Liv Rancourt's Blog, page 28

It’s Magic!!

Here’s yesterday’s #WANAFriday blog prompt: If you could have one magical object, what would it be and why. Even though it’s technically no longer Friday, I’m going to weigh in on this one, because as the writer of paranormal fiction, I obviously have a favorite magical object. In fact, this object exists in the here and now. It’s something I hold in my hand every single day. You might even have one too.

It’s…

Are you ready?

My favorite magical object is…

Yep, it’s my smart phone. I mean think about it. With this one small device, I can order pizza or identify the actor who played the doctor in Master and Commander and keep in touch with people all over the world through phone and email and Facebook and Twitter. Even more important, I can keep track of the teenagers, though at times their text messages need translation.

I can entertain myself for hours with Tetris and Pinterest and Songpop, and if I have a question of a more metaphysical sort, there’s always my Goddess Tarot app to help me answer it. My magical object can tell me what time the bus is coming, and is a handy notepad so I can write it down when someone says something funny. I’m always on the lookout for good dialogue that way. It takes pictures and plays music and tells me the date and the time and the weather.

Magic? I think so. I mean, I know how to make it do things, but surely couldn’t tell you how it does them. And that’s magic of a sort. So keep your wands and pretty stones and sacred candles. I’m sure you can do cool tricks with them, but soon, they’ll make an app for that.

Happy (late!) Friday

Liv

Now keep going to see some other takes on the magical object idea…

Cora Ramos

Ellen Gregory

Tami Clayton

Kim Griffin

Siri Paulson

 

Summer Book Crush!

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Hot sun, hot sand, cool drinks, dark tans. Ahhhh. But your summer won’t be complete until you land a new BOOK BOYFRIEND, right? Lucky for you, we’ve got you covered!

SUMMER BOOK CRUSH offers 50+ titles in many genres. This means 50+ chances to (fictitiously) fall in love. And the best part? Each of these gems is only 99¢, but for a limited time only. The SUMMER BOOK CRUSH event starts on June 26th and ends (yes, even the best things in life end at some point) on June 28th. So don’t wait up! Mingle with our BOOK BOYFRIENDS and invite all your friends to participate too. There are plenty of BOOK BOYS to share!

Find your summer’s fling between the pages of a book. And don’t stop on one – after all we have many BOOK BOYFRIENDS for you to mingle with.

* HAPPY READING * HAPPY SUMMER *

Vacation!!

This spring has definitely gone in some unanticipated directions, but the residents of Chez Rancourt made it through and are ready for a little R&R. It’s not the big fussy trip we’d originally conceptualized, but it’s not a bad second choice. We’ll be spending the week at Lake Chelan in Eastern Washington, living the good life in the RV park (which admittedly is a little like camping at Walmart, but there you go).

Anywhoodle, I may not post again before the Summer Book Crush at the end of the week. Have a good one!

Liv

Sunday Snippet – More Vampires

This week’s Sunday Snippet is taken from A Vampire’s Deadly Delight, my novella that will be on sale for $0.99 this week (6/26-28) as part of the Summer Book Crush. Keep those dates handy or bookmark that page, because a bunch of authors, from every genre, will have their books on sale for $0.99.

In A Vampire’s Deadly Delight, an ordinary bookstore owner named Kristen plays hostess for a vampire-slaying djin named Jai. Whenever Kristen smells vampire, Jai takes over and mayhem ensues – for the vamp, anyway. Kristen’s friends give her a hard time for being so stubbornly single, and in this snippet, she explains why…

Real men always suffered when I compared them with whichever fictional character I was infatuated with. It started with Frank Hardy. He was darkly handsome and more thoughtful than his brother Joe. I was ten when I decided to marry him. It didn’t last. A brief flirtation with Almanzo Wilder ended when I met Mr. Rochester. For about five months I looked everywhere for a bitter, brooding, older man that I could save with my youthful purity. In hindsight it was probably fortunate that I was unsuccessful. After Mr. Rochester was Aragorn, though I admit that my original vision of that character has been completely obliterated by Viggo Mortensen, who was fairly perfect in the movie version.

In high school I spent a few weeks riding through the French countryside with Athos and D’Artagnon and spent a hauntingly lovely weekend with Max de Winter. I would spend hours staring deeply into my own navel with Homer Wells. I rode dragons on Pern and found that bonding with a dragon was just as orgasmic as it was supposed to be. The summer after high school, I started to work in the bookstore, where I was always able to find someone new.

