Roxanne D. Howard's Blog, page 19

Exclusive Excerpt of Book 2 in my new Costa Mesa series!

2 min read

Hi Everyone,

I’ve been writing my head off lately, but I wanted to take a moment out to give you all a sneak peek into book 2 of the Costa Mesa series, Toe the Line. I’ll be submitting books 1 and 2 this Sunday. Fingers crossed that the Manuscript Fairy sprinkles some magic dust on my editor! Here is an exclusive excerpt, and beautiful artwork done by Bianca Duarte of Piper and Jack in this scene. If I hear some good news about the series in a month or so, I’ll have another little treat for you, so stick around! Chicks Dig the Accent comes out on August 23rd!

To set up the excerpt below, each of the three books in the series are holiday themed. This book takes place in California at Christmastime.

Exclusive Excerpt of Book 2 in my new Charmed in Costa Mesa series!

2 min read

Hi Everyone,

I’ve been writing my head off lately, but I wanted to take a moment out to give you all a sneak peek into book 2 of the Charmed in Costa Mesa series, Toe the Line. I’ll be submitting books 1 and 2 this Sunday. Fingers crossed that the Manuscript Fairy sprinkles some magic dust on my editor! Here is an exclusive excerpt, and beautiful artwork done by Bianca Duarte of Piper and Jack in this scene. If I hear some good news about the series in a month or so, I’ll have another little treat for you, so stick around! Chicks Dig the Accent comes out on August 23rd!

To set up the excerpt below, each of the three books in the series are holiday themed. This book takes place in California at Christmastime.

Costa Mesa Series Art and Other Shenanigans

4 min read

Hi Everyone!

I know I’ve been a bit of an absentee blogger lately. I’ve been in the Writing Cave, getting guest blogs underway for the upcoming blogging tour for the release of Chicks Dig the Accent in late August, and I’m currently finishing up the second book in this Costa Mesa series that I plan to submit on the 31st. I’m absolutely in love with it.

I’ll be a lot more active in August with proper blogs and information on the blog tour. Until then, please enjoy this sneak peek into my new series that I’m writing. This excerpt is from Book 1, Batten Down the Hatches.

The art in this post of Piper Goldhirsch and Jack Spencer at the Halloween Ball was commissioned by Bianca and Natalie Duarte, twin sisters who also happen to be very gifted artists, and have done the other art you’ve seen for Evan and Molly from Chicks Dig the Accent.

I’m in love with their style, and they are both immeasurably talented. If you want to see more of their artwork, you can visit their tumblr accounts at:

http://auroralynne.tumblr.com/

http://panda-capuccino.tumblr.com/

Please be advised that some of the tumblr content is NSFW. Bianca drew the art where Piper is leaning over, and Natalie drew the art where she’s sitting on the pool table. Enjoy the excerpt below; I will be blogging more regularly in August as soon as this book is written.

Charmed in Costa Mesa and Other Shenanigans

4 min read

Hi Everyone!

I know I’ve been a bit of an absentee blogger lately. I’ve been in the Writing Cave, getting guest blogs underway for the upcoming blogging tour for the release of Chicks Dig the Accent in late August, and I’m currently finishing up the second book in this Charmed in Costa Mesa series that I plan to submit on the 31st. I’m absolutely in love with it.

I’ll be a lot more active in August with proper blogs and information on the blog tour. Until then, please enjoy this sneak peek into my new series that I’m writing. This excerpt is from Book 1, Batten Down the Hatches.

The art in this post of Piper Goldhirsch and Jack Spencer at the Halloween Ball was commissioned by Bianca and Natalie Duarte, twin sisters who also happen to be very gifted artists, and have done the other art you’ve seen for Evan and Molly from Chicks Dig the Accent.

I’m in love with their style, and they are both immeasurably talented. If you want to see more of their artwork, you can visit their tumblr accounts at:

http://auroralynne.tumblr.com/

http://panda-capuccino.tumblr.com/

Please be advised that some of the tumblr content is NSFW. Bianca drew the art where Piper is leaning over, and Natalie drew the art where she’s sitting on the pool table. Enjoy the excerpt below; I will be blogging more regularly in August as soon as this book is written.

Steamy excerpt and (NSFW) Art of characters from Chicks Dig the Accent!

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New Series!

1 min read

Hi Everyone!

I apologize for the lack of blog posts lately; I’ve been hard at work on this new series, Charmed in Costa Mesa. Big things are coming in July and August with the upcoming release of Chicks Dig the Accent, but in the meantime I thought I’d introduce you to two of the main characters from my new series about a sassy, take-no-prisoners Jewish tabloid reporter named Piper Goldhirsch, and a wise-cracking, whale watching tour boat captain named Jack Spencer. Ladies first.

So, after watching Frozen for the billionth time with my enraptured daughters, we were watching a behind-the-scenes making-of piece, and I noticed how pretty Idina Menzel is. in fact, she’s downright charming, with a little bit of sass. I wrote the character of Piper Goldhirsch with her in mind, and she has been so fun to write. Thank you, Idina!

After watching Life As We Know It back in 2010, I noticed that Josh Duhamel is a pretty versatile actor, and I pictured him when writing the character of Captain Jack Spencer, who is witty, sharp, knows a lot about marine biology, and falls hard for Piper. That’s all I’ll reveal at this point; but I should have some news on the series shortly after Chicks Dig the Accent gets released! I’ll update the blog more and more with cool blogposts and info on my upcoming blog tour. Back to writing for now. Happy Summer, everyone!

