So no The Friday Five today because I already planned this post in case I had jury duty--which was cancelled. Yay! Instead, here's a post from the past because you probably didn't read it anyway. And if you did, well, you already know I like to tell the same stories over and over and over and... yeah. It mentions TRS, which stood for The Rainbow Serpent, which was the first (super-lame) title for The Treasure Hunter's Lady.
April 27, 2010
Technical difficulties
In more ways than one…
WordPress ate this entry. Blighter.
It was great, too because there was commentary about the guy who won the 200+ million dollar Powerball and why I can never win (it had something to do with God not wanting me to be an evil supervillian–people would think I’m cute and fluffy, but really… well, never mind), and how I realized I made a tragic, fatal, boo-boo in my contest entry with TRS. And this awesome bit about how I wanted to hide beneath a rock sans a long list of animals. It wouldn’t be right to retype all that, it just wouldn’t feel as meaningful to me now.
It was chock full of humor and wittiness (yeah, right). When I asked it to edit, it said I made no spelling errors–a miracle and the first indication something wasn’t right. And then it wouldn’t go back from the proofread and when I tried to save the draft, poof, nothing, gone. Thanks WP, I hate you right now. But really, can you tell this blog is mostly verbal vomit with little-to-no thought going into it?
To summarize:
I’ve probably confunded the judges who’ll read TRS because the obvious choice for TRS’ category was steampunk romance. There’s nothing remotely steampunkish in the first chapter. No mention of airships, brass goggles, clockwork devices or other. Perhaps it leans toward paranormal more than steampunk. Perhaps it’s something weird that invaded my overstimulated brain and wouldn’t leave. Maybe it’s just too weird to classify. I will effectively baffle the judges, who will proceed to recommend I find the nearest trash can, paper shredder and box of matches. Or at least the proper category.
I don’t care what anyone says, I think the guy who won the lottery deserved to win. Sure, maybe he’s really evil and already spending his money on crack and hoes. But more like, he’s an average guy who needed a break and now he can afford to pay his electric and get new teeth. It made me really mad when my co-workers made fun of him for not having front teeth. Hey, we can’t all be beauty queens, all right? I mean, I have my frontsies, but two of my jaw teeth have pretty porcelain coverings because a) I’m vain and b) all that brushing was off set by my love of hard candy. Maybe he has a Pixie Stix fix, huh? It might not be because of meth. And just because he has two or three kids all with different moms doesn’t make him… okay well it makes him careless, but not a bad person. Pobody’s nerfect, geez. When you point a finger at someone else remember there are three more pointing back at you.
Well, that’s all I’ve got. Unless you wanted to hear about the minor amount of success I’m having with C&C, but I’m not mentioning that because I’m pretending like I’m not working on it because I don’t want to acknowledge that it might be moving forward–finally–after all this crap I have with it. Sorry, that was a run-on sentence. Even as it progresses, I’m already having these doubts that the story maybe should’ve started different and then I think, well instead of starting C&C different, why don’t I just do a different story altogether? It’s frustrating. I need to win Powerball so I can sit in my office with all the lights off, become a recluse and plot stories all day long. Hey, mister, can I borrow $100,000?
Friday, May 24, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Author Interview - Karolyn James
What's your book/current WIP about? Brothers of Rock follows rock band, Chasing Cross, and their lives not just on stage, but off. Each book is stand alone, featuring a member of the band. They’re best read in order because the chronological order follows 1-5. Right now, books 1 and 2 are out – following lead singer, Johnnie, and lead guitarist, Davey. Book 3 is due out the end of June.
What's your next project? Of course, I’ll be finishing the Brothers of Rock series. The response has been SO HUGE so far, we’re talking expanding the series beyond Chasing Cross. I do have another romance series planned but that may get pushed aside for more rockstars!
What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books? How much I fell in love with the guys from Chasing Cross. I spend so much time with these men… in each book and in plotting the rest of them, I feel like they’re part of me now. I wake up and wonder what Chris would be doing… where Rick is… if Johnnie and Jess are at his cabin… ugh – I’m a total Chasing Cross fan now!
What sparked your interest in writing romance? LOVE. Love, emotion, and life and how they all connect together. We all experience love in our lives – whether it’s a hot summer romance or a forever kind of thing. I love being able to capture that and create stories.
Do you choose character names or do the characters whisper them in your ears? They bring themselves to life. I needed names for Chasing Cross and as fast as I could write, their names came out… Johnnie, Davey, Danny, Chris, and Rick. And I couldn’t imagine it any other way.
Plotter or panster? Oh my, I’m a plotter! I have to be with a series. The band appears in each book and they have a busy life of touring, interviews, special events, so I need to make sure everything if fully organized one book to the next. When I’m writing a stand alone book, I mix between plotter and punster.
Do you like background noise or do you prefer a quiet space when you write? Depends on the mood. In the morning, I need music (and coffee!). In the early evening, I like the silence of my office. It just pulls me back into the writing.
What are you currently reading? The Chance by Karen Kingsbury and The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice.
What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview and how would you answer it?
Have you ever had a rockstar experience yourself?
