince
than for most other men.




What are you working on at the moment?




Several things—first, I'm re-issuing some back
titles in eBook. CAPTIVE OF DESIRE and FIRE IN THE WIND are available now, and
I've just finished the revisions on SEASON OF STORM—one of my favourite
stories, with a Canadian Indian hero—and that will be released as soon as it's
ebook formatted.




I've also now got POOR LITTLE RICH GIRL'S SHEIKH
ready to go, another story in my SONS OF THE DESERT series, and it looks as
though I'll be self-publishing that, too. The current formula across the board
is so very, very restrictive that it becomes impossible to maintain the
integrity of character and story within the demands of 'line branding'. One of
the worst of the new demands is the hostility to narrative. Narrative slows the
reader down, apparently, it might make her savour the story, or even pause to
think about it. And that would mean the reader spending too much time with one
book when she could be buying another to get the next hit of 'zippy
dialogue'.  I don't know how readers
stand it. I know as a writer I can't.




And thirdly, I'm working on a psychological thriller
that's been gnawing at me for years. I hope to finish that next.




Where can readers find out more about
you?




http://www.alexandrasellers.com

http://facebook.com/AlexandraSellersAuthor

www.twitter.com/AlexndraSellers

www.pinterest.com/alexndrasellers




Stay in touch by joining Alexandra's mailing list:

http://eepurl.com/ziMnv  




Would you love to read and review one of
Alexandra Sellers amazing romance novels? She has very kindly agreed to give away a few review copies of her latest 3
books (winners will even get the chance to chose which book they would like to review!) along with some very cool calendar magnets featuring her novel, FIRE
IN THE WIND, to a few lucky winners!




To win, just enter using the Rafflecopter
below and remember the more entries you make the higher your chances of winning.





Thank you very much Alexandra and good luck everyone!






a Rafflecopter giveaway

Love In Bloom Romance Giveaway!

As part of the Love In Bloom Giveaway Hop I'm giving away some great FREE romance!

The first ebook is the wonderful novel Broken Wings by D. G. Torrens, which I read recently and LOVED! Here's what it's about:

Two people who have both suffered tragic losses in their young life; both of
them avoiding love for completely different reasons. Joshua, a soldier in the
British Army, a bomb disposal expert and the very best at what he does.
Angelina, an editor for a local newspaper and writer in her spare time. Both of
them focused on their careers.
Brought together unexpectedly, they fall
unconditionally and irrevocably in love with one another. All is perfect in
their lives until Joshua is unexpectedly posted to Afghanistan for six months.
Angelina's worst fears are finally realized. Joshua has to go, it's his duty as
a soldier, but the pull in his heart is strong and he leaves her behind with a
heavy heart.

 



Angelina is devastated and prays for his safe return. Until one
day, a few weeks into Joshua's deployment, there is a knock on her door that
changes her life forever.





 

The second prize is both books of my latest sheikh romance series, The Sheikh's Beloved.




Book 1: Adored By The Sheikh
Two people.

Two cultures.

Two completely different sets of
expectations.




A volcanic ash storm forces Tassie
Fielding to prolong a scheduled stopover on her flight home from Australia and
it’s not long before she’s being offered some local hospitality by a fabulously
rich, handsome sheikh. However, what will Sheikh Najid expect from her in
return for his lavish generosity?

 
Book 2: Treasured By The Sheikh




Unlimited wealth.

Unlimited desires.

Unlimited love?
Tassie Fielding has everything money
can buy, including a beautiful apartment in an exclusive part of London, a
luxury car, designer clothes and a credit card with no limit. However, she
doesn’t have the one thing she wants the most: her lover, Sheikh Najid. When
she travels to the Middle East to find him, she discovers the terrible secret that
he’s been hiding from her, a secret that threatens not just his life, but hers
as well.



How far would you go for the person you
love?





In order to win both of these books, just enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter below. You can then visit the other blogs taking part in the Love In Bloom Hop and enter their giveaways to win more great prizes. 
Happy hopping and happy reading!




a Rafflecopter giveaway

Inside the World of Romance Author, Deila Longford

Yesterday romance author, Deila Longford, was kind enough to invite me over to her blog to talk about happy-ever-after endings and today it's great to reciprocate by having her over to mine to talk about her life and her beautiful
books (don’t you
love the book covers!) Over to you, Deila.