Along the way I met a few vampires. Don Ysidro was my first. His reserved sensuality intrigued me. Then I met Lestat, who truly captured my heart. I count the Vampire Lestat as one of my great loves. His energy, honesty, and radiant flair blazed through me. I was thrilled with his passion and the incredible depth of his feelings. While I knew in my heart that Lestat would never really care for a bookish woman with a caustic tongue, in my dreams I was slender and amusing. And beautiful. Unlike with Aragorn, I never confused the literary Lestat with the Tom Cruise version. Sorry, Tom. More recently I met Eric Northman, a sunnier, straighter cousin of Lestat who would probably laugh at my jokes. He’s my current main vampire squeeze.

Or, more accurately, Eric was my current main literary vampire. In real life, I squeezed whichever vampire brought Jai out of me. I squeezed them and often kissed them and once or twice rode bareback on them. And I stabbed them, or rather Jai did. When I thought about it too long, it took my breath away. It was all so much fun. Yeah, unless Herbert was totally lying to me, it would be a while before I was tired of playing hostess for Jai.

So who’s your favorite vampire, fictional or otherwise? Inquiring minds want to know…

Soundtrack for Forever & Ever, Amen

So a couple weeks ago I had a blog hop to promote my novel Forever & Ever, Amen. It was hugely fun, but my favorite part was creating a playlist for the novel. Scroll down to the Grooveshark widget and give it a listen. The list debuted on Suzanne Johnson’s Preternatura blog (which is an awesome place to visit for a whole bunch of reasons), and now I’m sharing it here with you, my lovely Rancourtesans. And so that you’re oriented, here’s the background on why I chose these songs…

I chose Only The Lonely because it was the working title of the book. It’s mood captures where both Molly and Cass start out, though definitely not where they end up.

…Love My Way because Molly’s son Jamie loves the Psychedelic Furs.

…Mental Hopscotch because Vincent the Vampire is a Missing Persons fan.

…The Deadbeat Club because the bartenders at Coopers always play The B52s for Molly and Sam.

…Love Is A Battlefield because that’s how Molly’s ex-husband Ford treats it.

…We Got The Beat because Molly’s daughter Flora often uses The Go-Gos as a source of fashion inspiration.

…You Really Got Me because how can you make a set of ‘80s music and NOT have a Van Halen tune?

And finally, When I Fall In Love by Linda Ronstadt and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. It isn’t an ‘80s tune, but then Cass IS an angel, so his memory goes further back than most, and he dreams of dancing with Molly to the music of a big band. Oh, and it’s absolutely the most romantic song I know.

This is the last week of the Crimson Romance A Year In Love blog hop. There’s lots of prizes, including a couple $50 giveaway! And there’s a free round robin short story created by seven of us. Go HERE for Chapter One. Or, you can cut to the chase and go HERE for the final chapter (composed by Moi!).

Enjoy, and good luck with the giveaway!

Liv

A Rose Is A Rose Is A…

So I haven’t forgotten my promise to hold myself accountable to the garden by periodically posting pictures. I probably haven’t spent as much time keeping things tidy as I should, but below is my big front bed. It’s filling in so nicely! (You can see photos of this bed from earlier in the spring HERE and HERE.) The lavender rose toward the back is a hybrid tea called Lagerfield. It has a beautiful scent – especially for a hybrid tea. In another month or so the asters and Japanese anemone will be blooming – and, knowing me, they’ll likely be flopping over since I won’t get around to staking them.

Front Border, June 15, 2013

The roses are all in bloom, so I went around the front yard and took a few pictures. I have a weakness for shrub roses and hydrangeas, which is goofy because those are plants that really love water and we’re on the side of a hill and it’s pretty dry. Only the strong survive in my yard!

Hybrid Tea – Tequila Sunrise

Modern shrub rose – Baby Blanket

Baby Blanket (close-up)

Heritage shrub “Caldwell Pink”. The place I ordered it from grew their stock from a cutting taken from a rose growing around some of the old houses in Caldwell, Texas. (It’s peeking out from between some geranium leaves.)

This little shrub rose has been struggling, so she’s in in herb bed where hopefully I can keep an eye on her.

Shrub rose – Sea Foam – My personal favorite. Love the old-fashioned flowers and the light apple scent.

