An Interview with Brett Byron

In honor of my book finally being available on amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/A-Light-Darkness-Nicole-Jarrell/dp/1304091228), Brett Byron has agreed to sit down for an exclusive interview!  I joined him on his ranch where he gave me a tour then we settled on the living room couch where he graciously answered all my questions.

Meet Brett Byron!!!

Me : Hello Brett and thank you so much for being here.  You're the hero in my book A Light in the Darkness and owner of Byron Ranch in Tennessee.  Did you always want to be a ranch owner?

Brett : (chuckles) Uh, no.  I left home with big dreams and an even bigger ego.  I'm pretty sure that when I rolled out of town no one ever imagined for me to return, but life has a way of throwing curve balls.

Me : Curve balls?

Brett : Maybe that's not the best phrase.  It was more like a punch in the gut.  My dad got really sick really fast and I felt like I owed it to him to come home and help with the family business.  I never thought I'd enjoy it so much or end up running the place, but luckily my sister Rebecca helps out a lot and so does my friend James.  Plus, we've got a lot of hired help that are more like family than workers.

Me : Is that how you were first introduced to the Stover siblings, Scott and Lily?  Did they work on your ranch?

Brett : Scott worked for me until....well, you know what happened to him.  After all, you wrote the book  (awkward laugh). 

Me : True, but could you please elaborate a bit for those who haven't had a chance to read your story.

Brett : It's tough to talk about, even now, but when I walked into the barn that morning and saw Scott...well, it was one of the worst days of my life.  I couldn't believe someone would do such a horrible thing to such a nice guy, you know?  I mean, what did Scott ever do to anyone?  He didn't deserve it.

Me : I'm sorry.  I know it's difficult.

Brett : Thanks.  Um...so what was the question?  Oh, you wanted me to talk about how I met the Stover siblings.  Right.  Well, I wish I could say I bumped into Lily at the grocery store and we struck up a conversation, but unfortunately we met as a result of what happened to her brother.

Me : You know, some say that in times of crisis people ban together for support.  Is that how it was for you and Lily?

Brett : Oh, I wouldn't exactly say that.  Lily's a bit of a fire cracker especially when she doesn't like you very much.  And boy and boy does that lady pack a mean punch....

Lily Stover enters the living room.

Lily : Brett!  Don't tell her about the punch!  I'm really not a violent person, regardless of what this man has said.

Brett laughs and Lily joins him on the living room couch, trying to suppress her own smile.

Me : And on that note, perhaps it's time to wrap up this interview so I can speak with Ms. Stover.

Lily : That sounds like a great idea.

Me : Just one last thing Brett.  Is there anything else the readers should know about you before they read the book?

Brett : Just that I'm far more charming and handsome than conveyed in the story.

Lily : Oh pleeaaasseee....

Me : Thank you for joining me Brett.

Brett : No problem.

Stay tuned for my exclusive interview with the charming Lily Stover!

I can't come up with a conflict.

My second novel is a slow and steady process.  It's a suspense romance but very different than my first.  When I started writing my first novel, I had the story line down but the characters weren't well developed until I really later.  It's the opposite with my second novel.  I have three characters in my head begging to be unleashed onto paper, but I don't have an awesome story line yet.

The problem is the problem.  Well, the conflict.  Every story needs one and it has to be original, interesting and just flat out awesome.  Figuring out the problem in the story is obviously pretty critical and something I'm having major problems accomplishing.

So what do you do when you're stuck on your first draft?  Watch tv?  Drink coffee?  Surf google and facebook until the wee hours of the night?  Yup, I've done those but I still haven't come up with a conflict and for some odd reason procrastinating doesn't seem to help.

I guess I'll just have to get back to work reading novels by authors I admire and writing until something comes to me.

How do you work through these writing hiccups?