My answer… Well, that’s a private question, isn’t it? ;) Put it this way… I know quite a bit about rockstars, concerts, the backstage area, and touring. How I know… I’ll never confess…
People think I'm weird because... I talk about guys from Chasing Cross like they’re actual humans… I use them in context like I’m going to hang out with them at night. What can I say… I LOVE my job!
About the Books:
***For fans of Nashville the TV show and Bella Andre, the BROTHERS OF ROCK series is dramatic, sexy, romantic,and entertaining. It sizzles!***
With ALL ACCESS, a contemporary romance series begins that explores, life, love, and music. Join the five band members of Chasing Cross as they find that there's more to life beyond the stage.
*
As Johnnie sits across from the beautiful woman, he can't believe she doesn't recognize him. Everyone does. It comes with the territory when you're the lead singer of one of the hottest bands in the world, Chasing Cross. With one more show to go before taking a small break in touring, it feels like luck is on Johnnie's side. That is, if he can find a way to tell Jess who he is, without scaring her off.
*
After her best friend begs her to come to a concert, Jess finds herself standing in the middle of a crowd. The lights are off, music begins, and the crowd erupts in cheers. She doesn't know much about the band, but that's all about to change. When the lights come on, Jess can't believe her eyes. The lead singer of the band is the man from the café.
*
Plucked from the crowd during the show, Jess makes her way backstage. The encore may have ended on stage, but the real show is just about to begin. Johnnie's passion quickly turns to romance but the more time he and Jess spend together, the more things get complicated. Johnnie has a big decision to make about himself and the band, testing his loyalty and love for the music, and when Jess's dreams start to come true, she starts to realize that true love exists, but it's not always an easy path to take.
Buy Links: Amazon || Barnes & Noble
The second book in the Brothers of Rock series is BROKEN SOUND, where lead guitarist, Davey, is faced with life changing decisions involving love, family, and as always, music.
Rockstars expect women to show up at their hotel room, but when a woman shows up with an infant and tells Davey he is the father, his world is turned upside down.
Anna is a teacher and part-time waitress, desperate to make enough to pay off debts left to her by an ex boyfriend who made her life a living hell. When her boss schedules her for an extra shift, he tells her it's her job to take care of a special guest... lead guitarist of Chasing Cross, Davey. The second Anna meets eyes with Davey, she feels something she's wanted for a long time. But with someone famous? That's impossible. Besides, Davey is there with a date.
*
When Davey returns to the restaurant, sans date, he asks to see Anna. She doesn't understand what he would want with her. He is a man with a big heart, kind eyes, and the true power that only a real rockstar could have. Then Anna learns the truth of Davey's life, from his haunted past to his rocky present. Still, she longs to be part of his future. But when Anna's own past turns potentially deadly, life and love suddenly collide in a way that could hurt everyone and leave someone dead.
About the Author:
Karolyn James has been published over 100 times, reached bestseller lists on Amazon, and writes in both romance and erotic romance. Her two newest series are the romance hit, Brothers of Rock, and the erotic romance series, Rock Her Curves.
Twitter: @KarolynWrites
Monday, May 20, 2013
To My Dog's Great Relief--The End
 |
| It's like he's inside my head... |
The Wrong Brother's Bride--finito. It should've been a bigger moment, the marching band, because I spent two or three years thinking I'd probably never write historical fiction again. That's because I'm such a panster, I pretty much pants my whole life. I didn't really stop to think about what was going to happen when I was finished with the Legends & Lovers series. I didn't see another historical romance coming. It blindsided me. In a good way, though.
I started in early April, as you may recall. Just dinking around with it, thinking someday it would get finished, because I was neck-deep in NaNo with The Heckmasters. And then something crazy happened. I got a 5-page critique from an editor who said, if it's finished, send the whole thing. It wasn't finished. It wasn't close to finished. I had intended to finish The Heckmasters are a leisurely pace since I hit my word count goal before April was over. Yeah, um, I'm behind on that because I wrote like a mad man to finish TWBB.
So going into this last weekend, I was still 12k from finishing TWBB. I had this great plan where I would sit in my trusty writing chair with my oh-so-compliant dog, write the last 12k with glorious flare, finish on Sunday, choirs of angels would sing my praises, and pie would rain from the sky. Erm. Didn't quite happen like that.
I sat in my trust chair with a dog that is heartily sick of my computer. He hates it. More than baths, more than that time we took him to the vet and he came home missing a certain part of his anatomy, more than fleas, more than when we go to a store where people might look at him (he's cripplingly shy, just like me. Actually, he's worse). He rolls around, puts his head on my keyboard, put his feet on my chest, sometimes he types before I can stop him. Sometimes it makes sense too. He's typed the following things:
=]
kilo
:(
I'm not even joking. The dog is a genius. Sometimes. He often types gibberish. Maybe it makes sense to him. Also, he's either European, or he's into drugs, if the kilo thing is any indication. The results are still out. But Friday night, my husband stayed up really, really, really late. PeeWee woke me up at 10 am, claiming he needed to use the facilities, so I got up, thought about going back to bed and decided, nah, I'd better get to typing.
