Brenda Whiteside's Blog, page 33
June 2, 2021
There's Wicked...and then there's Wicked by Jennifer Wilck #WickedWednesday #romance #WRPbks
WICKED WEDNESDAY
Please welcome back Jennifer Wilck to Discover... and Wicked Wednesday. As it turns out, wicked has a lot of meanings. Jennifer knows. So grab a cup and enjoy the read.
When Brenda asked me to write about something “wicked” for this blog post, I laughed. My latest book that I’m promoting, Better Together in Boston, is, as you can see from the title, set in Boston. And Bostonians, and New Englanders in general, use the word “wicked” as a synonym for “very.” So I thought the request was appropriate. Why is my story set in Boston? Well, this book is part of the Ticket to True Love series, a multi-author contemporary romance anthology. Each participating author is given a letter of the alphabet to use for their title/setting, and I was given the letter “B.” Since my story incorporates Jewish characters, and cities tend to work better for that (at least for my storytelling), I chose Boston.
But back to “wicked.” I had a wicked hard time writing this book because of the heroine, Anna. She made a brief appearance in the previous book I wrote for this series, Whispers in Washington, as the best friend of the heroine. I wanted to give her her own story, but I wanted her to be different from my other heroines.
Anna doesn’t want to get married. She doesn’t want children. She doesn’t believe it’s possible to have it all, and she’s chosen a career. She’s in her early forties and she’s satisfied with her life as is. Mostly. So how do I write a heroine who some might think is “wicked” for a typical romance? After all, romance needs a couple that gets a happily ever after (or a happily for now), and if she’s happy being alone, exactly how am I supposed to do that? Is it possible to make her desires change without making her weak?
Sure. Just like it’s possible to redeem a wicked character from one book and turn them into the hero in another—and no, I’m not saying that women who like their independence or don’t want children are wicked. Not at all. I know plenty of single women who don’t have children and are completely satisfied with their life. I admire them.
But Anna? Anna is different. Her adult life is built on a difficult childhood. She watched her mother sacrifice everything to raise her, and Anna isn’t sure if she’s unselfish enough to do that. She’s so used to being alone that she forgets that a true partnership can be built with the right person. No, it’s not possible to have everything, but it is possible to have more than one dream with the right kind of help. And that’s where Ben enters.
So is Anna wicked? No, not to me she isn’t. And I hope readers don’t find her wicked either. In fact, I hope they can see parts of themselves in her, and I hope she gives them hope that sometimes, life can be better with the right person by your side.
By the way, if you’re interested in where “wicked” comes from, here’s a cute article I found during my research: https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2017/10/13/wicked/
Better Together In Boston Blurb:
Do you believe in the legend of True Springs?
Mr. Right doesn’t exist…
Anna Levinson was raised by a single mother, who sacrificed her dreams to give her daughter a warm, loving home. Now a respected professor on the tenure track, Anna is driven to live the life she thinks her mother should have had. She's long since come to terms with the understanding that “having it all” is impossible if she wants a successful career.
He’s been told he’s Mr. Wrong more times than he can count…
Despite being left at the altar twice, Ben Diamond still believes his soul mate is out there. He’s ready to marry and start a family of his own. He just clearly won't recognize her when he does find her. And then he meets the maid of honor at his cousin’s wedding, and his world is thrown off kilter.
Settling down might be more than they bargained for.
A long-distance relationship isn’t what either of them has in mind, and Anna isn’t about to ruin another person’s dreams. However, giving each other up is harder than it looks. Can Ben convince Anna that she’s got him all wrong, and that he’s finally gotten it right?
Fall in love with Anna & Ben in this steamy contemporary romance.
Ticket to True Loveis a steamy contemporary romance series about new beginnings, second chances, and finding true love in unexpected places. Fall in love all over the world with bestselling and award-winning authors JB Schroeder, Savannah Kade, Moni Boyce, Shirley Hailstock, Holland Rae, Julie Strauss, & Jennifer Wilck. Start your next romance with Better Together in Boston now!
Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Better-Together-Boston-Springs-Contemporary-ebook/dp/B09432941B
Bio
Jennifer started telling herself stories as a little girl when she couldn’t fall asleep at night. Pretty soon, her head was filled with these stories and the characters that populated them. Even as an adult, she thinks about the characters and stories at night before she falls asleep or walking the dog. Eventually, she started writing them down. Her favorite stories to write are those with smart, sassy, independent heroines; handsome, strong and slightly vulnerable heroes; and her stories always end with happily ever after. In the real world, she’s the mother of two amazing daughters and wife of one of the smartest men she knows. She believes humor is the only way to get through the day and does not believe in sharing her chocolate.
She writes contemporary romance, many of which feature Jewish characters in non-religious settings (#ownvoices). She’s published with The Wild Rose Press and all her books are available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Author Links:
Website: http://www.jenniferwilck.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jennifer-Wilck-201342863240160/
Newsletter: https://www.jenniferwilck.com/contact.html#newsletter
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JWilck
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorjenniferwilck/
May 31, 2021
Cowboy SciFi
Who Doesn't Love Space Cowboys? by Lyndi Alexander #cowboy #SciFi #romance
MUSE MONDAY
You're going to have fun with this one. I love hearing how stories come to be. Lyndi has a great tale for you SciFi fans, romance fans, action story fans.
For several years in the early 2000s, I played in an online RPG that was essentially live RP, just online. The players were all sci-fi nerds of one shape or another. We had B5 people playing against Trek characters, Star Wars, Stargate, and a decent number of characters people made up to share those worlds. Fox Mulder even made a guest appearance now and then.
During those years, I played a young captain very like Valeni, and my best friend played a sexy cowboy from Earth named Garrett Rawls. My (now ex-) husband played a young robot who wasn’t always comfortable with his male designation and so constructed a female identity as well. J.R. became Jayna, as they chose. Often this generated some jealousy and tension as my character watched her friend and sometimes mate become female and interested in other partners. Move ahead a dozen years, and the characters still appealed to me, even though the RPG was long gone. The question became how best to portray them. Val and Garrett could be reincarnated pretty much as-is; but what to do about the third party complicating their lives? And Nik was born.
Even though this is set in a science-fiction landscape, it is still very much a romance. Or two. Or three. And an action story. And a discovery of a new species story. And sibling rivalry. And so much more. I love that I can commemorate these characters and the love they once shared—and share it in a new form, fresh and new.
And who doesn’t love space cowboys?
Blurb:
Valeni Pascual wants to be free to make a living hauling cargo with her spaceship and to understand the shapeshifting alien who presents sometimes as the steamy male Nik and other times as the blonde bombshell Nikki.
As a rebel insurgence builds against the oppressive government known as the Agency, Valeni and Nik/Nikki encounter a sexy Terran cowboy named Garrett Rawls. Since being pulled into this region of space by another mysterious wormhole, Garrett has looked for a way to return to Earth. After meeting Valeni and Nikki, he might have found something worth staying for.
However, dark forces may have a much bigger picture in mind for all of them. Valeni, Nik/Nikki, and Garrett are pulled into a life and death fight that lays bare all of their secrets and their desires. Will they lose everything as the battle against the Agency rages around them or can love pull them through?
Excerpt:
One man in particular caught Nik’s attention. He was long and lean, dressed in a simple blue work shirt and denim pants over hand-tooled boots. He wore a broad-brimmed hat, which he took off to speak. His speech was slow, his vowels drawled, and his grin both shy and genuine.
Rogers called on the man for his opinion. “Now here we have an import—a genuine cowboy from the old Terran system.”
“Cow boy?” Nik asked Valeni. “Is he part bovine, then? He looks human.”
