Welcome, today we are talking with Tonya Ramagos! I would like to thank you for taking time out of your busy writing schedule to answer a few questions.

Thank you for having me on Coffee Time Romance!

First, I think it’s important for readers to get a little insight on an author that they don’t necessarily get from your professional bio. You’d be surprised at what readers connect to, and sometimes the simplest ‘I can relate to that’ grabs their interest where nothing else can. Don’t answer anything you feel uncomfortable with.

**Can you share a little something about Tonya Ramagos that’s not mentioned in your bio on your website?

Hmm…I’m a silly klutz. I’m constantly doing goofy things without realizing I’m doing them until everyone around me starts to laugh at me. I hurt myself often, too…completely unintentionally, of course. For instance, right now, I have a broken left foot and don’t have the first clue how I broke it. Seriously!

**What about the Associates Degree in Fire Science that you’re working toward. What’s that like and how far off are you from completing the program?

Although I write contemporary fiction, I believe that every story should be as realistic as possible, even if the setting of the story isn’t real. I’m finding the classes I’m taking to help me further accomplish that. I’ve learned a lot over the years about firefighting through research, talking with firefighters, and witnessing fire scenes. The classes I’m taking now are teaching me even more. Because I have decided to double major and begin taking classes in the Criminal Justice field as well as Fire Science, I still have awhile before I will finish. I should receive both degrees by the Fall semester of 2018.

** What is your favorite…
Animal – Cat
Food – Fried shrimp
Movie – Somewhere in Time
TV show – Chicago Fire
Actor – Taylor Kinney
Singer – Billy Currington
Author – There are too many great authors out there to have a single favorite

** What are your pet peeves?

Laziness, selfishness, and messiness

** Who is your hero?

The men and women who serve and protect our country. Without them, I wouldn’t be safe and able to live the life I do.

**Give us one thing on your bucket list.

I would love to go skydiving. I don’t know if I would have the nerve to carry it through if I got the opportunity, but I would love to find out. lol

**What would readers find surprising about you?

I don’t like television. I have a few shows I try to keep track of and watch a movie now and then, but I wouldn’t shed a tear if every TV in my house short-circuited. On second thought, yes I would, but only because they were expensive and my husband and children would drive me NUTS without a TV to entertain them. lol

**If you could go to heaven, who would you visit?

John F. Kennedy. He was assassinated before I was born, but has always been someone I wish I could’ve met.

**Any bad habits?

Chocolate, drinking, and smoking. I’m working on kicking the last habit, but I’ll be keeping the other two. 🙂 

Now that our readers know a little bit more about Tonya Ramagos, let’s get down to the business of your up-coming mini-series, Uniformed and Hot. Sounds like it’s going to be quite an undertaking.

How did you come up with the idea for the mini-series, and the name of your fictional city, Cherish?

I haven’t created a fictional fire department since I started The Heroes of Silver Springs in 2005. Though I fully intend to write more books in that series, I wanted another group of firefighting heroes to introduce to readers and tell their stories. I’m honestly not sure how I came up with the name Cherish for their fictional city. It just popped in my head, had a ring to it I liked, and I rolled with it.

Please tell us a little bit about Uniformed and Hot.

Uniformed and Hot has turned out to be a series of mini-series. There are three fire departments operating in the city limits of Cherish and each firehouse has three shifts of firefighters and paramedics. Each mini-series focuses on the men and women of one of those shifts and one of those firehouses. Uniformed and Blazing Hot kicked off the mini-series with the men and women of Station 5’s A-shift. Uniformed and Smoking Hot tells the stories of the men and woman of Station 2’s B-shift. Coming later this year, readers will get the stories of the men and women of Station 4’s C-shift in Uniformed and Sizzling Hot, and the mini-series will progress from there.

What was your hardest challenge writing this series?

I find the same challenge writing any series is keeping an entire city of characters and the timelines in, and between, each book straight. I have templates and spreadsheets I have designed to help me do this, but it’s still a challenge at times.

Can you give us any insight about any of the main characters?

That is the interesting and thrilling part of writing this, and any, series to me. All of the characters in Cherish, despite whatever they may have in common, are real-world people with different personalities, goals, dreams, and problems. Almost all of them will eventually become a main character in a story, too, so to give insight on only one or a few of them would be leaving out the others. I suppose you’ll just have to read all their books to get to know them better. 😉

Any other works in progress?

In addition to continuing the Uniformed and Hot mini-series, I’ll be returning to some old reader favorites in 2016. There will be more books in The Heroes of Silver Springs series, as well as the spin-off, The Heroes of Silver Island. I’m also working on the series spin-off Rescue Ranch: The Next Generation.

Any advice for aspiring authors?

Write from the heart. Write what YOU want to write and tell the story that’s in your mind. It may not be the “going trend” at that time, but there are readers out there for every type of story.

Final words?

I would like to invite readers to visit my website, find me on social media, and email me anytime! The biggest highlight of my career is being able to share my stories with readers and talk with those readers about them.