The upside of a comatose husband? You can get a lot done. Assuming you ply the dog with water (but not so much he has to pee all the time. This is important when you can't trust him to stay in the yard without adult supervision), food (especially cookies if you're eating them too), and lots of hugs and kisses so that he's annoyed that you won't leave him alone. Can you believe that plan worked? It totally did. So I was buzzing along, around 8k closer to my finishing goal at approximately 3:30 CST when my husband emerges from the bedroom. Then he wandered off downstairs and I realized he wasn't coming back any time soon, so I kept going. Sitting there, with a dog that finally gave up, tears blurring my vision because the hero was in a bad spot of trouble and oh, lord, how was he ever going to get out of it? Then I hear:
"That movie is on at 6:35."
But... but... 4k to the finish is right around the corner. !#$%#&, okay. The movie? It was The Host. And it was better than I hoped for. I mean, a little cheesy, yes, but really, it was better than the book. It didn't hurt that Max Irons is hot. I can say that, he's only 3 years younger than me.
On the way home, my mind was abuzz with how to get the hero out of trouble. My husband came up with a solution and I was so excited, I actually pushed him. He gave me a dirty look, but it was okay when I told him he was a genius.
So when we got home, my husband was all, "I thought we were going to watch Lincoln?" And I was all, "Argh! He lived, he wrote a really long proclamation, he got shot in the head, what more do you need to know?" But he put it in anyway and told me I could go to the bedroom if it bothered me. I just turned my mp3 player up louder. And then Tommy Lee Jones starts ranting about some stuff and I was all, "God, I'd rather try to decipher Shakespeare than listen to him go on." And we had a discussion about that guy who played Robert Todd Lincoln, because neither of us could think of his name, but he was in some movie about gods (turns out he was in Clash of the Titans and Immortals, in which he played gods both times) and The Three Muskateers. Luke Evans was the name I was trying to think of, but I was totally wrong. It was Joseph Gordon-Levitt, which was actually my first guess, but I didn't want to say it because I was afraid of sounding stupid. It didn't matter if I sounded stupid, because my husband totally thought it was Luke Evans too.
Needless to say, that was really distracting, but I soldiered on. And wrote a freakin' ending, yes I did. But I was still 1k short. Sunday, PW Monster insistently insisted on going out at 7 am, even though we didn't go to bed until 3 am. My tired brain laid awake after, trying to think of a way to solve the 1k problem. Then I fell asleep again, because, uh, I can function on 4 hours of sleep, but the world doesn't like me when I do. I didn't get up again until 1:30. Upon whence my husband insists we'd better get food if we were going to survive the rest of the week.
By the time we got home and I got back to the computer, I still had no idea how to add that 1k. So I added a scene that was missing. That gave me less than a hundred words. And I said, eh, screw it, put it away and finished reading Inferno. That 1k? It'll come during edits. Or it won't. There's a beginning, a middle, and an ending. It's all good. No fanfare, no feather rippling the water. Just a little novel I like to call The Wrong Brother's Bride.
Oh, yeah. And I still have a synopsis to write. Any takers?
Friday, May 17, 2013
The Friday Five - What's On My Playlist
I want you all to be aware that the next couple of weeks, blogging may be sporadic to nonexistant. The judicial system giants have decided they need me to come in for jury duty (or selection. I thought you had to be selected before they could magically sit you on a jury?). They need my eagle-eye for justice, my rabbit-ear for fine details, and my dolphin-like brain for sorting through criminal BS.
*snort*
I can barely remember yesterday. I typed on FB "she's having his brother's brother." I meant baby. I didn't catch the mistake until someone else pointed it out. Do you people really think I should be in charge of deciding the fate of possibly innocent people's lives? Me either.
Anyway, I'm 75% finished with The Wrong Brother's Bride. I have no idea what to give you for The Friday Five, so I decided on a playlist because it's a no-brainer.
So here are my top song picks for TWBB. I also believe that mp3 downloads should be tax deductible because I'm using it to power my brain and for my business, IRS people.
The premise behind TWBB is this (forgive me, I haven't done a real blurb or a synopsis for it yet): The heroine, Loyal is pregnant and engaged to be married when her fiancee is tragically killed in a freak farm accident. She knows she can't manage the farm by herself because it's 1883, and she's a pregnant woman who is now terrified of hay mowers, so she writes to her fiancee's ne'er-do-well brother, August. Thing about August is, oh wait, I already told you about the ne'er-do-well part. Well, that. But he comes at her bidding because he's always loved her. In fact, she's the reason he left, because his mean-ass brother told him that he wasn't good enough for Loyal. In truth, he wasn't. He's had years to redefine himself as the man he wants to be. But when he looks at the farm his brother created from scratch and the woman he's always desired, he's not sure he deserves his good fortune. So he has to deal with the loss of his brother, convince everyone he's not the man he was, and hide his love from Loyal because she's obvious still torn up about his brother. On top of that, she will eventually admit she wasn't sure she wanted to marry his brother, despite his deep love for her. They were very good friends, but she always felt something was missing from their relationship. Ironically, his brother tore them apart just so they could come together. *sniff* It's so beautiful.
You guys were thinking it was a whole list of bluegrass and country songs because it's a historical romance, right? *buzzer noises* Wrong!