Hello, I
would just like to start by thanking the lovely Katheryn Lane for asking me to
do a guest post on her blog. I was really faltered that she had asked me to do
a post and (I must admit) a little bit nervous about what to write. I am not
the world’s best in writing blog posts, but bear with me,
I will try my best. I feel that I should start my telling you a little bit
about myself. I live in rural Scotland with my family in a country house. My
only neighbours are horses and other farm animals. My bedroom window looks over
a lake (or Loch as I call it) and every morning I wake up and that view is what
inspirers me to write.


I am quite young (twenty-one to be exact) and I know at
my tender age I don’t have much life experience, but I try not to let my age
affect my writing. I always write from my heart and what I feel readers would
like to experience in real life. I like to think that I am quite well-travelled
for my age. I have visited many countries around the world, Spain, France,
Portugal, Africa, Turkey and of course the USA. I love to travel and to
experience new cultures. To see how differently people live, is mind blowing.
Travelling is something that I want to do more of. I would love to visit
Australia and China. To experience another way of life and to soak up the sun whilst
doing it is my dream. We don’t get much sun here in rainy Scotland. As I write
this post the rain is pelting against my window. I have recently visited Spain
and whilst I was there, I collected inspiration for my new novel, Wilde
Velvet. Everything from the people to the food inspired me and now I am
having a blast turning that inspiration into a story.     




The first
novel that I wrote was Three Thousand Miles To You the story is based in
London and New York (my two favourite places in the whole world), about a young
girl who meets and falls in love with a dangerous, compelling guy who has deep,
dark secrets. Writing was always something that I wanted to do, but with a busy
lifestyle and literally no free time, I never thought that I would ever have
the time to finish the story. Seven books later, that fear has long gone. I
finished the Three Thousand Miles series and started writing another. Forever Yours was born and now I’m working on another novel and a follow up to Three Thousand Miles Forever .



This year
has been hectic and consumed by writing so far, but of course I have still
managed to squeeze in reading a few wonderful novels. My taste in reading varies.
I love everything from Pride and Prejudice to Beautiful Disaster .
There are no limits to what I read. I am currently reading This is a Love Story
by Jessica Thompson. I love it so far and like every book I already love, it
frustrates me in the most wonderful ways. I can’t wait to finish the story and
find out what happens with Nick and Sienna.



As I have
already said I’m not the best at writing blog posts. However, I feel that I
have let you into my world a little and hopefully I have inspired you to check
out my books. I always love to hear from the readers. Without you, there would
be no reason for me to write.



Love Always,




Deila xx



My books are
available on Amazon at:  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Deila%20Longford&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank



You can
connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and Pinterest.



My blog: http://deilalongoford.blogspot.co.uk/



Email: deilathreethousand@gmail.com



Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Deila-longford/341582502598985
 



Twitter: https://twitter.com/DeliaLongford



Thank you
very much Deila for taking the time to tell me about yourself and your  writing - could
you send a bit of that Scottish rain out here to the desert?

Why I Love Strong Female Characters by James West

Today I'm doing a blog swap with author James West. I'm over at his place, at http://jamesawest.blogspot.com  eating chips and salsa,and talking about sheikh romances, while he's kindly agreed to come over here to talk about why he loves strong female characters (as do I!) and eat some local flat bread, olives and hummous and maybe even a bit of camel's hump? Over to you James! 

  

First, I want to thank Katheryn for
inviting me to guest post on her fantastic blog! It’s so nice to be here.






I knew right away I wanted to talk about
strong female characters, a topic that has been on my mind as I work on my new
novel. I will apologize for the shameless plugs right up front, because I will
mention some of my work in this post :)





I come across this subject occasionally
when I am on Goodreads, KindleBoards, etc. Like with most things, people seem
to be split down the middle on what they prefer.





