Author Spotlight | Meet author/country girl/dreamer @grea_warner and her books #bookish #womensfic
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  • N. N. Light
    • Nov 11, 2021
    • 7 min read

Author Spotlight | Meet author/country girl/dreamer @grea_warner and her books #bookish #womensfic



If you are on this page, you must love to read as much as I love to write. And that is a whole lot!


I often get asked what inspired me to be a writer. I truly do not believe there was such a thing. I am a writer because it’s simply who I am. It is what I have always gravitated toward. I couldn’t not write.


As early as grade school, I proclaimed I was going to be a soap opera writer (yes, that is probably too young to be watching such shows). I loved the emotions and drama that were portrayed on the screen, plus the fact that you didn’t have to let the characters go … there was always another episode. I enjoyed mapping out the (very complicated) family trees, writing extended scenes, and creating my own characters and plots.


The passion for writing continued when I went to college. Majoring in Commnications and English, I was presented with some amazing opportunities. I created and wrote a campus television drama. I also spent two of those summers as an intern working on set and in publishing for the soap opera industry. Those were beyond extraordinary experiences.


Upon graduation, I wrote and produced a local television show for a number of years, and I had an additional opportunity with a soap opera (which, unfortunately, does not air anymore). During that time, though, because I was writing for work, I did not write for pleasure. I missed that. I ached for and needed it.


An approaching college reunion changed that. I started thinking about what it would be like to see some of those classmates I hadn’t seen or heard from in a number of years. Where had their life led them? Where were they now? What triumphs and tragedies had they gone through? And as I imagined, so came a fictitious tale …


My first book -- COUNTRY ROADS -- is a story about a woman with a traumatic past reuniting with a college pal who is now a country music star. I am so proud of the accolades it has received … from 5-star ratings to finaling in international awards to being an Amazon Best Seller. Two things readers most often say are how realistic the writing is and that it is an emotional tearjerker.


But Lara’s story didn’t stop at the end of that book. Like a great Netflix series or those daytime dramas I still sometimes watch, her saga continued. There are five books total in the series … each with an emotional and heartwarming pull.


After the Country Roads series, I wrote a stand-alone called EVERY MILE A MEMORY. I got the idea for that book as a group of friends and I were making our way out of a concert venue. We started talking with some other attendees who said they were going to follow the band to the Riviera Maya for another event. I thought, “what if we did that AND if we met the band.” So, it was only appropriate that I named the main character Maya. When researching the moniker, I learned that a variant of it means “fertility,” which led me to add something about her character that really made the storyline complete.


HEADS CAROLINA was released in April. It is the first of a two-book series, which is sometimes called a duet – very appropriate since my main character, Bethany, is a singer-songwriter who ends up writing with a top music manager. The inspiration for this book was part watching TV talent shows and part remembering what it was like living in a similar residence in NYC where everyone was looking for their big break. Book two, TAILS CALIFORNIA, is available now, also!


Learn more by visiting my website – greawarner.com. In addition to blurbs, excerpts, trailers, music playlists, and buy links, there are also discussion questions for each book. You can use them to reflect on the story. Or, they are also ideal for book clubs! Let me know if you feature one of my books in your group. I’d be truly honored and would love to help if I can.


Happy Reading!


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BOOK ONE



Title Country Roads

Author Grea Warner

Genre Contemporary Women’s Fiction

Publisher Inkspell Publishing


Book Blurb

They were friends once … until their lives took them down separate roads.


Now, years later, when a child volunteers his uncle to sing for a fundraiser, LARA FAULKNER realizes it is none other than her college pal, FINN MURPHY. As the two get a chance to reconnect, Lara reveals to a compassionate Finn details of her shocking past and the traumatic decision she had to make.


Through trust and love, the bond between Finn and Lara deepens as the country singer manages to get an emotionally scarred Lara to let down her self-proclaimed walls. But will secrets, lies, and tragedy cause a bumpy detour on their road to complete happiness?


Emotional, dramatic, heartwarming … fall in love with Amazon Best Seller COUNTRY ROADS.


Excerpt:


I started kneading my knuckles into the inner corner of my eyes willing them to give up their relentless tearing onslaught. It seemed to work but, consequently, left my fingers coal black from mascara remnants. I stood, trying to recollect myself, noticing Will and Nola approaching. Nola froze when she heard her brother singing and looked from the doorway to me. I shook my head, helpless.


I was helpless. We all were. I didn’t know what to do. Or even if I should.


As if reading my mind, Nola reached out and clasped both of my hands. “Stay. Please.”