Sea Foam making a wave down the side of the rock garden.

There you have it – another little peak into my garden. How is your garden growing? Do you have a favorite plant?

Have a happy Tuesday! Peace,

Liv

The Annual Pruning

The theme for our #WANAFriday post this week is pets, real or imaginary. I’ll confess that it was my idea, because I’m kind of a sucker for my furry boy.

Meet Burnsie!

Burnsie’s 3/4 lhasa apso, 1/4 mystery terrier, and in this picture, he desperately needs a haircut.  Not as bad as my son does, but that’s another blog post. Anyway, happily for all of us (except me, cuz I like him best with long hair), this week we did his annual pruning.

TA DA!

Here he is post-pruning. See, he gets really hot in the summer with all that heavy hair, and he’s prone to heat rashes on his belly (which might be TMI, sorry), so in the late spring we take him to the groomers and have them do a whack job. Then over the rest of the year, he just goes in for baths and bang trims. My daughter LOVES him with short hair. I think he looks sorta sickly, though I will admit he smelled pretty ripe in the ‘before’ picture.

So that ‘s it for this week. Be sure to check out the other #WANAFriday pet posts, and have a great weekend!

Peace,

Liv

…you can read about Ellen Gregory’s Devilcat HERE…

…and Janice Heck’s Snaggletooth HERE…

…and Cora Ramos’s theories about the relationship between dogs and writers HERE…

May I have a taste of cat food, please? Or people food. People food is good, too.

Alternate Endings

Today’s post is a clever variation on the round robin idea. A while ago I was chatting of FB with Jillian Chantal and Michelle Miles – both lovely ladies and fabulous writers – and we got talking about decisions made early in life can have when you’re older. Like, you decide to go to college A instead of college B, and meet the guy you end up married to. What if you’d chosen college B? Different husband? Different kids?

So from that discussion, we decided to start with a basic premise and each create an ending for it, then publish our mini-fiction alternates on the same day. You can read mine below, Jillian’s is HERE, and Michelle’s is HERE. Be sure and check out all three versions to get the full story!

My grandmother was the first bolter. She left my grandfather with four young children when she decided it was all too much for her. My mother followed suit by leaving my dad when my sister and I were young. My sister married when I was sixteen and by the time I was twenty, she’d followed the family female tradition of dumping her spouse and moving on without her children. Determined to break the pattern, I vowed never to marry and never to reproduce.

As I drove along the lonely stretch of highway leading to my college reunion, my mind wandered. I thought about the choices I’d made. The breakup with Tommy, my high school sweetheart and the subsequent breaks in relationships including the circus aerialist, the engineer and the alligator hunter all passed through my brain. Even the fact that I was going to this college reunion and not the college I initially chose and decided not to attend because of some stupid fight with my band director who wanted me to go to his alma mater made me wonder if something was wrong with me. Then it actually hit me. I was a bolter, too.

The thought stunned me. Oh God, how did I let myself become what I least wanted to be? I looked up to find headlights heading straight toward me. I’d somehow crossed the center line in the dark. I jerked the wheel to get back in my lane and avoid a head on collision. I lost control and as my car flipped over into the shallow ravine, my last coherent thought was “Let’s go back to where that didn’t happen.”

 

(Liv’s Alternate Ending)

 

“I have to go to the bathroom, Mrs. Rodriguez.”

Lilly Brown stood in front of my desk, the archetype of the Catholic school second grader; braided pigtails, apple cheeks and all. I squelched the urge to grin at her solemn expression and handed her the hall pass. “Be back as soon as you can.”

She skipped off towards the door.

“Walking, Lilly, remember?”

Slowing her pace, she tossed a grin over her shoulder and left the classroom.

Twenty five other second graders bent more or less silently over their math tests, working through double-digit addition and subtraction problems. I fought to keep my eyes off the clock over the door, its big black hands moving with appalling slowness.

“Miz Rodriquez, I have a question.”

A hand shot up in the back of the room. Marcus Sanchez always had questions. He thought he had answers, too, though only when it would stir up the most trouble. I got up and walked between the rows of desks, checking on the kids’ work to see if they would get done on time. Reaching Marcus, I bent over his dark curls, glad to have something to do besides wait for three o’clock.

