Going After The Heart by Kristine Beairsto

Today we have awesome Kristine Beairsto visiting to tell us about her recent book Going After The Heart. Kristine it's a pleasure to have you here, please tell us a little bit about yourself.

Thank you so much for having me!  I'm a year round, flip-flop girl from San Diego, CA.  I've been addicted to romance novels since I was a teenager.  The rare times I'm not reading or writing, I can usually be found spending time with my husband and our two little girls or cheering on one of my favorite New York sports teams.

I love romance novels. How did you decided to enter the world of writing?

Growing up, I devoured books, thanks to a love of reading shared by my family.  My father always toyed with the idea writing science fiction stories and I loved to sit and listen to his ideas for stories and the worlds he built in his mind.  At eleven, after writing several short stories, I tried my hand at a longer story, hammering out a novel length story about a rock and roll band.  As soon as I wrote the words The End, I knew I had found my passion.

What does your family think of your writing?

My family is very supportive, always has been.  My seven year old thinks it's really cool that I write my own books, until it's time for me to review one of her writing assignments for school.  Then she wishes I did something a little less cool. = D

Where do you get your ideas?

Lots of different places.  Some ideas come out of seeing movies or reading other books and adding that “what if this happened instead” tag to the plot line.  My most recent release, Going After the Heart, came out of a bad dream I had.

Can you tell us a little about your book? 

Certainly.  Going After the Heart is about a woman named Lizzy Bergstrum who thinks her life is going great.  Her marriage, career, and daughter - everything is perfect.  Then out of the blue, her husband leaves because he's convinced she doesn’t even know he exists anymore.  After getting over her shock, she decides to go after him to fix things and has to find the fine line between making changes and not compromising who she is. 

What is your writing process?

When I come up with an idea for a story, I flush it out as much as I can in my head.  If I have to do research, I do as much research as I possibly can because that can sometimes fuel ideas for creative scenes.   Then I work out a rough outline of the plot and start working on my first draft of the story. 

What was the hardest part for you when working on your book?

The hardest part with Going After the Heart was trying figure out how to get my hero, Gavin Lizzy’s husband, to realize she wasn't the only person responsible for the issues with their marriage.

What influenced or inspired you to write?

I've always enjoyed making up stories since I was very young.  My parents and grandparents were my biggest influences that inspired me to start writing those stories down as I got older. 

Was there a scene that you didn’t add or you removed in your finished work?

Not in Going After the Heart, which still kind of shocks me.  LOL!  In my previous two books, I took out quite a few scenes because the story ran entirely too long, but somehow I seemed to contain my normally wordy self for Going After the Heart. 

Do you have a favorite character (from you're book)? Why?

Hmm, that's a real tough one, but if forced to choose, I'd have to pick Gavin.  There's just something I love about a wounded man. ; )

Do you already know what to write next? Can you tell us?

My next book will hopefully come out in April and tells the story about a woman whose parents died and she finds herself the guardian of her younger brothers and sisters.  To make extra money to make ends meet, she works for a black market antiques dealer authenticating antique books.  There's complications, of course.  And the hero will get involved, of course. LOL! 

Where can we find more information about you and your books?

I'm on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AuthorKristenBeairsto and Twitter at www.twitter.com/AuthorKBeairsto.  And of course, my website www.KristenBeairsto.com.

Do you have any last words?

Thanks again so much for having me!!  This was fun!!

Thank you for stopping by and please promise to return to talk about your new release.  

Fun Questions ~

I love weekends because? What's not to love?! LOL!  The best part is probably the freedom to really do whatever you want, whether it's be super lazy or go conquer a mountain.

I hate? Being really hot or really cold. 

I want to buy?  My husband says you might want to sit down and get comfortable, you're going to be sitting here for a while if I list out all the things I want to buy. LOL!!  He knows me too well!

My favorite song is?  At the moment, my favorite is Mz. Hyde by Halestorm.

My favorite precious stone is?  Amethyst and rubies

I want to travel to? Why? I want to see just about the entire world, but the place I'd really love to visit is Italy.  I've heard so many wonderful things about Italy that I can't wait to experience myself.

I want to meet?  Why? Gwen Stefani.  I’ve loved her music since I was a teenager and have really enjoyed seeing what she’s done with herself.  She seems like someone who has it all.

I want to invite   -------------- to dinner. Why? Michelle Obama, nothing political, I just think it would be interesting to compare notes on being working moms raising girls.

My dream is to? Quit my day job and write full time. = D

My favorite book is? Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen