BooksChatter: ℚ♫ Chance for Rain

Today we have the pleasure of meeting up with author Tricia Downing to talk about Chance for Rain (27 July 2018, Front Street Press, 299 pages), a Chick Lit Romance.

"Outstanding. I would give this six stars if I could. I think many women can relate to Rainy in that we feel insecure as we consider ourselves to have flaws that make us unlovable. Loved both main characters Rainy and Brian. This was so heartfelt, I can’t find the words to express." ~ Amazon Verified Purchase reviewer

"What a story. This story is full of heartache, catastrophe, triumph, love. I could not put the book down. Makes you appreciate everything in your life. WOW." ~ Amazon Verified Purchase reviewer

|| Synopsis || Teaser: KCR Preview || Teaser: Exclusive Excerpt || Author Q&A || About the Author || Giveaway & Tour Stops ||

A very warm welcome to Tricia Downing; thank you for joining us on BooksChatter!

To start I want to link to the Exclusive Excerpt from Chance for Rain that Tricia shared with us, of Rainey and Brian creating the playlist of their relationship; and here it is - enjoy!

What was the inspiration for Chance for Rain?

Tricia's memoir:

Cycle of Hope—A Journey from Paralysis to Possibility

"My inspiration for Chance for Rain came from both my life and the lives of the many women I have met who have disabilities.

I was paralyzed in a cycling accident when I was 31. Just at the age when my friends were getting married, having children, getting settled in their careers, I was learning skills for the first time again—getting around in a wheelchair, driving with hand controls, figuring out how to take care of my new physical situation.

I had moments when I wondered if I would ever find a relationship. Would I find a guy who loved me despite my wheelchair?"

How much of yourself is reflected in this book, and how?

"Many of my experiences both from life as a wheelchair user and as a Paralympic athlete are reflected in this book.

I also drew inspiration from many of my past relationships as well as stories I have heard over the years as my girlfriends and I have shared the joy and frustration of dating.

The story also takes place in Colorado, where I was born, raised, and currently live."

The first thing that draws me to a book is its cover. Can you tell us about your cover for Chance for Rain - why you chose that concept and who the artist is.

"I would love to take the credit for the cover, but I gave my cover designer Victoria Wolf very few instructions/restrictions. I wanted to have a heart on the cover in some way, since it is a love story and the reader can’t necessarily tell that from the title alone, but the rest I left up to Victoria.

She gave me about thirteen options to choose from, I narrowed it to four and did a Facebook poll among my friends. The final cover was the overwhelming winner."

Why should we read Chance for Rain and what sets it apart from the rest? What makes your book unique?

"Chance for Rain was an opportunity to create an entertaining, yet educational novel.

It started out merely as a fun side project for me. The seedlings of the story came to me one night as I was falling asleep and nearly kept me up all night. Each time I put my head back on the pillow, another scene, sentence or paragraph came to me and I had to keep sitting up, pulling out the notebook and writing everything down so I wouldn’t forget it by morning.

Once I got to writing and getting into the character of Rainey, it became an opportunity for me to highlight a character with a disability, and in the process of telling her story, I was able to add teaching moments into the manuscript that highlighted disability etiquette and awareness, to give the reader a perspective that might be something different than the norm. So often in the movies, we see characters with disabilities as being tragic, unhappy characters, or the opposite—overly inspiring; the character who overcomes his/her disability to do something that no one thought was possible.

In Chance for Rain, my goal was to make Rainey an interesting and believable character, but one with a universal problem to tackle—a problem that could belong to anyone. And in this case, a concern about her ability to fall in love and to experience that love in return."

Can you tell us something quirky about Chance for Rain, its story and characters?

"Chance for Rain took eight years to complete.

Tricia with her husband, Steve

Although the first notes on Chance for Rain were written in 2010, the book didn’t come to fruition until 2018. When I began writing the book, I had no immediate goal for it, I mostly wrote when the mood struck me and put it away for months and years at a time. But when I mentioned to my husband about all of the half-written manuscripts on my computer, he suggested it was time to do something about them. He encouraged me, and said if I felt I had something to share, I should get busy getting it out into the world.

So, I would say, out of the eight years CFR was sitting on my computer, I actively worked on it for about two. The other six years were spent wondering if it was good enough to publish or if I had the guts to go through the editing process (and potentially see massive markups throughout).

Eventually, I decided to give it a go and I was fueled by the opportunity to share my world with readers—what it’s like to live with a disability like paraplegia and to hopefully surprise people with how normal life can be even when a wheelchair involved."

Who would you recommend Chance for Rain to and what should readers be aware of (any warnings or disclaimers)?

"Although one of the most important things for me with this book was to highlight a character with a disability, the second goal I had for writing, was to write about a “universal” situation that most anyone could identify with. Rainey is in her thirties, looking for love and is so insecure in the things that make her different, and she can’t get out of her own way enough to realize that they actually make her lovable. She’s afraid of rejection even before she gets started.

I think new relationships are hard. Of course, it’s fun to get the butterflies and in your stomach and that feeling that you can’t get enough of another person, but in the back of your mind, there’s that wondering. Am I good enough? Likeable? Smart? Funny? It’s different for everyone, but I believe we all have our insecurities when it comes to falling in love."

If you could / wished to turn Chance for Rain into a movie, who would be your dream team?

"I’ve envisioned Chance for Rain as a movie a million times, but if that dream were ever to be realized, in the role of Rainey, I wouldn’t want a traditional Hollywood actor, but an actor with a disability. I have a friend who is an actor and a wheelchair user like Rainey, and would love the opportunity to see her play the part.

As for her best friend—I’d pick Kate Hudson. Of course, the story would have to take place in Colorado and one of my ski racing friends would be the stunt double for the part of Rainey, in the scenes where she is careening downhill in her monoski."

What do you like to write and read about? Do you stick to a particular genre or do you like to explore different ones?

"I write best when I am writing straight from the heart. I don’t do as well when I have to force a topic, so for now, my writing has been from experience—I write about things I have experienced myself or have strong opinions about. I think that’s why readers will see many more love stories coming from me.

Thinking about relationships and how people experience them is one of my favorite diversions. Whether I’m reading or watching a movie, it’s probably something feel good and sappy. I am a sucker for a happy ending."

What is your writing process?

"My most creative times seem to come just as I am falling asleep or as I am waking up in the morning, so now, instead of keeping a pad of paper by the bed, I use my cell phone. This way, when the right words happen to come along, I can open my notepad app and write to my heart’s content…all without waking up my husband on the other side of the bed.

And when I get to my desk, I write best when I have a good chunk of time, like three or four hours to just get everything out of my head and on to the computer screen.

I don’t correct as I go. Just do a total mind download and then I go back and clean things up, rearrange them, add in details etc."

What is in store next?

"I have two books in mind and know I will eventually write both, but will play around with them to see which will come first. One of my objectives is to bring more characters with disabilities to fiction literature, so I’m fairly certain that whatever storyline I come up with will include a character who experiences some sort of disability. As an individual with a disability myself, I find that these characters are often missing in literature or are seen in tragic, unfortunate circumstances. I’d like to show the disability experience for what it is—another example of the human experience."

And as a final quirky thing, to get to know you a little bit better... do you have a pet or something that is special to you that you could share with us?

"I have two cats, Jack and Charlie, who walk across my desk and laptop continually. And though it sometimes makes the work go slower and I’m less productive, I love to have them around. Especially when they cuddle up between my arms as my fingers are typing madly away on the keyboard. It also doesn’t hurt that I have a space heater on my desk, since my office gets cold in the winter. When they want to get warm, they know exactly where to come."


Jack & Steve	Charlie in a blanket

Beautiful pictures, thank you for sharing them with us, Tricia. Lots of head scratches to both Jack and Charlie, and a big hello to Steve as well from all of us at BooksChatter!

We hope you are having a great tour!