Welcome, Lee Ann. What is your book about?
Witness Protection Program is a contemporary romance with a lot of suspense. It’s basically the story of a witness with a new identity who finds herself in the middle of a gunfight at the local discount store when she’s discovered. A stern Federal Marshall whisks her away to a remote safe house but he soon realizes he’s falling for his witness and breaks a lot of the rules he’s sworn to uphold.
How (or when) do you decide that you are finished writing a story?
When I start writing, I usually know the beginning and the end. I then write the story between those two, fill in the blanks so to speak.
What has changed for you personally since you wrote your first book?
I’m ten times busier and my days are crazy, never enough hours to get things done but I manage most of the time. Now that I have eight novels out, I struggle to remember that people recognize me at the supermarket and elsewhere.
What are you working on right now?
My current WIP is a World War II era historical romance between a young soldier from Brooklyn stationed at Camp Crowder (basis for Camp Swampy in Mort Walker’s classic comic strip, “Beetle Bailey”) located in the small town where I live and a young woman from the town.
What was the first story you remember writing?
In the fifth grade I wrote a terrible piece of fan fiction (although no one called it that yet) of “Gone With The Wind” titled “Goodbye Dixie”.
Do you have mental list or a computer file or a spiral notebook with the ideas for or outlines of stories that you have not written but intend to one day?
I have many. I call them “story starts” and they may range from one line to pages.
Who gave you the best writing advice you ever received and what was it?
My paternal grandmother told me when I was about fourteen after she let me read a MS she’d written for school that I should become a writer, that she couldn’t because life dealt her a lot of harsh blows but that I could and should. Her encouragement and determination fueled me through a lot of rejections.
What advice you would give to an aspiring author?
Never give up. Learn your craft from the basics to the advanced. Learn grammar, spelling, and all of that. Know your markets and be prepared to work your butt off.
Have you written any other books?
Yes. I have eight novels out now (October 2011)…the Love Covenant series from Evernight Publishing, “Love Tattoo”, “Love Scars”, and “Love Knots”, three contemporary romances, “Love Never Fails” (Rebel Ink Press), Witness Protection Program (Rebel Ink Press), and “Kinfolk” (Champagne Books), a time travel romance, “A Time To Love”, (Champagne Books) and a paranormal romance “Wolfe’s Lady” (Evernight). I have two more novels due out this year, “Sing We Now of Christmas” (Rebel Ink Press) and “Love Shadows”, book four of the Love Covenant series in December. So far for 2012 I have four Rebel titles upcoming and another from Champagne.
Where can people learn more about your books?
My website – http://leeannwriter.weebly.com
My main blog: A Page In The Life
http://leeannsontheimermurphywriterauthor.blogspot.com
Facebook: Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy Twitter @leeannwriter.com
My books are sold on Amazon.com, Bookstrand, Barnes and Noble, All Romance E-books, the publisher websites and more.
Pat Bertram Introduces . . . 
October 28, 2011 at 10:01 am
So glad you followed your grandmother’s advice. And I like your advice to never give up.