Valeni chuckled. “I suspect he is human. Wait a minute.” She pulled out her handheld communication device and typed in the question. “Hmm. It is a old Terran term. A cowboy herds animals from horseback on a ranch.”
Nik then asked about the term “horse” and the term “ranch,” both of which were unfamiliar. “It seems unlikely such a person could exercise these pursuits in space.”
Author Bio
Lyndi Alexander always dreamed of faraway worlds and interesting alien contacts. She lives as a post-modern hippie in Asheville, North Carolina, a single mother of her last child of seven, a daughter on the autism spectrum, finding that every day feels a lot like first contact with a new species.
Author Links
WEBSITE AND BLOG FACEBOOK GOODREADS
AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE BOOKBUB SMASHWORDS
May 26, 2021
Dark Humor
https://brendawhiteside.blogspot.com/...
Serial Killers Are Humans Too! by Mike Owens #RomanticComedy #DarkHumor #WickedWednesday
WICKED WEDNESDAY
Sacrebleu! Holy Moly! OMG! If you like dark humor, you're going to love Mike Owen's latest book.
Serial killers sometimes get a bum rap (did I really say that?). Like everyone else they have needs besides the obvious homicidal ones. Sometimes they just need to cuddle…without strangulation, to caress…without breaking bones, to sit on the sofa after dinner and share the day’s experiences with someone who will understand. Bertie puts it almost perfectly when, after she and Bernie roll another body into a deep ravine, she says, “You know, we’re like our own little Justice League. We do what needs to be done.” They looked alike, dressed alike, shared the same food preferences, finished one another’s sentences. What were the chances that in a world where opposites attract and likes repel, two people so similar in every way, including their successful careers as serial killers, would meet, fall in love and form one of the deadliest duos ever? Bernie and Bertie did just that, and this is their story.
The book is intended to be a romantic comedy (a little gory, yes) and the following brief excerpt in which the two set out to dismember a therapist who pushed Bernie a bit too far will hopefully set the tone for the work:
Bernie followed her inside past the hanging frozen carcasses to the back of the refrigeration truck, half expecting a bloodied, frigid Dr. Carruthers to leap out and grab him by the throat.
“Here we are,” Bertie said. And there, between the carcasses of two pigs hanging from hooks, was the former Dr. Carruthers, wrapped in heavy plastic and hanging upright from a hook suspended from the ceiling.
“Bertie, she’s naked.” The nausea came roaring back.
“Of course, I couldn’t very well leave her in a dress. Anybody who came into the truck would have spotted that right off.”
“But you took off everything.” Obviously, Bertie was right about the dress. Leaving the therapist fully clothed would be silly at best, dangerous at worst. But the harsh fluorescent light left nothing to the imagination, and Bernie saw things he never ever wanted to see.
But Bertie was all business. “Look around, Bernie, do you see any meat hanging in here wearing a bra and panties?”
Author Biography: A native Tar Heel, Mike Owens obtained his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, and later, an MFA in creative writing from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, where he now resides. His topics in fiction vary widely, ranging from science themes to end-of-life issues to erotica…go figure! His new release, Bernie & Bertie (Serial Killers Need Love Too) is a romantic comedy featuring two—you guessed it—serial killers who meet, fall in love, and form one of the deadliest duos ever. Enjoy! Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/BO8DYGHKTF
Publisher https://thewildrosepress.com/books/bernie-bertie-serial-killers-need-love-too
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55223147-bernie-bertie
BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/books/bernie-and-bertie-serial-killers-need-love-too-by-mike-owens
Nook https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bernie-bertie-serial-killers-need-love-too
Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/bern...
May 24, 2021
Ripped from the Pages...
Ripped from the Pages... #MuseMonday, #Inspiration
When I don't have a guest on Muse Monday, I'll share excerpts with photos that inspired scenes from my books. The scenes are most likely never before shared excerpts.