Personally, I love strong female
characters. When I read The Lord of the Rings for the first time as a teenager,
Eowyn was one of my favorites. She was strong, loyal, brave, and wanted nothing
more than to protect the people she loved. I admired her spirit and courage
when she hid her identity and charged into battle with the Riders of
Rohan.  And when she faced the Witch-king
of Angmar at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, that is one of the most awesome
fantasy scenes ever written! EVER. I love what she told him when he boasted
that no living man could hinder him:





"But no living man am I! You look upon
a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund’s daughter. You stand between me and my lord and
kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite
you, if you touch him."





That gets me every time! I knew I wanted
women like that in my stories. I enjoy writing fantasy where the damsel in
distress longs for a good sword, and heaven help the bad guys if she gets her
hands on one.





In The God King, book one of my Heirs of
the Fallen series, one of the main characters is Ellonlef, a Sister of the
Najihar. She is a scholar, a healer, and a warrior. It is because of her that
hero, Kian Valara, is able to stand against the evil of the God King. People
have emailed me and written reviews telling me Ellonlef was their favorite
character. That makes me so happy! To write a character you can connect with
and care about is every writer’s dream, and it’s a personal goal of mine with
every story I write.





In my upcoming release Lady of Regret, you
will be reunited with Lady Nesaea. You first met her in book one, Reaper of Sorrows. The Scorpion did have to help her out of a spot of serious trouble,
but she took down plenty of scumbags before she was captured! I don’t want to
give too much away, but she plays a major role in this story :) I have a special sneak peek on my Facebook fan page for anyone who
is interested.









Overall, I think strong, passionate women
enrich a story in so many ways. I enjoy reading about them as much as writing
about them, and I hope you do to!





Thank you again Katheryn. I enjoyed being
here and meeting everyone.





To find out more about me, you
can:


Visit my blog:
http://jamesawest.blogspot.com





Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jwestbooks





Find me on
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jwestbooks?ref=hl






James A. West’s book are available on
Amazon at: http://goo.gl/5Skxf



Thank you very much James for taking the time to be here!

The Sheikh's Beloved, #1 Hot New Release on Amazon!

Amazon #1 and #2!

The Sheikh's Beloved is now out and has become a Number 1 Hot New Release on Amazon, with Book 1 in the series, Adored By The Sheikh, hitting the Number 2 spot! Naturally I am very excited and I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone that has already bought them. I hope you enjoying reading The Sheikh's Beloved. For readers who haven't yet got their hands on a copy, here's what the series is about:

  




Book 1: Adored By The Sheikh
Two people.

Two cultures.

Two completely different sets of
expectations.




A volcanic ash storm forces Tassie
Fielding to prolong a scheduled stopover on her flight home from Australia and
it’s not long before she’s being offered some local hospitality by a fabulously
rich, handsome sheikh. However, what will Sheikh Najid expect from her in
return for his lavish generosity?



Book 2: Treasured By The Sheikh
Unlimited wealth.


Unlimited desires.

Unlimited love?
Tassie Fielding has everything money
can buy, including a beautiful apartment in an exclusive part of London, a
luxury car, designer clothes and a credit card with no limit. However, she
doesn’t have the one thing she wants the most: her lover, Sheikh Najid. When
she travels to the Middle East to find him, she discovers the terrible secret that
he’s been hiding from her, a secret that threatens not just his life, but hers
as well.



How far would you go for the person you love?







Each story stands on its own and can be bought separately as novellas, but they are also available together as one book, The Sheikh's Beloved, so people can read them in order (and save money!!)











Also, to help readers save more money and to celebrate the launch of The Sheikh's Beloved series, my novel Her Latin Lover is on sale this week for just 99c (77p)!!









 

Now on sale for just 99c!

Would you like to star in a sheikh romance? Now's your chance!





What's the heroine called?

I'm about to release my latest sheikh romance series, The Sheikh's Beloved, but I'm having problems with the heroine's name. Originally I was going to call her Kate Perry, but I've just been told that the name is very similar to that of a famous singer (I must watch MTV more often!). I therefore need a new name and I thought I'd open it up to my readers.



Would you like the heroine named after you?



