Virginia Vaughan Interview

Q: Let me start with asking you to tell us a little bit about yourself.
A. Thanks for having me! I write romantic suspense for Love Inspired Suspense and Texas Holiday Hideout is my 13th book with them. I’m currently raising and homeschooling two of my great-nephews who are 11 and 9, plus I’m a mom to two grown sons and a daughter-in-law. I’m also about to have my first grandchild—a girl. In fact, by the time this interview posts, she will probably be here! My life is super busy but I love connecting with readers and other writers.

Q: What started you on your writing journey?
A. I’ve always loved to make up stories and, as a child, I even acted them out. In fact, my grandmother used to peek into where I was playing to make sure there was no one else in the room with me! As a teen, my love of reading blossomed. One morning I awoke with a dream so vivid that it wouldn’t leave me alone until I wrote it down. That was the first step into the world of writing, but I never dreamed I would someday be a published writer.

Q: What distracts you from writing the easiest?
A. I am easily distracted! Facebook and the internet in general often lure me down rabbit holes that eat up chunks of my writing time. Also, I have a 9 year old who is constantly vying for my attention. So, yeah, I’m very easily distracted. I’ve had to come up with creative ways, like writing sprints, to get my word counts done.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release Texas Holiday Hideout?
A. Sure! Texas Holiday Hideout is book #2 in my Cowboy Lawman’s series. It tells the story of big brother Miles Avery, a US Marshal working in the Witness Protection Program. He’s assigned to protect single-mom Melissa Morgan and her son Dylan after Melissa’s mother is murdered and she discovers she and her mother entered Witness Protection when Melissa was a child. But when Miles suspects a mole is working in his agency, he takes Melissa to the only place he knows she will be safe—his family’s ranch—and pretends she’s his wife for the holidays.

Q: Where did the idea for this story come from?
A. I knew I wanted to write a hero who worked in WITSEC and, after doing some research and learning about the level of secrecy required in the program, I wondered what it was like for the kids who were young or were born after their parents entered the program. That gave life to my heroine, who was only five when her mother entered WITSEC. She was raised in the program without being aware that her family once had another life. This twist opened up a lot of emotions and areas to explore in my heroine, including whether or not she would tell her son, who is only four at the time of the story.

Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now?
A. I am currently working on my 15th book with Love Inspired Suspense. It will be book #4 in this series and focus on the little sister, Kellyanne Avery. I am also currently working on a romantic suspense novella that will be part of a Christmas collection with 9 author suspense authors. It is title Mistletoe and Murder: A Romantic Suspense Collection and will release in October. My story is titled Yuletide Protector.

Q: What kind of books do you enjoy reading?
A. I love romantic suspense and have been a fan of it before I even started writing it. I’m so grateful to be able to write in the genre I prefer reading!

Q: What is your favorite food?
A. I am a pasta junkie. I love, love, love pasta!

Q: What makes you smile and/or laugh out loud?
A. As I said earlier, I’m raising two of my great nephews. They make me laugh and smile daily with their wit and humor. Often, they don’t even know what they said that was funny, but I will be rolling with laughter.

Q: If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why?
A. If I had the choice, I would be a housecat—sleeping all day, being social whenever you feel like it plus, no one blinks when you’re grouchy, lol.