I’m delighted to welcome Natalie-Nicole Bates here today for an interview and a look at her new paranormal romance, Remember The Stars.
Hi, Natalie, thank you for being my guest! Tell us a little about Remember The Stars.
Remember The Stars is a paranormal romance flavored with a bit of horror. It explores the possibilities of what might happen if you put yourself into a situation where you’re between life and death. Remy and Leah meet in such a place and soon discover that Fate may have had a very different plan for them.
Blurb:
For Leah Rhodes, life as she knows it has just changed forever.
Waking in a gutter in the dark surroundings of her distant past, a familiar man stands out in her confusion.
But Remy Moreland has been dead for years.
It soon becomes apparent to Leah that both she and Remy are trapped in a hell of their own making.
Can one night together not only lead to the way out, but to love as well?
What inspired this story?
I worked for several years in a rehabilitation facility with people who were recovering from devastating head injuries. There are various levels of coma that people can be in, and I’ve often wondered what exactly some of these people are experiencing. It started to make me question what the possibilities are if you’re stuck between life and death, and just what if you did something to put yourself into that position. This is where the idea for Remember The Stars came from.
What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on a new paranormal romance tentatively titled Sometimes in Winter. I’m also working on a few short projects.
What are your writing goals for this year?
I’m hoping to complete Sometimes in Winter and the next Unity-based story (the follow up to Back To You and Change of Address) called Amii’s Angel.
How do you come up with ideas?
I don’t think there’s a way I can explain it. The ideas just happen, I am very fortunate. But for stories like See Me and Antique Charming, I was inspired by my collection of Victorian-era photographs. I’ve started a separate blog for my photographs at http://ghostsandphantoms.blogspot.com
It’s by no means complete, and I add to it a little at a time, but here you can see the photos that inspired the stories
Where do you start when writing? Research, plotting, character, or…?
For me, writing starts with the idea. When I have a new idea I don’t run immediately to the computer and start working. I roll the idea around for weeks in my mind and if it has any merit I’ll then start working on it.
Do you have a favorite hero and/or heroine in your books and why?
I have to say that I’m still madly in love with Daniel and Carly from SEE ME. They have such an amazing story and love. Even though this is a paranormal romance, I put the focus on the two characters and their love story. As a matter of fact, except for a few brief interactions with the outside world, there are really no secondary characters.
Where is your favorite place in the world?
Spain-I love the culture, the history, the beaches…I fell in love in and with Spain. So many amazing memories.
What do you like to read?
I’m currently reading a lot of James M Cain stuff from the 1940’s. Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, The Postman Always Rings Twice, and the newly founded and released The Cocktail Waitress.
These are few of my favorite things:
1. NHL and KHL Ice Hockey
2. Major League Baseball
3. Blackberry tea
Excerpt:
“Remy,” she said his name. Where did she know that name from? It wasn’t common. Think, Leah, think. Then it hit her—hard.
She remembered exactly who Remy Moreland was.
He was in the newspaper years earlier. Her mother had shown her a copy. Remy Moreland was involved in a fatal street race. His Porsche had been split in two, killing him and a young woman in another car.
Remy Moreland was dead.
But if he was dead, what was he doing here, alive, and with her?
Sweat broke out on the back of her neck and her vision clouded. This was someone’s idea of an evil, evil joke. She had to get out. She had to find her way home.
Standing, she grabbed the edge of the deck for support. “I have to get out of here,” she mumbled and stumbled her way around the desk.
He grabbed her around the waist. “You can’t go back out there. It’s dangerous.”
She sunk her open palms against his chest and struggled to get out of his grip. “Get off of me, you malevolent freak! You’re dead! You’ve been dead for years!” she blurted.
Immediately, he let go and jumped back from her as if he had been stung.
“What are you talking about? He demanded.
She backed away, ready to make a run for the front door. But the confused mix of anger and disbelief in his contorted expression stopped her.
How could he not know he was dead?
“It was years ago, Remy. You had an accident. It was in the newspaper.”
He tilted his head, his blue eyes huge. “Do I look dead to you?”
Well, he was pale, his blue eyes ethereal. She hesitated, and then spoke. “Now that you mention it…”
“You bitch!” he snapped.
The force of his voice caused her to flinch and she raised her fingers to her throbbing temples. All she wanted at that moment was to get out of this man’s sight and find her way home.
“I’m not dead,” he stated ominously.
“Okay, you’re not dead,” she conceded as she rubbed circles on her temples.
He took a step closer. “As a matter of fact, right now I am languishing across town in a nursing home. I eat through a tube in my belly and piss into a catheter bag. I remain nothing but an emaciated, contorted version of the man I once was.”
She closed her eyes. This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening. None of this was real.
When she opened her eyes, he was in front of her, a macabre grin creasing his handsome features. He lifted a brow. “So, what did you do?”
“Do? What are you talking about?”
“To get here. You know my situation, so what’s yours?”
He wasn’t making any sense. She turned away from him, left the office and began to walk the long hallway to the front door, but he followed her closely.
“Let me guess,” he provoked. “You look like a murder-suicide kind of girl. You’re not wearing a wedding ring, so I’m assuming you shot your boyfriend in the head and then offed yourself in some spectacular way—like jumping off a balcony and splattering on the ground. How could you have known you would wind up here?” he chuckled unpleasantly.
She stopped cold. How could he say such a horrible thing? She turned back to him only to find him mere inches from her. “You’re horrible. You don’t even know me, but you’ve resorted to participating in some sort of evil joke on me. I just want to go home…or wake up.”
“Your life as you know it is over, Leah.”
“What are saying, Remy? That I’m dead?”
“You’re not dead…not quite. This is limbo…purgatory…the first circle of Hell. The most wretched place on earth where you are sent to atone for your sins.”
Bio –
Natalie-Nicole Bates is a book reviewer and author.
Her passions in life include books and hockey along with Victorian and Edwardian era photography and antique poison bottles. Natalie contributes her uncharacteristic love of hockey to being born in Russia.
She currently resides in the UK where she is working on her next book and adding to her collection of 19th century post-mortem photos.
Visit Natalie online at www.natalienicolebates.com
You can also find Natalie-Nicole Bates at:
Twitter: BatesNatalie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/natalienicole.bates
Blog: www.natalienicolebates.com
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/natalienicolebates
You can find Remember the Stars at Amazon.com
babettejames.com 
Thank you so much for interviewing me at your most fabulous site! I truly appreciate it!!