Jennifer Wilck's Blog, page 31
May 14, 2018
The Basement
After two months, our basement is finally fixed! We have walls (a BIG deal) painted pale green, super-soft carpeting, and now we’re putting everything back where it goes.
Except...
The teen who uses the basement doesn’t want the walls filled with posters that she doesn’t like. Understandable, except...
She seems to think she’s in charge of the basement since she picked out the color of the walls and the carpet.
It’s also the only place in the house where the husband can hang his Star Wars and Phillies posters that don’t fit in his office.
So the two of them are bargaining—who gets what side of the basement (it’s divided by a half wall that’s architecturally pleasing but in reality, a pain in the butt to work with furniture). Dividing the basement in half doesn’t really work since they both use the whole area. He uses it for exercising every day and she uses it to hang out with friends and for messy homework projects. It’s a great space for both of them. And now that the older-than-the-teen TV has been replaced with a brand new one that offers Netflix at the push of a button (apparently, this is a cool thing—I don’t really watch Netflix, and when I do, someone has to start it for me), she and her friends can watch movies downstairs, leaving the family room free for my use. Works for me!
What’s not quite working for me is putting back all the books on all the bookcases we have down there. I have a whole new appreciation for librarians. Since I didn’t take photos of what was where before we raced to empty them from the flood and for the carpet installers who were moving said bookcases for us, I don’t have a plan to work from. So I’m trying to organize them by genre and author. Not having any spatial abilities, it requires a lot of putting books on the shelves, realizing I didn’t leave enough room and moving the books to different shelves. Multiple times.
At some point, it will all be reorganized, and the teen and the husband will either tire of bargaining or come to an agreement. And hey, it’s better than a flood!
Except...
The teen who uses the basement doesn’t want the walls filled with posters that she doesn’t like. Understandable, except...
She seems to think she’s in charge of the basement since she picked out the color of the walls and the carpet.
It’s also the only place in the house where the husband can hang his Star Wars and Phillies posters that don’t fit in his office.
So the two of them are bargaining—who gets what side of the basement (it’s divided by a half wall that’s architecturally pleasing but in reality, a pain in the butt to work with furniture). Dividing the basement in half doesn’t really work since they both use the whole area. He uses it for exercising every day and she uses it to hang out with friends and for messy homework projects. It’s a great space for both of them. And now that the older-than-the-teen TV has been replaced with a brand new one that offers Netflix at the push of a button (apparently, this is a cool thing—I don’t really watch Netflix, and when I do, someone has to start it for me), she and her friends can watch movies downstairs, leaving the family room free for my use. Works for me!
What’s not quite working for me is putting back all the books on all the bookcases we have down there. I have a whole new appreciation for librarians. Since I didn’t take photos of what was where before we raced to empty them from the flood and for the carpet installers who were moving said bookcases for us, I don’t have a plan to work from. So I’m trying to organize them by genre and author. Not having any spatial abilities, it requires a lot of putting books on the shelves, realizing I didn’t leave enough room and moving the books to different shelves. Multiple times.
At some point, it will all be reorganized, and the teen and the husband will either tire of bargaining or come to an agreement. And hey, it’s better than a flood!
May 7, 2018
The Strategy
My husband and I have been going out to dinner more frequently lately, and the restaurants we’ve been choosing have been, on the whole, nicer than our typical standbys. Our kids are older—the Princess is in college and Banana Girl is in high school—so we should have been able to do this long ago. But it took us a while to realize we could up our restaurant game, and even longer to realize we could go out by ourselves or with friends and leave any children at home. I guess we’re slow. Or tired.
And I’ve come to realize that going out to eat, and really enjoying the experience, requires a strategy, especially if you want to make it through dessert—and seriously, isn’t the whole point of eating a meal so you can get to dessert?
I’ve always looked at menus ahead of time. My husband is a picky eater, so I always glance at what the restaurant serves to make sure there’s something for him to eat. I’m much easier to satisfy, as I only have three things I won’t eat:
Anything alive (as in, it can’t be alive while on my plate)Any type of organAny type of bug/insect
Beyond that, I’ll try anything once. If it has a sauce, I might even try it twice.