1) Stay by Rhianna ft. Mikky Ekko. Okay, when I first heard this song, I thought it was dumb. Obviously this couple has a relationship issue and they need to be apart. But then I started thinking about how love can feel wrong, but be right. The line that says "it's not just something you take, it's given", makes me think about August's unrequited love for Loyal. He offers marriage, telling himself that it's not because of the torch he's carried all those years, but to be a father-figure to his brother's child. As time passes and it looks like maybe Loyal will never give in and love August, (refer to the lines "oh, it's the reason I hold on, oh 'cause I need this hole gone" and "not really sure how I feel about it"), she eventually realizes through a series of crap nobody should have to put up with, that is a different man and he's totally lovable.
2) Broken by Seether ft. Amy Lee. Well... dude wrote it because he had to leave his baby daughter behind to go on tour. Which is sad. I don't know if it's that song sad, but whatever. This song works for TWBB because August left Loyal behind to pursue (a very manly) career in logging. The lines "The worst is over now and we can breathe again / I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away" signify the sadness Loyal and August feel when they think about his brother. It was sort of gruesome, the way he died and August regrets not being there or mending the rift between them. She regrets not loving him enough, but when she starts to realize she's in love with August, it steals her pain.
3) Almost Home by Jono Manson. Seriously, this is one of my favorite songs. It was on the soundtrack of The Postman, which is one of my favorite movies (the ultimate in the hero's journey trope). The line "You say I got no right to feel what I feel when I look into your eyes" sums up August's inability to tell Loyal how he feels. His brother knew and didn't think August had to right to feel that way. Nothing like a family feud where one brother walks away the loser.
4) Make You Feel My Love by Adele. When you put it like that, it sort of sounds like a Taylor Swift song. You will feel my love. You belong to me. I will tie you up in my basement forever until you love me. But it's not. First featured on Hope Floats and sung by Garth Brooks, it's since been seen on When In Rome. This is the part that just screams August! "I know you haven't made your mind up yet / But I would never do you wrong. / I've known it from the moment that we met, / No doubt in my mind where you belong." There's a scene where Loyal talks about how mean August was as a boy and he says, "Little boys always torture little girls they think are pretty.”
5) Distance by Christina Perry. Okay, if I haven't made August sound lovesick enough, here's another sappy song about someone who can't tell the person they love that they love them. "So I'll make sure to keep my distance. / Say I love you when you're not listening." and "Call it anything but love." make this a good example for how they tiptoe around the fact that they're married, but they're both too guilty to be in love at first.
Almost Home and Make You Feel My Love were also choices for The Turncoat's Temptress playlist, along with Taylor Swift ft. Civil Wars' Safe and Sound. Ah, music. Tell me about your playlists. What songs should I be listening to?
Now, go, be, do, kids. Have a great weekend and fear not if you don't see me much next week because I'msnoozing through jury duty, er, playing judge and jury to a bunch of allegedly guilty people. (I wouldn't have to be apathetic if you didn't have to break the law. For shame.)
*snort*
I can barely remember yesterday. I typed on FB "she's having his brother's brother." I meant baby. I didn't catch the mistake until someone else pointed it out. Do you people really think I should be in charge of deciding the fate of possibly innocent people's lives? Me either.
 |
| No-brainer. Get it? The skull is laughing. You should be too. It has no brai-- ah, never mind. |
Anyway, I'm 75% finished with The Wrong Brother's Bride. I have no idea what to give you for The Friday Five, so I decided on a playlist because it's a no-brainer.
So here are my top song picks for TWBB. I also believe that mp3 downloads should be tax deductible because I'm using it to power my brain and for my business, IRS people.
The premise behind TWBB is this (forgive me, I haven't done a real blurb or a synopsis for it yet): The heroine, Loyal is pregnant and engaged to be married when her fiancee is tragically killed in a freak farm accident. She knows she can't manage the farm by herself because it's 1883, and she's a pregnant woman who is now terrified of hay mowers, so she writes to her fiancee's ne'er-do-well brother, August. Thing about August is, oh wait, I already told you about the ne'er-do-well part. Well, that. But he comes at her bidding because he's always loved her. In fact, she's the reason he left, because his mean-ass brother told him that he wasn't good enough for Loyal. In truth, he wasn't. He's had years to redefine himself as the man he wants to be. But when he looks at the farm his brother created from scratch and the woman he's always desired, he's not sure he deserves his good fortune. So he has to deal with the loss of his brother, convince everyone he's not the man he was, and hide his love from Loyal because she's obvious still torn up about his brother. On top of that, she will eventually admit she wasn't sure she wanted to marry his brother, despite his deep love for her. They were very good friends, but she always felt something was missing from their relationship. Ironically, his brother tore them apart just so they could come together. *sniff* It's so beautiful.
You guys were thinking it was a whole list of bluegrass and country songs because it's a historical romance, right? *buzzer noises* Wrong!
