Welcome, Ms. Ladd, to Love Romances and More and to our interview. The readers and I, look forward to 

this talk about your book, and getting to know you on a more personal level.

Let us start off by telling you a little about Ms. Ladd, a short blurb of her book, Shipwrecked.

Katie's life is one huge shipwreck. But when she runs away from one disaster, bigger ones await.

Whilst fleeing from her rich and powerful ex-fiancé, Katie McLaughlin's ship runs aground. Lo and behold, 

she is shipwrecked on a deserted tropical island with Scott Vanderhorne, a man ten times more rich and 

powerful than her ex, a man with a fiancée back home. To survive, Katie and Scott must join together, 

but many dangers await, especially to their hearts.

Ms. Ladd, if you would be so kind as to tell the readers little about yourself and, what you do when you are 

not busy writing?

Besides being a romance writer, I work as a full-time customer service rep for a company that serves the 

poor of the Caribbean and Latin America. I’ve been helping the poor for the past 13 years. 

I’m also the married mother of five and grandmother of two. Since four of my children still live at home, 

they keep me quite busy on my off duty hours. I help my younger daughter practice pitching for her 

softball, I’m trying to teach the kids how to play tennis, and of course I do all the regular mom stuff, like be 

a taxi cab.

I like to work out – walking, swimming, riding bikes, karate, and playing tennis. 

Originally, I’m from Cincinnati, Ohio but I’ve been living in South Florida for the past twenty years. I still 

have family in Cincinnati, so I have two homes. Hubby and I spent several years in the US Air Force as well. 

I was stationed in Biloxi, Mississippi and Omaha, Nebraska, although I’d hoped to travel overseas, see the 

world, and all that exciting stuff they advertise. Oh well. I did have lunch in Canada when I was nine, and 

I visited the worst slums in the Western Hemisphere with my day job – in Haiti and Jamaica. 

We have 7 pets – 2 dogs and 5 cats – whom I love a lot. I’ve always been a huge cat lover but I love my 

puppies, too. Well, actually, I’m their pet human and they run the house, in particular the cats.

I also love to watch movies – romantic and end of the world stuff like “Day After Tomorrow”, “The Stand”, 

“Night of the Comet”. I’m also a huge Star Wars and Star Trek fan. I absolutely adore American Idol even 

if I can’t sing (so my 12 year old tells me), so don’t interrupt my Idol if you don’t want me to sprout fangs 

and my eyes to glow red.

Could you tell the readers how you came up with the premise for Shipwrecked?

Actually, there was a prequel to Shipwrecked in which Katie’s fiancé dumped her for his new heroine. I just 

had to give Katie her own story as I felt so bad for her, especially how crummy her ex treated her. She 

deserved her own special hero. Unfortunately, the prequel is not published but the two stories stand 

alone. I’ll have to work on the prequel and see about getting it published. I think I was watching a movie 

around that time where Harrison Ford was stranded on a desert island – but only for a few days. 

Ms. Ladd, who is your great inspiration? 

I used to say Stephen King as I love his book ‘The Stand’. But I’m not honestly sure now. I admire my father 

greatly. I want to succeed for my kids. 

Do you have a favorite scene from Shipwrecked? 

I like the tropical romance scenes, especially when they’re in the water. I love the water. I should have 

been born a mermaid.

What was the hardest scene to develop in Shipwrecked? 

The first half of the book. Somehow, I got scenes all out of order at first and had a devil of a time editing it 

and getting it back in order. I think that happened when I was trying to get ahead of the game by 

working during breaks and lunch hours on a different computer than I did at home, and I wrote too similar 

of scenes and ended up with a royal mess. I worked it out, but not until I had pulled out a lot of hair and 

almost gave up on the book a couple times.

Do you have a special formulation or technique when you write? 

No. Lots of times I’ll think of a story for a long time, years even. Or at least a story element. One day, it will 

all gel and I’ll have the basic outline in my mind and I begin to write. 

Ms. Ladd, what is the nicest thing another author said about you? 

I don’t remember the exact words, but some have emailed me and told me they loved my book. I know 

I was thrilled when Mrs. Giggles gave me an 83 rating out of 100 lately. I was so nervous of her review as 

I’ve seen her rip books to shreds. Heck yeah! I’ll take an 83 from her, even if I was an A student in school. 

Gotta consider the source.

They say everyone has a dream, what is yours?

I want to be able to support myself writing romance full time. In particular, I want to see my books on the 

New York Times bestseller list. I also want to be a size 6 again. 

How much background research went into Shipwrecked? 

Moderate. I researched all the animal, bird, and plant species common to the South Pacific. I also 

researched New Zealand and their linguistics. I didn’t research for Shipwrecked nearly as much as I would 

for an historical or time travel, but I conducted quite a lot.

Ms. Ladd, do you have any special interests or causes you would like to share with the readers?

Causes? It’d have to be helping the destitute poor of the Caribbean and Latin America. It’s my daytime 

passion, my life’s mission. Please visit www.foodforthepoor.org if you’re interested in possibly helping. The 

people we serve don’t have welfare safety nets as we do in the US. 

Ms. Ladd, what are your views in regards to sex in the romance field today? 

I like the fact that there’s all levels of heat to meet each reader’s and each author’s interests and/or 

mood. 

You give the characters in Shipwrecked a realistic and personal feel to them. Did you model anyone from 

the book after someone you know personally? 

Not at all. I love characterization, however, and worked hard to make unique, likable characters. I try to 

make each one of my characters different. 

Would you like to tell the readers about any new or upcoming releases, Ms. Ladd? 

Soon, “Truth, Justice, & The Vampire Way” will be released by Ellora’s Cave at www.ellorascave.com. I 

don’t have a release date yet. The cover is to die for. It’s the sequel to “Blessed Be” also published by 

Ellora’s Cave. I’m busy working on more books, soon to be submitted to agents and publishers. 

How can your fans reach you, Ms. Ladd? 

Please email me at: chinara@aol.com

Ms. Ladd, do you have any advice for aspiring authors? 

Keep writing. Edit and polish your work before submitting, even to a critique group or partner. Work with 

a critique partner or group before submitting your work to an agent or publisher and be willing to take 

and give constructive criticism. Then, submit submit submit! Never give up! Never say die!

I would like to thank you Ms. Ladd, for sharing your talent and time with the readers of Love Romances & 

More. I truly enjoyed reading Shipwrecked and hope to read more from you soon!

Thank you so very much. I’m thrilled that you enjoyed Shipwrecked and hope you will enjoy my future 

stories. I appreciate your time and effort in reading and reviewing Shipwrecked, your kind words about it, 

and your time to interview me. I look forward to talking to you soon.