Q&A with Colette Auclair author of Thrown

So today the ebook Thrown by Colette Auclair comes out and to celebrate I am having a Q&A with her here on my blog!

I would like to thank Colette and welcome her to my blog!

Q: How did you come up with the title of your book?

A: I must admit, I didn't. One Sunday morning my husband and I were in line at a Starbucks drive-thru and we were brainstorming titles. My husband--maddeningly--said, "How about 'Thrown'?" Just like that. I have a bit of a competitive streak, and had been trying to think of a title for months, so instead of immediately recognizing his genius, I thought, "Drat! That's better than any of my names. Now I have to give him credit!" But I loved it, and told him so, and the rest, as they say, is publishing history.

Q: What made you want to write this book?

A: It was supposed to be a screenplay. I wanted to write a contemporary romantic comedy loosely based on "The Sound of Music," but with horses. I took a class and ended up with a 15-page outline for a movie, but the scene after the end of the film wouldn't get out of my head. The characters wanted to do more! So I wrote it out in prose just to shut them up. I had such a good time, I decided to write the whole story as a novel instead of a movie. Writing this novel was so much more fun than writing screenplays, I decided to see if I could get it published.

Q: Who designed the cover of your book? Did you have any say in it?

A: A fabulously talented designer who works for Pocket Books! I had no say in it--but my editor, Abby Zidle, is a horsewoman, and she "handled the reins," as it were. She emailed the cover to me and I actually gasped when I opened the file and that gorgeous dapple gray jumper filled my screen. I was gobsmacked and I called Abby as soon as I regained the ability to speak.

Q: If you could not be a writer, what job would you have and why?

A: So many answers! You should know that I'm an advertising copywriter by day, although I hope to be a novelist full-time. But if I couldn't write... I'd love to be a horse trainer, only I'd specialize in dressage instead of jumping, which is what my heroine, Amanda, does. If you read THROWN, I hope my love for horses comes through. Because of this lifelong condition, I'd love to be a veterinarian so I could help horses. Or I'd love to be an actress. And now for something completely different--I'd love to be a pilot in one of those precision formation fighter jet teams, because really, how fun must that be?