Welcome to Visiting Authors, today N. Christine Samuelson! Tell us about what you write.

I write novels, poetry, and some short stories I’m starting to write again.--

Before Heart Storms, I’ve published two previous novels, Eternal Seas and Echoes of Love—both deal with eternal bonds of love that transcend time. Past lives and mystical elements are woven into contemporary characters and stories of love and relationship—the perils, fears, obstacles and courage to overcome, the power of the bonds of love in many forms.

Do you find inspiration in your own life for your writing?

Most of my inspiration is from life experiences and the people I’ve known from all walks of life. They, and the myriad places I’ve lived and traveled to are the springboard for my imagination—so many stories to tell.

Her latest release…Heart Storms…

Heart Storms…

When three people’s lives collide in a perfect storm of heartbreak and ruin, betrayal and love, will they be destroyed or transformed by their fate? One woman and two men are drawn to coastal South Carolina to an oceanfront Victorian B & B inn. Jade Armstrong is newly divorced and left with nothing by her treacherous ex-husband. Gabriel Montoro is reeling from a cheating wife. Rick Stirling owns the inn and has suffered a devastating personal loss. Through work and friendship, their inner conflicts extend to each other while vying for the need for survival, healing, attraction and love.
None of them seek love or relationship, but as they move into and through the emotional storm of their lives, destiny brings them together in an extraordinary way. A charming oceanfront inn complete with mystical elements lifts the characters’ spirits and helps them on their journeys. Their passionate triangle must be broken for them to move on with their lives, but who ends up with whom, or do they, and when?

Find Heart Storms: Amazon ~ Barnes/Noble-Nook ~ Apple Books ~ Kobo

Now a little more about N. Christine with a SPEED ROUND:

Any words of advice for fellow writers in the trenches?

Photo of the beach where I walk that inspired the oceanfront setting for the inn in Heart Storms.

Writing and publishing are hard roads to pursue. But If you love to write, if it’s your passion, never give up. Envision coming to the end of your life and looking back—would you be okay with giving it up? If you’d regret it, then carry on.

Now for an excerpt!

Jade wandered through her days looking for clues to why and how the end came. Well-meaning friends tried to encourage her, but their words were lies because love did not conquer all, and time had not healed her. In her world, the road to hell wasn’t paved with gold but with a golden boy who took her straight there—to a hell of a life. And when all those doors slammed shut, God didn’t open a window, ‘the devil’ did.
Devlin. Jade used to love his name. It was unusual, strong and spoke of his Irish heritage. She assumed the man, Devlin Donoghue, would be the same—as honorable as a hero in medieval times fighting to the death for his woman, family, and freedom. But Devlin was the antithesis of good things. … His name was unspeakable now, like poison on her tongue. So instead of seeing ‘Devlin’ written on the paper, …she saw only ‘Devil.’ Now there’s a name perfectly suited to him. Since that day, Jade referred to him only when necessary, and only as ‘the devil’—the intentional cause of pain and destruction, the epitome of evil.
***
Gabriel had nowhere to run or hide from the relentless demons howling through his life. They made demands of his days he couldn’t fulfill. No matter how good he was or acted, his life seemed predestined for trouble and heartbreak. In trying to change his situation, worse circumstances arose. He ran from a culture he loved and respected but had also caused pain and torment. The deepest truth, though, simmered underneath the obvious facts—Gabriel knew he’d never have a life of goodness, of love and family. Those things were fairytales in books and movies. He’d never witnessed those good things in real life and, since Consuela, for sure they didn’t happen to people like him.
***
The destruction of Jade’s life by a devious, conniving husband didn’t happen to people like her. She’d always been a loving, hard-working, devoted daughter and wife who deserved better than what she got.
At twenty-seven, instead of living the dream they planned, Jade lived alone in a studio apartment, in a nightmare where questions screamed through her dreams. Where are you… How could you do this? Why did you do it? Every day, rage tumbled down her life like a waterfall. Come back… fix this… make it right! Her world stood still while a vortex of depression sucked out her life force, replaced by a new emotion—hate. With all the good she was and did, she received the opposite in return. But for all the agony and loss the devil wrought, he didn’t get an ounce of it back. As far as Jade saw, only good things went back to him. How is that fair in the laws of the universe, the eyes of God, or in the karmic balance of right and wrong? Jade decided if those things wouldn’t balance the scales of justice, she would. She’d pay back ‘the devil.’ Retribution and vengeance—previously unknown concepts in her world—now thundered through her every waking moment as she vowed revenge.