There’s 5 days left to enter the Sweet Romance Christmas Giveaway and today I’ve invited Beate Boeker, one of the authors participating in the Giveaway, to visit Ascroft, eh? to tell us a bit about the novel she has donated to the draw.

Welcome Beate. Let’s get started, shall we?

What is the theme of your story and what prompted you to write about this?

My romance Stormy Times is a story of trust and of building up your faith in yourself and in others because the heroine Joanna left her fiancée when he cheated on her and the hero Conran, a famous rock star, has some other demons in his past to tame. Neither of them is ready for a relationship, but a snow storm and a puppy bring them together in this holiday romance which is set on Long Island.

How did you bring the place and people you are writing about to life?

That’s difficult to answer as it’s not an active process. It sort of happens by adding background and family and beliefs and weaknesses while I’m writing the story and developing the characters. I think that particularly the weaknesses and the regrets bring a person to life. As to the place, I once spent a wonderful vacation on Long Island and wanted to get back to it, even if just transporting myself to it by means of a novel.

Do you prefer to write one sex or the other. And, if so, which do you prefer and why?

Well, being a woman, I started out with writing from the woman’s perspective but as I grew more experienced, I’ve also added other people’s point-of-views. I found that particularly helpful when I had to give another insight into the story or had to show the heroine from outside while writing my cozy mystery series Temptation in Florence. My latest romance Mischief in Italy switches the point of view with every new chapter. That was great fun to write!

Thanks, Beate. You’ve given readers an intriguing peek into Stormy Times and your other novels. I hope they will enter the contest for a chance to win a copy of the novel as well as all the other stories in the prize bundle. Enter the Sweet Romance Christmas Giveaway here.