“Romantic,
liberating and totally addictive this will obsess you, leave you wanting more.
HUNTER FAIRMONT is a self-made billionaire, the ever gorgeous alpha bachelor.
MCKENNA RAYNE is the self-made recluse, and loves her invisibility more than
anything. He needs a personal assistant and she needs a job. But things aren't
what they seem. Secrets are hidden, skeletons are in closets and both their
worlds collide. He will stop at nothing to make her his, and she's not ready to
fall. Fate has her own plan. Suddenly the game changes for the both of them,
and every step becomes more deadly and lethal than the next. Someone else has
Hunter in their sights, and will stop at nothing to have him. With no promise
of a tomorrow, will they both survive what's to come. When Hunter Becomes the
Hunted.” Blurb for Hunter, the first in the Bloodlines series.
This
month, we’re going to beat the winter chill by going down to Oz to chat with
our Author of the Month, Libby Barnfield.
15) Libby, this
is a departure for me because not only have I never profiled an Aussie author
(to my recollection), I’ve also never done so for someone with only one book on
the market. Tell us about Hunter and the Bloodlines series in general.
The Bloodline Series is written from the perspectives of a
large, yet tightly-knit family. Each story captures the essence of the
bond between siblings and the loyalties that come with such a bond.
Even though they are self made billionaires they are all still very
grounded and don't forget their roots.
Each sibling will have their own story to tell, with its own suspense, drama and intrigue.
Book
one HUNTER of the series is where it all begins, him being the eldest.
Hunter is the founder and CEO of Fairmont Holdings PTY LTD. It was one
of those mornings when things could go wrong and did.
Trying
to finish a deal buying a shipping yard his personal assistant goes
into labor early sending his office into a tail spin of chaos.
Sarah,
who is a dear friend to him an his entire family, works behind the
scenes in keeping the company running smoothly. She suggests a woman
called McKenna to come and help until he found a new personal assistant.
McKenna also happens to be her Goddaughter.
A Goddaughter with a secret and also tortured past.
But Hunter also has a secret, but is soon revealed when he gives his heart to her.
Hunter works closely with the FBI, to close for his liking to bring down a crooked Governor that runs the underground.
There's
a ripple in their plan though. The Governor has a daughter that wants
to make Hunter hers, and now McKenna stands in her way of getting what
she wants. So from twists and turns, suspense
and drama, to hitmen and secrets it's an action packed edge of your seat
read. Oh, and you'll also need a box of tissues because this story will
touch all the feels.
14) You’re thus
far exclusively a romance author but you stray into other genres and subgenres.
The Bloodlines series is romantic action/adventure featuring conspiracies and
the FBI. And, as with virtually all fiction, nothing is ever what it seems.
What led you to create the male protagonist, Hunter?
Well, both Hunter and McKenna are the protagonists in this story.
But
Hunter is a man with a difference, he knows what he wants and he goes
after it. He's persistent but has one flaw: He likes to take over where
he sees he can be of assistance, but for all the right reasons. His
heart is always in the right place when it comes to the people he loves
and cares for, he'd move mountains.
He's ruthless in a boardroom, and is a take no prisoners type kind of guy.
He doesn't let a lot of people in his inner circle because he's a very private kind of guy.
13) You’d told
me recently that you’ve written nearly a dozen full drafts filling out the
Bloodlines series plus two others. One paranormal romance and the other
romantic fantasy. In the future, are you planning on doing more romance hybrids
with other genres?
As a writer/author … I feel as if I am filled with so many stories to
tell, that flow the moment I begin to write. These stories, over time,
seem to evolve into something beyond genre expectations, so I am sure
that I have more stories to tell yet from all types of genres.
12) Speaking as
a woman, how do you explain romance literature’s enduring appeal from Jane
Austen to the Brontë sisters to Barbara Cartland to today’s romance authors?
I believe, that no matter the time the story is situated, love was and
still continues to be something that each person at some point on their
journey can relate to. Whether it be love of family, or, quite simply,
falling in love for the first time. The classics paint a remarkable
picture of love of the purest kind. A vulnerable time; nonetheless. A
time when divorce was taboo and quite simply “not an option”. And now,
the modern, strong and independent career woman, who knows her worth and
refuses to settle. Each continue to lure me as an author and a reader,
as love will always be relatable.
11) While
growing up in Australia, who were your favorite authors and had any of them
gone on to influence your work today?
