Past Due (Review, Interview, Book Trailer)

Paperback

Published May 15th 2012 by World Castle Publishing

Hi, so my cousin's Kari and Stacey well their aunt wrote a book, a real one.  I read it & if you know me really well you know I'm a HUGE romance fan (Julie James, Kristan Higgins, Linda Lael Miller etc.) This book was right up my ally. The setting was beach-y in the Outer Banks of North Carolina or OBX as most people refer to it. I've only been once, but the book really made me want to go back there some day. 


Jenna Austin is a young, widowed artist raising a teenage son on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. As the costs of living in paradise rise, she struggles to make ends meet. Life isn't easy, but she manages.

When her car breaks down, she trudges on. She assumes life can't get any more complicated than it is. But it can...

Chance brings her nose to well-formed chest with Tres Coulter, the handsome, affluent aid to Governor Hunt. Jenna and Tres share a history; they also share a love they thought long lost. Their lives are about to be altered forever as the deceptions of the past transform the very foundation of the present. 

The price of happily ever after may be too steep to pay once the past comes due (Goodreads Synopsis) 






I really enjoyed the story, I found Jenna extremely likable which is always important.  If you can not connect with MC, then for me the rest of the story falls flat, she was relate-able in every sense of the word. I loved her son too, he was comical and added depth to the story.  Without giving too much away, Tres and Jenna had a very interesting chemistry that I found enhanced the story. The characters had depth, and their dialogue was meaningful, Jenna and Tres both possessed substances. Also like I mentioned the setting being the Outer Banks really made me want to return their some day. 




I asked Elizabeth, a few questions and she was kind enough to promptly answer them for me, so here we go....
Where did the inspiration for Past Due come from? 
1. My sister, Cathy, requested a story set on the Outer Banks during the time when they moved the light house as her 25th wedding anniversary read. I had planned it as a novella, then as I wrote, the characters kept developing their own back stories and tales and the story became a novel.
Any advice for aspiring writers? 
Read. A lot. Books, blogs, books on craft, and author interviews and biographies. I'm reading the letters of Ernest Hemingway right now.


Meet other writers. That's easy on the blogosphere...they are everywhere! They will save your sanity.

Find a good beta reader. Someone who is more concerned with making your work better than making you happy.

Gain weight. Just joking. But seriously, writing is a lot of work. It's TIME spent in a chair, till your butt goes numb and your eyes cross. Even if you're the blessed kind of writer who spits stories out like a copier, you're still going to have to do your own marketing and platform building, so get used to the time spent in a chair!

Do it for the love of it. If you're out to make money, try lawn care, you'll get more return on the time you invest.
Which of your characters was your favorite to write? 
My favorite character was Maureen Austin, Jenna's mother-in-law. I love her! I've said before, she's the kind of lady who will bail you out of jail and then cook you dinner, all for the cost of a lecture. She's good people.