I caught a whiff of chili spice, likely from the tamales he’d brought for lunch. The scent triggered other memories, and I jerked a glanced up at the clock. An hour and forty minutes. I could make it that long.

“Mrs. Rodriguez?”

Another hand went up, and after murmuring a couple more hints to Marcus, I went to see what Jake needed. Then a couple kids finished, and I had to find them an activity so they wouldn’t disrupt the others. Teaching seven and eight year olds meant keeping one eye on the ground and the other on the dyke, watching for the next hole so I could plug it before too much water leaked.

Quite a change of pace for the girl who couldn’t commit to anything.

As clichéd as it sounds, it just took meeting the right guy to keep me in place. Smarter than my old boyfriend Tommy, braver than the aerialist, and way more entertaining than the engineer, Arnie Rodriguez had me from the word ‘Go’. I took one look at his dimples and precision-cut flat top haircut and jumped in with both feet, with every intention of sticking around for the duration. Before he knew what hit him, I married Lieutenant JG Arnold Rodriguez of the US Navy Seals.

Instead of bolting, I went for a guy who’d leave me behind.

Chairs scraped and hushed giggles disrupted my internal monologue as more kids finished their tests. It was two o’clock on a Friday afternoon. Normally we’d read aloud or work on spelling with flash cards. I shushed them and went back to my desk, taking a surreptitious look at my cell phone.

No messages.

He’d been gone for three hundred eighty two days. I’d survive till his plane got in at five p.m.

Maybe.

Marcus made that farting noise young boys find so hysterical, punctuated by a rousing round of snickers. Spelling…reading…Friday…what I really wanted to do was send them all out to the playground until their mothers came to pick them up. Instead, I went with Plan B, uncovering the smart board at the front of the classroom. The kids knew what that meant.

“Finding Nemo.”

“Little Mermaid.”

“Monster’s Inc.”

Pretending to pay attention to their requests, I grabbed a DVD at random and stuck it in the player. The kids settled down in their desks, while I leaned against the front of mine, watching them become absorbed in the movie.

We weren’t ten minutes into it when someone knocked on the classroom door. Pausing the film, I went to open it. My principal, Mrs. Burr, stood outside, along with the school secretary. Both of them gave me long, sober looks. “I’ll need you to come with me,” Mrs. Burr said. “Karen’ll stay with your kids.”

“Okay, um, what’s wrong?”

She didn’t really answer me, leaving me no choice but to follow her down the hall to her office. Oh God, this was bad. In those few steps I ran through a list of every possible disaster except the most obvious: Arnie wasn’t coming home, the one thing that couldn’t happen.

It couldn’t.

I had to rest my hand on the wall before I could go into her office. I gulped some air, fighting back tears, and in that moment I had a flash of insight. Loving someone this much made you too awfully vulnerable. No wonder Mom – and every other woman in my family – left.

But being on my own made me strong. I went into the office, my worst fears confirmed in the person of a man in uniform. Gold buttons gleamed on his dark double-breasted jacket and he held his white hat at his side.

And then I noticed his very-familiar dimples.

“Hola, Mrs. Rodriguez,” he said, his smile so bright I had to blink. Or maybe my tears made it hard to see.

I fell against him and he held me up. In the background I could hear the principal, apologizing for the surprise even as she laughed and applauded the two of us.

“I told you I’d come back.” He spoke low, right in my ear, then he lifted my chin with his fingertips. My hands found the tightly trimmed hairs on the back of his head and I gripped him hard, diving into his kiss.

A soft chuckle behind me reminded me we were still in the principal’s office. I pulled back, grinning and rested my forehead on his chin.

“I caught an early flight,” he said.

“I’m glad,” I chuckled. “Your mom and sister made us tamales for supper tonight.”

“We got a little while till supper. S’pose we can think of something to do?”

“Arnie!” I swatted him, blushing. Mrs. Burr just laughed.

“You two go home,” she said. “And have a tamale for me.”

We did, eventually. But first, we spent a good long while reaffirming every reason I’d be stuck to this man as long as he’d have me.

 

So there you have it. Make sure you swing by Jilian’s post & Michelle’s post to see their takes on how the story ends. And if you’ve got other ideas, leave them in the comments!

