Five Things We'd Never Guess about Brittany Pate

As writers, we tend to spend a lot of time revealing information about fictional people, but very little time on our own, personal information. So here are five things you’d probably never guess about me.

1. I suffer from crippling anxiety.

I know this is true for a lot of people. In fact, it wasn’t until I went to my doctor and figured out I was having panic attacks instead of a heart attack, that I learned just how many people have to put up with this. To those of you with anxiety disorders of any kind, I salute you. Chances are, if you see me in public, I’m fighting a massive panic attack because I’m away from my ‘safe place’. I obsess over every word in every e-mail, every blog post, every Tweet. So, when I get a comment or a like or a retweet, it puts my mind at ease a little. At least someone out there didn’t think what I said was totally stupid.

2. I am (according to my great-grandmother) related to Margaret Mitchell.

For those of you who don’t know, Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone with the Wind. According to my great-grandmother, she would be my seven-times-removed great aunt on my father’s side. I know that’s a bit of a stretch, but it’s still a relation I’m happy to accept. I wrote a report on her once for high school and discovered some very interesting things. Her mother was four feet, eleven inches tall and had brick red hair. I’m also 4’11, with very distinct red hair. That doesn’t really count as proof, but I’ll take it!

3. I work in retail.

Like many debut authors, I have a day job. I work at a large, chain grocery store as a cashier. It may not be the most glamorous job, but it has helped me learn to manage my social anxiety. You know, at least until I have a panic attack and have to run away from the register. I have no intention of leaving my day job, because it afford me a level of social interaction I don’t get from writing (at least for the moment). Retail workers, you guys are the real MVP. It’s a difficult, under-appreciated job. Perhaps that’s why I’m so willing to disappear into fictional worlds!

4. I didn’t start out trying to write paranormal romance.

Shocker, I know. When the seed of the idea for my debut novel, FIRE’S KISS, popped into my head, I was actually working on an historical romance. I was determined that this would be The One, the one I would finish and pursue publication with. But that pesky idea for something a little more out there, something a little stranger, simply refused to go away. I gave in, partially, and promised myself I would only write just enough to get the idea out of my head, then go back to my historical romance. Nope. FIRE’S KISS demanded to be told, and here I am today.

5. I collect coffee cups.

That has to be probably the lamest collection, but I love my coffee cups. If we go on vacation somewhere, I’m going to get a coffee cup. Right now, from where I’m sitting, I can see a Wizard of Oz cup, a cup with two well-known DC villainous vixens, and an R2D2 cup that actually makes sounds when the lid is lifted. My favorite one, at the moment, is a cup that says, “Pay no attention to my browsing history. I’m a writer, not a serial killer”. It’s so accurate. Some of them I actually use, some of them are strictly for decoration because of how awesome they are, but I love them all. Maybe one day I’ll have a cup with a quote from my book on it.

Embyr tends her tavern while keeping her dangerous parentage a secret, until she's attacked by a hellhound and saved by one of the most feared men in history.

For the last eight hundred years, Ryder McLennon, the infamous leader of Death's Horsemen, has used his army to hunt the vampire who killed his wife. He's earned a reputation as a murderous madman. But in Embyr, he discovers something that could turn the tide of battle in his favor. Her control over fire can reduce an enemy to ash and her flippant disregard of him heats his blood in ways no one else ever has. She's beautiful, powerful and completely different from her violence-loving brethren.

Embyr finds herself thrust into a war she wants no part of, targeted by a vicious vampire because of her cooperation with Ryder. As she learns to wield her demonic powers without letting the madness of her race overcome her, she also has to fight her attraction to a killer bent on her seduction.

About the Author:

Brittany Pate lives in Texas with her husband and son. She is a longtime lover of all things fantasy and romance. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys narrating audio books and drinking entirely too much coffee.

Website: http://brittanympate.wixsite.com/brittanympate
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brittanypatewrites
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrittanyPate2

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