1) Stay by Rhianna ft. Mikky Ekko. Okay, when I first heard this song, I thought it was dumb. Obviously this couple has a relationship issue and they need to be apart. But then I started thinking about how love can feel wrong, but be right. The line that says "it's not just something you take, it's given", makes me think about August's unrequited love for Loyal. He offers marriage, telling himself that it's not because of the torch he's carried all those years, but to be a father-figure to his brother's child. As time passes and it looks like maybe Loyal will never give in and love August, (refer to the lines "oh, it's the reason I hold on, oh 'cause I need this hole gone" and "not really sure how I feel about it"), she eventually realizes through a series of crap nobody should have to put up with, that is a different man and he's totally lovable.
2) Broken by Seether ft. Amy Lee. Well... dude wrote it because he had to leave his baby daughter behind to go on tour. Which is sad. I don't know if it's that song sad, but whatever. This song works for TWBB because August left Loyal behind to pursue (a very manly) career in logging. The lines "The worst is over now and we can breathe again / I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away" signify the sadness Loyal and August feel when they think about his brother. It was sort of gruesome, the way he died and August regrets not being there or mending the rift between them. She regrets not loving him enough, but when she starts to realize she's in love with August, it steals her pain.
3) Almost Home by Jono Manson. Seriously, this is one of my favorite songs. It was on the soundtrack of The Postman, which is one of my favorite movies (the ultimate in the hero's journey trope). The line "You say I got no right to feel what I feel when I look into your eyes" sums up August's inability to tell Loyal how he feels. His brother knew and didn't think August had to right to feel that way. Nothing like a family feud where one brother walks away the loser.
4) Make You Feel My Love by Adele. When you put it like that, it sort of sounds like a Taylor Swift song. You will feel my love. You belong to me. I will tie you up in my basement forever until you love me. But it's not. First featured on Hope Floats and sung by Garth Brooks, it's since been seen on When In Rome. This is the part that just screams August! "I know you haven't made your mind up yet / But I would never do you wrong. / I've known it from the moment that we met, / No doubt in my mind where you belong." There's a scene where Loyal talks about how mean August was as a boy and he says, "Little boys always torture little girls they think are pretty.”
5) Distance by Christina Perry. Okay, if I haven't made August sound lovesick enough, here's another sappy song about someone who can't tell the person they love that they love them. "So I'll make sure to keep my distance. / Say I love you when you're not listening." and "Call it anything but love." make this a good example for how they tiptoe around the fact that they're married, but they're both too guilty to be in love at first.
Almost Home and Make You Feel My Love were also choices for The Turncoat's Temptress playlist, along with Taylor Swift ft. Civil Wars' Safe and Sound. Ah, music. Tell me about your playlists. What songs should I be listening to?
Now, go, be, do, kids. Have a great weekend and fear not if you don't see me much next week because I'm
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Guest Post & Giveaway - Kristen Beairsto
Changing Tastes
Thank you so much for having me!!
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve noticed my tastes in the kinds of romance stories/heroes/ heroines I like have changed. As an older teenager and in my early twenties, I gravitated towards historical romances featuring younger heroines that were close to my own age at the time. Now, in my early thirties and married, I tend to gravitate towards stories that feature older women and second chance romances. My current taste in stories comes out strong in my most recent release, Going After the Heart, which focuses on a struggling marriage where my heroine,
Lizzy, fights to save it.
Along with the change in the types of stories I’ve come to prefer, I’ve also found my taste in the appearance of the hero has changed. Now, don’t get me wrong, I appreciate a good hero any time. J But when I was younger, I wasn’t fond of reading about medieval heroes that had long hair and would skip over any descriptions that involved said hair. (My hair was short at the time and I viewed any guy who had hair longer than mine as unattractive, thus explaining why my husband’s clean cut Navy look appealed at the time. ;) ) Now I find myself leaning towards the opposite direction I once did.
What about you? Have your story preferences changed? What about the types of heroes and heroines you like?
About the Book:
Going After the Heart
Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Self/Indie
Release Date: December 18, 2012
Heat Level: Steamy
Length: 234 pages
Buy Links
Amazon || B&N || Kobo || CreateSpace || Smashwords
Lizzy Bergstrum thought she finally reached a point in her life when she could honestly say she had it all. A thriving writing career. A wonderful daughter. And a marriage to the love of her life. But looks can apparently be deceiving because her husband just walked out on her and their eight year old
Gavin Bergstrum can’t handle the direction his life has taken. Not only did he get laid off from his job, but his wife seems to barely remember he exists. Convinced he’s tried his best to change things, he begins to wrestle with the possibility of divorce. But he can’t think straight in the same house as Lizzy. Hating to leave his daughter, but needing time to think and come to terms with what he feels he needs to do, Gavin decides to return to his small home town in Oregon and stay at his family ranch with his father and brothers.
In shock, Lizzy gives Gavin his space. But as time passes and he doesn’t say a word about their marriage, Lizzy decides it’s past time she takes matters into her own hands. Without a word, she follows Gavin to Oregon.
Now facing a daughter who blames her for everything, an irritated husband, and a small town that feeds on the drama, Lizzy finds herself trying to figure out how to convince Gavin to give her another chance, teach her daughter it takes two to make a successful marriage, and overcome her own insecurities – all without compromising who she is.
Warning: This title is intended for readers over the age of 18 as it contains adult sexual situations and/or adult language, and may be considered offensive to some readers.