Peace, Liv

Lost And Found

Today I am most thrilled to have Lori Otto as my Wednesday Guest. She’s here talking about her book, Lost And Found.  It’s the first in her Emi Lost & Found series of contemporary romances, and from what I’ve read she has a knack for creating strong characters and situations that keep you turning the pages. She was gracious enough to answer my interview questions, and will be giving away a copy of Lost And Found to a lucky visitor of my blog, so leave us a comment at the end. Also, there’s a rafflecopter widget where you can enter to win the tour’s grand prize, the set of all three Emi Lost & Found books!

LR: What’s the most compelling thing about Emi and Nate, the thing that’s kept your butt in the chair through hours of writing and revising?

LO: I think just creating a strong dynamic between them, and making sure there was enough chemistry to convince the readers that they should be together. Working up to the end of Lost and Found was incredibly difficult, knowing what comes in the next book.

LR: If you had to recommend one writing resource, either a class or a book or a workshop, what would that be? What’s had the most impact on your work?

LO: I would recommend the book No Plot, No Problem, which was written by Chris Baty, the founder of NaNoWriMo.  This book gives you the freedom to write what’s in you; to write in the moment with no fear of judgment.  I would also recommend participating in NaNoWriMo.  I’m a 4-year winner, and I feel such a sense of accomplishment every November.  It teaches you to set goals, and to hold yourself accountable to those goals.

LR: I notice that at least some of your characters are artists. What appeals to you about that character type?

LO: I am incredibly emotional, and my writing has a way of conveying the feelings of characters in a very realistic way that has the reader feeling right along with the story.  I have always had the strongest connections with artists, and whether it’s true or not, I believe that artists are more confident and comfortable displaying their emotions.  My first love was emotional, and set the bar pretty high for all the men after him.  He wasn’t afraid of feeling.  He would talk about his feelings, and he was always considerate and compassionate when listening to mine.  He was a musician and a painter (but the similarities to Nate end there).

LR: Clutter or quiet? Describe your perfect writing situation.

LO: I prefer a setting where I can control the noise.  Ideally, I’d be in alone in a clutter-free environment (or at least a very organized one) listening to music.  Do I get to write like that often?  No.  I used to work in a very high-traffic retail environment, and became accustomed to writing with a lot going on around me.  I can tune everyone out now, which is great when writing, but not so great in my ‘real’ job.

LR: How much time do you spend writing? If you didn’t have to work a day job, how much time would you spend?

LO: I don’t write often enough.  Maybe a total of 10 hours a week either writing or reading through edits.  I used to write for about 25 hours a week, and I hope to get back to that.  If I didn’t have to work the day job, though, I’d probably spend more than 40 hours writing every week.

LR: What’s your favorite non-writing activity? Like, are you a closet marathon runner? Could you crochet a house-cozy if you had to? Maybe you secretly want to appear on Antiques Roadshow?

LO: I like to watch television.  I don’t have cable anymore, though, so I’m very selective about what I watch and when I watch.  I limit myself to about an hour a day during the week.  I like dramas (family dramas like Parenthood and Downton Abbey) and off-beat comedies (30 Rock and Arrested Development).  I also like Aaron Sorkin dramas, so West Wing and Studio 60 were mesmerizing to me.  He writes brilliant dialogue.

LR: Football, basketball, baseball or soccer? Which one gets your blood moving the fastest – or is there another sport you prefer?

LO: Hockey is my favorite sport, but I’m not very into it anymore.  I like basketball, too.  The rest… meh.

LR: I saw that you’re working on another set of books – sequels to the Emi Lost And Found series – as well as a sequel to Contessa. Now, that would be enough to keep most people busy, but do you have any other pet projects tucked away?

LO: I have a couple outtakes I’m considering writing, or scenes from other characters’ perspectives.  I’m very ingrained in these series, though, and the characters they’ve spawned.  Of course the Choisie series revolves around Livvy Holland, and then the other spin-off series will be about Steven Holland, Jack’s brother.  Honestly, the Holland family intrigues me, and there are so many wonderful characters that ‘talk’ to me that I’m not sure I can ever leave them behind.  (If you’ve only read Lost and Found, you probably don’t know these characters.  Keep reading, though.  You will.)

BLURB

This is the beginning of an atypical romance.

When artist Nate Wilson falls in love, he falls hard. The problem is, he’s only been in love once, and the girl of his affections is his best friend, Emi Hennigan. In high school, the two bonded over painful breakups, and swore off a relationship to save their friendship. Thirteen years later, Nate has had more than his share of emotionally-unfulfilling, sexual relationships with beautiful women to distract himself from his true romantic feelings.