Love,

Roxanne

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The Sunshine Blogger Award

6 min read

So, I was tagged by Miss Erica Lynn (thank you lady) for “The Sunshine Blogger Award”, which is a “get to know the writer better” type of blogging exercise, with a couple of rules attached:

 

Answer all 11 questions asked by the blogger who nominated you.
Nominate eleven bloggers in return and write eleven (possibly fiendish) questions for them to answer.”

 

Here are my answers to Erica’s questions.

Eleven questions:

 Do you have a favorite character? If so, who? (Can be from your own work, or something you’ve read before.)

 

I have two. Chyna Shepard from Intensity, and Katniss from The Hunger Games. As a soldier and someone who’s experienced a lot in my life, I dig both of their spitfire personalities and unyielding resilience. I could relate to them both a lot, and The Hunger Games was one of those trilogies I devoured and fell in love with. Intensity was just incredible.

 

 If you could only watch one movie for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

 

Gah, I have no idea. It would need to be something uplifting, fun, and cool. I don’t know. Star Wars. The boxed set, episodes I-VII!

Guest Blog with author Julie Tetel Andresen

5 min read

I am pleased to have the opportunity to have Julie Tetel Andresen, a fellow author and professor with Duke University, as a guest blogger! Julie has recently released a New Adult Romance novel, Love After All. Julie, it’s a pleasure to have you. Enjoy Julie’s post, and check out her new novel; it sounds amazing!

New Adult / Mature Adult Romance

Julie Tetel Andresen

Have you been reading as much New Adult romance as I have lately? When I’m in the mood, it’s tons of fun.

The major characteristics of New Adult romance usually include:

present tense, first-person narration, often only from the heroine’s POV, sometimes split between hero and heroine;


a big, broody hero who is likely a tough guy in a motorcycle club or who is engaged in some other manly pursuit;


a hormone-soaked atmosphere (whence the tons of fun), such that upon meeting the hero, the heroine might think something along the lines of “he’s so hot he makes my ovaries melt”;


the heroine finds the hero hard to read;


the hero has a deliciously possessive attitude toward the heroine, thereby letting the reader know the hero is invested in her, even if she is not quite sure and the narration is entirely from her POV;


the dialogue involves some kind of misunderstanding, like an overheard unkind remark; the misunderstanding will get sorted out; eventually one of them will say something like, “You get me” and/or “I get you” as the ultimate expression of emotional understanding.

My latest romance, Love After All (May, 2016), is not a New Adult romance – by definition, since Gino and Laurel are in their mid-50s. So let’s call it a Mature Adult romance, akin to a Nancy Meyers film like It’s Complicated or Something’s Gotta Give.

How does my MA romance stack up to an NA romance? Similarities:

I chose present tense, split first-person narration; the first chapter is told from Laurel’s POV, the second from Gino’s, and they trade chapters from there on out;

And … that’s about it for similarities. Before writing this, I thought there would be more, but I can’t think of any others. It doesn’t seem fair to list for an MA romance that they have sex and get their HEA, just like in NA romance.

On to the differences, then:

Gino is not big and broody nor is he a tough guy – except, perhaps in business, since he’s a successful restaurateur. He’s also a widower with three grown sons. He certainly notices Laurel is attractive, but he has no instant desire to get into a relationship with her;


Laurel’s first impression of Gino is that he’s average: average height, average looking. Her perception of his attractiveness increases as she gets to know him;


Laurel furthermore, doesn’t find Gino hard to read; in fact, she’s spot on in her assessment that when he first gets to know her, he isn’t that much into her;


hormones are present, but in the background;


the dialogue does not revolve around misunderstandings but is devoted to “getting to know you;” it is necessarily more complex, because the characters have more life history.

So, there it is, the real difference: in an MA romance, the two characters have a lot of life experience. They’ve built businesses and raised families. They know stuff. They’ve experienced the death of a spouse (Gino). They’ve experienced divorce (Laurel). Most importantly, they’ve arrived at a point in life when they know who they are and in a way a new adult does not and cannot.

The development of a love relationship will necessarily differ accordingly. This is not to say it will run smoothly in an MA romance, without problems and without pain. It’s rather that the conflict will arise precisely from the very different lives the two people have led up to the time of their meeting.

Despite being a successful academic, Laurel has her insecurities, and these play out in her relations with Gino. And Gino, for his part, is not opposed to flings. However, since he knows Laurel isn’t the kind of woman for a fling, he has to decide whether he wants an actual relationship with her. He has to imagine starting all over again with a woman who is very different than his dear, departed wife.

As they get to know one another … the magic happens.

So, MA and NA romances are not so different one from the other. They’re both about two people making themselves vulnerable and taking a chance on love.

Julie Tetel Andresen is the author of more than twenty romance novels, including her newest book, Love After All. She hopes you’ll enjoy discovering Gino and Laurel’s story. Love After All is available on Amazon Kindle . You can connect with Julie on her website at julietetelandresen.com or via Facebook or Twitter (@JTAbooks)

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May Giveaway! Chicks Dig the Accent is Getting Published!

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Weekly Feature for At the Heart of the Stone on Fiction Vixen

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