'Release week for Dangerous Descent'
In our wonderful, whirlwind whip around the world, we have
been flitting from country to country, chatting to authors about their daily
writing routine, and about what influences their stories. Today, we return to
the United States, to the state of Arizona, where we catch up with author of
exotic romance adventures – Sabrina
Devonshire.
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| Sabrina Devonshire |
Noelle: Thanks so
much, Sabrina, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to chat with us.
Your latest book – Dangerous Descent
– was launched this week. Congratulations! Before we start, I’ll list all your
books here:
From what I
can tell, your two big passions in life are swimming and traveling. From the
titles listed above, it sounds as though you have brought your passions to life
in some compelling, adventurous ways.
Sabrina: Thank you for the invitation
to do this interview, Noelle. Because I’ve always loved travelling to exotic locales,
geology, swimming, and being outdoors, my romantic adventures tend to reflect
these passions.
Noelle: I looked on Google Maps at
Arizona – it seems to be a fairly dry place, and not that close to sunny
beaches. How did you get into swimming in such a big way?
Sabrina: Believe it or not, I started
swimming competitively as a youth growing up in Ohio of all places J I always wanted to
live somewhere I could swim outside year-round and now here I am in the Arizona
desert. Swimming provides balance in my life—it’s a delightful form of exercise
and it always stimulates new ideas and calms me down.
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| Sabrina at the national swimming championship in Puerto Rico (2009) |
Noelle: Congratulations on your swimming career. You certainly look very fit! It seems your book characters are fit and adventurous too. Your new release – Dangerous Descent – is set in Vietnam,
where your character Rebecca takes a job working in subterranean caves. Do you
also list caving as one of your preferred activities?
Sabrina: I’ve visited New Mexico’s
Carlsbad Caverns twice and also Kartchner Caverns in Arizona and found these
underground chambers fascinating. During my first visit to Carlsbad, I arrived
super early in the morning and walked ahead of everyone else. It was an amazing
feeling walking through those enormous chambers filled with magnificent rock
formations created by dripping water. In Dangerous
Descent, I use Mountain River Cave as the story backdrop, based on research
I found in the library and videos. Some
of the chambers described in Dangerous
Descent are so enormous, they could fit a jet plane or the Statue of
Liberty inside! I’m pretty high
maintenance, though, so I don’t think you’ll find me signing up for a real
expedition anytime soon (laughs).
Noelle: It's amazing that those caves are so big! The locations for your series, Love in the Labyrinths, sounds dark,
damp and scary. How do you manage to get your characters to fall in love down
there?
Sabrina: I think edgy circumstances are
a great backdrop for lusty attraction. And both Kent and Rebecca are natural
adventurers, so the allure of the setting and their mutual interest in
geological discoveries heighten their passion and bring them closer together.
Noelle: As you know, my first book was
set in Cambodia – right next to Vietnam. I’m really glad to see that you too
have a love for the exotic Asian countries. What other countries or unusual
places have you set your books?
Sabrina: I know, Noelle. I read Let Angels Fly and found it very
entertaining. Readers will be transported to exotic places in all my books. So
far, I’ve taken them to Portugal, Tunisia, Greece, and Honduras (The Open Water Swimmer), the Czech
Republic and Belize (Message from Viola
Mari), and Vietnam (Dangerous Descent
and The Unseen).
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| Sabrina and her daughter, Marion, getting a mud treatment at a rainforest spa in Costa Rica |
Noelle: South America is somewhere that has always fascinated me, but I've never been. I just love this photo of you and your daughter! Now THAT looks like my kind of adventure. :-) But I’m so intrigued with your
books, that I haven’t yet asked you about your daily writing routine. So,
firstly, do you manage to write every day, or do you fit it in as best you can?
Sabrina: Since I’m also a personal
trainer/group exercise instructor and also do freelance magazine writing, I do
the juggling act. I write most days, but my routine is far from regular. I wish
I could say differently…
Noelle: It’s pretty standard for me to
want to know where you like to write. Are you able to share a pic of your
study, or writing desk? Maybe the view out your window or some view that
inspires you as you’re writing?
Sabrina: I’m a light-seeker so I tend
to move my computer around the house. Most often I sit at a small, antique desk
in front of a window where I can see the Tortolita Mountains and homes down the
hill from us. In case you’re wondering if the view’s a distraction, I’d have to
say, “No.” Facebook, on the other hand, is my real downfall…
Noelle:
You certainly have been to some exotic and adventurous places. When you travel, do you consciously seek out the unusual and store
the memory away for use later in a book?
Sabrina: I journal on most of my trips.
Whenever an idea strikes, I have those journals to go back to.
Noelle:
Dangerous Descent is out
now. When can readers expect to see number two in the series released?
Sabrina:
The Unseen, Book 2 of Love
in the Labyrinths, will release August 1 on the Extasy Books website. It should
be on Amazon on August 8.
Noelle: Where can readers buy your
books, and where can they connect with you online?
Here are the buy links for Dangerous
Descent…
Here is some
other contact info for me:
www.sabrinadevonshireromances.com
Twitter: @SabrinaDevonsh1
Email : sabrina@corazondeloro.com
Thank you,
Noelle, for inviting me to share with you and some potential readers today. I
really enjoyed the chat J
DANGEROUS DESCENT
Logline:
Rebecca seeks outdoor adventure work. Kent has the perfect job for her. The
Vietnam caving expedition gets crazy when too-hot-to-handle love strikes—along
with murderous smugglers.
Blurb: After
months of working in a dreary department store, laid-off outdoor adventure
director Rebecca Devereaux vows to change her life’s trajectory.
Kent Dunbar believes Vietnam’s Mountain River Cave may
be the largest in the world. His sponsors demand that he leave immediately to
survey the cave and study its origin, leaving him little time to organize
staff. Desperate for assistants, he sends out a mass email to recruit qualified
workers. Kent is pleasantly surprised to receive an application from Rebecca
and hires her.
The instant Kent and Rebecca meet, they find attraction
too hot to handle. Soon, every jungle tree and shelf of cave rock becomes a
potential place to release their pent up passion for each other. But Kent’s not
used to commitment, both are dealing with traumatic pasts, and murderous
gemstone smugglers are on the loose near their camp. Will their tumultuous love
affair survive?
Noelle: Sabrina, thanks so much for taking the time to visit. I know how busy book release week is, so I appreciate what you've done. A huge congratulations on your latest release, and I hope that Dangerous Descent soars.
How amazing though to get the low down, not
just on the Black Wolf’s right hand man, Wee Murdie and his brother Big Murdie,
but to receive another teaser as to the story of His Judas Bride. This is
Shehanne, the author of The Unraveling of
Lady Fury’s forthcoming book set in her native Scotland. 
Yes. Every person who leaves a comment on my posts about the Brotherhood of the Wolves between now and release day on August 2nd, will have their name put in a hat and I will draw three lucky winners who will each get a $10 Amazon Gift Card (hopefully used to purchase a copy of His Judas Bride).
