Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway: Safari Moon by Ann Christine

Today we're welcoming author Christine Young writing as Ann Christine to the blog on her tour with Goddess Fish Promotions for the contemporary romance, Safari Moon. We loved the book, and posted a review here.

Christine is giving away:

Ann Christine will be giving away the following prizes:

* A Safari Moon bookmark to one randomly drawn commenter at every stop.
* ebook copy of The Gift (part of A Valentine Anthology) and Star Crossed (part of St. Patricks Day anthology) to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour.
* One commenter during the tour will win the right to have a character named for them in her next release--either Ghost Dance (a western historical romance) or Rebel Heart (science-fiction romance)
* Two randomly drawn commenters during the tour will each win a $25.00 GC to Starbucks
* The host with the most comments (excluding the author's and the host's) will win a $15 GC to Starbucks

So comment today AND follow her tour (if you click on the banner over there on the left, it'll take you to a list of her tour stops) -- the more you read and comment, the better your odds of winning. You could be introduced to a great new author AND win a GC!

I asked Christine to share five things we wouldn't guess about her. Take it away!

Wow! This is a really hard question. I am pretty much an open book. My bio really has most of what is important to me and my life, and the interviews I have completed have uncovered many secret quirky things about me: lifting weights while I'm trying to think of the right word or the best sentence and my habit of playing games like Cityville. I tell myself these things help me think. Maybe they do…maybe they don't. So here goes.

1. I have always been an avid swimmer and started swimming competitively at the age of six. I loved this but eventually burned out. As a teenager I wanted to do more with my life than spend it in chlorinated water and trying to get the ever present green out of my hair. In high school, though, I did swim on the team. My specialty then was the 200 yard freestyle event. My junior year I qualified in this event for state but did not make the finals. However my team's 200 yd. freestyle relay did make the finals and placed 6th. By accident when I received my medal for this event, I received the 6th place medal for the 200 free. I always thought this was kind of eerie.

Although most of my books have a swimming scene such as a lake, a river, or hot springs, in Safari Moon I don't have a swimming scene, but there is a pretty hot, steamy shower scene. Nyssa and Solo were caught in a wild Alaskan storm and raced to the hot shower to avoid hypothermia. And boy did they avoid it. Don't leave this to your imagination, read it.

2. I love art, no surprise here because I've included some of this in my other interviews. Originally I was an art major at Oregon State University. At that time OSU now OS was considered an engineering school and called the "cow college" because of it's agricultural program. When my children were approximately 2, 6, and 10 years of age I did colored pencil portraits of each one. They are still hanging on my walls. Hmm… I think I should do portraits of my granddaughters. My artistic nature was incorporated into Solo's characterization. My high school boyfriend was the photographer for the school yearbook. While his adventures in photography didn't take him to the Alaska, I did tag along on most of his photo shoots.

In Safari Moon Nyssa may have a little more of my personality than I had thought. However, I always wanted to be the one taking the pictures not the one sorting and cataloging.

3. One summer when I was about 20 while I was riding my bicycle, I was stopped by a traffic policeman. I was in a hurry, biking on my ten speed and on my way to work at the local pool. I had to make a right on a one way street. Well, there were no cars coming so I didn't stop. And then I saw it, the patrol car. I didn't receive a ticket and I was a lot more careful after that. Before I zipped through the stop signs, I really made sure there were no police cars around. Even when I owned a car I often rode my bike to work—just for fun.

In Safari Moon, Nyssa owns a bicycle shop and takes people on bicycle tours all over the world. The tours last about a week to ten days and they travel an average of 50 to 80 miles a day depending on the terrain. One of the reasons I talk about the bike tour to Athens that Nyssa is planning is because my parents took a bicycle tour in Greece. Greece was one of the many places they toured on their bikes. Nyssa's second job as a tour guide was created because of my parent's wonderful experiences. A bicycle tour has been on my to do list for a very long time.

4. My husband and I recently bought a timeshare in Manhattan. It is about 10 short blocks from Times Square. We spent a week in Manhattan last fall and would very much like to go back in December to see all the Christmas lights.

Nyssa's first career choice was an investment broker on Wall Street. She was extremely successful but eventually decided she did not like the pressure, the greed and the hunger for power. I have family who live in New York, Brooklyn to be exact, although they are hoping to move back to Oregon. I also have extended family who live in Athens, Greece and Albania.

5. My friends and family know that my husband grew up in Bend, Oregon. His father was county commissioner there for many years. I always liked to visit and enjoyed the summer weather, hating the winters of snow and ice. After a few visits I knew I would never want to live there.

Safari Moon begins in Bend, actually Sisters, Oregon. Sisters is a small town west of Bend in the mountains. Solo has a secluded cabin in Sisters and is able to easily commute to Bend. When his add in the local paper for an assistant backfires and reads that Solo is looking for a "willing, eager, and able woman" to help him with his photo shoot in Alaska he wakes to find a half naked woman in his cabin and a pet skunk.

I'd like to thank it's raining books for hosting my Safari Moon tour. Please leave a comment. Oh, and don't forget to buy Safari Moon. (just a little shameless self promotion)

Solo St. John, a wildlife photographer, is preparing for a trip to Alaska. Suddenly, Solo finds women of all sorts invading his privacy, his home and his office, all cooing nonsense words and blatantly throwing themselves at him. Solo doesn't know why, and he has no idea how to rid himself of the persistent women. He finally decides to beg a favor of his best buddy Nyssa Harrington.

In love with Solo for the past ten years and knowing he doesn't return her feelings Nyssa doesn't want to talk to Solo. She knows if she accepts his phone call, she will not be able to resist the temptation to hope again.

About the author: Born in Medford, Oregon, novelist Christine Young has lived in Oregon all of her life. After graduating from Oregon State University with a BS in science, she spent another year at Southern Oregon State University working on her teaching certificate, and a few years later received her Master's degree in secondary education and counseling. Now the long, hot days of summer provide the perfect setting for creating romance. She sold her first book, Dakota's Bride, the summer of 1998 and her second book, My Angel to Kensington. Her teaching and writing careers have intertwined with raising three children. Christine's newest venture is the creation of Rogue Phoenix Press. Christine is the founder, editor and co-owner with her husband. They live in Salem, Oregon.

Website: http://christineyoung-romancewriter.blogspot.com/
Rogues Angels blog: http://www.roguesangels.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Christine-Young/350132315013316
Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/achristay
Publisher: http://shop.roguephoenixpress.ieasysite.com/productinfo.aspx?productid=SAFARIMOON