She's a sexy British woman with strawberry blonde hair, who gets struck in the Middle East when her flight is delayed due to a volcanic eruption. However, it's not long before she meets an incredibly rich, handsome sheikh who offers her some local hospitality in more ways than one!



The delayed flight was on it's way back from Australia, where she was visiting her mother, who's been married four times (and soon meets a gorgeous ex-lifeguard). Why don't we open up the contest and include these people too so we can have more winners?



Would you like to have the heroine's mother, or her lifeguard boyfriend, named after you?



You don't need to look like any of these people or have lived similar lives to them, you just need to have a great name and enter the contest!



To enter just tell me your name (first and last) and which character you'd like to have named after you: the heroine, the heroine's mother, or the mother's boyfriend. You can tell me using one of the following methods:


Leave a comment below
Send me an email - KatherynLane1 (at) hotmail.com
Send me a direct message on Twitter - @KatherynLane
Leave a comment on my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/KatherynLane.Author

The winners will have the character named after them and receive a free ebook copy of The Sheikh's Beloved series!



Please let me know as soon as possible, as I'd like to publish the series this month.

Would you like to star a sheikh romance? Now's your chance!





What's the heroine called?

I'm about to release my latest sheikh romance series, The Sheikh's Beloved, but I'm having problems with the heroine's name. Originally I was going to call her Kate Perry, but I've just been told that the name is very similar to that of a famous singer (I must watch MTV more often!). I therefore need a new name and I thought I'd open it up to my readers.



Would you like the heroine named after you?



She's a sexy British woman with strawberry blonde hair, who gets struck in the Middle East when her flight is delayed due to a volcanic eruption. However, it's not long before she meets an incredibly rich, handsome sheikh who offers her some local hospitality in more ways than one!



The delayed flight was on it's way back from Australia, where she was visiting her mother, who's been married four times (and soon meets a gorgeous ex-lifeguard). Why don't we open up the contest and include these people too so we can have more winners?



Would you like to have the heroine's mother, or her lifeguard boyfriend, named after you?



You don't need to look like any of these people or have lived similar lives to them, you just need to have a great name and enter the contest!



To enter just tell me your name (first and last) and which character you'd like to have named after you: the heroine, the heroine's mother, or the mother's boyfriend. You can tell me using one of the following methods:


Leave a comment below
Send me an email - KatherynLane1 (at) hotmail.com
Send me a direct message on Twitter - @KatherynLane
Leave a comment on my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/KatherynLane.Author

The winners will have the character named after them and receive a free ebook copy of The Sheikh's Beloved series!



Please let me know as soon as possible, as I'd like to publish the series this month.

Saving Jackie K and Giving Away $50

The First Lady in Danger?

Jump into the past to save her!



Enter an upside-down world where Soviet henchmen botched their mission to eliminate John F. Kennedy fifty years ago, slaying his
wife Jackie instead. The unthinkable crime incites Americans and triggers an unending war with Russia.



In present day, as the two superpowers teeter on the brink of mutual destruction, a team of outlaws discovers a way to jump
through time. The wisecracking felons decide to take matters into their own hands by traveling back to 1963 to save Jackie K. To fix the future, they must right
the wrongs of the past.



But, their mission may go awry . . .



(Formerly titled Destination Dealey)





About The Author



L.D.C. Fitzgerald is the author of blockbuster novel,  SAVING JACKIE K , a thrilling adventure to save the First Lady. In writing a story with an unexpected twist on the Kennedy Conspiracy, Fitzgerald relentlessly researched the facts regarding the JFK assassination, and wove them into a fictional world. The author even consulted with renowned conspiracy experts, and scouted the hallowed grounds in Dallas.



Where does the fact end and the fiction begin?

"Everything in my novel is true, except the stuff I made up." -
L.D.C. Fitzgerald



Saving Jackie K is currently on sale for just 99c!



 


Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Saving-Jackie-K-ebook/dp/B005EA4UXO/

Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Saving-Jackie-K-L-D-C-Fitzgerald/dp/0983747318/




 







Rafflecopter:




a Rafflecopter giveaway




This giveaway ends 17 April. The winner will be announced at www.worldwindvirtualbooktours.weebly.com  

Travel Around The World With Savannah Grace

Savannah Grace




I love to hear about new and exotic
places and today it’s great to welcome author, Savannah Grace, who has
literally traveled to the four corners of the earth! She is now telling her story
so that those of us who can’t go all over the world can travel through her
books instead. Savannah, I believe your first book is currently on sale for only 99c until 15 April!! What’s it about?