I fell in love with a ghost town hanging on the side of the mountain when I was a kid. Over the decades, Jerome went from mining town to ghost town to hippie haven to the artsy tourist town it is today. Changed very little over the years, the residents like to keep it alive in the spirit of the early 1900s. Spirits do reside there alongside wine tasting and crafts. Jerome, renamed Joshua for my books, is the perfect setting for my MacKenzie Chronicle.
Ripped from the pages... of Secrets of The Ravine
He sauntered closer. His eyes narrowed studying her. “Have we met?”
Her mouth went dry. “I’m not sure.”
“Do you ever get to Copperdale?”
“S-sure. For shopping now and then.” Joshua, Arizona focused on art, wine, food, and gifts. Any practical shopping had to be done in Copperdale, less than an hour down the hill.
“Hey, Zac.” His friend in the metal sculpture display area called out. “You have to see this.”
“Maybe we’ve run into each other there,” Zac said. “I moved to Copperdale from Phoenix recently.”
“Maybe.”
He stared a moment longer and then handed her the purchase, his fingers trailing along the side of her palm as he transferred the box. “I’ll take this. Excuse me.”
She managed a nod as he strode to the back of the shop, and she stepped to the checkout counter next to the shelf of music boxes. The last strains of the song ended. Her vision clouded with memories of another time and another’s touch.
“I think we’re ready.” The spiky-haired woman handed over her purchases.
Magpie took a deep breath and donned her shopkeeper persona. “Great.” The group of five gathered on the customer side of the counter. “So, you decided. This green jacket looked wonderful on you.”
The redhead and the other man—they appeared to be a couple—who’d been in the back of the store, placed a metal sculpture of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church on the counter.
“Great piece.”
As she ran the card, Magpie asked, “First time here?” The man named Zac moved closer. A flutter trickled from her chest to her stomach.
“We’ve all been here, a few years ago. Except for Zac.” The other man in the group said.
“I didn’t realize what I’d been missing.” He spoke to no one in particular, but his smile landed on her.
Zac picked up the sack with the music box. “Are you the owner of this great store?”
“I am.” She returned his smile. “Magpie MacKenzie. And you are?”
“Zac Peartree. Is that your real name?”
Accustomed to his reaction, she gave her standard reply. “It’s a long story.”
“One I’m sure I’d enjoy hearing. Will you be working at your mercantile all weekend?”
She swallowed down the recurring flutter. “Mostly.”
“You all should have a drink at the Apparition Room tonight, the bar below the Copper Mountain Hotel down the block.” Phaedra finished stuffing paper around the sculpture for protection and then handed the box to the man with the redhead. “Our very own Magpie MacKenzie will be singing.”
Magpie scuffed a boot against her friend’s foot to quiet her.
“She’s on at eight.”
The blonde clapped her hands. “Great. Sounds fun.”
“I guess that means we’ll see you later, Magpie.” Zac followed his friends from the store but peered over his shoulder with an unreadable expression before he disappeared out the door and into the chilly wind.
Slightly lightheaded, Magpie braced herself on the counter. “Honestly, Phaedra, I could—”
“Now, Mags, you haven’t been this tongue-tied over a guy in years.” She retrieved her purse from behind the counter where she’d set it when she came in. “I need to get going, and you need to enjoy the quivers that guy is giving you. I’d guess he’s only thirty or close to it, but what the hell, he’s hot. Every man should fill his jeans like that, not to mention his shoulders.” She stopped by the door.
“You two looked at each other as if—”
“As if we know each other?”
“Know each other? I agree he bore a resemblance to Mark, but that’s all.”
“Really? Sacrebleu, Phaedra. When I stared into that face, I saw Mark…a soul…from twenty-eight years ago.” The soul of someone she’d loved.
Who might have been a murderer…or worse, murdered by my father.
BOOK LINKS: AMAZON BARNES AND NOBLE WALMART GOODREADS BOOKBUB
May 21, 2021
Revealing Interview
Seely has fun questions!
