I love discovering new authors, so I wanted my blog to be a place where readers and my author pals could come together. Only we like to do this Speed-Dating style. Check out a new author and her work here every Wednesday, and if the spark is there, you’ll have a match.

This week’s guest: Roni Hall

15 Questions

 

1. If you could revisit any favorite period in your life for a day, in approximately which year would you be found and what would you be doing?

My wedding day. I’ve never felt such intense, overwhelming emotion as I did walking up the aisle…nervousness, anticipation, excitement and of course love. The icing on the cake… everyone that was important to me was there to share it.

2. Sure, it’s like picking a favorite child, but which one or two of your titles do you secretly love just a little more than the others?

LOL, that’s easy. MONTANA WILD, my only release. I am working on another as we speak.

3. Will you be glued to the screen during the XXIII Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, will you catch the recaps, or will you ignore the games completely? Any favorite events?

I will be glued to the TV. I LOVE the Olympics. Downhill skiing is crazy, scary and exciting.

4. Dogs or cats? Pedigree or mutts?

Definitely dogs. I am extremely partial to Labs.

5. How many books have you published and in how many genres and sub-genres?

My debut novel is contemporary romance with a flair for adventure. I threw in some suspense too!

6. Favorite female singer/rocker over 60: Tina Turner, Deborah Harry (Blondie), Stevie Nicks, Gloria Estefan or _________?

So many to choose! Aretha Franklin.

7. If you were marooned on a deserted island with plenty of food and water but with only one book to read and re-read, which title would you hope for?

I would have to take two vastly different novels…GONE WITH THE WIND [by Margaret Mitchell] and THE STAND by Stephen King.

8. What is the first thing you do when you finish a book?

Crack open a special bottle of wine!

9. Which Disney princess (or prince) do you wish you were more like? And which one are you really most like?

I wish I was more like Belle (“Beauty and the Beast”) because she could see inner beauty. And which one are you really most like? Ariel [“The Little Mermaid“]. I am a water baby.

10. Who was the first person, besides your mom and dad, who told you that you could write?

My boss! I was rewriting a job classification and he was impressed with my manipulation of words to describe the position.

11. What are some of your non-writing talents that readers might find surprising? (Keep it PG please.)

Calligraphy, cooking, wine appreciation. I took some woodworking classes and have a renewed respect for all power tools!

12. Names some things that have changed in publishing since your first book was published.

When I was writing my debut novel, self-publishing was frowned upon. Now it is a respected, legitimate option!

13. Have you ever, even for a moment, forgotten that one of your characters was…you know…fictional?

Sure. When you spend so much time with your heroine, she becomes your bff!

14. Do you own at least one purse (or twenty) from a well-known fashion designer, or are you more the bag-to-carry-my-junk-in type?

I love bags…but they don’t have to be designer. I like them to be FUN with lots of compartments!

15. Offer a piece of advice to new writers that you wish someone had given to you at the beginning of your career.

Don’t quit. Don’t compare yourself to others. Stay true to YOUR voice.

 

Thanks Dana!

 

***

 

 

Montana Wild

By Roni Hall

 

 

Swept up into the sea of travelers at the airport, she focused her attention back to the present as she followed the human current through check-in and security gates. It wasn’t until she was buckled into her seat that she registered the panic present in the far corner of her mind. What am I doing? A sickening wave of nausea rose in her throat as clammy beads of sweat trickled down her face. What the hell am I doing? Get up. Get off the plane now. It’s not too late, go!

Dizzy with indecision, she reached for the buckle on her seatbelt as her alternate conscience spoke up. No, stay. Do I really want to go back to my cramped little studio and spend more time alone? Her fingers released the grip on her seatbelt and she closed her eyes, deliberately trying to relax the tense wires in every fiber of her body.

Uneasy thoughts lingered after her internal schizophrenic conversation and she tried to leave all doubts behind as the plane ascended. Finding it impossible to concentrate on reading, she tried to distract herself by striking up a conversation with the unlucky soul sitting next to her.

“Have you ever been to Montana?”

“Oh yes, my sister lives there and I try to visit her every few years. How about you?”

“No, I’ve never been. This’s my first time and I’m nervous,” Jamie admitted.

“It’s pretty enough, but it’s rough country. I couldn’t live there. What brings you?”

Well, I finally got enough backbone to break up with my abusive, criminal boyfriend Derrick three months ago, and then my best friend and only ally, Noah, left on tour. I have NO family since my father died an agonizing death from lung cancer ten years ago, resulting in my mother becoming depressed and committing suicide two years later. I was pathetic enough to attach myself to one of my patients and become a helpless spectator as death cruelly consumed him. Only days after his death, my only surviving relative and second mother died, leaving me a 31-year-old orphan. So you see, I’m a loser and terribly lonely. So when this man I’ve never met in person asked me to join him on an intriguing escape across the country, I accepted.

That was the whole enchilada she wanted to spew out to the sweet, unsuspecting gray-haired matron in seat 21A. Instead she answered succinctly, “Just visiting a friend.”

 

***

MONTANA WILD, Roni Hall’s debut novel and a 2016 release from Soul Mate Publishing, may be purchased through Amazon. An Audible version of the book may be purchased by following this link.

 

***

About Roni

The summer after high school graduation, Roni worked two jobs to pay for nursing school. During the midnight shift as a waitress, a charismatic young man at the counter flirted with her for hours as he consumed seven cups of coffee.  Their first date was eventful enough to be a book itself! Thirty-nine years and two kids later, the love story continues. Just like her novels, life can’t be too simple and you must make it an adventurous ride!

Her favorite place to write is in her hammock at their small Michigan cottage where she literally dodges the feeding hummingbirds while being serenaded by the lake’s loons.  Besides writing, she loves Slow Rollin’ in Detroit and the combination of good food, better wine, and dear friends.  Learn more about Roni through her website, www.ronihall.com, and follow her on Facebook and Twitter. Email her here.