But lately, my eating out strategy has developed further.
I look at the menu, not just for my husband, but also for me. First, I look at the desserts, because I need to know how much room I’ll need to leave for them. Some places just don’t have great desserts, so I can order appetizers along with my main course. Others have absolutely mouth-watering ones, and in that case I might just get an appetizer so I have plenty of room left over. Yes, I still believe that dessert goes in a totally different part of your stomach than your non-dessert food, but still, there’s only a finite amount of space and I like to have a little wiggle room.
And I will never understand restaurants that don’t list their desserts online. Seriously people, that’s often the whole reason I’m coming to your establishment!
Once I’ve determined if the restaurant is a dessert place or not (and if not, if there’s a good ice cream place nearby), I move onto the main course to get an idea of what I want to eat. I also balance that out with what appetizers they serve. If the appetizers sound more appealing, I’ll skip the main course and just order an appetizer and a salad. Then there’s totally enough room for dessert and my night is made.
Having figured out what direction I’m going in, it’s now time to go to the restaurant, where my entire strategy can get thrown out the window if the chef offers an intriguing special, or the dessert display is visible.
And people wonder why I include so much food in my books…
And I’ve come to realize that going out to eat, and really enjoying the experience, requires a strategy, especially if you want to make it through dessert—and seriously, isn’t the whole point of eating a meal so you can get to dessert?
I’ve always looked at menus ahead of time. My husband is a picky eater, so I always glance at what the restaurant serves to make sure there’s something for him to eat. I’m much easier to satisfy, as I only have three things I won’t eat:
Anything alive (as in, it can’t be alive while on my plate)Any type of organAny type of bug/insect
Beyond that, I’ll try anything once. If it has a sauce, I might even try it twice.
But lately, my eating out strategy has developed further.
I look at the menu, not just for my husband, but also for me. First, I look at the desserts, because I need to know how much room I’ll need to leave for them. Some places just don’t have great desserts, so I can order appetizers along with my main course. Others have absolutely mouth-watering ones, and in that case I might just get an appetizer so I have plenty of room left over. Yes, I still believe that dessert goes in a totally different part of your stomach than your non-dessert food, but still, there’s only a finite amount of space and I like to have a little wiggle room.
And I will never understand restaurants that don’t list their desserts online. Seriously people, that’s often the whole reason I’m coming to your establishment!
Once I’ve determined if the restaurant is a dessert place or not (and if not, if there’s a good ice cream place nearby), I move onto the main course to get an idea of what I want to eat. I also balance that out with what appetizers they serve. If the appetizers sound more appealing, I’ll skip the main course and just order an appetizer and a salad. Then there’s totally enough room for dessert and my night is made.
Having figured out what direction I’m going in, it’s now time to go to the restaurant, where my entire strategy can get thrown out the window if the chef offers an intriguing special, or the dessert display is visible.
And people wonder why I include so much food in my books…
April 30, 2018
How Being A Romance Writer Ruined Movies For Me
My husband and I went to the movies this weekend. I won’t tell you which one, but it was a big one. And the movie was great. However, afterwards, while my husband was fan-geeking all over the place about it, I started thinking about how my opinions of movies has changed now that I’m a writer, and a romance writer in particular.
The key to romance, the definition, really, is the “happily ever after” or “happily for now” ending. It is a requirement of the genre. If the story doesn’t end with either of those, it’s not a romance. There doesn’t have to be sex, but the story has to end with an HEA or HFN. Romeo & Juliet? Not a romance because the hero and heroine die in the end.
While I don’t exclusively watch romance movies, I enjoy movies that have some sort of relationship in them. And depending on how the relationship plays out can influence how much I enjoy the movie, although I’ll say that as long as the relationship is believable, I can be pretty understanding.
But it’s more than the ending of the movie that determines whether or not I enjoy it. Since becoming a writer, I look at the structure as well. Is there conflict? Are there character arcs? Is there a plot?
