ABOUT FRANKIE

Frankie Robertson, an Amazon All-Star author,  writes romantic fiction with an otherworldly twist. She is the author of the romantic fantasy series, Vinlanders’ Saga, and the urban fantasy/paranormal romance series, Celestial Affairs and Celestial Affairs: The Trust. She is also the author of stand-alone paranormal mystery VEILED MIRROR.

As a reader, her first love was science-fiction and fantasy, but then she discovered the romance genre.  Now she enjoys blending the two.  With a background in real estate, occupational therapy, and paranormal investigation, she brings a diverse experience to her stories. It was her stint with the Western Society for Paranormal Research that inspired certain aspects of VEILED MIRROR.

A military brat, she moved three times before the age of eleven, living in California, Ohio, and Virginia before settling in southern Arizona. She met her own romance hero at the University of Arizona where she got a BA in English Lit. After a couple of years in upstate New York she and her husband moved back to Tucson, where they have a back yard that is regularly visited by hawks, bobcats, lizards, and quail, while the coyotes sing from beyond the fence.

Frankie has nine  novels available, with APOSTATE, the third book in the Celestial Affairs series the most recent. She also writes sensual Victorian romances as Francesca Rose and has three titles available in the Victorian Secret Romance series.

Please visit Frankie’s “What’s New” page where she’ll be posting information about forthcoming publications and appearances.

You can contact Frankie via email at Frankie Robertson @earthlink.net (no spaces) or through her Facebook page.

FAQ

What was the first book you wrote?

I wrote several short stories before I attempted a novel. The first novel I completed was DANGEROUS TALENTS. My first book published was VEILED MIRROR, which was actually the third novel I finished.

Which one of your books is your favorite?

That’s a hard question, but at the moment I’d  have to say,  FORBIDDEN TALENTS. It was the most difficult book in some ways because I had to handle four major characters’ points of view. But I really enjoyed putting Ragni through hell and making him earn his happy ending. My most recent book, DARK WINTERS’ NIGHT, was also a lot of fun to write.

Which books and authors have influenced your writing?

Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia had a huge impact on me. Early influencers that shaped my basic approach of combining romance with fantasy are Andre Norton, Anne McCaffrey, Joy Chant, and Marion Zimmer Bradley. More recently I’ve found new authors that I love like Patricia Briggs, Grace Burrowes, Grace Draven, and Jeffe Kennedy. And hundreds of others!

Why did you choose to become an Indie Publisher?

I wanted readers to see my work. To a large extent, traditional publishers choose books they think will make the company a lot of money quickly. That’s business. As an Indie I can grow my audience over time. And in the end it’s that audience, the readers, who are the final arbiters of what’s good and what isn’t. My biggest challenge as an author-entrepreneur is getting those readers’ eyeballs on my work so they can decide if they like it or not.

What would you do differently if you could?

I’d start self-publishing at least a year earlier. I spent a lot of time researching and dithering before I finally pulled the trigger. I’d concentrate more on building my series (although I really enjoyed writing YETI IN THE MIST which I wrote because I couldn’t come to grips with GUARDIAN).

Why did you decide to use a pseudonym for your Victorian Secret Romance books?

Basically it was a branding decision. I wanted readers to be able differentiate at a glance between the sexier Francesca Rose stories and Frankie Robertson’s romantic fantasy and paranormal romance books. I’ve left plenty of breadcrumbs to lead them from Frankie Robertson to Francesca Rose if they want to read both.

What would surprise people to know about you?

I once debated the relative merits of the various forms of Reese’s Peanut Butter cups with the late Randy Castillo (Ozzy Osbourne’s drummer). We agreed the holiday ones are the best.