Abbie Roads

 Author on the Couch: Sandra Masters

Today I’m conducting a session with…Sandra Masters!

GIVEAWAY!

Sandra is giving away a ebook copy of Once Upon A Duke. 

Just comment and share this post to be entered into the giveaway!

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Me: If you had to pick a mental disorder to have for only one day (purely for research purposes), which one would you choose? And why?

Sandra: Generalized Anxiety tops the list for me. All my life, I’ve dealt with the unknown and the desire to achieve a more stabilized environment for myself and my two sons. I supported my mother and father for a huge portion of my life so I learned to deal with pressure. It’s a familiar enemy and one that I know. Writing does have it pressures, timelines, and editing woes, too. Again, familiar.

Me: Which of your characters are you most like? Why?

Sandra: Probably, Serena Worthington, in Book One, ONCE UPON A DUKE. She was strong, a fighter, intelligent, motivated, and wouldn’t settle for less than she felt she deserved, (true love) having survived a bad marriage with emotional scars, like I have.

Me: Serena sounds wonderful.

How did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Sandra: At a very young age, my girl friends and I played games based on movie stars we knew. I was the drama queen, willing to be beaten, and willing to die for love! They were all milk toast.

Me: How many books have you written? How long does it take you to write a book? What’s the most painful part of the writing process?

Sandra: Abbie, you sure ask a lot of questions. I’ve been writing since I was thirteen. Wrote my first book in high school for my English Teacher. From then until I became published last year, I wrote twelve books with no schooling for the craft. Never submitted any of them. It was like writing gave me an outlet for all my pent up emotions.

It takes me about two months to write the first draft after I’ve developed the synopsis, plot line and characters. I then do a second polishing edit. Then off it goes to my content editor for her approval.

The most painful part of the writing process is the edits because I’m usually involved in another book and characters and I have to screw my ‘other’ head back on to delve into their souls.

Me: What causes stress in your writing life?  Why?

Sandra: Waiting to hear back from my editor. I tend to take worst case scenarios and if she doesn’t see merit in the novel, I’m devastated. So far, I’ve been blessed, but she does make suggestions that are spot on.

Me: I know… The waiting is the worst! I convince myself every single time that she hates it.

Who is your book boyfriend? Why?

Sandra: My husband is my beau and he helps by reading not only the full length novel, but each chapter before it gets there.

My critique group of mixed genre writers always give insight into something and help make it better.

Me: If you could be any character in any book for a day, who would you be? Why?

Sandra: I would be Whitney in WHITNEY, MY LOVE by Judith McNaught because she had the world thrown at her, and she survived in the end to get her man and to find love and happiness. The path was filled with emotional hurdles and Whitney realizing who she’d become.

ME: You know… I’ve never read Whitney, My Love. I need to. I’ve heard such wonderful things about it.

What’s the worst piece of writing advice every given to you? How did you get beyond it?

Sandra: I never got bad advice, but I did get lots of good advice from teachers, writers, and friends. Mostly I was told to hone my craft. Even my first rejections were filled with constructive suggestions and encouragement. That was in late 2014 and 2015. I submitted three times to my editor, Cindy Davis at The Wild Rose Press and each time she replied to me with insight.  The third time was a charm.

Me: That’s awesome that you’ve had great people around you to give you good advice. So many writer’s haven’t been as fortunate.

How do you deal with rejections and bad reviews? What advice can you give others about how to handle rejection and bad reviews?

Sandra: If I think the rejection or bad review had merit, I would take it to heart. If I think someone is just writing to hurt or antagonize, I ignore it. I can tell when someone hasn’t read the book and is just looking to find their five seconds of print fame at my expense. I never respond to a negative review. That’s advice given by well known writers and I follow it. It will just fuel the flame. It hurts, but I won’t argue with stupidity.

I never respond to a negative review. It will just fuel the flame. @SandraMasters10 #amwriting Click To Tweet

If you work hard at something, you are guaranteed success. Success is something that if you work at every day, it will come to you. Success is in the eyes of the beholder. I am grateful for every good or bad thing that has happened. Both have made me a stronger, better, kinder person and given me insight into life.

Me: I love your approach to reviews and success.

Tell us about your spicy regency romance, The Duke’s Magnificent Bastard.

Sandra:

After three years in England, Thorn Wick, the duke’s bastard son, perfectly flawed, still fights for acceptance in his father’s world as a renowned golden horse trainer. Just when he starts to believe in fairy tales, another obstacle looms to thwart his plans.

Alicia Montgomery, ward of the duke, is in love with Thorn. Strong willed and adventurous, she determines she can convince him to admit his feelings until the reality of loving Thorn too much almost destroyed her.

On a dangerous mission to Barbados at the request of his father, Thorn is stunned when secrets are revealed about his mother. Will Thorn extract revenge for the foul deed?

Can Alicia quell Thorn’s demons and prove to him love can pave the way to their happiness?

Can Thorn relinquish his past because he now has a present and a future? Will he accept the man he has become? Will he return to his father and Alicia and fulfill their destiny?

****

WARNING:

Contains a multi-cultural Anglo-West Indian hero, an aristocratic English heroine, a noble duke, an evil witch doctor, a Barbados chieftain intent on redemption, and an amazing Argamak Turkmen horse all within the bounds of romance, and intrigue, with an element of suspense.

Me: Share a favorite paragraph or two from your latest release.

Sandra:
They stood, two men, in an embrace, Thorn’s tears still ran down his cheeks.

“You don’t need help, Thorn. You are my beloved son. Bastard or no, I’ll love you from here to eternity. Damn any man or woman who will defile you. They will suffer my wrath. Now, we have to be happy you are returned to us. The future is ours, Thorn.  Think well of this. Together, you and I, father and son, will accomplish much.  We have suffered and now it is time to rejoice. Thorn, my Thorn. My magnificent bastard, you  truly are my beloved son.”  Page 161

I love this paragraph because it is the underlying premise of this book. In England, bastards were not easily accepted. In this case, Thorn’s father is a prominent duke and he has accepted him from the first knowledge of his existence seventeen years later. The young man has a chip on his shoulder and has had to fight for everything to take care of  his mother’s needs. When on her deathbed, she makes  him promise to visit his father, he gives up the half breed existence to travel an ocean and become an illegitimate son, the bastard.

Buy Links: 

Once Upon A Duke

My Divinely Decadent Duke

Thorn, Son of a Duke

The Duke’s Magnificent Bastard – Release Date November 4, 2016

Amazon | Kobo | BN | Apple iBookstore | The Wild Rose Press

You can find Sandra here:
FACEBOOK | WEBSITE | TWITTER

Abbie Roads writes dark emotional novels featuring damaged characters, but always gives her hero and heroine a happy ending… after torturing them for three hundred pages. RACE THE DARKNESS and HUNT THE DAWN are available now! SAVING MERCY Book 1 in the Fatal Truth Series is now available for pre-order.

RACE THE DARKNESS

HUNT THE DAWN

SAVING MERCY