Coffee With Shana Galen and a Giveaway!

Jan 6, 2015 | Blog, Coffee With, January 2015

First, if we were meeting at a coffee shop I’d be drinking a Latte 🙂 What would you order? I almost always order a grande soy no water chai. The no water makes it extra yummy!

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer a few questions.  I’m a HUGE fan of your books. Your Christmas With the Duke’s Arms was published in October and is a collection of stories from four talented and amazing writers.  What was it like to put this book together and what was the most challenging part of writing this Christmas book? I know this one was on many holiday wish lists including my own!

It was actually really fun working with Miranda, Grace, and Carolyn to put the book together. I’m so used to working in isolation that it’s a pleasure to brainstorm ideas with other authors, especially writers as clever as they are. The best part for me was that the three of them are all good in areas where I lack knowledge. Carolyn knows so much about formatting and metadata and stuff like that. Grace is really smart about back cover copy and the craft of writing. Miranda is great with the financial stuff.

The challenging part for me was the cover. It was a long, onerous process, and it was tough to get us all to agree on pretty much every aspect of the cover.

Congratulations on your novella that released earlier today – Happy Release Day! I reviewed it yesterday and it was fantastic! (link to review) Your next book in the Covent Garden Cubs Series “Earls Just Want to Have Fun” will be released on February 2nd and I’ll be posting my review of that later this month! I’m impressed, you must write with super power speed! 

I don’t write particularly fast, I just don’t sleep a lot.

8 Tantalizing Tidbits

1. A Must read book and why? Enclave by Ann Aguirre. What? Shana Galen is
recommending a dystopian YA? Yep. It’s very historical in tone, and no
one does action and suspense like Aguirre. I learned a lot from reading the
Razorland series, and thoroughly enjoyed myself too!

2. What is one place that I should see if I visit your hometown?I live in Houston, and if
you come here, you should see NASA. I recently visited again after not having
gone for more than a decade, and it’s just so fascinating. If I hadn’t been with my
daughter, I could have stayed for hours.

3. What is one thing readers would be surprised to know about you? I’m a vegetarian and haven’t eaten meat in 28 years.

4. When you are traveling do you prefer to road trip it or fly it? Definitely fly. I don’t like driving or being stuck in the car. I want to get there fast.

5. If you had an all expenses paid trip anywhere in the world for research, where would you go? No brainer. London. I’d stay for six weeks and tour all of the UK. I just
love the UK, and I haven’t been in 15 years.

6. What are you afraid of? Crickets are super icky to me. I don’t like their black bodies
and legs. Surprisingly, spiders don’t bother me much. Those are minor fears,
though. My real and true fear is that something horrible will happen to my
daughter. I think most moms fear for their children’s safety.

7. Organized or Free Floating? So, so organized. I have lists of lists. Nothing makes
me smile like checking something off my to-do list.

8. Do you love to cook or go out to eat? I am the worst cook. It’s because cooking
doesn’t allow for revision. I always mess something crucial up and then I can’t go
back and fix it. I throw a lot out. I like to go out to eat.

Thanks for stopping by Shana! Thanks so much for having me!

***********NOW CLOSED *******   GIVEAWAY***********

Shana Galen is giving away an e-book (Kindle, Nook, Kobo or Google Play) of The Viscount of Vice to one person who comments today. For your chance to win let us know  – If you had an all expenses paid trip anywhere in the world, where would you go?

This is one book you will want to have in your e-reader 🙂

BIO:

Shana Galen is the bestselling author of passionate Regency romps, including the RT Reviewers’ Choice The Making of a Gentleman. Kirkus says of her books, “The road to happily-ever-after is intense, conflicted, suspenseful and fun,” and RT Bookreviews calls her books “lighthearted yet poignant, humorous yet touching.” She taught English at the middle and high school level off and on for eleven years. Most of those years were spent working in Houston’s inner city. Now she writes full time. She’s happily married and has a daughter who is most definitely a romance heroine in the making. Shana loves to hear from readers, so send her an email or see what she’s up to daily on Facebook and Twitter.