Spotlight on Valerie Parv, BIRTHRIGHT and Giveaway!

We have Australian author Valerie Parv . She is one of Australia's most successful writers with more than 29 million books sold in 26 languages. She is the only Australian author honored with a Pioneer of Romance award from RT Book Reviews, New York. With a lifelong interest in space exploration, she counts meeting Neil Armstrong as a personal high point. So it's no wonder she's taking romance to the stars and beyond In Birthright, her most ambitious novel yet. She loves connecting with readers via her website valerieparv.com, blog valerieparv.wordpress.com, @ValerieParv on Twitter and on Facebook.

She is answering some of my questions...

Nas: Who is Valerie Parv? What inspired you to be a writer?

Valerie: As a child, I thought everyone made up stories. It wasn’t until my teens that I found out that writing could be a real job, and decided I would somehow make my living with words. Of course, you don’t leap from earning pocket money in the children’s pages of the Sunday papers straight to being a published author. That’s when I settled on advertising, meeting my husband when I got a job as a copywriter for the hardware chain where he was already working. I still enjoy poking around hardware stores, though I haven’t set a book in one yet. Hmm, there’s a thought…

Nas: How did you choose your genre?

Valerie: It basically chose me. From advertising I worked in journalism and PR, then began freelance writing for publishers. I wrote a dozen non-fiction titles until a publisher commissioned a book about doing your own plumbing. My dream of writing for a living didn’t include plumbing, but it motivated me to explore other options, starting with romance writing which I’d always enjoyed reading. I didn’t know then that the odds of getting a book accepted were astronomical.

Fortunately, Harlequin liked Love’s Greatest Gamble, the first of more than 50 romance novels I wrote for Harlequin Romances, Presents, Intimate Moments (Romantic Suspense) and Superromances. In between, I explored creativity and the craft of writing in books such as The Art of Romance Writing, and Heart and Craft, published by Allen & Unwin.

Nas: Why did you decide to write Birthright?

Valerie: With each new book I set out to do something new. I used to help organize Star Trek conventions, and avidly followed the space program. Meeting Neil Armstrong was a highlight of my life. These passions  plus my love of romantic suspense came together when I imagined a group of aliens I called beacons, each with a unique sensory ability. The story grew from there.

Nas: How did you come up with the title?

Valerie: I did what I advise other writers to do – made a list of dozens of possible titles until I got to Birthright, which sums up what the book is about – the beacons finding their birthright, and humanity reclaiming ours. Along the way there’s mayhem, murder, explosions in space and of course romance. Reviewers say they’ve never read anything quite like it and the five-star ratings suggest that’s a good thing J.

 Birthright
Former police officer turned deputy governor, Shana Akers, is used to handling high-stakes situations. But after learning that a space shuttle mission about to be launched from her island home may have a shocking secret agenda, she must turn for answers to the man who has challenged her mind and emotions for years.

Scientific genius and space center director, Adam Desai, is a truly self-made man. Found adrift at sea as a baby, he knows nothing about his origins until two VIPs attending the launch force him to confront the truth about his past, changing everything Adam has ever believed about himself.

Faced with a danger that threatens the entire world, can Adam and Shana find the strength to trust not only each other, but the mysterious VIPs whose unusual abilities defy logical thinking? Especially when it becomes clear that they'll need all of their combined resources to reclaim humanity's BIRTHRIGHT.

Published by Corvallis Press USA 2012.



Buy Links:

Amazon

Amazon UK

B&N

There will be one signed Kindle copy of BIRTHRIGHT for one commenter!