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Small-town country girl Calisa Rhose lives in a semi-remote area of Oklahoma with her husband, five dogs and one horse. All of her three daughters and their families live within throwing distance. She’s a member of RWA and the local chapter OKRWA. She intends to nurture and continue to grow as an author with the help of her family and supporters.
Calisa, welcome to Heroines with Hearts!
Tell us about yourself.
I began writing, weaving stories as a teen and it never went away. With encouragement from family I finally wrote and began to submit. I’m published with The Wild Rose Press as of Dec 2011—three weeks ago!
Tell us about Home.
My story is one of several books created by Oklahoma authors to hi-light the awesome talent we Okies have in our little fingers (and the rest of our bodies, too) that tells of the travels through time of a cursed scrimshaw doll. HOME is about finding a place to belong when the one place my hero Sam Callahan had always thought would be there wasn’t any longer. War had changed everything for him. My heroine, Poppy Tippen becomes that place of comfort and peace for him just when he thinks all is lost. For Poppy HOME has always been where love is so when she saw the chance to have the man she’s always loved she fights for him and her own place to belong.
How does it fit into the Scrimshaw Doll series?
Poppy is a descendant of the original creator of the curse. But being a modern woman of the sixties she doesn’t hold to wives tales so she chooses to ignore the curse that only true love can break. Is it real? You’ll have to read to find out. HOME is the turning point book in the series as the final historical.
What got you interested in writing?
I don’t even know. I started out with poetry in middle school and it snowballed from there over the years.
What comes first, plot or characters?
Characters usually, but with HOME I think plot created the characters.
What have you learned from being a published author that you wish you knew before you were published?
It takes a lot of patience! And the world of authors is so supportive I was amazed at how quickly I was accepted as one of ‘them’ by all authors I met with my publisher!
(Debra: TWRP really is a very supportive, extremely talented group of authors.)
Any advice for new writers?
Get a few critique partners, join a good and supportive, critique group and then use what feels right to you. Not everything a crit partner says is gold so be careful you chip the nuggets out and save them. Most of all, don’t give up. If writing is your dream—keep after it!
What’s next for you? What have you got in the works?
I have a paranormal series I’m writing and a contemporary cowboy story is in progress. I also have a couple of projects I set aside to work on the cowboy one that I can’t wait to get back to this new year.
(Debra: Oooh. I love cowboy stories!)
Where can we find you and your books?
Get your copy of HOME at The Wild Rose Press and on Amazon.
Find Calisa at her website/blog http://calisarhose.wordpress.com
On twitter @Calisa_Rhose and Facebook @Calisa Rhose
She loves to hear from readers so drop her a line at calisa.rhose@gmail.com
HOME blurb
TAG:
What could a gypsy and a Vietnam veteran have in common?
BLURB:
Silvertown’s outcast, Poppy Tippen, has loved football hero Sam “The Force” Callahan forever. But he never seemed to know she was alive. Now he’s home from the war and she suddenly finds herself comforting him from the demons of “that damn war.” Is his attention merely an escape from the haunting nightmares? Or does she hold the interest of the only man she’s ever truly loved?
Sam Callahan’s only solace from the war nightmares wrecking his life comes in the unlikely form of a gypsy girl with stigmas of her own. He’s known Poppy his entire life, but there’s something different about her now. Something special he desperately wants to hold on to. Can he convince her she’s the only thing he needs to put the past behind him?
