Featured Interview With Raine Hollister
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m an award-winning, best-selling author. My first novel, Exception To The Rule was a Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Finalist in Romantic Suspense and sold six weeks after I submitted it. It was originally published by Harlequin/Silhouette and is about Assistant District Attorney, Layne Tyler who has to prove her brother is innocent of murder, but finds herself falling for the Texas Ranger who has sworn to bring him in.
My next two contemporary romances are a series called, The Sandera, Texas Series. I also ghost wrote a non-fiction book for a famous pet psychic and am working on a romantic comedy mystery as well as the next book in the Sandera, Texas Series, No One Like You, coming in 2014.
I have worked as a Legal Secretary for the City Attorney’s office, have been an extra in a movie, and a main character in a mystery play. I’m a member of Romance Writers of America (RWA) and have served as President and Vice President of two Houston chapters. I was born in Brownsville, Texas; however, I have lived most of my life in Houston, Texas with my daughter, son and two spoiled cats. I love animals, music, reading, and watching romantic comedies of the forties and fifties. But what I love most is breathing life into my characters and then sharing them with my readers.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
As a child, I lived out in the country with my grandmother so I didn’t have access to a library. My family were somewhat illiterate so no chance of anyone buying me books. When I was five and living with my mom, she bought me comic books. I tend to be a very visual person so those comics were my portal to fantasizing about stories. My favorites were Super Boy and Wonder Woman. Oh, how I loved my super heroes, even to this day.
When I was nine years old, a friend of my mothers, gifted me Alice in Wonderland. I was in heaven. Of course, Disney movies of Cinderella and Snow White became my beacon of light into story structure although I didn’t know it at the time. As time passed I graduated to English and American Literature and loved the Poetry of Shelley, Lord Byron and Keats. During that time, I started writing my own poetry. Then I went on to read Historicals.
I hit a creative spurt when I was twelve. I began writing a lot: Long notes to my friends, sometimes fifteen to twenty pages. I also wrote plays with my friends as characters. At one point, I wrote a Horror/Gothic short story.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I’ll name just a few favorite authors, otherwise I could fill up this whole page. LOL. First off, I love Karen Marie Moning’s Urban Fantasy Fever series. My favorite at present is ICED, the first book of her Dani O’Malley Trilogy; Rachel Caine’s Morganville Vampire series, anything by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Rachel Gibson, David Morell, Natasha Rhodes’ Vampire/Werewolf series, and Kathleen Woodiwiss’s Historical romances.
As you can see, my favorite genres are Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary Romance, and Intrigue. I am presently watching the TV series, Penny Dreadful, a Horror/Gothic mix and I’m really liking it. I’ve always been attracted to that type of genre.
My inspiration for writing came from a newspaper article of Marilyn Durham, author of The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing. She shared her writing process in that article. At the time, I worked outside the home and had three small children, and I thought, “Someday, I’d like to do this.” As life happens, twenty years went by before I published my first book.
Today, my favorite authors inspire me, well-written televisions series inspire me. My favorites at the moment are: The Black List, Heart of Dixie, Revenge, Suits and of course Penny Dreadful.
Certain books have also helped me with characterization and conflict: The Ethics of Star Trek, The Forensic Files of Batman, and Super Heroes and Philosophy.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book, Tall. Dark and Delicious, is the second book of my Sandera, TX series and follows the McKinnon brothers as they find love, second chances, and new-found passions. I love the quirkiness of small towns and enjoy infusing them with humor as well as emotional depth. This book focuses on the eldest of the Mckinnon brothers, Jake who has unfinished business with his first love.
The Story: Seven years ago, jilted by his fiancée, Jake McKinnon fled Sandera, TX. Now a wealthy, real estate tycoon, he’s bent on bringing progress to the small town he left behind – even if it means alienating the woman he once loved. Still reeling from her betrayal, Jake no longer believes in love or second chances.
Clearly, it will take more than wining and dining her ex for restaurant owner Connie Rodriquez to change Jake’s mind about his construction plans (which also call for removing the town”s beloved landmark/shrine) – and about her. Proud and stubborn, he won’t give her the time of day. Yet seductive Connie senses the hunger in his elusive gaze – and she knows it’s only a matter of time before he surrenders to desire.
This book was originally published by Kensington Publishing. I was on a grueling deadline and wrote this book in two months. Although I plan to add two more McKinnon brother books to the series, they are all stand-alone books. At present, I’m also working on a romantic comedy mystery.
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