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USA Today and national bestselling author Anna J. Stewart can't remember a time she didn't have a book in her hands or a story in her head. Early obsessions with Star Wars, Star Trek and Wonder Woman set her on the path to creating fun, funny, and family centric romances with happily ever afters for the independent heroines she writes for both Harlequin and Berkley. Anna lives in Northern California where she deals with a serious Supernatural & Sherlock addiction, surrounds herself with friends and family and tolerates an overly affectionate cat named Snickers (or perhaps it's Snickers who tolerates her).

1. When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Honestly? I think from the time I wrote my first story as a freshman in high school. I’d always loved making up stories and playing make-believe, but when a group of friends and I started writing mini romances (soon after I discovered reading romances), the world kind of opened. My grades sure suffered, but I couldn’t stop writing.

2. What do you like to do when you are not writing?

These days that time is getting less and less!  I love going to the movies and hanging out with my friends (I have the BEST friends!), and I have a side hobby of working on dollhouse miniatures. I’m also a serious TV junkie.  And reading of course! There aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything I love.  J

3. Tell us about a favorite character from a book.

I’m going to assume you don’t mean one of my characters, LOL.  I have a few, starting with Elizabeth Bennett from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. Even on the page she’s just so spunky and ahead of her time.  These days, my favorite recurring character is Eve Dallas from the JD Robb books (I’m a Nora Roberts fanatic). She grows in every book…how does that happen after so many novels?  And then there’s Einstein the golden retriever in Dean Koontz’s THE WATCHERS. Best. Dog. EVER!


4. Do you have a favorite quote or saying?

My senior year quote was taken from a romance novel by Constance O’Banyon (Time Swept Memories): “Nothing worthwhile comes easy. Hard work only makes you appreciate it more.”

Second favorite? FINDING NEMO”s Dory’s “Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.”  I love that little blue fish!


5. Tell us a little about yourself, including something people might be surprised to learn.

I’m very much a home body.  I can go days without leaving the house and be perfectly content. Probably goes with the writer mind frame I suppose. While I love spending time with my friends, big crowds and constant bombardment with noise gets to me really quick. I HATE concerts. Unless it’s Bon Jovi. Every girl has an exception.

I tend to go opening day to big movies (Star Wars here I come!), which doesn’t really match with that big crowds thing, does it?  But I’ll be with “my people”. I’m a big geek.

I’m terrified of heights.  And not just looking down from them. Now I have problems when I look up. Vegas is a mini-nightmare, LOL. I feel like my feet are dropping out from under me!

My mom and I have the Christmas tradition of buying a Lego set and building it Christmas day. This year she’s doing a space shuttle and I’m building the Big Bang Theory room!


6. What was your best day?

I’m not sure I’ve had it yet.  I’ve had a lot of great days, but it could be the day I got the call from RWA that I was a Golden Heart finalist. That even beat my first sale call, I think. But that’s a close second, especially since it came from one of my best friends.


7. What was your worst day? (I’m channeling City Slickers here.)

It’s a tossup: the day we found out my mother had cancer. It was about three weeks before the RWA National conference and I was up for a Golden Heart. She wouldn’t let me change my plans and postponed her surgery until I got back.

A close second, if not tied was the day of her surgery. It all went well and she’s over 3 years clear now, but that was the worst day I’ve ever had. Being a control freak, nothing was in my control.

The entire experience made me realize how quick things in life can change and not to take anything or anyone for granted.  I never want to be that scared again.

8. If you could spend the afternoon with one writer, living or dead, who would it be and what would you talk about?


Anyone who knows me assumes I’m going to say Nora Roberts, but I’m not. Mainly because whenever I get around her, I forget how to speak. I get so star-struck it’s ridiculous (she’s the reason I started writing romance) and so unlike me (I can talk to anyone).  So, I think I’m going to go with…my second favorite romance author, Sherrilyn Kenyon.  I’ve been fortunate to meet her before. She’s so inspirational with all she’s overcome and she churns out book after book despite it all.  Hanging out with her for a little while is enough to remind me how very lucky I am to be in this business. She’s all about gratitude and perseverance and I love that.
On Tour with Prism Book Tours.

The Bad Boy of Butterfly HarborThe Bad Boy of Butterfly Harbor
(Butterfly Harbor #1)
by Anna J. Stewart
Adult Contemporary Romance
Paperback & ebook, 368 pages
1st 2015 by Harlequin Heartwarming

Can people truly change?

Two things keep Holly Campbell grounded: her precocious son and preserving her forty-year-old family diner in the face of expansion and change. She doesn't need a blast from the past like Luke Saxon, who's back in Butterfly Harbor after more than a decade away. The hard-luck kid who nearly destroyed her family, leaving her to pick up the pieces, is taking over as sheriff. She can't trust him, even if Luke's ideas for the town's upcoming anniversary seem to show he's trying to give back to their community. Has Butterfly Harbor found its unlikely savior? And has the widowed single mother finally found a man she can believe in, rely on…and love?

Comments

  1. Liz FlahertyDecember 15, 2015 at 8:04 AM

    Thanks for visiting us today, Anna! I'm still salivating over the guy on your cover--don't know when I'll open the book! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anna J StewartDecember 15, 2015 at 9:32 AM

      Thanks for having me, Liz! And right there with you in the cover. Lol.

      Delete
  2. kim hansenDecember 16, 2015 at 10:16 AM

    Sounds like a good read.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jennifer L.L.December 16, 2015 at 9:41 PM

    I have added it to my TBR list and look forward to reading it. Thank you for the opportunity.

    ReplyDelete

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