I squeezed back, giving Wyatt’s mother what strength I had in me. “I need to go splash some water on my face. He…they…don’t need to see me like this.”


“But they do need to see you.”


I half-smiled, gave an extra squeeze, and followed the signs to the public restroom. God, I looked awful —such a contrast to that sleek persona I had prepared to present to Finn when the day had started. A water geyser over my entire head wouldn’t be able to reclaim any semblance of normalcy. I dabbed dampened paper towels on my face and reapplied some colored lip balm. Taking an extended moment to breathe in and out, I grabbed the sink edge, said a silent prayer, and started the short walk back


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BOOK TWO



Title Every Mile a Memory

Author Grea Warner

Genre Contemporary Women’s Fiction

Publisher Inkspell Publishing


Book Blurb

A chance encounter leads to a road never imagined and the possibility of dreams coming true.


Going on tour with a band was never on Maya Shriver’s radar. But then neither was being a widow in her mid-thirties. And finding happiness again? Well, that was out of the question.


When danger erupts, Maya is abruptly thrown together with Hawk Brannigan—a country singer’s right-hand man. And she finds out that, once again, life can change in an instant. Suddenly, Maya is not only in a new career but she’s also allowing herself to love again.


As Maya begins to unpack her grief and move on, a misunderstanding from the past may cause the couple to travel in different directions.


Excerpt:


Then, before I opened the door, I saw it. And I had a decision to make. The skinny gold band, engraved with a J, heart symbol, and M, glistened on the shelf where I had put it pre-shower. It was automatic that I would put it on. While it no longer resided on my left hand, it had a permanent space on the opposite ring finger. But it didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel right putting the ring on, knowing what I was planning—hoping—I would be doing very shortly. I looked at the mirror. I looked at the ring. I closed my eyes. I thought of Jeff. I thought of Hawk. And I put the ring securely in my makeup bag and opened the bathroom door.


I saw him immediately via the lengthy mirror in the dressing area. His back was toward me as he was half sitting, half lying on the first bed, watching some sort of news program. When I entered the room and got into his peripheral vision, he popped off the bed and fumbled for the remote, eventually getting the television off.


I stood still, waiting for him to approach me, which he did. There was a slight exhale from his mouth as he scanned my attire. “You look…God…amazing.”


Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub)





BOOK THREE



Title Heads Carolina

Author Grea Warner

Genre New Adult/Women’s Fiction

Publisher Inkspell Publishing


Book Blurb

How did a sheltered girl from Carolina end up in a national scandal involving one of Hollywood’s most powerful music couples?


When want-a-be singer Bethany Opala tries out for a TV talent show, she is rejected. But then comes an amazing offer … a songwriter’s dream. Bethany has the opportunity to learn and develop her skills with top music manager, Ryan Thompson.

With a mutual passion for music and words, Bethany and Ryan’s writing partnership develops into something more … something love songs are written about. And while it isn’t wrong, it isn’t right. That is, at least in the public eye.


Surrounded by secrecy and half-truths, Bethany doesn’t know how much she should put up with. Especially, when one more rejection could scar her for good. Will her decision to leave not only Ryan, but the music business and California, come down to the toss of a coin?


Excerpt:


He knew I would be watching the show. He also had to know the answer to his question. Was he crazy? No, absolutely not. I was not okay.


But I didn’t type that back. I didn’t text anything at all. I was lucky I could read and comprehend his text. The world around me was in a black, closed-in cloud called fury.


Trust me … I had no idea she was going to do that. That second message came through a couple minutes later, and I watched via the television set as he put down his phone.


And then he had to be present and focused on the poor contestants as they fretted about their fate. I walked away. I didn’t need to be witness to more disappointment.


I knew the show had ended. The kids, remembering what I had told them, found me in the kitchen, putting a later-than-usual dinner on the table. I had made everything ahead of time for the “Sloppy Joels” on a baked potato. As they laughed at the creation, I heard my phone chime again. That time it was an actual call from Ryan instead of a text. My response was the same, though—nothing.


“Bethany, please answer. I need to talk with you. Call me,” was his voice message when I retrieved it.


Again … I did not. I couldn’t. I was afraid of what I might say. I was afraid of how much I was hurting. I was afraid to hurt anymore.


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Author Biography


Grea Warner wants you to cry. She wants your heart to break a little, too. Why? Because that means you feel her characters as if you were one of them. With a background in daytime dramas and a realistic approach to life, Grea writes novels that blur the line of Women’s Fiction and Romance. If you’re a fan of binge watching a TV series or have a passion for the arts like Grea, then you’ll love her fictional serials.


Follow this best-selling, award-winning author on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads, and BookBub.



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