Excerpt:
Startled, Lizzy shot up into a sitting position. She discovered Gavin standing on the other side of the glass door. Belatedly, she recognized the relief at the fact he now stood fully clothed in jeans and a T-shirt. Yes, wouldn’t do to be thinking about sex with the man at the moment.
She glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand behind her. Ten minutes to midnight. Pushing herself up off the bed, she made her way over to the door and opened it.
“How the heck did you get up here?” Lizzy demanded without preamble.
This master bedroom lay on the second floor and the porch through which the slider led out to was a wraparound porch without access to the lower level.
Pushing past her inside the room without waiting for an invitation, “The old oak in the back is easy to climb and has a branch hanging low to step over to the porch railing.”
Lizzy gaped at him, crossing her arms and not bothering to close the door. He would not be staying long if she had anything to do about it.
After striding into the room a couple of yards, he turned to face her. “What?”
“Using the front door never occurred to you?” She shook her head in disbelief.
Crossing his arms, his gaze narrowed. “I didn’t want Sky to know I was here.” He glanced over at the closed bedroom door. Before she realized his intention, he strode over to it and flipped the lock.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, irritation rising easily at his high handedness and her exhaustion.
He turned back to her with a determined expression. “I already said, I don’t want Sky to know I’m here.”
Rolling her eyes, a frustrated sigh slipped out. “What do you want, Gavin?” What’s so important it couldn’t wait until tomorrow?”
Crossing his arms again, he moved closer to her, she assumed so as to not risk Sky hearing their voices. “Why are you here, Lizzy? I talked to you and Sky yesterday and neither of you mentioned anything about coming here.”
Snorting, “You didn’t talk to me yesterday. You asked me to pass the phone to Sky before I even finished saying hello when I picked up the receiver. And Sky never said anything because she didn’t know anything about it until I woke her up this morning.”
“Damn it, Lizzy, I told you I’d come home after my head cleared some. You had no right to come here,”
he ground out.
“And how was I supposed to know how long that would be? It’s been three months. Three months. What the hell was I supposed to tell Sky about when her father would be coming home? You haven’t said one word to me in three months other than can I talk to Sky? I have no idea what’s going on with you, Gavin, so what choice did I really have than to come here,” she tossed back at him, the anger from the last couple of months rising in her.
Gavin’s scowl turned lethal. “Are you thinking you can come here and make everything magically better?”
At her wit’s end, Lizzy squeezed her eyes closed and pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and finger. It was a toss up between who got to her more, her daughter or her husband. Tired of all of it, Lizzy decided to not hold back. Not that anyone would accuse her of holding back in the last five minutes, she thought sarcastically.
“You know what, Gavin, you lost the right to know what I was thinking the minute you decided it was better to walk out the door rather than try to take two minutes to just talk to me,” she told him evenly, too tired to hide the weariness that came out in the words.
Opening her eyes, she refused to feel guilty about the satisfaction she felt in seeing she stunned him with the statement.
“Go back to your father’s house, Gavin. You’re not really interested in talking to me, only trying to blame me for ruining your solitude. If you’re really interested in finding out why I came here, come talk to me when you’ve calmed down and are actually interested in listening to what I’m saying.”
With that, she went into the bathroom on the other side of the room, calmly closing the door behind her. Gavin didn’t make any sounds in the other room, but when she came out, he was gone.
About the Author:
In between her to-be-read pile and trying to bring the characters in her head alive, Kristen spends as much time as she can with family and friends. Much to her husband’s dismay, she enjoys collecting purses, shoes, and jewelry. During those rare times she’s not working at her day job, rushing her daughters somewhere, watching movies with her husband, and trying to meet a deadline, she can usually be found energetically cheering for one of her favorite New York sports teams.As with just about every other writer on the planet, Kristen grew up an avid reader. She started with young adult before she technically hit the age range and moved on to sci-fi classics by Isaac Asimov and
Ray Bradbury. At fifteen, her best friend gave her a book she just had to read! The book was Honest Illusions by Nora Roberts.
Always a sucker for a happy ending, she was a goner and fell in love with the romance genre. Having started writing novel length stories at the age of eleven, Kristen’s stories all took a romantic turn from that point on.
Connect with Kristen Beairsto
Website: http://www.KristenBeairsto.com
Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/AuthorKristenBeairsto
Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/AuthorKBeairsto
Goodreads: http://www.Goodreads.com/KBeairsto
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Monday, May 13, 2013
I'll Make the Most of it Now, So When I'm Really Crippled, it'll be Worth it
I think I was 19 or 20 when I was first sought medical advice about the pinching pains in my left wrist. It had been going on since I was about 16, off and on, usually worse during the summer and winter. That made sense, because I was a ride operator at a theme park and there was a lot of button pushing during the summers and a lot of typing for classes during the fall and winter.
I was more than a little surprised when the coroner (I'm not even joking) slash doctor at my alma mater told me, yep, I had chronic tendinitis and guess what, wait till it spreads to your right wrist, because it almost always does. Damn that correct coroner/doctor. I ice, I heat, I once got a hand massage, I wrap, I brace, I self-medicate, but there's no long-term relief. It's spread to my left elbow on two occasions, usually when I'm marathon writing. The first time was bad, the second time not as rough.
