Rival Dreams Tour: Interview with Natalie Decker PLUS Giveaway

Today we're joining the Rival Dreams blog tour by chatting with author Natalie Decker. Come get to know all about Natalie and her books, and be sure to enter the rafflecopter at the end of the post!

Hi, Natalie! Welcome to We Do Write. Tell us a bit about yourself.  

Hi! I am the author of RIVAL LOVE series. I love oceans, sunsets, sand between my toes, and carefree days. My imagination is always going, which some find odd. But I believe in seeing the world in a different light at all times. My first passion for writing started at age twelve when I had to write a poem for English class. However, seventh grade wasn’t my favorite time and books were my source of comfort. I took all college prep classes in High school, and attended the University of Akron. Although I studied Mathematics, I never lost my passion for writing or my comfort in books. I'm a mean cook in the kitchen, love my family and friends and my awesome dog infinity times infinity.

Tell our readers a bit about RIVAL DREAMS.

This is the third book in the series. We continue following Caleb and Skylar into their college years. Skylar Fletcher and Caleb Morgan have been together for almost two years. On the surface, everything is great. Skylar is kicking major butt in swimming and has been offered the captain spot. Caleb is the top quarterback in the league. And even though their schedules can be a little hectic at times, they’ve always seem to make time for one another.

But once Caleb is approached by the NFL, his behavior turns odd. He flakes out on appointments to check out apartments and doesn’t call her on the nights when they’re apart. 

Pro football has been Caleb’s dream since forever. But what kind of idiot asks a girl to drop everything so he can follow his dream?

How did the idea of the story come to you?

This particular series came from an article I read about a rival teams making fun or bullying each other. This made me think about my high school and the crap we did when we were playing our rival teams. And it branched off from there.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Plotter

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

When I’m in the middle of a scene and my hour for writing time is up. I obviously don’t want to stop typing but I must because M-F I only have an hour of writing time. Then it’s either getting kids ready for school, off to work, and the rest of my daily chores, or it’s my bed time.

What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

My cow print throw blanket is usually around me when I’m writing. As well as my plotting chart. This has all my plot points on sticky notes and in order as they need to be weaved into the book.

If you could have any super power, what would it be?

To Fly. I’d save a ton on airfare.

What's the weirdest thing you've googled?

I don’t really google odd or weird things, but when I googled certain cities, for book ideas there are a lot of strange laws that sometimes show up. Which makes me wonder who in their right mind actually sat around and declared: When you pull up to a stop sign you must fire a gun out the window to warn horse carriages that you are coming. (I’m sorry what?) Or: It is illegal to transport an ice cream cone in your pocket. (Okay what moron would do such a thing in the first place?)

Finish this sentence: If I'm not writing, I'm probably ...

I’m getting my children ready for Jr High and Elementary, then I’m answering emails and doing work at the day job: Collecting data, working or updating files, answering phones, taking orders. Then I’m picking up kids, cooking dinner, going over homework, bed times and that’s my typical day when I’m not writing M-F Sat-Sun I’m usually catching up on all my TV shows I missed during the week. Pretty boring huh?

Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.

I love all of my family, fans, readers, my publisher Georgia McBride, Swoon Romance for publishing my series, all the staff at Swoon Romance, and Xpresso book tours for doing this amazing tour. Thanks!

Thanks for stopping by the blog and chatting with us!

a Rafflecopter giveaway