Tuesday, August 8, 2023

Introducing Guest Author: Sarita Leone

 

Happy August to all of our Pen Dames Readers! We hope you are enjoying your summer. 

Continuing our guest author interviews, we are excited to introduce you to Sarita Leone, another of our favorite authors. We hope you will enjoy her books as much as we do.

Sarita is a multi-genre author of Historical and Contemporary romance. She also writes light comedy and ghostly experiences.

Getting to know Sarita:

Pen Dames: What books were your favorites as a child?

Sarita: I loved Nancy Drew! Also, Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh. I still have the copy I was given as a child. It is dog-eared and looks a bit frayed, but it is still well-loved.

Pen Dames: How and when did your writing journey begin?

Sarita: I think I began writing stories as soon as I could spell. There are little books with crayon-colored and watercolor-painted pictures to go along with the text in existence. They, too, are frayed, but show that I was always interested in telling stories.

Pen Dames: What genre is your book? What do you like about writing in that genre?

Sarita: Wylder Promises is a historical western romance. It is part of The Wild Rose Press’ Wylder Series. I love writing historical romance because it gives us a chance to fall back in time and enjoy a bit of history.

Pen Dames: What is the setting of your book? Please describe it.

Sarita: Wylder Promises takes place in Wylder, in the Wyoming territory. The land is rugged, the cowboys handsome, and the women stronger than anything frontier life can throw at them. The fictional town is a typical frontier town, with a saloon, mercantile, jail, schoolhouse, social club, dress shop, casket maker, and all the rest.

Pen Dames: What is your best advice for aspiring writers?

Sarita: I think the best way to learn a new skill is by practicing that skill. Take courses, learn from other authors, read about the mechanics of writing. And then, write. Then, write some more. And after that? Start all over again, and write.

Pen Dames: Which authors/books are on your keeper shelves?

Sarita: I’m a big Stephen King fan, so I have a nice collection of his books. I love the book Eat, Pray, Love because I read it at a time when I really needed an escape, and it offered one. And I enjoy John Grisham’s books. I have a number of them on my keeper shelves.

Pen Dames: What do you like to do when not writing?

Sarita: I love to travel. But really, who doesn’t like seeing interesting things and meeting new people? But having said that, I’m also a bit of a homebody. I love spending time with family and friends and enjoy a nice picnic or walk in the park. I go to the gym regularly and practice yoga. I also bake bread, so I’m often in the kitchen elbow-deep in flour!


   

Enjoy a blurb from Sarita’s Historical romance Wylder Promises:

When Gertie Jackson lost her husband in the war, she left Richmond searching for a new life. She wanted peace for her tortured soul...and she found it in Wylder.

Lane Hutchins rode to Wylder as a favor to an old friend...and to look once more upon the woman who'd stolen his heart years ago.

When Gertie's preparations for the big Founder's Day festivities sets off a streak of vandalism, Lane knows he can't leave while she's in danger. But will his efforts to win her heart push her further from him, or will Wylder's magic work to finally bring them together?

And for more enticement here is a short excerpt from Wylder Promises:

 

Even trail dusted, Lane Hutchins made a woman’s heart quicken. He had always turned heads when he’d been a young man. Time did well by him, turning his fresh, handsome features rugged and the spry step to a confident swagger.

 If she had a free hand, she would use it to pat her hair, but the fabric kept her at a disadvantage. She arranged her features into what she hoped was a neutral expression as he stepped up onto the wooden planking.

 “Trudy.” His voice, so deep and with its southern resonance, sent butterflies spiraling low in her gut.

 No one had called her that in over a decade. Her mouth went dry, and it took a moment to find her voice.

 “Lane.” A small jut of her chin toward her chest, but no smile. It wouldn’t come. “No one calls me that anymore.”

 His brow furrowed as he shifted the saddlebags on his shoulder. When he reached for the bolt of fabric, she didn’t resist handing it over. It had been a long time since a man carried her burdens.

 “Are you married again? If so, I apologize…I wasn’t aware that you’d taken on the ‘missus’ again.”

 She shook her head. “I’m not married but folks around town call me Gertie. I haven’t heard the other in so long, it took me by surprise.” Tilting her head to one side, she added, “Seeing you did the same. What are you doing in Wylder?”

 His smile set off a new round of fluttering in her midsection. “A happy coincidence?”

 

How to find Sarita:

Facebook

 

1.     Buy links for: Wylder Promises (The Wylder West) - Kindle edition by Leone, Sarita . Romance Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

 

 

Pen Dames: Sarita, thank you for being our guest author and sharing snippets of your personal life and your writing journey with us. I’m sure writers, both experienced and novice writers will find your writing advice helpful. P.S. I can almost smell the freshly baked bread. Yum!

Sarita: Thank you for inviting me here today. It was a lot of fun. I am a long-time reader of this wonderful blog, so it is an honor to make an appearance here.

 

10 comments:

  1. Happy Writing, Sarita. Perhaps we'll meet in person one of these days.

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    1. Thank you so much, Loretta. I would really like to meet you in person!

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  2. Ooh, I'm so in the mood for a Western romance! I'm buying this book right now. Thanks so much for joining us, Sarita. I can't wait to enjoy Gertie and Lane's story!

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    1. Thank you so much, Katherine. It is an honor and pleasure to be here on one of my favorite blogs. Thank you for your kindness!

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  3. The excerpt from Wylder Promises strikes all my want to read buttons! I look forward to this delicious story. Thanks so much for sharing some of your writing life with us, Sarita.

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  4. Sarita, I loved your excerpt. Westerns provide a great escape. Thanks for joining us!

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    1. Jennifer, thank you. I love western romance. And I am so happy to have this opportunity to visit this blog! :)

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  5. Enjoyed your interview, Sarita. A bread-baking historical romance author! Loved it!

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