Interview & Giveaway ~ Playing for Love at Deep Haven by Katy Regnery

Book Details

Tour Hashtag #DeepHaven
(Enchanted Places - Book One)
Katy Regnery, author and publisher
275 pages (appx)
Pub Date: January 2014
ISBN: 9780991204502

Sponsored by Closed The Cover

Violet Smith and Zach Aubrey have history…

…the kind of history he regrets and she wishes she could forget.

When a booking mistake at Deep Haven Cottage strands them together at a rental house on the Maine coast, the rocker and the writer are suddenly thrown back together after ten years apart. While Violet will do almost anything to prevent history from repeating itself, Zach wants to show her that her heart will be safe with him this time. But can Violet give him a second chance? And will Zach truly be able to change history?

Playing songs, playing for keeps…Playing for Love at Deep Haven

About the Author

Katy Regnery, winner of the 2013 NECRWA First Kiss and 2013 Maine RWA Everything But the Kitchen Sink contests, has always loved telling a good story and credits her mother with making funny, heartwarming tales come alive throughout her childhood. A lifelong devotee of all romance writing from Edwardian to present-day, it was just a matter of time before Katy tried her hand at writing a love story of her own.

As it turned out, one love story turned into a series of five Heart of Montana romances, following the love lives of the Yellowstone-based Lindstrom siblings. In addition to small-town contemporary romance, Katy is presently writing a paranormal romance that takes place in northern New England and the forests north of Quebec.

Speaking of forests, Katy lives in the relative-wilds of northern Fairfield County, Connecticut where her writing room looks out at the woods and her husband, two young children and two dogs create just enough cheerful chaos to remind her that the very best love stories of all are the messy and unexpected ones.

Interview

1. What was your inspiration for this book?

I didn’t have an inspiration for this book, actually. On a vacation last summer to the 1000 Islands in upstate New York, we visited Boldt Castle and I thought it would be a marvelous place to set a romance. I got really excited about the concept of Enchanted Places – stories told against the backdrop of a gorgeous museum, home, estate or cottage. The idea for Restoring Love at Bolton Castle, Enchanted Places – Book Two, pretty much entered my head fully formed that July. But, I wasn’t ready to write the heroine, Cora Aubrey, quite yet. I wanted to get to know her a little better first because she’s pretty complex. So, I started thinking about her background and childhood and created the character of her twin brother, Zach. From that mental exercise, Zach Aubrey started coming into focus and I decided to write his story first. An anniversary trip to Yale University in September solidified the location in my head and then it was just a matter of writing Playing for Love at Deep Haven, first.

2. How long did it take you to settle on a title and cover design?

I came up with the titles for ten books in this series on the plane trip back from the RWA Nationals. Once I had settled on the rhythm of the titles, I fell in love with them.

The cover was tougher…I had originally commissioned a cover that looked exactly like my Heart of Montana series. Another industry professional gently advised me that if I was going to turn up the heat in my Enchanted Places series, I’d do well to give readers a visual cue on the cover. So, I went back to the designer (Kim Killion at Hot Damn Designs, who is fabulous!) and asked her for something more sexy. She quickly came up with the cover I have now and I love it. It’s hot and sweet, sensual and intimate. I think it’s beautiful and a really good representation of the book.

3. Did you draw inspiration for the story from any personal events or is it all imaginative?

I will be honest…I have about 15 diaries in the attic leftover from my college days and I POURED over them as I wrote Zach’s character. To be clear, I don’t have one single lover in my past upon who I modeled Zach, but I did borrow a little bit from several different boys I knew once upon a time. 

4. Was there anything edited out of Playing for Love at Deep Haven that you wish you could have included?

Absolutely not! I’m pretty strong willed when it comes to edits. I’ll hold my ground if I believe that a scene should be kept in a story, so it would be really unusual for something to come out that I wanted included.

5. What challenges (if any) did you face while writing this romance?

I gave myself a 90-day deadline from the day I outlined the book until the day it went live on Amazon.  I started it on October 10^th 2013 and it launched on Amazon on January 9^th 2014. In that time I had to write a book, put it aside for two weeks, edit it, give it to a beta group, apply their critiques, give it to a professional editing team, apply their edits, submit it to a proofreader and then a formatter. Meanwhile, I also had to create a cover and market the book. I have never worked that hard on any single project, but it was worth it. I love this book so much. I hope my readers do too.

Book Links: Goodreads / Amazon

Giveaway

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