It feels like someone jabbed a bunch of springy young twigs or uncooked spaghetti noodles inside my joints while I wasn't looking. It's hard to get my fingers to cooperate and hit the keys they're supposed to. So if you see gobbledy-gook instead of real words, that's why. Also, my brain isn't functioning on all levels. I keep forgetting words I really need to use to make actual conversation. I have a lot of conversations where I just trail off because I have no idea which word I'm supposed to use.
I'm fine, really. I'm just overusing my body right now. You know why? Here's why: I'm 20k from finishing my historical romance novel, The Wrong Brother's Bride. I'm 17k from finishing The Heckmasters - Wystan. As you know, I finished the second draft of The Siren's Sentinel in January and wrote the final what, 5 or 6k on The Convict & the Cattleman in January too. I've got a lot of writing done this year.
The pain is just creativity surging through my body.
Here's a look at a screen shot of my word count chart for the year.
I only flubbed one month, when I was just trying to meet the monthly count to stay on track for writing 200k. I didn't care at that point whether I hit 200k or not. Really, I don't care if I do. It wasn't something I set out to do. I just decided I needed to get some projects going.
I promised SS this fall, but I really want to get The Heckmasters out first. I may push SS back until spring. It has some areas that need a lot of TLC I don't want to focus on right now. Mostly I was writing TWBB to see if I still had a historical in me, but then I got a request for the full which wasn't anywhere close to finished, so now I'm writing like a woman possessed.
I'm already trying to figure out what my next step is. I should be working in ideas for another historical if I'm going to keep writing them. I have very solid ideas for The Heckmasters - Eban, and they are great, if I do say so myself.
Unfortunately because of all this writing, I'm getting zero editing done. I'm getting almost no marketing done either. I feel really uninspired when it comes to marketing anyway. By Saint Booger, I'm terrible at it. However, I did line up a blog barrage for The Turncoat's Temptress today and tomorrow. Check it out and enter to win a $10 Amazon gift card by clicking here.
In the meantime, I have novels to finish, people. Stayed tuned to my FB & G+ pages for snippets and excerpts. Because you crave them. Yes, you do. Also, encourage your friends to buy my book, because I'm a terrible marketeer. Although I do like that word.
Happy Monday (as if)!
I was more than a little surprised when the coroner (I'm not even joking) slash doctor at my alma mater told me, yep, I had chronic tendinitis and guess what, wait till it spreads to your right wrist, because it almost always does. Damn that correct coroner/doctor. I ice, I heat, I once got a hand massage, I wrap, I brace, I self-medicate, but there's no long-term relief. It's spread to my left elbow on two occasions, usually when I'm marathon writing. The first time was bad, the second time not as rough.
It feels like someone jabbed a bunch of springy young twigs or uncooked spaghetti noodles inside my joints while I wasn't looking. It's hard to get my fingers to cooperate and hit the keys they're supposed to. So if you see gobbledy-gook instead of real words, that's why. Also, my brain isn't functioning on all levels. I keep forgetting words I really need to use to make actual conversation. I have a lot of conversations where I just trail off because I have no idea which word I'm supposed to use.
I'm fine, really. I'm just overusing my body right now. You know why? Here's why: I'm 20k from finishing my historical romance novel, The Wrong Brother's Bride. I'm 17k from finishing The Heckmasters - Wystan. As you know, I finished the second draft of The Siren's Sentinel in January and wrote the final what, 5 or 6k on The Convict & the Cattleman in January too. I've got a lot of writing done this year.
The pain is just creativity surging through my body.
Here's a look at a screen shot of my word count chart for the year.
I only flubbed one month, when I was just trying to meet the monthly count to stay on track for writing 200k. I didn't care at that point whether I hit 200k or not. Really, I don't care if I do. It wasn't something I set out to do. I just decided I needed to get some projects going.
I promised SS this fall, but I really want to get The Heckmasters out first. I may push SS back until spring. It has some areas that need a lot of TLC I don't want to focus on right now. Mostly I was writing TWBB to see if I still had a historical in me, but then I got a request for the full which wasn't anywhere close to finished, so now I'm writing like a woman possessed.
I'm already trying to figure out what my next step is. I should be working in ideas for another historical if I'm going to keep writing them. I have very solid ideas for The Heckmasters - Eban, and they are great, if I do say so myself.
Unfortunately because of all this writing, I'm getting zero editing done. I'm getting almost no marketing done either. I feel really uninspired when it comes to marketing anyway. By Saint Booger, I'm terrible at it. However, I did line up a blog barrage for The Turncoat's Temptress today and tomorrow. Check it out and enter to win a $10 Amazon gift card by clicking here.
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| Here's my pretty little banner. Liz at CBLS always does a great job on them. |
Happy Monday (as if)!
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Guest Post- Sharon C. Cooper
One
of my all time favorite songs from back in the late 70’s is
Reunited,
by the R & B singing duo, Peaches and Herb. Even at a young age
the love song touched me, making me believe in happily-ever-afters
and second chances. With that said, when I first started reading
romance novels, it didn’t come as a surprise to me that I
gravitated to the ones that had a reunited theme or where a couple in
love was given a second chance. It’s also the reason why my first
book series is entitled: the Reunited Series
.
