Wednesday, July 3, 2019

INTERVIEW ~ Detour to Paradise by River Ames Genre: Sweet Contemporary Romance


Lucas Rockworth—a hard-driving force of nature has been ordered by his doctor to take some time off and get his blood pressure under control. You would think buying a cabin in the natural splendor known as Gray Horse Lake, Idaho, would do the trick. All that mountain greenery, crystal blue lakes and rivers, and nature-run-amok had to be exactly what the doctor had ordered.



Enter Sarah Burke… The innocently enticing young entrepreneur who’s opening an equestrian camp for children with handicaps.

Her initial impression of him is clearly wrong. For some reason, known to the reader but unknown to him, Sarah mistakenly believes that Lucas Rockworth is a shy, sensitive man. After having to deal a lifetime with a dominating older brother and controlling father, she finds these traits very appealing.

Her recent breakup with someone who could best be described as a bully has Sarah longing for a kinder, gentler man in her life.

Lucas tells himself that, since he makes his living as a general contractor, he has the hands-on experience to make himself into anything Miss Sarah Burke is looking for.

It shouldn’t be that great a stretch to become a modern, sensitive kind of guy, should it? She wants Mr. Rogers… Well, darn, he can manage that for the short time he’s in Idaho.

How hard can it be to tame his darker, more cynical side?

As for Sarah Burke? She thinks she’s met a real life version of Mr. Rogers. But, the reader knows its Rambo who’s come a’courting.

Would the real Lucas Rockworth care to step forward?



Goodreads * Amazon


Do your characters hijack the story, or do you have full reigns of the story?
Since my books revolve around my characters, I don’t consider them changing the direction of my intended plots to be a form of hijacking.  My characters live in my novels, and my writing really is all about them. During the course of writing a book, I grow to really care for them.  Sometimes they get in the way of finding their own happiness, but they never get in the way of the story. My characters are my story.
Do the characters all come to you at the same time or do some of them come to you as you write?
In the beginning of a novel, I have an impression of who my lead characters are.  I usually choose two or three strong character traits and motivations that form the core of their characterization.  As their story develops so does my knowledge of who they are and what they want. Sometimes they shock me, but that’s when I know that they’re becoming their own people.
Do you believe in writer’s block?
It always comes down to a matter of definition.  Some people who don’t believe in writer’s block base that opinion on the fact that one can always write—just start typing and you’re writing.  But, if you’re referring to taking dictation from your subconscious brain, then I do believe in writer’s block. The thing is we always have the capacity to sit down and begin typing even when the creative flow is cut off.  It can be really painful, but it can be done. But, what’s the quality of the writing that’s being put on the page? Some writers say that the reader can’t tell the difference between when an author’s writing while “in-the-zone” from when he/she is “gutting” out his/her story by pure determination.  Personally, I think I can tell the difference.
I went through a severe depression that lasted for years.  When it first hit me, I couldn’t even read a novel because my brain would not allow me to go to that place where reading fiction lives.  I did not write during that period of time. I was focused on staying alive. I’m very grateful that this period has passed. I’m definitely writing again.  And, the sheer act of doing so makes me feel as if I’ve reclaimed a lost part of myself, of who I am.
Still, there are some days that I’m definitely not in-the-zone.  On those days, I do editing, work on character development, plotting, and research.  I’ve found an effective way to start my next day of writing is to stop in the middle of a sentence.  I avoid ending a writing session on a completed paragraph or chapter.
Do you have a favorite movie?
My “favorite movie” changes from time to time.  I really enjoy ironic science fiction, but I have a PG13 sensibility.  This means that when I watched “Shawn of the Dead”, “Tremors”, or “Lake Placid” on network television, I loved them.  However, when I bought the DVD’s, I just couldn’t get past the language. You can add “Big-Assed Spiders” to that list.
As for television series, it’s no surprise that I record and watch “The Orville.”  “Once Upon a Time”, “Contagion”--and my all-time favorite--“Longmire” top that list of favorites.




River Ames spent the first eighteen years of her life in Southern California. Here is a partial list of some of the cities in which she lived: Pasadena, South Pasadena, Duarte, El Monte, Arcadia La Puente, Lomita, West Covina, Pacifica, Santa Monica, Palmdale, and Hacienda Heights. In some of those cities, she lived at six different addresses. In the city of La Puente, River's family lived in four different houses on the same street. The non-glamorous reason for all the moves was habitual eviction necessitated for non-payment of rent. It was an interesting way to grow up.

River attended twenty-six different elementary schools, two different junior high schools and four different high schools. In one elementary school, she was a student for only three days.

Perhaps, because she was so frequently identified as the "new girl," the pattern of River being an observer instead of a participant in the interactions going on around her seemed a logical fit for her personality.

When she was thirteen, River read "Gone with the Wind." She skipped three days of school in order to finish the book in one sitting. Disappointed in Rhett for "not giving a damn," River wrote her own sequel--in long hand, on three-hole punch, notebook paper. The opening line? "Tomorrow dawned bright and fair." In less than fifty pages, Scarlett had been transformed into Jane Eyre and Rhett had fallen in love with her all over again.

After Southern California, River has spent the next part of her life living in the semi-rural town of Idaho Falls, Idaho. She is a graduate of Idaho State University, majoring in Health Education Sciences and Addiction Counseling. She's worked the past ten years at a Behavioral Health Center where she assisted children, teenagers, and adults committed in a 24/7 secured facility because of mental health challenges they are experiencing.

River's books celebrate the good-natured humor that lays at the heart of most of our human predicaments. The conflicts are significant, yet it is her characters and their quirky (yet somehow universally relatable) thoughts, words, and choices that reflect a light-hearted peek into a world we wish was real. The amazing thing is that these worlds are real to readers for the time they visit there.

Readers have said: "In a River Ames book, one minute I'm laughing out loud, and the next I have a lump in my throat."

River is currently readying a historical novel, "Gideon's Justice." This three-part novel is Book I in a three volume western series set in the Colorado Territory.




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