Happy Friday! Today, I’m interviewing author, Peggy Jaeger, whose contemporary romance, THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME releases on May 6, 2015

What’s your book about? Give us a quick back cover blurb:

Symphony pianist Moira Cleary comes home after four years of touring, exhausted, sick, and spiritually broken. Emotional and psychological abuse at the hands of someone she trusted has left her gaunt, anxious, and at a crossroads both professionally and personally.

 

Moira’s best friend, veterinarian Quentin Stapleton, wants nothing more than to help Moira get well. Can his natural healing skills make it possible for her to open her heart again? And can he convince her she’s meant to stay home now with the family that loves her – and with him – forever?

What inspired your latest novel?

I love writing about families and this book is the continuation of my first book, Skater’s Waltz. I wanted to explore what happens when you’ve known someone since birth – truly – you’ve always been friends, and then something happens to change that relationship. Can the friendship survive? Does it become stronger? Weaker? What are the feelings of the characters as they realize they love one another more than in a friendship way.

How many other books have you published and with which publishers?

Skater’s Waltz 3/15 with Wild Rose Press

Have you ever tried self-publishing?

No, basically because I’ve always felt the professionals who do this for a living are vastly better at the nuances, ins and outs, than I am. I wouldn’t know what to do in order to generate publicity, marketing, etc.

How long have you been writing?

Since I was 8. I had a great deal of success in my 20’s and 30’s with non-fiction magazine writing and short story fiction writing. I have been writing romance full time for a little over 2 years.

How difficult was your road to publication, and how long did it take you to get that first, coveted contract?

My road to publication wasn’t that difficult because I didn’t start pursing it actively until two years ago when I was downsized at my job. I’d always written but it was only for me, not for public consumption. When I decided to see if anyone other than myself liked what I was writing, I entered a contest, won my division, and I had a publishing contract with WRP within a few months. Honestly, I feel like all the planets aligned at just the right time in my life. Who knows if I had started pursing romantic fiction publication in my earlier years if it would panned out.

What’s the one thing you hate most about being a writer?

Marketing! I wishwishwish someone else would do it for me!

You and me both! What do you love the most about being a writer?

The fact that I can play God to my characters and make them do, say, and act however I want them to. Plus, I am always a sucker for a happy ending, so I like being able to create that for my characters.

What are you working on next?

Books 4 and 5 in the MacQuire Women Series, books 2 and 3 in my Laine Girls Series, and various short stories. I tend to write a lot of different things at the same time because my mind wanders! Truly – all over the place on most days.

Can you share a brief excerpt of THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME?

“Remember when your cousin Tiffany got married in the backyard here?”

Confused, Moira nodded. She licked her lips, running her tongue across his caressing finger. The hiss that blew from him made her thighs shake.

Quentin rubbed her bottom lip with the pad of his thumb. “When the Reverend told Cole ‘you may now kiss your bride,’ and he swooped her off the ground, spun her around, and kissed her silly? Remember what you said?”

Moira tried to conjure the scene. “I think I said it was the most romantic thing I’d ever seen.”

He nodded. “The exact quote was ‘I hope someone kisses me like that some day.’”

Her grin was quick at the memory. “Pat snorted and said I’d better be satisfied with licks from the horses and Rob Roy because no guy was ever going to kiss me like that.”

“He wasn’t known for tact back then,” he said, rubbing a hand down her back as he held her next to him in the soft lamplight from the porch. The soothing, rhythmic smoothing of his hand made every nerve on Moira’s body stand at attention.

“Later on that day, behind the barn, remember what happened then?”

Because she did, she couldn’t stop the heat from spreading up her face like wildfire. When she merely nodded, he traced a kiss across the area he’d just caressed, and said, “You wanted to know what it felt like to be kissed like that and since I was your best friend, you thought I should be the one to do it, because you—quote—felt safe with me—unquote.”

“What was I? Eleven?”

About the Author: 

Peggy Jaeger’s love of writing began in the third grade when she won her first writing contest with a short story titled THE CLOWN. After that, there was no stopping her. Throughout college and after she became a Registered Nurse, she had several Nursing Journal articles published, in addition to many mystery short stories in Literary Magazines. When her daughter was born, Peggy had an article titled THE VOICES OF ANGELS published and reprinted in several parenting magazines, detailing the birth and the accident that almost turned this wonderful event into a tragedy. She had two children’s books published in 1995 titled THE KINDNESS TALES and EMILY AND THE EASTER EGGS, which were illustrated by her artist mother-in-law. While her daughter grew, Peggy would write age appropriate stories for her to read along with, and finally, to read on her own. Her YA stories are mysteries involving smart and funny 12-13 year old girls and an unusual collection of friends and relatives. They all take place in the 1980’s.

She has a Master’s Degree in Nursing Administration and had several articles published on Alzheimer’s Disease when she ran an Alzheimer’s In Patient care unit during the 1990’s.

In 2005 she was thrilled to have an article on motherhood placed in the CHICKEN SOUP FOR EVERY MOTHER’S SOUL edition. She has won several awards in various Writer’s Digest short story and personal article categories over the years. Recently, she has placed first in the Dixie Kane 2013 Memorial Contest in the Short/Long Contemporary romance Category, and in the Single Title Contemporary Category, and third place in the ICO Romance Contest for 2013, and in 2014 she was a finalist in the Put Your heart in a Book contest.

A life-long and avid romance reader and writer, she is a member of RWA and her local New Hampshire RWA Chapter.

Peggy has embraced the techno age and writes for three blogs, all detailing events in her life. One titled, 50 pounds for 50 years is a personal blog about weight loss, one about her life as an EMPTY NESTER and her most recent one MOMENTS FROM MENOPAUSE, a humorous and informative guide through this time in a woman’s life.

She also has her own website http://peggyjaeger.com where she writes about everyday life and how it relates to writing. Twitter is her current obsession, but she is never far from her Facebook pages.

In 2015 she will have her first two contemporary romance novels published by The Wild Rose Press: Skater’s Waltz, book 1 in the MaQuire Women Series, and There’s No Place Like Home, book 2. Four more are in the works for this series, in addition to her Cooking with Kandy series.

 Buy links:

 Amazon: http://amzn.to/1Hzm3Un

The Wild Rose Press: http://bit.ly/1GmM1Je

Barnes and Nobel: http://bit.ly/1JjMUG7

 Social media/contact info:

Website: http://peggyjaeger.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peggy-Jaeger-Author/825914814095072

Twitter: https://twitter.com/peggy_jaeger

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/peggyjaeger/

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00T8E5LN0

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13478796.Peggy_Jaeger