My interview with Lorhainne Eckhart

Lorhainne Eckhart took to the time to stop by my blog during her blog tour for her latest book, The Captain's Lady. I was able to interview her and you can read her answers below. Leave her a comment or a question, she loves to hear from her readers.





1.Did you always want to become an author or did you just fall into it?
I had a love for books since was young enough to read. I would lose myself in the stories that were written. When I was in grade two I wrote my first ghost story, as inspired by a series I was reading. I remember submitting it to my teacher in hopes of some honorable mention, but received no comment, I suspect it needed much editing.
The dream of being an author I did not pursue seriously until five years ago, until then it was always a dream in the back of mind, that maybe one day, I would write a book.

2.Did it take you a while to become published? If so, what made you keep going?
It took me two years to be published once I started submitting my query. I pursued literary agents to represent me and even had several requests to read my manuscript, but each time was declined.
I received some good advice from a friend. If how you’re pursuing something is not working, then you need to come at it in another direction. So, I changed my tactics. I decided to forego an agent and submit directly to the publishing houses. It happened almost immediately I received two offers for publication.

3.When you sit down to write, is there a ritual you have to do before you start?
I start writing quite early in the morning. For me it’s a quiet peaceful time. My mind is fresh and clear first thing in the morning and the words generally flow quite easy. I get up around four or five a.m. I clear my head, in the peace and quiet of the countryside, listen to the roosters crowing, birds chirping and distant farm animals begin their day. I put on a pot of coffee and in the warm months of spring, summer and fall, I take my laptop outside and start writing as soon as the sun is coming up.

4.Do you plan the story out or just let it flow?
No actually, I do not plan my story. What happens is an idea for the premise of a story comes to me. When I sit down to start writing it, create the characters, their lives, their conflicts, their personality quirks, the story takes on a life of it’s own.

5.How did you come up with the idea for The Captain's Lady?
It was during the invasion of Iraq. The controversy of sending the troops over and the news stories around the war. The premise for the story came to me in a dream. The scene appeared as a scripted movie. Abby rescued lying on the deck of a US Military Ship. Captain Eric Hamilton kneeled down to watch over her. The crew stood surrounding the Captain and Abby as the ship’s Doctor pushed his way through. When Abby opened her eyes and looked up, she saw the Captain as an Angel. From there my desire to write the story became a need to put it down on paper and allow the story to unfold.

6.Is The Captain's Lady a series or a stand alone?
The Captain’s Lady is a single title. I have no plans for a series, although, I have left the door open. I may at a future date write a sequel to the story, featuring some of the other essential characters.

7.When you have a moment to sit down and breathe, what do you do to unwind?
I try to schedule me time daily even if it’s just an hour to unwind and quite often, that is when you will find me in my gardens. I have a passion for the outdoors, gardening, landscaping, preserving nature, or I may decide to take a walk in the woods, or go horseback riding. Nevertheless, it is always something close to nature and outdoors.

8.Do you have a current list of releases and where they can be found?
My website is updated frequently. It lists my current novel, with links to where it can be purchased. There is also a page on my website that lists my upcoming projects.
Please refer to my website at http://www.lorhainneeckhart.com/

9.Do you have any WIP that you might want to share with us?
I have just completed my third novel. I have outlined the details of my second and third on my website at http://www.lorhainneeckhart.com/My second novel, The Forgotten Child, is a contemporary romance, set on a ranch. It is a story of a single father of an autistic boy and the woman who helps him come to terms with this neurological disorder.
My third novel, Walk the Right Road – Jerome’s Story, is a work of Women’s Fiction, with romantic and paranormal elements that delve into the world of BC Bud.

10.Considering all of your books that you have written, do you have one that stands out or is your favorite?
I love each one of them equally. They are all quite different, the topic and theme. Each one of them has a special place in my heart.

11.What authors are in your TBR pile?
I have so many. Right now Lee McKenzie, Karen Robards, Beth Trissel, Mimi Barbour, Suzanne Brockmann, James Patterson, Vladimir Megre
I read a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction

12.Do you have any tips for those aspiring authors out there?
Yes, make time to write everyday. Don’t take rejections personally, use them to hone your craft and don’t give up.

The Captain's Lady by Lorhainne Eckhart

Lorhainne Eckhart
The Captain's Lady
Wild Rose Press
Romance, Contemporary
304 Pages, Spicy
ISBN: 1-60154-383-2


Excerpt: The Captain’s Lady
“We have no reports of a ship in distress in the area, Captain.”

“What about fishing boats?”

“No, sir, no reports.”

Looking once more at his first officer, Eric issued curt orders, the harshness grating in his voice. “Send a rescue team to check it out.”

Handing the binoculars off to one of the crew members, he strode with determination off the bridge, heading directly to the ship’s launch. His well-trained crew scurried about. Joe appeared at his side and they watched from the rail as the small rigid hull sped off in the direction of the dinghy. His pulse rose and the dampness on his back soaked through his short-sleeved shirt.

“So what do you think?” Joe leaned on the rail, uncertainty clear in the crinkle of his brows.

“Don’t know, dammit.” Eric focused on the scene unfolding in the distance. Again he commandeered the binoculars from Joe and scrutinized the three-man team approaching, then securing the boat to the dinghy.

His senses were keen; over the years, he’d learned to trust them. The uneasiness that crept its way into his gut, the hairs now standing up on the back of his neck and the racing of his heart; this unshakable feeling was telling him that things were about to change—drastically. Puzzled, he felt the mounting frustration build inside, along with something else he could not quite put his finger on. Shaking his head, he realized it was not a feeling of dread.

The crackle of the radio interrupted his speculation. A voice from the rescue team came over the line. “There’s someone in here, a woman, and she’s in bad shape.”


Blurb: The Captain’s Lady
Captain Eric Hamilton is a powerful force in the U.S. Navy, having earned himself a reputation of being a hard-nosed chauvinist. He’s commander of the USS Larsen, a destroyer, currently deployed in the Persian Gulf during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Abby Carlton has just escaped from the man who held her captive for a year. Abducted while travelling in Paris, she was given to an Arab man as a gift, until one night she makes her desperate escape.

While on patrol one morning Captain Eric Hamilton discovers a dinghy floating aimlessly. Abby is found, battered and in an advanced state of pregnancy, lying in the bottom of the dinghy. From the moment she lay on the deck of his ship her innocence finds a way to penetrate his hardened heart. But time is running out. Eric is falsely accused of sexual assault and the CIA wants Abby and the baby for bait to flush out her captor.