The last Bourne movie I saw was one long car chase. There might have been a vague plot to it, but honestly, car commercials have about the same amount of story in them. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy the adrenaline rush, but the movie doesn’t tell a story. The Marvel movies usually have about 30-45 minutes in the middle of the movie that sags. The first crisis has been solved, but then there’s another issue they have to fix. As much as I enjoy these movies, they remind me of an infomercial—but wait, there’s more! Even romances don’t usually last long enough for the growth of the relationship to be believable.
My husband is a lawyer and doesn’t enjoy watching legal dramas due to the errors that are often included. I never used to understand that, but I’m starting to now. It’s not that I don’t like watching movies, I do. But it’s harder to turn off my “story brain” and let myself just get taken over by the movie.
The key to romance, the definition, really, is the “happily ever after” or “happily for now” ending. It is a requirement of the genre. If the story doesn’t end with either of those, it’s not a romance. There doesn’t have to be sex, but the story has to end with an HEA or HFN. Romeo & Juliet? Not a romance because the hero and heroine die in the end.
While I don’t exclusively watch romance movies, I enjoy movies that have some sort of relationship in them. And depending on how the relationship plays out can influence how much I enjoy the movie, although I’ll say that as long as the relationship is believable, I can be pretty understanding.
But it’s more than the ending of the movie that determines whether or not I enjoy it. Since becoming a writer, I look at the structure as well. Is there conflict? Are there character arcs? Is there a plot?
The last Bourne movie I saw was one long car chase. There might have been a vague plot to it, but honestly, car commercials have about the same amount of story in them. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy the adrenaline rush, but the movie doesn’t tell a story. The Marvel movies usually have about 30-45 minutes in the middle of the movie that sags. The first crisis has been solved, but then there’s another issue they have to fix. As much as I enjoy these movies, they remind me of an infomercial—but wait, there’s more! Even romances don’t usually last long enough for the growth of the relationship to be believable.
My husband is a lawyer and doesn’t enjoy watching legal dramas due to the errors that are often included. I never used to understand that, but I’m starting to now. It’s not that I don’t like watching movies, I do. But it’s harder to turn off my “story brain” and let myself just get taken over by the movie.
April 23, 2018
Dipping My Toes In the Water
Have I told you I’m self-publishing one of my backlist titles? I may be repeating myself, so if I am, my apologies. Keep reading anyway. ;)
Anyway, my previous publisher, Rebel Ink Press, is shutting its doors in June. I published four books with them: A Heart of Little Faith, Skin Deep, The Seduction of Esther and Miriam’s Surrender (please note, NONE of the books I’ve been publicizing for the last year are with this publisher). Since they’re going out, I’ve been getting my rights back so that those four books will no longer be available unless I do something else.
The questions is what to do? Well, self-publishing is a growing industry and hybrid authors (those who do a combination of self-publishing and traditional publishing) are on the rise. The stigma around self-publishing is gone. Because the four books I mentioned have already been released, I decided to look into self-publishing.
I’m starting small, only working with one of those books—A Heart of Little Faith. The first thing I did was to give it to an editor. No matter how many times it’s been looked at, it can always benefit from someone other than me looking at it. A writer friend I know is also a freelance editor. She edited the entire manuscript and oh boy, there were a lot of changes she recommended. I took a deep breath and made them, and wow, the book is SO much better.
Then I sent the manuscript to a copy editor. Because again, I always miss the little things and those are the things that end up embarrassing me (Random Reader: Did you know you spelled that word wrong?). I know someone who is phenomenal at copyediting and she found lots of things that would have been embarrassing if they had been published.
Whenever a book is re-published, it needs a new cover. So I hired a cover artist, who designed a beautiful cover.
Now all that’s left is formatting it for publication and putting it up on Amazon. I’m only publishing it in e-book version this time around. And I’m using this as a test run to see what happens. I know how much I spent and I’ll see how much I make in sales. If it works, I’ll self publish the others. If not, I’ll hold onto the rights for a while and see what, if any, other options I have.
Look for the re-release of A Heart of Little Faith this summer!
Anyway, my previous publisher, Rebel Ink Press, is shutting its doors in June. I published four books with them: A Heart of Little Faith, Skin Deep, The Seduction of Esther and Miriam’s Surrender (please note, NONE of the books I’ve been publicizing for the last year are with this publisher). Since they’re going out, I’ve been getting my rights back so that those four books will no longer be available unless I do something else.