"SIHPROMATUM"
(Sip-row-may-tum) is a memoir series of my family's four-year backpacking
adventure around the world. The first installment, "I Grew my Boobs in
China", is the beginning of an intensely fascinating, sobering, and emotional
memoir of an introspective and innovative family adventure.



Built around a backdrop of over eighty countries, "I Grew my Boobs in
China" relates the family's adventures in China and Mongolia), this is a
tale of feminine maturation - of the metamorphosis from ingénue to
woman-of-the-world. Nibbling roasted duck tongues in China and being stranded
in Mongolia's Gobi Desert are just two experiences that contribute to the
exploration of new cultures and to the process of adapting to the world around me.



What do you have planned for the other
books in the series?



There will be
a few more books in the series to come. It would be impossible for me to wrap
up the entire 4 years and 80 countries in one book. The next installment covers
our overland journey through Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Western China,
Tibet, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka and India. The characters will continue to
grow and develop, with the group dynamic ever evolving and fluctuating. New
characters are introduced because a few friends from home flew out to join us
for a few weeks each at different times. You will experience parts of the silk
road, Tibetan monasteries, the strength of Nepali sherpas in the incredible
Himalayas then live in the colors and chaos of India and then contrast this
with the relaxing beauty of the Maldives. And of course with all the adventure,
humour and excitement that was found in my first book too.



What made you want to write your story?



The idea of writing this book was put in
the air early on in our adventure, as evidenced in journal entries I’d written
in Mongolia. Once our adventure started developing into something bigger than
any of us had ever anticipated, we were constantly being told by fellow
travellers that we needed to write a book. We felt that telling the story from
my perspective as the reluctant, youngest member of the group was the most
unique.



Is there anything you feel that you
have had to leave out?



I try not to leave anything out. I am very
open and honest in my writing and feel that’s important in order to gain a real
connection with my readers. I also have to be careful not to include the
uninteresting details. In the first book I included nearly everything, because
in the beginning everything is so fresh and new and made such an impact on me.
The second book I will breeze through and pick out more of the highlights. Sometimes
there are things that happened which just aren’t enough to form a story around,
and those bits I’ve had to leave out.



Have you always wanted to be a writer?



I think that a part of me always wanted to
be a writer but I never knew what I would write. When we went traveling, though
reluctant at first, I really discovered myself. I suddenly had a thousand
stories to share and amazing material to work with. I knew within the first
couple of months of traveling that I wanted to write a book about it. I still
have lots of material left for my Sihpromatum series but will likely branch out
to fiction based on truth later on.



What do you like doing in your free
time when you're not writing or travelling?



Hmmm, there pretty much isn’t anything to
my life but that! I document every step I take. I love spending time with my
boyfriend just running around doing errands, going out on dates and hanging out
with my family. My hobby is pets. Before I went travelling I always had lots of
animals, and now I’m starting to collect them again. I have snakes, fish, a
turtle, tortoise, tarantulas and am planning to get a rat in a couple weeks.



Do you think you will continue
travelling?



Yes, definitely. There’s just so much to
see! Since publishing “Sihpromatum” I have been very involved with the
traveling community on social media and feel I’m discovering new places every
day. There is so much left to be explored. But it’s also nice to have a base
and place to call home.



I recently got back from a fantastic trip
to Guinea, West Africa where my partner and I have bought a piece of land on an
island and are building a holiday home.



This year I plan to go to Spain, Italy in
the summer, a trip home to Vancouver, Canada, another trip to Guinea to check
on the progress of the building and I’m hoping we can squeeze the Philippines
in too. Japan is
definitely high up on my bucket list. I have yet to
discover South East Asia. I have heard amazing things from family members about
the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, etc. with their amazing sights, people and
beaches.



Still need to go to Australia and New
Zealand, and a South America trip has been in the air for years now.



