AT LAST...ROCCO INTERVIEWS TRACI HOHENSTEIN!

Interview with Indie Suspense Author: Traci Hohenstein!
Plus a giveaway!


Traci Hohenstein is an indie author that I and my master found on Amazon, and she’s definitely worth a read! Some of you might have seen my master’s article on Traci in this month’s issue of Night Owl Reviews: http://www.nightowlsuspense.com/nor/Pages/Magazine.aspx

For those of you who haven’t – or who want to read the whole article – I’m pleased to present Traci Hohenstein!

R: Hello, Traci and welcome to my blog!
T: Thank you, Rocco.

R:Tell us about yourself.
T:First of all, I love cats. I live in NW Florida in a small beach community with my husband and three adorable kids. When not writing, I love to go to the beach and build sandcastles, swim in the gulf, and soak up the sun.

R:When did you know that you wanted to be a writer?
T: When I was in the 5th grade, our English teacher asked us to write an essay. The topic was to give the point of view of an inanimate object. I wrote about being a daisy in park and observing the children playing. She picked mine to read aloud to the class. My face turned red, but I was hooked from that point on.

R:How did the whole idea for Burn Out come about?
T: I became intrigued by the Natalie Holloway case. I remember watching a search and rescue firm from Texas coming to Aruba with all their specialized equipment and searching for clues about her disappearance. The seed was planted for a main character Rachel Scott, who has a three-year-old that disappears. Rachel starts a search and rescue company to help other missing persons. My husband is a firefighter, so I incorporated that element into the story.. And the first book in the Rachel Scott series, Burn Out, was born.

The next in the series, Asylum Harbor, Rachel is called in to a help locate a missing teenager who vanished during a cruise to the Bahamas. All the while, Rachel is still searching for her own missing daughter as well. This will be a five or six book series.

R:Are your characters based on people you know?
T: I took the liberty of using a few friends’ names for characters. Suzette Breland, who I went to high school with, is actually a lawyer. She is a spunky one, too. Stacy Case also went to the same high school and she is a TV reporter for a station in Nashville, TN. And Michelle Couch is a dear friend of mine who edits my work.
Who knows, in my next novel, there may be a Rocco the cat.
.
R:Who are some of your favorite authors and why?
T: Lisa Unger, Jane Porter, Alafair Burke, and Sophie Kinsella to name a few. All women authors with a strong voice and interesting characters. I buy all their books and recommend to other readers.

R:What books are you reading now?
T: Stephen King’s On Writing has a permanent place on my nightstand. I read a little bit every night for daily inspiration.
Someone from my Goodreads book club recommended Chelsea Cain’s Heartsick. So far I love it.

R: What made you decide to go “indie”?
T: After several near misses with agents and publishers, I took a look at what other indie authors were doing, namely Joe Konrath, and decided to give it a try. I like the freedom of making my own choices when it comes to cover art, editing, and promo/marketing.

R: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book or publishing experience?
T: No regrets.

R:What was the hardest part of writing and/or publishing your book?
T: Finding a balance between writing (meeting my goal of 2K words a day), promotional/marketing, and spending time with my family.

R:What do you do when you are not writing?
T: You can usually at the beach with a margarita in one hand and a good book in the other.

R:What’s a must have for you when you are writing?
T: My lucky Sorelli ring. Love the way it twinkles when my fingers pound the keyboard

R:Any new projects we should know about?
T: I’m working on two projects right now. My sister, Anna Satterfield, and I are writing a romantic comedy called Special Delivery. It’ll be available May 1st , just in time for Mother’s Day. I hear one of characters has a gorgeous female cat…hmmmm. The other project is the second in the series to Burn Out called Asylum Harbor.

R: MEOW! Me likey female cat 
Now, some “just for fun” questions:
Are you a cat person or a dog person?
T: I’m an animal lover at heart. But nothing beats a cat snuggled in your lap, purring a sweet song and loving on you.

R: PURRR….Sucking up to the interviewer is always recommended

R: Day or Night person?
T: I do my best work at night.

R: Favorite drink?
T: Margarita, frozen, no salt.

R: What is one thing your readers would be most surprised to know about you?
T: I played keyboards in an alternative rock band.

R: What is the craziest thing you've ever done?
T: Not necessarily crazy, but I’ve been white water rafting down class four rapids.

R: If someone could describe you in one word, what would it be?
T: Vivacious


R: In closing:
What do you hope readers will most take away from your writing?
T: I like to write about things that no one else has done or put a different twist on a certain topic. I hope after they read one of my books they think it was clever and well done.


R: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
T: Thanks to everyone who supported me and bought a copies of my novel. I love to write and it makes my day to hear that you love my work. I write for you. J

R: Where can our readers find you?
T: www.msthriller.wordpress.com is my blog site which I update a couple times a week.

On Sunday, I get together online with other indie authors and we promote Sample Sunday. You can visit my blog and find a sample of my work-in-progress along with a great recipe.

All my books are on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com.



MEOW! Thank you, Traci! Folks, run out and grab a copy of BURN OUT! And who knows? A cat named Rocco just might turn up in one of her future books!

And now…a giveaway! Traci will give away a personalized, signed copy of BURN OUT to one lucky winner!

To enter, leave a comment on this blog. To earn extra points, just:

Friend my master, Toni LoTempio on Facebook +1
Friend me, Rocco the SciFi Blogging Cat, on Facebook + 1
Friend Traci Hohenstein, the author, on Facebook +1
Tweet about the contest – blog – Night Owl Magazine +1 for each tweet.
Follow my blog, www.catsbooksmorecats.blogspot.com +1

If you do any of the above, be sure to mention it in your comment, for example, Hey Rocco, enter me in the Traci Hohenstein giveaway! I’ve friended your master and Traci on Facebook and tweeted about the giveaway and your blog +4!

Contest will run until Friday, May 27 – winner will be announced Monday, May 30!