Welcome Karen Rock

 The Wranglers are excited to have award-winning author Karen Rock with us today!

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Your bio tells us you’re an eclectic writer—you spread your talent around to different places and subgenres. (We’ll discuss envy later.) Where would you like to “go” next? 

      Great question! Since I read all genres, I would love to try a few more. I have a paranormal YA love story that’s finished and ready to go as well as a sci-fi NA love story and a sexy suspense series… basically all over J

2.   Writing-wise, where do you want to be in 10 years? 

      Hopefully I’d have a body of work that I’m proud of that has been true to the things that I care about. Whether there are awards on the walls, best-seller rankings or overflowing bank accounts, what matters most is that I’ve written what I’ve loved.

3.   Is there someone you’d like to make proud of you with your writing, and do you think you’ve done it? 

      I always struggle with questioning whether or not I’ve done all that I could to write the best story. Even when a book is in print, I wonder… should I have done this or more of that? Ultimately the person I hope to make proud is myself so I can look back at the end of my life and be happy with my choices.

4.   What do you do on those days when you’re pretty sure the muse has died and you’ll never again write a publishable word? 

      HAH! Watch marathons like Orange is the New Black or Downton Abbey… I get inspired by other people’s creativity and that always fills the well J

5.   What would you want to be if you weren’t a writer?

      I used to be an 8^th grade ELA teacher and still miss working with adolescents and getting them excited about books and writing. Soon I’ll be doing volunteer work with our local council of the arts and it will be so nice to get back in touch with that side of myself.

6.   Do you have any particular fan-girl moments you’d like to share? We’d love to hear about them, especially if they were embarrassing and good for a laugh!

      I met Catherine Lanigan who wrote the novels that were turned into the Romancing the Stone movies with Michael Douglas. Of course I had to ask what it was like working with those movie stars and if she saw the giant crocodile and she said she even has a picture of her on it!

7.   Looking back, what do know now that you wish you’d known the first time you opened a file and typed“Chapter One”? 

      Probably not to be so hard on myself. It’s hard to finish a book if you keep going back and trying to make every paragraph perfect. I never finished my first book for that reason. Now I know that it’s important to tell the complete story first and then go back and work on making the prose sing.

8.   My favorite question—well several. If you could have dinner with any woman, living or dead, who would it be? What would you talk about? Where would you go?

      I would love to talk to Alice Walker… Her novel THE COLOR PURPLE was a revelation in female sisterhood and empowerment. She’s such a talented writer and a spokeswoman for women’s rights. I would have enjoyed an evening with such a groundbreaking woman.

I’m excited to have a Heartwarming author on the Wranglers! I love writing for the imprint and I know you do, too. Do you have anything you'd like to share about it?

I guess I’d like to add that Heartwarming is such a great line to write and read because it has such emotional complexity and depth. Because we are a “clean” line, we don’t rely on physical intimacy to build romance. Instead it all comes from the emotional connections and romantic intimacy- making them some of the most swoony love stories I’ve ever read. I also love that because they are contemporary stories we get to have real-life issues that people can relate to. It’s so meaningful to read a romance and think, “that could be me”… something that never happens when I read a story about a blonde beauty kidnapped by Vikings… though I sort of wish it could be true- haha.

Blurb for SOMEONE LIKE YOU:

You can't program love…or can you? 

Kayleigh Renshaw has come up with the idea for a brilliant "compatibility app," a new kind of matchmaking software. All she needs is a programmer to help her bring the idea to market…and she knows exactly who she wants. But Niall Walsh—a code whiz and her former best friend—has been avoiding her since he returned from Afghanistan. In spite of their history, and some sparks that go beyond friendship, he's proving reluctant…. Is it her, or is something darker holding him back?

Karen Rock is an award-winning YA and adult contemporary author. She holds a master’s degree in English and worked as an ELA instructor before becoming a full-time author.  With her co-author, Joanne Rock, she’s penned the CAMP BOYFRIEND series with Spencer Hill Press under the pseudonym J.K. Rock. She also writes contemporary romance for Harlequin Enterprises. Her wholesome romance, Heartwarming novels have won the 2014 Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence and the 2014 Golden Quill Contest. When she's not writing, Karen loves scouring estate sales for vintage books, cooking her grandmother's family recipes and hiking. She lives in the Adirondack Mountain region with her husband, daughter, and two Cavalier King cocker spaniels who have yet to understand the concept of "fetch" though they know a lot about love. To find out about her upcoming releases, appearance and latest news, visit http://www.karenrock.com or follow her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/karenrockwrites or Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/karenrock5 She’d love to connect with you!

Purchase Links:

Print Book :  http://bit.ly/1oN6puy

Amazon Kindle :  http://amzn.to/1o9Bz0S

B&N Nook :  http://bit.ly/1gmWXxg

Kobo :  http://bit.ly/1qRegXE

Giveaway : Autographed copies of WISH ME TOMORROW, HIS HOMETOWN GIRL, and SOMEONE LIKE YOU as well as a $100 Amazon Gift Card. a Rafflecopter giveaway