Colleen Hoover
Elizabeth Lennox
Addison Moore
Alanea Alder
Are all my favourite authors.
Maybe I have been influenced by all of them, all wrapped up in a parcel. They are all phenomenal authors in their own right.
10) How
difficult it to ply your trade in a nation with few publishers and only a dozen
literary agencies? Or is all that moot since you self-publish?
I think that we are in a time where social media has empowered authors,
like myself, to self publish as we have the ability to self market our
work across various, popular platforms which has proven to be
successful. It’s an amazing source and slowly but surely, more and more
authors utilise it as they become familiar with the internet. It’s quite
a “personal” approach to marketing your published work, as it’s US who
manage ourselves, keeping our fingers on the pulse at all times and
giving our reader fans a more personal experience. All thanks to social
media. So, with only few publishing houses here in Australia, I would
say that I am not disappointed with the alternative- self publishing.
9) As with my
upcoming book, American Zen, you’d
assembled a play list for your protagonist, Hunter. How come McKenna, the
female lead, doesn’t have one? Or will she get one in the future?
The playlist covers both characters. Each song goes with each consecutive scene in the book from start to finish.
8) Do you
believe that other romance authors should, like you, merge genres or do you
think there’s still a place in modern literature for romance purists?
Contrary to popular belief, love has no limits and neither should your
stories! I don’t get caught up in a specific genre when planning out my
book. I let the story line and its characters come to life before
worrying about things like that. I feel that this allows the story to
unfold organically without limits and as it progresses, the structure
and genre forms without being held back. There is always plenty of room
for romance purists!
7) Describe your
typical writing day in the outback, if such a thing exists. Do you draft in notebooks,
laptops, both and, if you set daily words goals, what are they?
My typical day of writing...
I'm a bit of both a plotter and a pantser.
I
draw up an outline on how I'd like the book to go. But unfortunately,
it never goes the way you plan. My characters seem to go off on their
own merry little way, and take the story into different directions, but
eventually I may be able to swing the story back around to the direction
I'd like for it to go.
Characters have things to say, and sometimes they don't quieten down until they've told their story.
So a book has lots of plot twists and turns and makes for a good read.
6) Humans will
continue to fall in love for as long as the species endures. Yet, romance
literature, as well as anything else, has to evolve in order to remain fresh
and relevant. What do you see those changes as being in the future?
Love, as I said, will be infinitely relatable; no matter the setting. I
believe if there are any changes to be made, they would be to simply
keep the story line and setting as relatable for the modern reader as
possible. So changes to a classic setting may change from a modest
woman, newly of age waiting for a suitor. To a woman who becomes a
famous writer in a time where women weren’t to work at all. These
changes should be encouraged too!
5) You’ve also
told me you’ve begun a paranormal romance series. Without divulging spoilers,
tell us a little about that series.
Love, triumph, power, good and evil, to name a few, are all common denominators of the paranormal I am writing.
4) Plotter,
pantser or plantser?
As I said in question seven, I’m a bit of both. I like to at least start
a kind of direction I’d like to go, but when I start that goes right
out the window. But I still like to think I’m in control when really I’m
not my characters are I just write what they tell me.
3) You’re also
merging romance with fantasy in another series. Could you tell us a bit about
that?
I’ve written a Fantasy Romance that’s action packed. I
actually dreamt this series, and began just writing it. All I’m going to
reveal is there’s Fallen Angels and Demons in it. It’s a wait and see….
2) Do you have a
projected launch date for the second entry in the Bloodlines series?
No, unfortunately I don’t have a launch date. This is a total rewrite
because I lost the complete first manuscript, and I wasn’t able to
retrieve it all. So, it’s virtually start from scratch kind of thing.
But I will say it’s got a lot more in it the second time round.
1) So, what’s
next for LibbyJ?
I’m hoping the release of book two to The Bloodline Series and the
launch of My Fantasy Romance in 2022. I’ve also got a few other ideas on
the back burner as well. I would like to try my hand a Recency Romance
as well, but we’ll see how things go with the others first. I don’t want
to limit myself to just the one style of romance writing, I’d like to
try different types of romance as well. So let’s see what the future
holds.
If you’re interested in learning more about Ms.
Barnfield’s work, please follow the handy links below:
Author Page.
https://www.facebook.com/libby.j.author/
Instagram.
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House of Chapters.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1750764315077533/?ref=share
TikTok
http://www.tiktok.com/@libby.j_author
Twitter
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