The questions is what to do? Well, self-publishing is a growing industry and hybrid authors (those who do a combination of self-publishing and traditional publishing) are on the rise. The stigma around self-publishing is gone. Because the four books I mentioned have already been released, I decided to look into self-publishing.
I’m starting small, only working with one of those books—A Heart of Little Faith. The first thing I did was to give it to an editor. No matter how many times it’s been looked at, it can always benefit from someone other than me looking at it. A writer friend I know is also a freelance editor. She edited the entire manuscript and oh boy, there were a lot of changes she recommended. I took a deep breath and made them, and wow, the book is SO much better.
Then I sent the manuscript to a copy editor. Because again, I always miss the little things and those are the things that end up embarrassing me (Random Reader: Did you know you spelled that word wrong?). I know someone who is phenomenal at copyediting and she found lots of things that would have been embarrassing if they had been published.
Whenever a book is re-published, it needs a new cover. So I hired a cover artist, who designed a beautiful cover.
Now all that’s left is formatting it for publication and putting it up on Amazon. I’m only publishing it in e-book version this time around. And I’m using this as a test run to see what happens. I know how much I spent and I’ll see how much I make in sales. If it works, I’ll self publish the others. If not, I’ll hold onto the rights for a while and see what, if any, other options I have. Look for the re-release of A Heart of Little Faith this summer!
April 16, 2018
Last Chance for a Giveaway!
Today, I have a fun surprise that I’d like to share with you. I’ve teamed up with 20 fantastic authors to give away a huge collection of steamy contemporary romances to 2 lucky winners, PLUS a brand new eReader to the Grand Prize winner! You can win my novel FIVE MINUTES TO LOVE, plus books from authors like Kendall Ryan and Michele Arris—just by following me and other great steamy contemporary romance authors on BookBub! Enter the giveaway by clicking here: http://bit.ly/steamyromance-apr18.
Good luck and enjoy!
Good luck and enjoy!
April 9, 2018
Sorority Brunch
I went to a sorority brunch this weekend. For anyone who knows me, you’ll know that’s totally not me. I’m not a sorority girl, never was. It was never something I felt comfortable around, personally. But College Girl is in one, loves it, and invited us to the Family Brunch. I wasn’t about to say no.
To prepare me, she gave me a list of all her sorority sisters, who they were related to, how she knew them and information about them. Then she told me to study it so I’d know who people were. OMG there were a lot of them. I’m notorious for being terrible with her camp friend’s names, so I had to up my game here. On the plus side, there are a lot of them with the same names. On the minus side, there are a lot of them. But I studied and I think I learned about ten of them, which for me is amazing.
The night before the brunch we went out to dinner. Several of her sorority sisters showed up as well. The restaurant was dim, I was tired and quite honestly, they all looked the same. Half of them had their backs to me, several of them were blocked by other girls, and there was long, dark hair everywhere. I started getting nervous. Then she started telling me about them, except I wasn’t allowed to look over and make it obvious she was talking about them, so I have no idea who was there. I told you, I’m hopeless with names. On our way out, we stopped at one table with two girls and their parents. Two girls I can handle. I knew who they were. I even put the parents with the right girls. Yay me. Things were looking up.
The day of the brunch, I dressed and put on makeup and studied the list of names again. I could do this. All I had to do was eat and smile. No problem. We went to the sorority house—it was the first time I’d ever been in one (we didn’t have them when I was in college because apparently, more than eight girls living in one house was considered a whorehouse). It was also the first time teenagers/college students had ever waited on me. I’m not sure which shocked me more.
Everyone was very nice. Some were friendlier than others, but everyone was polite and I managed not to embarrass College Girl. I remembered names, I figured out faces and I didn’t tell her that it wasn’t until the very end that I realized who one of the girls we were talking to was. Oops.
I met parents who were really nice. I chatted with people, supported a philanthropy project and even got to see the bedrooms. The weather was almost spring like, so we took pictures outside—a lot of pictures. Then I watched them clean up. Yes, watched. Not only wasn’t I allowed to help, they weren’t allowed to complain or dawdle. It was amazing.
