Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Blog Tour: Chance for Rain by @redefiningable #interview #giveaway #womensfiction #romance @RABTBookTours


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Fiction—Romance, Women’s Fiction
Date Published: August 2018
Publisher: Front Street Press

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Elite athlete Rainey Abbott is an intense competitor on the outside, but inside, she feels a daunting apprehension about her chances of finding true love. Her life as a downhill skier and race car driver keeps her on the edge, but her love life is stuck in neutral. A tragedy from her past has left her feeling insecure and unlovable.

Now that she’s in her thirties, Rainey’s best friend Natalie insists she take a leap and try online dating. Rainey connects with brian85 and becomes cautiously hopeful as a natural attraction grows between them. Fearful a face to face meeting could ruin the magic, Rainey enlists Natalie to scheme up an encounter between the two where Brian is unaware he is meeting his online mystery woman. Rainey is left feeling both guilty about the deception and disappointed by something Brian says.

When they finally meet in earnest, Rainey’s insecurities threaten to derail the blossoming romance. As she struggles with self-acceptance, she reveals the risks we all must take to have a chance for love.



Interview

Is There a Message in Your Novel That You Want Readers to Grasp?
One of the reasons I wrote Chance for Rain was to bring to life a character with a disability, with the goal not of showing a tragic or dismal existence (as is often the case with disabled characters), but to show the disability experience for what it is: another version of the human experience.
As someone who has sustained a disabling injury (I have a spinal cord injury and use a wheelchair for mobility), I want to share with readers that life with a disability is not as unusual or unlike any other, as people might believe. With this in mind, I created my central character, Rainey May Abbott, to be a typical 30-something woman looking for love, and having the same insecurities that many of us have at some time or another in our lives. Will I fall in love? Will I be loved in return? Will I get married and have a family?
I hope my novel will give readers a new perspective on disability, love and relationships as I continue what I hope to be a series of stories featuring characters with different disabilities, navigating the ordinary, complex and the unknowns of life and love.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
 As my first novel, I found it challenging on many fronts—learning about story and character development, staying the course through edit after edit, and having the confidence that I could create a character who could be interesting, entertaining and educational, all at the same time. But I found that I truly enjoyed the process, as I learned new things about both writing and myself during the course of my work.  

How many books have you written and which is your favorite?
Chance for Rain is my first novel, but my second book. I published Cycle of Hope in 2010 and it was a much different experience for me than Chance for Rain because it had a different goal. I am a motivational speaker and after my presentations, audience members often want to hear “the rest of the story.” That book was a long process—in thinking time that is—I tried for probably six years to get the first words on the paper. It never happened. But when the time was right, I sat down and wrote the entire thing in nine days. It sort of all just fell out of my head and landed on paper. It went through little editing and is definitely a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of book. With Chance for Rain, it was a story that just came into my brain as I was trying to fall asleep one night and kept waking me. So, each time, I’d sit up, write a few more paragraphs, then lie down again, then more ideas, write, close my eyes, get up, repeat. Apparently, it wanted to be written. Whether or not I’ve done it justice, we’ll have to see about that. But it’s a combination of the book I wish I would have taken the time to write when I wrote Cycle of Hope, and then part fiction and part education about life with a disability. Because I wanted the book to be a much higher quality, it went through four major edits and so much tweaking and I still wonder if there are things I should have included or improved. So, long story short, I believe they both have merit for me. I don’t think I could pick one over the other and say it’s my favorite.



If You had the chance to cast your main character from Hollywood today, who would you pick and why?
     I’ve envisioned Chance for Rain as a movie a million times, but if that dream were ever to be realized, in the role of Rainey, I wouldn’t want a traditional Hollywood actor, but an actor with a disability. I have a friend who is a paraplegic actor and would love the opportunity to see her play the part. As for her best friend—I’d pick Kate Hudson.

When did you begin writing?
I majored in Journalism in college, so I’ve been doing some sort of writing ever since, whether it be magazine articles, press releases or speaking presentations. Then I published Cycle of Hope in 2010 and thought that was the end of my book writing. I had no idea that writing would become something I would continue to pursue and have a desire to turn out more books. Further, I never imagined I would turn to a fiction writing career, but after completing Chance for Rain, I am excited about jumping into another story and honing my writing skills. I look forward to continuing to write to see what comes up for me next!

Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer?
I don’t have a particular author who inspired me to become a writer, but as a young adult, I was inspired to read by Judy Blume and S.E. Hinton

What is your favorite part of the writing process?
My favorite part of the process is the brain dump. As ideas come to me, I love to be able to get them down on paper without worrying if what I have written is any good, or if the sentences make perfect sense or if the punctuation is correct. Once I have everything out of my brain, I can start to organize and arrange, but there is something very satisfying about just seeing the words stack up on the page.  

Describe your latest book in 4 words.
Hard to put down! J  


Can you share a little bit about your current work or what is in the future for your writing?
 I have so many ideas swirling in my brain right now, I’m not sure which I will run with next, but I will continue with my goal of bringing characters with disabilities to life, and likely in another romance. I am a sucker for a good love story and a happy ending!






About the Author


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Tricia Downing is recognized as a pioneer in the sport of women’s paratriathlon, as the first female paraplegic to finish an Iron distance triathlon. She has competed in that sport both nationally and internationally, in addition to competing in road racing and other endurance events. She has represented the United States in international competition in five different sport disciplines—cycling (as a tandem pilot prior to her 2000 accident), triathlon, duathlon, rowing and Olympic style shooting, in which she was a member of Team USA at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
She was featured in the Warren Miller documentary Superior Beings and on the lifestyle TV magazine show Life Moments. She has been featured in Muscle and Fitness Hers, Mile High Sports and Rocky Mountain Sports magazines.

Additionally, she is founder of The Cycle of Hope (www.thecycleofhope.org), a non-profit organization designed for female wheelchair users to promote health and healing on all levels—mind, body and spirit.

Tricia studied Journalism as an undergraduate at the University of Maryland and holds Masters degrees in both Sports Management (Eastern Illinois University) and Disability Studies (Regis University).

She lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband Steve and two cats, Jack and Charlie. Visit Tricia at triciadowning.com


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