Welcome to Sunday morning Coffee Chat time!
Today’s guest is Brooke Williams!
Welcome – Welcome – Welcome Brooke!!! So glad you could make it here today!
BW: Hello everyone and thank you so much for taking the time to visit Stacy?s blog and read more about my work today.? It?s an honor to have your attention for a few moments.
Our honor too!? So as always I must ask, Coffee or Tea?
BW: Tea, hands down.? And only iced, never hot.
Oh boy! We have a rebel on our hands!? Alright, calm down my friends, we will still allow her to stay! Everyone is allowed to have different favorites, even if they don’t include coffee. So, Brooke, tells us a little bit about you, we know you?re an author, but do you work another job when you are not writing?
BW: First and foremost I?m a full time mom.? I have two little girls, Kaelyn who is 5 and Sadie who is 16 months.? I was in radio full time for 10 years before Kaelyn was born, but once she hit the world running (almost literally!) I left that career to stay home with her.? Being a mom is a job that transcends the normal work hours, goes into weekends, overnights and so on.? When I am able to get both of my girls sleeping at the same time, that?s when I write.? It?s usually only an hour or two a day, but it?s all I have and I cling to it!? I?m an author and I enjoy that portion of the career the most, but I am also a freelance writer.? I write articles for a number of clients on nearly any topic you can imagine.
You are a busy woman! And I give you props! Being a stay at home mom is a hard job, but so very worth it! What is your favorite thing to do when you aren?t writing or working?
BW: I love to read, actually!? I do a lot of book reviews for other authors simply because I love to read and want to help them out.? I also like to take walks, which sounds simple, but it?s not something I get to do very often with my two girls running around constantly!? Before they were born, my husband and I golfed.? As in he golfed and I rode along in the cart and read.? Best of both worlds for us!? We got to chat some, be outside, and both have entertainment we enjoyed!? We?ll get back to that again someday.
Hahahaha – that is so funny! I love that you rode around with him and read while he played golf. Wish I could do that while my husband cycled.? So what is your favorite color? Why?
BW: Blue.? A light blue.? It?s a calm, cool, collected color.? And it?s not stereotypical girl, just like me!
Somehow I never expected you to be typical! We get along to well, except you don’t like coffee. What is your favorite season? Why?
BW: Fall.? After a long, hot summer, it?s nice to have cooler temperatures.? And the colors can be really gorgeous.? I love the jeans and t-shirt type of weather.? Though not the impending doom of the upcoming winter?
Wait – did I saw we got along? You like Fall? (shaking my head) Alright, I will admit it is nice to climb into jeans and hiking boots and not sweat, but I gotta go for the spring where I know the temps will warm up.? I’m nervous to ask you the next question. If you could live anyplace on earth, where would it be? Why?
BW: I really love Colorado.? If I stayed in the US, I?d try there.? The mountains are gorgeous and there?s no humidity in the summer.? Outside of the US, I?ve always wanted to go to Australia.? They still speak English (though I know it?s slightly different then here!) so I wouldn?t be completely lost.? Though I might be able to stumble through a Spanish speaking country a bit.?
Colorado is beautiful!? Okay one more fun question…? If you could have any car, what would it be?
BW: Gosh, I?m thrilled with a working vehicle that?s reliable and safely gets us around.? Whatever that is is what I want!? Ha.? Other than that, I really don?t care!
Wow.. that’s simple!? Okay – let’s get into your writing. How long have your been writing? Was it a dream, a goal or is it just a hobby?
BW: I?ve been writing for as long as I could write.? I remember as a child I used to cut pictures out of magazines, tape them to blank paper, and write new stories to go along with them.? Then I?d sell my ?newspapers? to my parents for a nickel.? They probably bought them so they could see the picture that went along with the story they read in the real magazine!?
lol… that’s priceless!
I wrote lots of little books growing up as well and once I hit high school then college, writing papers was the best part of school.? I don?t think I ever dreamed that I could actually make it as a writer so I never really made it a goal until recent years.? When I left radio, I wanted to find something I could do from home and since I?ve always loved to write, it seemed like a perfect fit.? Once my freelance writing took off, I realized that maybe I could actually be a published author as well.? Or at least I could dream of it and strive for it!
Dreams are made to be achieved!? You can do it!? So, how many hours a day do you devote to writing?
BW: As many as I can get, but usually only 1-2 due to my daughter?s nap schedule.? Once the youngest is in school, which will be another 4 years, I?m sure I?ll ramp that up quite a bit!