I survived. I learned names and found out College Girl's sorority sisters are really nice. I enjoyed the brunch. And I could even do it again, if I’m ever invited back.
To prepare me, she gave me a list of all her sorority sisters, who they were related to, how she knew them and information about them. Then she told me to study it so I’d know who people were. OMG there were a lot of them. I’m notorious for being terrible with her camp friend’s names, so I had to up my game here. On the plus side, there are a lot of them with the same names. On the minus side, there are a lot of them. But I studied and I think I learned about ten of them, which for me is amazing.
The night before the brunch we went out to dinner. Several of her sorority sisters showed up as well. The restaurant was dim, I was tired and quite honestly, they all looked the same. Half of them had their backs to me, several of them were blocked by other girls, and there was long, dark hair everywhere. I started getting nervous. Then she started telling me about them, except I wasn’t allowed to look over and make it obvious she was talking about them, so I have no idea who was there. I told you, I’m hopeless with names. On our way out, we stopped at one table with two girls and their parents. Two girls I can handle. I knew who they were. I even put the parents with the right girls. Yay me. Things were looking up.
The day of the brunch, I dressed and put on makeup and studied the list of names again. I could do this. All I had to do was eat and smile. No problem. We went to the sorority house—it was the first time I’d ever been in one (we didn’t have them when I was in college because apparently, more than eight girls living in one house was considered a whorehouse). It was also the first time teenagers/college students had ever waited on me. I’m not sure which shocked me more.
Everyone was very nice. Some were friendlier than others, but everyone was polite and I managed not to embarrass College Girl. I remembered names, I figured out faces and I didn’t tell her that it wasn’t until the very end that I realized who one of the girls we were talking to was. Oops.
I met parents who were really nice. I chatted with people, supported a philanthropy project and even got to see the bedrooms. The weather was almost spring like, so we took pictures outside—a lot of pictures. Then I watched them clean up. Yes, watched. Not only wasn’t I allowed to help, they weren’t allowed to complain or dawdle. It was amazing.
I survived. I learned names and found out College Girl's sorority sisters are really nice. I enjoyed the brunch. And I could even do it again, if I’m ever invited back.
April 2, 2018
Last College Visits
We’re making the last of our college visits this week. Two more schools and then we’re done until she applies and gets in somewhere. As desired, Banana Girl is applying to different schools than her sister did, for the most part. That’s a good thing, because they’re different people, different students and I wouldn’t want them to do everything the same. We’ve always fostered their independence and always told them they shouldn’t do what the other one does just because she does it.
That means that we can’t just say, “Oh, you saw this school when your sister visited.” Even though she went on a lot of her sister’s visits, she wasn’t thinking colleges quite then and again, she’s different.
As a parent, it’s weird doing it a second time. This time around, I’m not comparing it to when I was applying to colleges. I’m a little more jaded—I buy less the hard sells and the slick marketing. I’m a little more tuned in to what will work for her versus what works for her sister.
This time around, we have a habit of focusing more on the food. JAlthough with it being Passover, I’m not sure how much experimenting we can do. But we can see how much matzah they provide their students!
I’m curious to see where she ends up, and I’m totally blocking out the idea that they’ll both be gone. That'll be for another blog post.
That means that we can’t just say, “Oh, you saw this school when your sister visited.” Even though she went on a lot of her sister’s visits, she wasn’t thinking colleges quite then and again, she’s different.
As a parent, it’s weird doing it a second time. This time around, I’m not comparing it to when I was applying to colleges. I’m a little more jaded—I buy less the hard sells and the slick marketing. I’m a little more tuned in to what will work for her versus what works for her sister.
This time around, we have a habit of focusing more on the food. JAlthough with it being Passover, I’m not sure how much experimenting we can do. But we can see how much matzah they provide their students!
I’m curious to see where she ends up, and I’m totally blocking out the idea that they’ll both be gone. That'll be for another blog post.
March 28, 2018
Welcome Kay Harris!
