Awesome B.A. Tortuga Interview and a Giveaway!

Today, I'm thrilled to have my dear friend, B.A. Tortuga on the blog. I love this woman to pieces - she's kind, smart, funny, loyal, protective, gives amazing hugs and let's not forget, a damn good writer. Also, she'll kick the asses of anyone who needs kicking.  What's not to love?

She's here to celebrate her new release: Terms of Release out with Dreamspinner Press!  And part of her celebration is to giveaway a 20$ Amazon Gift Card!  The contest will be open from now until midnight on March 31st. 

Eligible entrants need to comment and don't forget to leave your email address so we can contact you if you win!

General Random Sorts of Questions

oWhat’s a typical day like for you?

Oh, goodness. I have typical weeks: Sunday I spend the day dealing with emails, writing blog posts, and cleaning my house. Monday is marketing and working on files. Tuesday is rewrite day. Wednesday and Friday are writing days. Thursday is my day off and the day I run errands. Saturday I run down for falafel at my favorite restaurant, Annapurnas, and come home to spend the day in the studio. :D

o   What do you consider your greatest accomplishment?

Does not committing homicide count?

o   Do you have any collections?

HA! Would you like them alphabetically or chronologically? O.o

I collect Pyrex dishes, china, Wizard of Oz things, turtles, coffee cups, witches, basset hounds, yarn, fabric from 1949, Sherlock, western art, hutches and Hoosier cabinets, notebooks, computers…

o   What are your hobbies?

If by hobby, you mean obsessions, then knitting, crocheting, weaving, quilting, sewing, reading, cooking, basset hound agility…

o   Are there any skills you’d like to learn?

I want to learn how to play the guitar and the fiddle and I want to learn to ride my unicycle. Yes. I have a unicycle.

o   What’s your favorite word?

Almost. No, really. I love that silly word.

o   What’s your least favorite word?

Impossible. I had an ex that used to look at me and say, “well, that’s impossible, baby” and it STILL sets my teeth on edge.

o   What sound do you love?

Acoustic guitar is one of my absolute favorite sounds on earth.

o   What sound do you hate?

Whining. I cannot abide that noise. O.o

o   What’s your favorite curse word?

I’m a traditionalist – give me a good ‘fuck’ anytime. ;-)

o   What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?

Oh, if I wasn’t a writer, I’d go back to my former job as an illustrator.

o   What profession would you not like to do?

A realtor. My baby-est sister is one and I can’t think of something I’d be less suited to.

o   Dog or cat person?

Oh, dogs. I love cats, but I’m allergic in that OMG I CAN’T TOUCH IT I’LL SWELL LIKE A BALLOON way.

o   Coffee or tea?

Coffee. Dark. Black. Rich. Constant.

o   City or country?

I’m a country girl at heart, but sometimes the country doesn’t love me back. ;-)

o   Star Wars or Star Trek?

waves her official Star Wars geek card Go ahead, ask me about the mechanics of an AT-AT.

o   Buffy, Angel or Firefly?

Firefly, please. :D

o   Pirate or ninja?

Fuck ninjas. I’d much buckle some swash.

o   Morning or night person?

I’m a morning person. It turns 10pm and I’m a pumpkin. Boom.

o   Procrastinator or get things done early?

I don’t have a single ounce of procrastinator in me, I admit it.

o   Introvert or Extrovert?

Everyone who meets me swears I’m an extrovert. Everyone who knows me swears I’m not. ;-)

o   What do you like best about writing?

I love wallowing in the sounds of my past. I miss home and I love knowing that Texas lives inside me.

o   What do you like least?

Having to rework the sad parts. I lived through it once, damn it.

o   Do you have a day job aside from writing?

I do some free-lance ebook conversion and some art on the side, but the bulk of my job is the writing.

o   If you were a book, which book would you be – and why?

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. Why? Because at the core, I’m sugar-coated evil.

o   If you were a song, which song would you be – and why?

Blackbird by the Beatles – “all your life, you were only waiting for this moment to be free” – that’s me in a nutshell. Also, Beatles! Guitar! Acoustic! LOVE!

o   Have you heard a song that reminds you of someone today? If so, what was it and why?

Oh, I played “Til My Last Breath” by Justin Moore just today! That’s the song we’re playing at our wedding. 

Book Related Questions

Soooooooo…The Terms of Release looks like something that would make me cry. Did you cry while you were writing it?

Snorts I cried when I wrote it. I cried when I edited it. I cried the last time I read it. O.o

Which character do you identify most with and why?

Ellen Redding, Sage’s momma.

I’ll explain using textual aids:

He headed out about the time Ellen Redding came slamming through the door like a short round red-headed avenging angel.

“John Barnette, you lousy motherfucker! I covered your ass when you were shitfaced and drove your truck into my fence, I went to the doctor with SueAnn when Billy Cooper knocked her up, and I have never once bad-mouthed you, and you refuse to serve my son?”

Carrie opened her mouth, and Ellen pointed a finger at her. “Don’t you say a word, you sanctimonious whore. You think I won’t go to Brother Howard’s wife and tell her that you’re the feet sticking out from underneath the pulpit, you got another thing coming. You stuck-up pieces of shit, so scared of the goddamn sheriff and his brother that you treat a decent man like a pariah?”

Then she turned on Win. “And you!”

He held up his hands. “Hey. I defended him. Ask them. They’d be happy to rat me out.”

“Give me my goddamn order, and I’ll be going into Greenville for my business from now on.” She looked at each and every one of them in turn, staring them down. “And you’d best pray I don’t decide to start singing your secrets to everyone who’ll listen. This is a tiny town, and my family’s had its skeletons pranced around this place like prize ponies. Y’all so much as breathe hard on my son and there will be hell to pay, you mark my words.”

Johnny stood there like he was frozen, but his cashier, Dan, started loading up the order, never saying a word. Only Win knew that Dan had a couple of misdemeanor drug charges on his record. Maybe Dan knew how Sage felt.

She handed over a credit card and paid the bill. “I have my truck. Are any of you assholes going to help me load three hundred pounds of feed, or are you going to sit there with your teeth in your mouths?

What the hell are cutting horses?

Grins Pricy damned well-trained beasts.

;-)

They’re usually American Quarter horses and you use them to cull cattle from a herd and to keep them separated. When you train, like Sage is, you’re training mainly for competition, as opposed to working cow horses, who are used for culling cattle for castration/vaccination/branding. The big thing with a good cutting horse is cow sense, and there’s a bunch of arguing on whether that can be taught.

I lean toward no.

And before I forget, I need to share the blurb for Terms of Release with you guys!

They say a man can always come home. So after doing hard time, Sage Redding heads to his family’s northeast Texas ranch to help his ailing daddy with the cutting horses.

Adam (Win) Winchester is a county deputy and the cousin of one of the men killed in the incident that sent Sage to prison for almost a decade. While Win's uncles, Jim and Teddy, are determined to make Sage and the entire Redding family pay for their loss, Win just figures Sage has paid his dues and maybe needs a friend. Maybe he needs more than a friend. In fact, Win’s counting on it.

No one’s denying Sage is an ex-con who went to prison for manslaughter. Regardless of the love he has for his father, he’s returned knowing things will likely go badly for him. Maybe a man can always come home, but he may not be able to stay.

!

Linkies!

Buy link for The Terms of Release – ebook

Buy link for The Terms of Release Paperback (first 20 sold are signed)
B.A.'s Website
B.A.'s Blog

B.A.'s Twitter

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