Awesome Romance Author LG O’Connor

Today I am interviewing awesome romance author LG O’Connor. LG writes spicy contemporary, new adult, urban fantasy,  and paranormal romance. The first book in her Trinity series also has a young adult version. Let’s find out what makes this prolific writer tick.

Take it away LG…

What do you do when you are not writing?

Writing is my second full-time job! I’m actually a marketing executive at a Fortune 500 company. I love both jobs, and couldn’t imagine doing one without the other.

When did you first start writing and when did you finish your first book?

I didn’t start writing my first book until I was in my mid-40s. If I eliminate the gap between when I put the manuscript down to focus on a new job, moving, and a renovation, it only took about 5 months to write. *chuckles* It’s the editing that took a year! My first book was published in April, 2014.

How did you choose the genre you write in?

It chose me. At the time, I was binging on paranormal romance, so my first series is urban fantasy / paranormal romance. Contemporary found me in 2013, with Caught Up in RAINE.

Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?

My all-time favorite book is The Little Prince, but the authors who opened up being a writer for me were Charlaine Harris, J.R. Ward, even Stephanie Meyer and the whole Twilight saga (don’t judge). I devoured both young adult and adult books. They formed the basis of my inspiration. Now, I love Colleen Hoover, Sarah J. Maas, Penny Reid, Elizabeth Hunter, to name some.

Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?

The entire first chapter of Caught Up in RAINE is based on something that happened to me, and the reason I wrote the book. It’s about a widowed, 40-something romance writer who spots a hot, 20-something landscaper who looks like the male lead in the novel she writing. She stops her car and asks him to be her cover model. That’s the scenario that happened to me, except I didn’t stop the car. That left me wondering, “What if…?”

Can you tell us about your upcoming book?

My next novel is the second book in the Caught Up in Love trilogy, and it’s called Shelter My Heart. The series centers around three New Jersey women: romance writer Jillian Grant, her sister Katherine “Kitty” McNally Lynch, and Kitty’s daughter Jenny Lynch. All part of a family that is plagued by loss, each woman harbors her own guilty secret and has to journey through her own personal pain to find redemption and ultimately surrender her heart for a second chance to get ‘caught up’ in love. Shelter My Heart is Jenny’s story. Here’s the teaser:

Devon, an ailing, young CEO-in-training due to inherit his dead father’s conglomerate saves the day for Jenny, an engaged young woman on her way home to see her family. To repay his kindness, she agrees to be his date for his family’s annual society gala and convince the board that he’s healthy and going to marry. Two weeks are all Devon needs, and two weeks are all Jenny can give—until the stakes rise, forcing Jenny to answer the question: How far is she willing to go to save Devon’s life?

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?

I think the toughest criticism came as a brand new author from my first editor who wanted me to change the characters to the point that it wasn’t even the same story…or the story I wanted to tell.

When a New York Times bestselling author with a thirty-year career in publishing, and over 65 books published, told his wife (who told me) that he thought I was going to break out.

Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers?

I have three pieces of advice!

1) Do this because you love it, never because you think you will get famous or make money

2) Learn how to accept feedback graciously, and develop a tough skin

3) Network, network, network.

Is there anything that you would like to say to your readers and fans?

Thank you for all your support. I appreciate you, everyday! Without you, this wouldn’t be nearly as rewarding.

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Caught Up in Raine

Don’t judge a book by its cover model.

by LG O’Connor

Forty-two and widowed, romance writer Jillian Grant believes hospitals equal death. Plagued by loss and convinced more is imminent when her aunt ends up in critical condition after heart surgery; she has come to equate the absence of pain with happiness. When she spots a hot, young landscaper working on the hospital grounds with an eerie resemblance to the male lead in her next novel, she convinces him to pose as her cover model.

Working multiple jobs to put himself through college, twenty-four-year-old Raine MacDonald is no stranger to loss. Behind his handsome face and rockin’ body lies family tragedy and agonizing secrets. When circumstances put him back in the path of his abusive father, fate delivers Jillian as his unwitting savior. Thing is, when he thinks of her, his thoughts are far from platonic.

Despite their age difference, Jillian and Raine discover they’re more alike than they could ever imagine. But torn between facing her own fears and grasping a chance at happiness, Jillian makes a soul-shattering decision that threatens to blow their world apart.

BOOK #1 in the Caught Up In Love series (Romantic Women’s Fiction / New Adult)

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