Please welcome fellow Rose, Kay Harris.Thank you so much for having me here, Jennifer! I am excited to share with the story of how I came to write Book 2 of the I WANT MORRISON series “Lost on the Road to Love.”This novel is total self-indulgence on my part. When I stepped back and looked at it after the rough draft was completed I realized that the book was me making my dreams come to fruition in writing. I laugh at myself now, but at the time I almost decided to scrap the thing and start over.Fortunately, the cooler heads of my beta readers prevailed. Despite the novel being everything Iwanted, it turns out my readers wanted it to. So now it is the delightful second novel in this four-book series.So what’s so self-indulgent about this book? I’ll tick them off for you.
1) The first book I ever wrote “Love on the Rocks” features my deepest crush, my book boyfriend to end all book boyfriends, rock star Sean Rush. Since the hero in “Lost on the Road to Love” is Sean’s son, I got to bring an older, silver fox Sean into the book. (Be still my beating heart!) 2) I also got to bring back Henry’s mom, the fierce and feisty Park Ranger who fell in love with a rock star and made him want to settle down and become a family man. Go girl! 3) Chelsea gets to flaunt her wonderful, unapologetic nerdiness. When I introduced Chelsea Morrison in the first book in the series “Don’t Let Him Go” I made her a skinny, frizzy-haired, bespeckled kid sister. Growing up may have tamed her hair a little, but otherwise, Chelsea, her lanky frame, and her glasses are still in place. And she gets to be the heroine who falls in love with the hot son of a rock star – that’s right! 4) I am a travel addict. Over the course of eight months in this book I get to take my readers literally all over the world. We experience some amazing places in the U.S., South America, the Carribean, and Europe. Yay!So there it is, the naked truth. While writing this book I was completely indulging in the things I wanted to see happen. I won’t apologize. I’ll just say, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Blurb: Take two best friends, add some benefits, and it may take a map to find their way to love.
On the road for eight months as part of the crew for a travel show, Chelsea Morrison expects to work hard, endure long nights, and enjoy some wicked adventures. But she doesn’t expect to fall head over heels for the show’s star.
Henry Rush, son of a legendary rock star, is leery of women. He learned early they only want him for the fame that rightly belongs to his father. But when an intense friendship with Chelsea leads to so much more, he has to confront the one thing he’s avoided all his life.
Can these two friends navigate their way to a happy ending?
Excerpt:I rested my hand on my hip. “Are you saying you find me irresistibly attractive?”
“Yes.” He gave a firm nod. There was no mirth in his eyes or in the set of his mouth.
I narrowed my gaze and scrutinized him. “I thought it was because we’re so close, remember.”
“Yes. And you’re insanely hot.”
“Am not!”
“Are too!”
I shook my head.
“Wanna make a bet on it?” he challenged.
“What?”
“You get naked for me. And if I am disappointed, you win the bet. If you’re as hot as I think you are under those clothes, I win. In fact, I already know what I want if I win. I want to see one of the films you’ve made.”
I stared at him, my mouth agape.
“What do you want if you win, Chels? Not that it matters. Because you won’t win.”
I finally found my voice. Because I couldn’t turn down this opportunity. “If I win, you sing for me.”
“Done.” He settled farther into the couch. “I’m ready when you are.”
Buy Links:AMAZON: http://amzn.to/2Hu9T3RB&N: http://bit.ly/2sAWhR8AMAZON CA: http://amzn.to/2FgCOrmAMAZON UK: http://amzn.to/2oaDGGNAMAZON AU: http://amzn.to/2oayG56THE WILD ROSE PRESS: http://bit.ly/2BjHYmL
Author Bio:
Kay Harris has had a diverse career with jobs ranging from college professor to park ranger. Now she adds author to her repertoire. Kay writes romance novels that contain a little bit of sweet, a dash of sexy, a touch of heartbreak, and a whole lot of fun!
Kay grew up in the Midwest and has since lived all over the western United States including Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California. She loves to hike, is obsessed with museums, and enjoys taking her extremely tall and very handsome husband on adventures.
