Rebecca Goings lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband Jim and their four children, two cats, a dog, and a lizard. She home-schools her children and finds it to be one of the most rewarding things she's ever done. She also writes mainstream and inspirational romances in many different genres, from historical to contemporary, and fantasy to paranormal.

She has written more than 17 books, some of which have been published by Grace Publishing, Champagne Books, and Samhain Publishing.

Since its release on October 1, her latest novel, The B.E.A.S.T. Within has made it to the best-seller list on Fictionwise. It is also the top-selling book for Champagne Books.

Rebecca Goings spoke about her writing, the challenges she faces as a writer and how she deals with these.

When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

When I was seven years old. I was in the first grade, and the second graders came in to read some stories for us, ones they had written themselves. Well, their teacher had laminated the pages and put spiral binding on the books. They were so permanent that I wanted the very same thing.

When I was in the second grade, I wrote a little poem that won a place in a book called the Nevada Young Writers of 1983. I was presented this book at school assembly, and I even had my picture taken for the local newspaper. That was my first brush with "fame" as a writer, and I loved it. I wanted more!

After that, I was writing short stories and poems all through school, and I won a few awards. I even prepared myself in school by taking creative writing classes for my electives and a typing class to learn the keyboard. I've wanted to be a writer for a long time.

In the writing that you're doing, what would you say are your main concerns?

My main concern would have to be the promotion. It doesn't matter how well you write. If you don't promote yourself, you're dead in the water. It's hard to do effective promotion, as it costs money. So I'm constantly looking for other avenues to explore.

As far as my writing goes, I would have to say I often wonder how real I'm making my books. I don't want them to be cliched and I don't want the characters to come off as fake. I strive for realism when I write, but sometimes when you read your own book many times during your edits, you lose sight of what you're trying to achieve. This is why I have what's called a "crit partner," who reads my manuscript when I'm done and tells me of things that need changing or tweaking.