It is hard to write with kids. I get up at 4:30 in the morning so I can deal with things before I have to leave for work at 6:30. So I get it! Do you have a set routine or do you write when the mood strikes?
BW: My routine is to write when my daughters are napping in the afternoon.? I have to make the mood strike at that time!? I have no other choice!? I?m almost always in the mood to write something.? Whether it?s an article for a client or fiction writing.
Is there some place special you like to be when you write?
BW: At the computer. It?d be nice to have an inspirational place with an awesome view.? But at least if I turn around, I can see the trees out the back door.
Trees work! Do you listen to music or do you need a quiet place to write?
BW: I used to write to music back in college, but now I like quiet.? I think it?s because the rest of the day with my daughters is so noisy and hectic that I just want the peace when it?s available.? Plus, my older daughter doesn?t really ?nap? much anymore, but rather plays in her room so I already have that background noise and don?t really need any more!
That is very nice background noise! Let’s talk about your book! What is the name of it and is it part of a series or a stand alone novel?
BW: ?Someone Always Loved You is the first book I ever wrote.? It?s a stand alone novel, though several people have asked me to write a sequel somehow. ?I took about a ten year break between that novel and the others I have written and now that I?ve started up again, I can?t seem to stop!
Gotta love when that happens! It’s like someone turned the faucet on and broke the handle!? Where did the idea for Someone Always Loved You come from?
BW: I always wanted to write a book about someone in a coma.? I wondered if they could hear things, if they thought things, etc.? My grandmother was in a coma on two separate occasions so maybe that longing came from that.? I didn’t? know what else would happen in the book, I just wanted someone in a coma!? After a couple of years in radio, the first scene of a book came to me out of the blue one night.? It was the scene that would place someone into a coma.? I could NOT get the scene out of my head.? I simply HAD to write it down.? I mean, this thing was keeping me up at night!!? So I sat down and wrote it out one day.? Once it was out, I got goosebumps.? I knew.? I had to finish it.? I had to know what happened.? And at that point, I really had no idea what that would be.? I did no plotting, not outlining, no planning ahead.? I just wrote.? I feel like the book wrote itself and just used me as a vehicle to help it get onto the page.
I love when that happens, my last three books were just like that! Tell us what it’s about.
Someone Always Loved You is a story about love over time.? It starts when a man named Jay starts his career as an ambulance driver.? On his very first day, he hits a pedestrian.? The victim, Jordan, who was rushing to the hospital to be with her ailing husband, is thrown into a coma and Jay then keeps a near constant vigil by her side.? From that point on, their lives intertwine both past and present as the story unfolds.? Plenty of other characters get drawn in and everyone is connected in some way or another.
Wow… that sounds so very cool! Putting it on my kindle, no doubt about it! Do you have any upcoming projects in the works or other books that have been published?
BW: Boy do I!? Someone Always Loved You is the first book I ever wrote and somehow, it?s started to get attention online.? People are actually buying it!? When I realized that, I figured I should actually do some things to promote it.? It?s a story I don?t care about making money on, I just want it to be read because I love it so much and I want others to love it as well.? I also wanted to do promotional things as practice for the upcoming releases I have.? I now have several publishers behind me and a number of contracts awaiting completion.?
OMG!!! That is so awesome!! Give me a list!
Here?s a list for you!
December 2014: Wrong Place, Right Time from The Writer?s Coffee Shop Publishing House. This clean romance novella is about a woman who tries to interrupt her male best friend?s wedding, only she interrupts the wrong wedding?oops!
February 2015: Accept this Dandelion from Prism Book Group. This novel is a romantic comedy based on the Bachelor TV show.? The characters are on a local verion of The Bachelor and nothing goes right for one particular contestant.
August 2015: Mamarazzi from Prism Book Group. This novel is also a clean romantic comedy based on a female paparazzi.? When she is thrown onto a TV show unexpectedly, the tables turn and she?s the one having her picture taken.
February 2016: Baby Sheep Gets a Haircut from Wee Creek Press. This is a children?s book about, well, a baby sheep getting a haircut.? It?s a story I?ve told my daughter over and over again.? She thinks it?s funny and I hope other children do as well.
WOW!! You have a great list of things to come!? Brooke I know I wish you all the best – and I am sure other readers here will too!? Now, if you’ll excuse me – I have a book to go buy!
If you would like to find out more about Brooke Williams, please visit the links below.
Website: http://www.authorbrookewilliams.com/
Blog: http://www.authorbrookewilliams.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorBrookeWilliams
Twitter: @authorbrookewilliams
Where it can be purchased:
http://www.authorbrookewilliams.com/books.html
Amazon