When a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity takes Nate away from his friend and his comfortable lifestyle, he is forced to reflect on the distinct void that Emi’s absence leaves in his life. To Nate’s surprise, Emi has a similar experience; but as the friends embark upon their journey toward happiness together, destiny reveals other plans for Emi.

EXCERPT

“You remember Emi,” I mention at the end of their conversation.

“Of course,” Samantha says with a small wave across the table at my friend.

“And that’s her date, Colin.”  I refuse to call him her boyfriend.

“Pleasure,” he says, stretching his hand over my plate to shake hers.

“I’m Samantha,” she says to him.   He nods once, returning to his appetizer.  Pleasant guy.  Real winner, Em. 

I try to make eye contact with her to see what she thinks about his greeting, but she and Anna are laughing quietly together.  Colin taps Emi on the shoulder once and holds a chip in front of her face.

“Taste this, babe,” he says to her.  I catch myself cringing a second too late.  He feeds her the chip, and she looks a little uncomfortable, her eyes meeting mine, then Chris’s.  I fake a smile at her, then turn my attention to her brother. 

“So, Colin,” he says, distracting him from feeding her any more food, at least for a few seconds.  “Tell me what you do.  Emi says you’re a writer?”

“Yeah, I write the sports column for the Journey News– LoHud– and I do some freelance now and then for Sports Illustrated.”  One time he wrote an article for his hometown paper, and it was picked up by the well-known magazine.  One time.  I stave off my laughter and keep that fact to myself, not wanting anyone to know that I had done a little research on the guy.

“Any sport in particular?” I ask, joining the conversation.

“Football and baseball, mainly.  I played both in college.”

“Really?  Where?”

“SUNY,” he says.

“And what was your major?” I continue.

“Communications,” he says.

“Great, when did you graduate?”  I already know the answer.

“I didn’t,” he begins, not an ounce of regret in his voice.  “I was drafted to a minor league football team, so I took that gig and ran.”  He laughs, proud.

“Excellent,” I say.  “So, what happened with that career?”  My tone is admittedly condescending, and he sits up straight in his chair, puffing his chest out.

“He had a leg injury,” Emi speaks up as she puts her hand on Colin’s.  She slants her eyes at me.  “His experience at his college newspaper got him the job at LoHud.”

“Sounds like an awesome job.  What city is that paper in?”

“Rockland… Putnam…”  He knows I’m mocking him.

“Right, right.  Lots of high school reporting, I guess.”

“I hear there’s a baseball team in Putnam with a female pitcher,” Sam joins in, sensing the tension and trying to diffuse it.  “My cousin goes to that school.”

“Really?” Colin says, genuinely interested.  “I’ll have to look into that.  That’d make a pretty good story.”

Sam smiles brightly, proud. 

“I guess you know all about high school sports,” Emi pipes in, her attention directed at Sam.  “Didn’t you just graduate last year?”  Emi knows exactly when she graduated.

“No,” Sam says, then swallows, picking up on Emi’s tone.  “I’m a junior at NYU.”

“What sorority are you in?”

“I’m not in any sorority,” Sam cocks her head slightly when she answers.

“Surprising,” Emi mutters under her breath.  “I thought all prom queens were automatically drafted into some Greek underworld or something.”

“You were the prom queen?” Chris’s date asks, hanging on to a fact that I wish I had never mentioned to Emi.  Anna sounds genuinely interested, though.  I like this woman already.

“Yeah, but that was a long time ago.”  I can tell Sam’s embarrassed and doesn’t want to talk about it anymore.

“Three years,” Emi sighs.  “So long ago…”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper to my date. 

“No, it’s fine,” she says.

“Do you really want to talk about prom night, Em?  Because, boy, do we have a story to tell.”  She glares at me from across the table.  When I look at Chris, he’s looking at me with contempt.  Emi didn’t go to her senior prom out of principle and she had regretted it ever since.  That night, she had locked herself in her room and wouldn’t come out.  Her mother and I sat at the door and tried to talk some sense into her, but it didn’t work.  It took a phone call from Chris later that night to calm her down.  She told me to never bring it up, and I never had until now.

“Why?  What happened on your prom night?” Colin asks her.

“Nothing,” she mumbles.  “And that’s the truth.”

Colin shifts his focus to me, waiting for me to add to her story.