Social Media Links: WEBSITE: http://www.kayharrisauthor.comBLOG: https://www.kayharrisauthor.com/blog/TWITTER: https://twitter.com/KayHarrisAuthorFACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKayHarris/GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15060640.Kay_HarrisBOOKBUB: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kay-harris
1) The first book I ever wrote “Love on the Rocks” features my deepest crush, my book boyfriend to end all book boyfriends, rock star Sean Rush. Since the hero in “Lost on the Road to Love” is Sean’s son, I got to bring an older, silver fox Sean into the book. (Be still my beating heart!) 2) I also got to bring back Henry’s mom, the fierce and feisty Park Ranger who fell in love with a rock star and made him want to settle down and become a family man. Go girl! 3) Chelsea gets to flaunt her wonderful, unapologetic nerdiness. When I introduced Chelsea Morrison in the first book in the series “Don’t Let Him Go” I made her a skinny, frizzy-haired, bespeckled kid sister. Growing up may have tamed her hair a little, but otherwise, Chelsea, her lanky frame, and her glasses are still in place. And she gets to be the heroine who falls in love with the hot son of a rock star – that’s right! 4) I am a travel addict. Over the course of eight months in this book I get to take my readers literally all over the world. We experience some amazing places in the U.S., South America, the Carribean, and Europe. Yay!So there it is, the naked truth. While writing this book I was completely indulging in the things I wanted to see happen. I won’t apologize. I’ll just say, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Blurb: Take two best friends, add some benefits, and it may take a map to find their way to love.On the road for eight months as part of the crew for a travel show, Chelsea Morrison expects to work hard, endure long nights, and enjoy some wicked adventures. But she doesn’t expect to fall head over heels for the show’s star.
Henry Rush, son of a legendary rock star, is leery of women. He learned early they only want him for the fame that rightly belongs to his father. But when an intense friendship with Chelsea leads to so much more, he has to confront the one thing he’s avoided all his life.
Can these two friends navigate their way to a happy ending?
Excerpt:I rested my hand on my hip. “Are you saying you find me irresistibly attractive?”
“Yes.” He gave a firm nod. There was no mirth in his eyes or in the set of his mouth.
I narrowed my gaze and scrutinized him. “I thought it was because we’re so close, remember.”
“Yes. And you’re insanely hot.”
“Am not!”
“Are too!”
I shook my head.
“Wanna make a bet on it?” he challenged.
“What?”
“You get naked for me. And if I am disappointed, you win the bet. If you’re as hot as I think you are under those clothes, I win. In fact, I already know what I want if I win. I want to see one of the films you’ve made.”
I stared at him, my mouth agape.
“What do you want if you win, Chels? Not that it matters. Because you won’t win.”
I finally found my voice. Because I couldn’t turn down this opportunity. “If I win, you sing for me.”
“Done.” He settled farther into the couch. “I’m ready when you are.”
Buy Links:AMAZON: http://amzn.to/2Hu9T3RB&N: http://bit.ly/2sAWhR8AMAZON CA: http://amzn.to/2FgCOrmAMAZON UK: http://amzn.to/2oaDGGNAMAZON AU: http://amzn.to/2oayG56THE WILD ROSE PRESS: http://bit.ly/2BjHYmL
Author Bio: Kay Harris has had a diverse career with jobs ranging from college professor to park ranger. Now she adds author to her repertoire. Kay writes romance novels that contain a little bit of sweet, a dash of sexy, a touch of heartbreak, and a whole lot of fun!
Kay grew up in the Midwest and has since lived all over the western United States including Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California. She loves to hike, is obsessed with museums, and enjoys taking her extremely tall and very handsome husband on adventures.
Social Media Links: WEBSITE: http://www.kayharrisauthor.comBLOG: https://www.kayharrisauthor.com/blog/TWITTER: https://twitter.com/KayHarrisAuthorFACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKayHarris/GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15060640.Kay_HarrisBOOKBUB: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kay-harris
March 26, 2018
Spring Break
We made it through spring break! Not that I didn’t think we would, but we’ve all gotten into our own routines. College girl has her independence, and even though she calls and texts frequently, they’re on her own terms. Banana Girl has gotten used to being an only child. And we have gotten used to only dealing with one child at a time, one over whom we can still exert control. We love having College Girl come home, but there is always a period of adjustment.
