Rockstars | Harper Bentley

21 Jul 2017

Meet an Author–BB Miller & Leslie Carson!

I’m excited to introduce my guest authors for July!

suspenseful music builds to a big-ass cymbals crash

BB Miller and Leslie Carson!

I’ve known these two talented ladies for a long time! Leslie & I met maybe seven years ago, I believe! Crazy how time flies!

Pretty sure BB & I have chatted before about her WSU Cougars (I was probably griping about my OU Sooners at the time 🙄 ) and Swess (I call Leslie this because, well, no reason, except she’s just Swess ❤ ) had me edit for her yearssss ago and I loved getting to read her stories before anyone else did! 😏

These lovelies published their first book together, Rock the Dream–Redfall Dream Series (Book 1), on February 1, and it not only made a huge splash as a debut novel, but the reviews have all been raves!

And Kennedy Lane? Oh, my. He’s as sexy as he is infuriating. And just when you wanna smack him, he makes you swoon 😛 I think I’ve found my new book boyfriend! lol ❤

Let’s find out more about these girls!

Thank you so much for these questions and for including us! (Thank YOU for participating! ❤ )

1. What’s your hidden talent?

BB—I can make a mean Cosmopolitan!

LC—BB, that may be the best talent ever. 😊 Back in the day, I won several lip sync battles- before they were popular and featured on late night TV. 😊

2. If you could turn any activity into an Olympic sport, what would you win a medal for?

BB—Cocktail shaking. ( 😂 )

LC—Reading.

3.What’s your go-to band when you can’t decide what to listen to?

BB—This is a hard one! I guess either Ed Sheeran or Kings of Leon or Mumford and Sons or the Beatles…

LC—There are too many to list! Queen would be at the top, The Eagles, Foo Fighters, Blue Rodeo

4. What’s something you think everyone should do at least once in their lives?

BB—Get a bird’s eye view. Whether it’s zip lining, or hang-gliding, or finding the tallest observation deck around, find somewhere you can take a few minutes to see the world from high up. Your troubles slip away and it gives you new perspective.

LC—Get lost in a city. Too many people travel with these high activity, stressful itineraries when they’re on holiday. One of the best times I’ve ever had is when I got lost in the Underground in London and got off at the wrong station. I spent the day just exploring without an agenda, and it was fantastic.

5. What’s something that a ton of people are obsessed with but you don’t get the point of?

BB—Selfies. I can see taking a couple of you and a friend if you get together once in a while and you want to remember what you did. But constantly taking pictures of yourself with nothing but your car, sushi, or whatever? I don’t get it. (My 20 yo daughter would SO disagree 🙄 )

LC—Selfies are bad, and those selfie sticks are equally horrible. Right now, it’s bottle-flipping. It makes no sense at all, and I think my 13-year-old would medal in that if it was an Olympic sport. Please, please, MAKE IT STOP! (hahaha)

6. What are you looking forward to most in the next 10 years?

BB—Being cancer-free. (That would be fabulous! ❤ )

LC—BB and my sister being cancer-free. (Also fabulous! Keeping you all in my prayers ❤ )

7. What fad or trend do you wish would come back?

LC—Roller skating. Ah, the memories of Studio 801!

BB—I loved roller skating!!! I’m a danger on ice skates.

8. Would you rather give up bathing for a month or give up the internet for a month? 😝

BB—Easy! I’d give up the internet over showers.

LC—The internet! There’s no way I’m giving up my showers.

9. What’s the first book that made you cry?

BB—The Witch of Blackbird Pond. I loved that book. I still do!

LC—Charlotte’s Web—I distinctly remember bawling my eyes out in class.

10. Which character have you written that’s most like you?

BB—I think that’s best answered by someone else!

LC—I think there’s a little bit sprinkled into most of them.

11. What do you munch on when writing?

BB—I try not to! But I have to say I’m addicted to sweet potato tortilla chips.

LC—There’s this trail mix that I love far too much, and I have a weakness for chocolate almonds. If they’re in the house, they won’t last long.

12. If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?

BB—I would have paid more attention to punctuation drills!

LC—Holy cow–commas! BB can tell you alllll about it. 😊

13. Have you ever Googled yourself? 😉

BB—I have for work, but not for writing.

LC—No way!

14. Music or silence when you write?

BB—Depends on my mood! Sometimes, even music is distracting to me.

LC—I almost always have music playing. Unless I’m writing at work, which I’ve been known to do.

15. Is there any other genre you’d like to try writing?

LC—I’d love to give horror a try. Not gruesome, bloodshed horror. More along the lines of suspenseful, you want to sleep with the lights on horror.

BB—You’d be great at that!! I’ve had a mafia storyline floating in my head for a couple years—one day, I’d like to get that on paper.

16. If you could spend the day with one of your characters, who would it be and what would you do?

BB—Kennedy Lane. I’d like to spend the day listening to the band rehearsing in his home studio. (I could stand a day with KL 😉 )

LC—Sean Murphy. Give me a British accent, and a free spirit, and I’m hooked. (Well, damn…I could hang out with a drummer too lol)

17. Which character in your books would you be least likely to get along with?

BB—Nadia (although there’s another one coming up that I detest as well).

LC—Brodie (I’m with Barb on this though. There’s a new one that is beyond awful in Cameron’s book).

18. How do you choose the names of your characters?

BB—Hmm…I seem to remember one evening in a bar in San Francisco and names scribbled on a cocktail napkin…

LC—*laughs hard* Yep- cocktails are usually involved.

19. Your latest book continues your Redfall Dream Series. What got you into writing about rockstars?

LC—I’ve been writing for a while. (Side note: On a recent trip back home, my mom gave me a stack of old short stories I wrote, which included an entire soap opera set in the eighties. I had completely forgotten about it, and spent the next several hours laughing so hard I was crying at the scenarios I put these people into.) RTD actually started out as a graduation surprise for a very dear friend of ours who finished nursing school. We’re so proud of Mandy!!! (YAY Mandy!!) I’ve always been drawn to Rockstar romances. There’s something a bit mysterious about musicians and what drives them. And who doesn’t love a talented, tattooed man playing just for you? (This girl does!)

20. What’s one thing you’d like readers to get out of your books?

LC—To never, ever give up.

BB—To be true to yourself.

21. What’s the best compliment you’ve gotten when it comes to your books?

BB—That we convey emotions well. I think that is really hard to do without being melodramatic, and I love it when people say we’ve struck the right balance.

LC—That people can relate to the characters and the challenges they try to work through.

22. Can you tell us what you’ve got coming up next?

BB—The next book, Live Your Dream, focuses on Matt Logan, Redfall’s bass guitarist. (Aw! I wanna give Matt a great big hug for all he’s gone through)

LC—Yes! Matt makes me swoon just a little. 😊 He’ll be out in the fall this year. We’re also working on Cameron and Sean’s books which will be out sometime in 2018. (*squees*)

Thank you both so much for coming by! I LOVED Rock the Dream & can’t wait to read Live Your Dream! mwah! ❤