“You heard the lady.”  I smile at him mischievously, which is sure to create more questions in his mind. “Wild,” I mutter aside, but loud enough for him to hear.

“Anna,” Chris jumps in.  “Why don’t you tell everyone what you do.”

“I’m an interior designer,” she says with a blush. 

“Nate has a great loft that could use a woman’s touch,” Sam says.  “I’ve been trying to get him to redecorate.  I have a lot of ideas.  I’d love to talk to you about them!”

“Great!” Anna says.  Emi’s attention is piqued, her eyes curious.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Sam,” I tell her.  “Plus, everything there has a purpose.  It’s all there to highlight the art.”

“Oh, right,” she says.  “I didn’t mean–”

“It’s okay,” I cut her off, not wanting to hurt her feelings.  Emi smugly smiles from across the table.  “You know, maybe we can work on the guest bedroom together.”

“Really?” Sam asks as Emi chokes on her wine.

“Sure.”  I lean down to kiss her gently.  When we part, I glance to see Emi, looking away with purpose, revealing a mark just above her collarbone when her loose shirt slips off her shoulder.  My first inclination is to point it out.  “Did you scratch yourself or something?  There’s a large red mark on your neck.”   Asshole, marking his territory.

Instinctively, she immediately draws her hand over the hickey he had left on her delicate pale skin.  She knew exactly where it is, and by the blush on cheeks, I’m certain she knows exactly what it is, as well.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lies.  “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go take a look.” 

Colin smiles smugly, glaring at me as he downs his third beer.

“Nate,” Chris scolds me as Colin stands up, presumably to follow Emi.  “Colin, have a seat, I’ll handle this,” he says.  Emi’s boyfriend doesn’t argue, sitting back down and having another chip.  As Chris leaves the table, he whispers over my shoulder, requesting me to follow him.

“I’ll be right back, sweetie,” I tell Sam as I squeeze her hand.

As we walk toward the bathrooms, he has a hard time keeping his cool. “What are you, four?  You two are acting like children.  You’re embarrassing yourselves— and me— in front of a woman I really like.  Not to mention the unfortunate dates you both brought along.”

“I—”

“Fix this, Nate.”

 You can buy a copy of Lost and Found here…

Amazon Links:
Book 1:http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Found-Emi-Book-One/dp/1453755403/ref=la_B004VYOIYK_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370920676&sr=1-1
Book 2:http://www.amazon.com/Never-Look-Back-Found-Three/dp/1453755446/ref=la_B004VYOIYK_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1370920676&sr=1-3
Books 1-3:http://www.amazon.com/Emi-Lost-Found-Series-ebook/dp/B0088GGSR2/ref=la_B004VYOIYK_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1370920676&sr=1-6

B&N Links:
Book 1:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lost-and-found-lori-l-otto/1102418977?ean=2940011295546
Book 2:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/never-look-back-lori-l-otto/1101714751?ean=2940012515049
Books 1-3:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/emi-lost-found-series-lori-l-otto/1112082595?ean=2940014607278

Smashwords:
Book 1:http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/48729
Book 2:http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/54155
Book 3:http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/56400
Books 1-3: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/266309

iBooks – https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/lori-l.-otto/id438512389?mt=1

SIGNED copy of Not Today, But Someday – http://authorlorilotto.wordpress.com/2013/03/30/signed-paperback-of-not-today-but-someday/

BIO

After graduating from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1997 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, Lori Otto worked in the billboard industry for ten years. Frustrated with trying to communicate entire messages in “seven seconds or less,” she decided to leave outdoor advertising and return to her love of creative writing.

You can find Lori on-line here…

o   Facebook Page

o   Website

o   Twitter

o   Goodreads Author

o   Goodreads Book

Enter the rafflecopter, but don’t forget to leave a comment here for a chance to win an e-copy of Lost And Found!

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Destination Wedding!

This morning it is my great pleasure to welcome Robyn Neeley to the blog. She’s celebrating the release of her newest romance, Destination Wedding. So far I’ve only got the sample from Amazon, but it looks like a totally fun read – and it’s set in Honolulu, which is one of my all-time favorite places on the planet. This one is definitely going in my TBR pile!

Thanks for having me, Liv! I love your blog! I’m keeping an eye on your garden! How is Burnsie?