This time, we were good. Probably because it was for a short period of time. And because there was a constant state of flux.
She arrived while Michael was away, so it was just the three of us. That meant we could eat out and plan meals we like that he doesn’t. Because Banana Girl was occupied a lot of the time with school, work and band, it gave College Girl and me some bonding time. When Michael got home, he had his own time with her as well. And an unexpected snow day in the middle of the week meant the four of us could spend time together without having to deal with other commitments.
Because her spring break didn’t coordinate with anyone else’s, we didn’t have to worry about curfews and going out with a variety of people—there was no one here for her to do that. She spent a lot of time FaceTiming and texting her friends, but that gave the rest of us time to continue with what we normally do.
I think spring break was successful because she’d already been home for winter break, had already been through the adjustment from college to home and knew, at least in the back of her mind, that there are other people to take into consideration when you’re home.
And as a bonus, she brought stuff home, left stuff home, and didn’t ask me to do her laundry!
This time, we were good. Probably because it was for a short period of time. And because there was a constant state of flux.
She arrived while Michael was away, so it was just the three of us. That meant we could eat out and plan meals we like that he doesn’t. Because Banana Girl was occupied a lot of the time with school, work and band, it gave College Girl and me some bonding time. When Michael got home, he had his own time with her as well. And an unexpected snow day in the middle of the week meant the four of us could spend time together without having to deal with other commitments.
Because her spring break didn’t coordinate with anyone else’s, we didn’t have to worry about curfews and going out with a variety of people—there was no one here for her to do that. She spent a lot of time FaceTiming and texting her friends, but that gave the rest of us time to continue with what we normally do.
I think spring break was successful because she’d already been home for winter break, had already been through the adjustment from college to home and knew, at least in the back of her mind, that there are other people to take into consideration when you’re home.
And as a bonus, she brought stuff home, left stuff home, and didn’t ask me to do her laundry!
March 19, 2018
Book Release!
It’s almost here…Five Minutes to Love releases on Wednesday. Book releases are always exciting, whether they’re my first book or my seventh, as this is. Writing and editing are hard work, and to see it all come to fruition is satisfying.
My favorite part of working on this particular book was the research I had to do into speed dating. Since my husband and I met in college, I never participated in anything like that, but I wanted my hero and heroine to meet that way—actually, I wanted them to fail, but you’ll have to read it to see what happens. So, I needed to do research.
I did as much research into speed dating as I could on the internet, short of signing myself up for an event—as supportive as my husband is, even he has his limits. Then I contacted some single friends to find out if any of them had ever gone to an event. Although the ones I contacted hadn’t, she had friends who had. And she provided me with fantastic “horror stories” that I was able to use. But there was still something missing.
One day, my husband, daughter and I met a friend in the city. After hanging out for the afternoon, we went out to dinner and guess what? There was an event going on in their party room. So, my daughter and I spied on it, which enabled me to learn exactly how the events take place.
So what happens to my characters? You’ll have to find out!
https://www.amazon.com/Five-Minutes-Love-Jennifer-Wilck/dp/1509219544
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/five-minutes-to-love-jennifer-wilck/1128011304?ean=2940158814495
My favorite part of working on this particular book was the research I had to do into speed dating. Since my husband and I met in college, I never participated in anything like that, but I wanted my hero and heroine to meet that way—actually, I wanted them to fail, but you’ll have to read it to see what happens. So, I needed to do research.
I did as much research into speed dating as I could on the internet, short of signing myself up for an event—as supportive as my husband is, even he has his limits. Then I contacted some single friends to find out if any of them had ever gone to an event. Although the ones I contacted hadn’t, she had friends who had. And she provided me with fantastic “horror stories” that I was able to use. But there was still something missing.
One day, my husband, daughter and I met a friend in the city. After hanging out for the afternoon, we went out to dinner and guess what? There was an event going on in their party room. So, my daughter and I spied on it, which enabled me to learn exactly how the events take place.
So what happens to my characters? You’ll have to find out!
https://www.amazon.com/Five-Minutes-Love-Jennifer-Wilck/dp/1509219544https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/five-minutes-to-love-jennifer-wilck/1128011304?ean=2940158814495
