I’m honored to welcome this author to MRN as the first Spotlight of 2016. For the month of love, MRN is featuring an author I am so very happy to have found last summer. After quickly falling in love with her work, I’m eagerly making my way through her backlist. Without further ado….
Today, MRN puts the spotlight on Author Raven St. Pierre. Let’s jump right in and get to know Raven and her work…
A native of the Midwest, Raven has been writing for most of her life. Dreams of becoming a full-time writer seemed afar off, but she’s ecstatic to say that dream has been realized. In addition to growing her list of completed works, she also does some writing/publishing/marketing consulting on the side. With several novels already published, she looks forward to adding many more in the years to come. If you enjoy stories told from the heart with beautifully flawed characters, then she definitely has something just for you.
When did you know you wanted to write?
I’ve always written. I can remember drafting short stories and poetry at age seven. I completed my first full-length in 2009. Of course I fantasized about sharing it with the masses, but did I believe it would happen? No, lol. So I basically wrote Gravity for myself, a few family members, and my friends. However, as the series continued to grow and change and as I saw potential in the storyline and characters, I decided to research self-publishing and released the first book in the series November 2013.
Who/what inspires your stories?
I’m a huge Stephanie Meyers fan. When I read Twilight in ‘09, it resonated with me in such away that ’09 is also the year I wrote my first book. This isn’t a connection. I went on the hunt for something to feed my new addiction, but as I chased that high, I kept coming across novels that simply told a story and that’s not enough. They didn’t tear me apart and leave my heart on the floor like Meyers was able to do. So, I decided I’d try to write one myself, LOL. The end result was the Free Falling series. Twilight definitely influenced my writing style and is the reason my work is heavily doused with emotion.
Who is your favorite character from one of your books and why?
This is a tough one, so I’m going to have to put my thinking cap on. Ok, I’ve got it! Terrell from books 2-4 of the Free Falling series. He was a true friend to both Sam and AJ and he didn’t let their life issues scare him off. He was down for them even when it wasn’t easy to be. Everyone needs a Terrell in their life.
If your life was a book, in what genre would it be? And what would the title be?
If my life was a book, it’d definitely be women’s fiction. There’s romance, the challenge to overcome real life struggles, and family. That’s me in a nutshell. I’ll have to get back with you on a title, though. Sometimes that’s the hardest part, lol.
What is your favorite word or phrase in the English language?
My favorite word would have to be “profundity”. Sounds kind of funny when you keep saying it, but it’s fun to use. Favorite phrase? “That’s what she said!” Just always seems to fit at the most inopportune times and I love being the one to say it 🙂
Read an excerpt from Deliver, (Free Falling, Book 4) Raven’s latest release…
Kai
An unfamiliar number flashed across my phone and I sent the caller straight to voicemail…again. Although, there was no name to confirm, I was positive it was the blind date I stood up—the third in the last two months. Maybe now my friends’ wives, girlfriends, and whoever else, would stop trying to pair me up with any and all single women they knew.
The tall buildings and busy streets synonymous with New York City, along with the haze of colorful lights, became almost hypnotic. Swiveling the drink in my hand, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the living room window. I stood there, still clad in the white dress shirt and gray slacks I’d worn to work. I had to ask myself if this—skipping dates, working way too many hours, closing myself off—was some form of self-sabotage. Instead of meeting up with a woman who’d been described to me as “everything I could ever possibly want,” I stayed at the office until ten o’ clock tonight, working on things that could’ve honestly waited until tomorrow.
Part of what kept me after hours—or at least the excuse I let myself use—was the arrival of my new assistant in the morning. I was sure she wouldn’t be able to handle some of the harder tasks I would have otherwise handed over, so I did them myself to keep from falling behind.
With my former assistant, Carla, suddenly confined to the house, I had to scramble for a replacement. Her doctor wanted her out for the remainder of her pregnancy, followed by a three-month stint of maternity leave afterward. I admittedly had very little confidence in the newcomer. For one, everything worked out just a little too conveniently. There was a very real possibility that this woman, Angel, being a relative of my boss’ wife, might not even be qualified. How could I be sure she didn’t just get this job because she had connections?
She and I actually had a chance to meet a couple weeks ago, purely by coincidence. I stopped off to grab paperwork from my boss’ place before heading out of town on business. Little did I know, the beautiful woman who momentarily stole my focus, the one who had my palms sweating like an adolescent boy, was actually her—Angel.
Want more? Read the the entire first chapter of Delivered
Raven’s Book List
Check out my reviews for Delivered, Again For the First Time, and Matt & Brooklyn. I hope you’ve found your next favorite read. I’m looking forward to more to come from Ms. St. Pierre; I hope you are too.
Xoxo,
Coco
My Reading Nook 
Nice to meet you, Raven. Your books look great.
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