Luckily, because I started young, I have my
whole life ahead of me. Traveling is where I find most of my inspiration and it
keeps me feeling alive.



What is your favourite country and why?



People always ask me what my favourite
place was but I have never been able to answer this question. With so much
natural beauty in this world it is hard to pick just one. How do you choose
between deserts and jungles, mountains and beaches, historical sites and
natural wonders? Some of my top destinations would be Nepal’s gorgeous
mountains, trekking and people, Mongolia’s outback for its horses and extremely
friendly people, Surinam’s jungles and multicultural atmosphere, Switzerland’s
villages and skiing, Canada’s amazing nature with waterfalls, mountains and
lakes, China’s beautiful authenticity and villages (my favourite was Yangshuo,
one of the very first places I ever travelled so maybe I was easily impressed,
but I still think it was amazing), Italy’s amazing history and artwork,
Maldives’ priceless islands, blue waters and white
beaches, India’s bright, lively culture and food plus many, many more!



How can people get in touch with you if
they'd like to connect with you online?



My website is www.sihpromatum.com . Here, you can read
the book while following along with photos. Just find them in photos- Asia -
China and Mongolia albums. All of the interviews and media where I am featured
are posted there as well as photos from the 98 countries I have visited.



There are stories from over 100 countries
on our family blog which we started in 2005: including my latest trip to
Guinea, West Africa.



www.watkinstravel.blogspot.com



Feel free to follow me @Sihpromatum : https://twitter.com/Sihpromatum 



You can connect with me, Savannah Grace, on
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/savannah.grace.549



I really appreciate if you LIKE my FB page
:  http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Sihpromatum-I-Grew-my-Boobs-in-China/367565703312088?fref=ts



You can also find me on Goodreads if you
are interested in reading: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6520230.Savannah_Grace



I would love readers to take the time to
review my book on Amazon.com once they’ve finished reading it: http://www.amazon.com/Sihpromatum-Grew-Boobs-China-Volume/dp/1479236659/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352234800&sr=8-1&keywords=sihpromatum  





Author Bio
My
name is Savannah Grace, born and raised in North Vancouver, Canada. I’m the
youngest and probably least adventurous member of a very adventurous family. By
the age of 7 they’d already dragged me through 30+ U.S. states on various
family camping trips. At age 14 I was pulled out of school, this time to
backpack around the world for an amazing 4 years. I'm 22 now and couldn’t be
happier with the experiences I’ve had. I’ve visited 98 countries thus far and
because of these extraordinary experiences I was able to follow my dream of
becoming a writer and have finally released my first book “Sihpromatum – I Grew
My Boobs in China”. I’m currently living with my Dutch partner in The
Netherlands, where I continue to follow that dream.

The Sheikh’s Beloved - New sheikh romance on its way!

I am very excited about publishing my latest sheikh romance,
The Sheikh’s Beloved! The manuscript is currently with an editor (the amazing
Faith Williams at The Atwater Group), but as soon as it’s back and I’ve made
the necessary changes (I hope there aren’t too many), I plan to publish the
story.


At the moment I’m a bit addicted to writing about dark, sexy
strangers from the Middle East coming up against strong-willed English woman.
As in any good romance, they battle out their differences until they finally
manage to get their happily-ever-after ending. However, being a sheikh romance,
they also have to overcome huge cultural problems!







The initial idea for this particular sheikh romance, The Sheikh's Beloved, was
based on the massive volcanic eruption that happened in Iceland in 2010, which
resulted in flights being cancelled across Europe, including all
flights into London. On the news at the time there were several stories about
passengers who were stuck in transit in the Middle East and this led to me
thinking about what would happen if one of the travellers was an attractive
single woman and what would she do if she was offered hospitality by a rich,
handsome sheikh?


The heroine in this romance has strawberry blonde
hair and would look a bit like the model above, while the sheikh, Sheikh
Najid, is kind of cute and sexy, a bit like Karl Urban in this
photo.








For more pictures relating to the story of The Sheikh’s
Beloved, please visit my Pinterest board at http://pinterest.com/katherynlane/the-sheikh-s-beloved

Watch this space for publication details!