Below
you’ll find the description and an excerpt from my latest release,
Rendezvous
with Danger,
book 2 of the Reunited Series. I can’t imagine what it would be
like to lose someone I love more than life, in a brutal attack, only
to have them show up on my doorstep three years later without a good
reason for their absence. Well, that’s exactly what happens to
former U.S Special Operative Quinn Hamilton.
Buy it: Exclusively at Amazon.
Publisher: Amaris Publishing LLC
Publication date: February 28, 2013
Blurb:
Alandra Pargas, ex-CIA counter-intelligence officer, plans to wreak vengeance on the people who tried to kill her. A little rendezvous with danger is not what scares her, though. It’s seeing the tall, dark, and dangerously sexy man she vowed to love forever that has her running for cover.
Former U.S. Special Operative, Quinn Hamilton, left the world of covert operations after the love of his life died in his arms during a black op. Three years later, he still loses sleep wondering if maybe he could have done something more to save her – until Alandra shows up on his doorstep. With her lies and betrayal, he wants nothing to do with her, yet, his heart won’t cooperate. It’s not until unknown enemies come after her that he must decide if he can leave the past behind and protect the woman he’ll always love. Will they survive this last mission and rekindle the love and passion they once shared?
Excerpt:
Rendezvous
with Danger -
Excerpt
Quinn
continued to stare. The intensity in his midnight dark eyes
scrutinized every inch of her.
“I
don’t even know what to say to you,” he finally spoke just above
a whisper, his voice laced with anguish. Alandra looked at him,
unsure of how to respond, but didn’t have to say anything when he
continued. “A part of me wants to wrap you in my arms and love on
you so fierce that you’ll never want to leave me again, but then
there’s the other part of me. The part that is mad as hell that my
wife
has been alive all this time, working in the city that I live in, and
has never tried to contact me. That part of me wants nothing more
than for you to get your ass out of my house and stay the hell out of
my life…for good.”
Alandra
reared back, stunned by the bitterness of his words. But what had she
expected - to be welcomed with opened arms? Maybe not, but she had
hoped they could at least talk. Yet, if she was honest with herself,
she knew his unforgiving heart would rear its wicked head. He was the
most committed, determined and trusted man to those he loved, but
merciless toward his enemies. And right now she wasn’t sure how
Quinn saw her.
Quinn
released a long ragged sigh and leaned against a nearby wall, his
muscular arms folded across his chest. “Do you have any idea what
I’ve been through these last few years, thinking you were dead?
Thinking I’d never be able to touch you, hold you, or make love to
you? Hell, I watched you die, Alandra, in my arms! You have any idea
what that feels like? To watch the one woman you loved more than life
get gunned down.”
His
voice broke, but he held his gaze steady, maintaining his usual
tough-guy composure, and Alandra’s heart crumbled. She blinked
rapidly to keep tears from falling. He had always been so hard,
tough, and strong willed. It had been too easy for her to forget he
was just a man. She drew in a deep breath as she walked toward him.
“Quinn,
I’m sorry, but I lost too. I’ve missed you so much, and staying
away was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. So many times I
wanted to call you, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t safe.”
He
pushed slowly away from the wall and approached her with concern in
his eyes. “What do you mean it wasn’t safe?” He reached out to
touch her, but dropped his arm.
Disappointment
crept in when he took a step back as if she were toxic, as if
touching her would somehow weaken him. Alandra swallowed hard and
decided it was probably for the best. Had he pulled her into his
arms, there was no telling what would happen. Besides, that wasn’t
why she had come. Three years ago someone tried to kill her, and now
she was determined to find out who and why, but she needed Quinn’s
help.
She
sighed, anxious about getting him to understand. “Quinn, I’m in
the midst of something big and you’re going to blow my cover if you
keep coming to the hospi—”
“Are
you kidding me?” he yelled. His angry eyes pierced her soul deeper
than any knife ever could. “This three year disappearance is
connected to some goddamn op?”
She
stepped to him and placed her hands on his chest in hopes of calming
him down. “No. No, you don’t understand. It’s just that—”
“I
can’t believe this shit!” He jerked away from her and raised his
fist as if he were going to punch through the wall.
“Let
me explain,” Alandra grabbed his arm.
He
turned abruptly. “Explain? Hell, you’ve had three damn years to
explain.”
“But
I couldn’t. I—”
“Yeah,
you could have,” he said in a hoarse whisper. He held her face in
his large hands, his lips inches from hers. Her pulse quickened.
“Lan, baby, there is nothing I wouldn’t have done for you
including give my life. I mean absolutely nothing. And you knew that,
so don’t tell me you didn’t have a choice.”
Want
to find out what happens next? Get your copy today!
About the author:
Sharon is a Pro member of Romance Writers of America (RWA), board member and member of Georgia Romance Writers (GRW), and a member of the Page a Day Writers Group. To read more about Sharon and her novels, visit www.sharoncooper.net
Follow her on Twitter, find her on Facebook, or on Goodreads.
See all of Sharon's stops HERE.
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