Interview with romance author Elsa Winckler

Romance author Elsa Winckler is here today and we’re chatting about her new novel, Love, In Writing.

During her virtual book tour, Elsa will be awarding a copy of a short story to a randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too.

Bio:
Elsa has been reading love stories for as long as she can remember and when she ‘met’ the classic authors like Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, Henry James The Brontë sisters, etc. during her English Honours studies, she was hooked for life.

She married her college boyfriend and soul mate and after 45 years, 3 interesting and wonderful children and 4 beautiful grandchildren, they are now fortunate to live in the picturesque little seaside village of Betty’s Bay, South Africa.

She likes the heroines in her stories to be beautiful, feisty, independent and headstrong. And the heroes must be strong but possess a generous amount of sensitivity. They are of course, also gorgeous! Her stories typically incorporate the family background of the characters to better understand where they come from and who they are when we meet them in the story.

Please tell us about your current release.
Margaret Parker is a hopeless romantic whose fantasies fuel her writing. For Graham Connelly, science fiction is the perfect genre to express his cynical worldview. A chance meeting in a lift leaves them both interested and aroused — with no clue as to the other’s identity.

Margaret has been looking for a face to match her new fictional hero — and Graham’s is it. Graham has been looking for proof that innocence and optimism still exist — and he’s found it in Margaret. But fantasy isn’t reality, and both Margaret and Graham are used to controlling their fictional worlds. Can they step off the pages long enough to find their own happy-ever-after?

What inspired you to write this book?
The idea of a scantily clad woman in a dress in an elevator popped into head and wouldn’t go away. Why was she in the elevator, why was she wearing such a short dress and where was she going?

Excerpt from Love, In Writing:
“This is not helping, Connelly, not helping,” he muttered to himself before he turned around with a forced smile on his face. “Well, I think this one will do.” He gestured inside the room. “There is an adjacent bathroom.”

Margaret peered inside, then looked up at him. “No, I don’t want to sleep here,” she said, and walked on down the corridor. Her hair had been pinned up but now she was taking out the pins as she walked.

Graham pushed his fingers through his hair. What the hell? “Well, the next three all look like this one. You can pick any one.” Something was going on here and he wasn’t sure whether he was reading the signs correctly.

He opened the door to the next bedroom, Margaret took out another pin, peered inside and shook her head. Her hair cascaded down onto her shoulders. His hands itched to grab hold of it, but he walked on and opened the next bedroom door. She looked over his shoulder this time and shook her head again. His mouth was dry, his heart beating in overdrive. What was she up to?

“Well, this is the last guest room,” he said, and opened the door. This time, she walked in and looked around, even opened the bathroom door as well. Then she came back to him where he was standing just inside the door, and shook her head again.

“No, I don’t want to sleep here either,” she said, and looked up at him. “Show me the other room,” she said softly and took his hand.

Graham could literally feel the blood leaving his brain and dropping down to the lower part of his body. He was harder than he’d ever been.

“It’s my room,” he said softly.

“I know.” She smiled.

What exciting story are you working on next?
I’m writing the 3^rd installment in a series set in the fictional town of Alisson, Montana. The first one will be published in December 2021. Two sisters left South Africa after the older one inherits their aunt’s house and business in Alisson. And then their brother joins them. The story I’m currently working on, is his.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Probably only after the tenth book! But I still look over my shoulder when someone asks if I’m a writer – I still have to pinch myself that I can be called that.

Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I’m in the fortunate position that I can write full-time. I’ve only started writing after I’ve retired and I still say a little thank-you prayer each day I wake up.

My husband also works from home and we get up a seven in the morning and after the usual rituals, I try to sit down in front of my computer around 9:00. I work until lunch time, have a quick bite with hubby and then I hunker down again until round about 16:00 when I start to cook. I try not to work over weekends but when I’ve missed a day during the week, I also write on Saturdays.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I try to find pictures of what the heroine and hero look like. I print them out or cut it out and pin it up so that I can see them the whole time I’m writing. It helps me to keep focused on who they are and what they want.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
An air hostess. The whole idea of getting in a plane and flying to unknown places really fascinated me but I ended up being a teacher.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Thank you for all your support. Doing what I love won’t be possible without readers, so I really appreciate each and every one of you.