 *glances to the left where Burnsie’s sound asleep on the floor* He’s great, Robyn! Thanks for asking

LR: It takes hours of writing and revising to finish a novel. What was the most compelling thing that kept your butt in the chair long enough to finish your new release, Destination Wedding?

RN: I wrote the first three chapters last summer and then had to put it aside to finish my holiday romance, Christmas Dinner. Once I started back up, I immediately knew how I wanted it to end and wrote the ending. What I didn’t know was how my heroine and hero were going to get there (but they did!). Once I got into it, I just couldn’t stop.  And, okay. The handsome twins are what kept me in the chair! I have a major crush on both Luke and Drew!

 

LR: If you had to recommend one writing resource, either a class or a book or a workshop, what would that be? What’s had the most impact on your work?

RN: I took a three-month online mentoring class with Lori Wilde, which was offered by Savvy Authors last summer. (I love their workshops. Highly recommend for aspiring authors.) My writing grew by leaps and bounds and my story was so much more compelling. One month after her class, I had a contract with Crimson Romance. I highly recommend new writers consider taking an online mentor class. Savvy Authors offers several of them throughout the year with so many great established authors.

 

LR: I love contemporary romance, and the blurbs for both your upcoming releases sound charming. Which author has had the most influence on you, and what is it about their work that grabs you?

RN: Hands down Nicholas Sparks, which is kind of funny since I write romantic comedy. I just love his twists. The Wedding—Oh My Gosh! I keep a copy of it on my desk to remind me if I can be half of the story teller he is, well that would be amazing. I won’t say which one, but one of my books has a huge twist that I’m hoping readers will enjoy. I don’t know if it’s as good as a Nicholas Sparks kind of surprise, but it’s a twist that is very special to me.

 

LR: How to you juggle all your hats (spouse, parent, worker-bee, housekeeper, writer)?

RN: Wine, cookies, lots of Dunkin Donuts coffee and humor! I work full-time but put on my author hat each and every day. First thing in the morning I write 250 words. Then I use my train commute to read or edit. During lunch, I jump on social media and in the evenings I’m back on social media, blogging or writing. I strive for 500 words a day and 3,000 on weekends.  It takes me about five months to write a book from start to finish and I’m okay with that.

 

LR: What’s your favorite non-writing activity? Like, are you a closet Zumba addict? Could you macramé a plant hanger if you had to? Maybe you secretly want to appear on A Prairie Home Companion?

RN: I play tennis and still have a mean serve. Oh, and I can recite the Gettysburg Address. Don’t ask me why I memorized it, but I can do it!

 

LR: What’s next on your horizon? Describe your current WIP(s) or other upcoming project.

RN: Oooh! I’m so excited. I have two. The first is my current WIP, Batter Up. It involves some rather magical cake batter (that’s right I’ve got a fun spell or two in this one!) and a small town full of bachelors. The second is a continuity by Crimson Romance: The Emerald Springs Legacy. I am the 5th author in this continuity and will be wrapping up the series. (No pressure!)

 

LR: This is not entirely relevant to Destination Wedding, but I noticed that your November release Christmas Dinner is set partially in Wilmington, NC.  Now, I was born in Wilmington, and though I didn’t live there very long, I have a soft spot in my heart for the ol’ town. Are you from around there? How did you end up choosing Wilmington as a location?

RN: I love Wilmington! I wanted a logical media market for my heroine to work after she flees her hometown—because when you’re dumped by the love-of your-life in front of everyone on Christmas Eve, you’ve got to go. I also wanted a beach setting for a later scene.  Wilmington was a nice balance to the primary setting in the book, which is a small town in Upstate New York.

Thanks again for visiting, Robyn. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of Destination Wedding!

 

Destination Wedding

Wedding planner Kate Ashby’s fear of flying is eased by a sexy stranger and one slow lip lock that rockets her into another obit.

CEO Luke Cannon has just traded seats with his identical twin. Little did he know that an innocent kiss while pretending he was his brother would soon create havoc.

What happens in the air doesn’t stay up there. Once on tropical land, Kate believes that the handsome stranger who gave her the best kiss of her life is now her new client, Drew Cannon, fiancé to the beautiful and wealthy Lauren Kincaid. While Kate struggles with the intense feelings she thinks she has for Drew, Luke discovers Kate’s been hired to plan his brother’s destination wedding. He also realizes the initial sparks they shared 30,000 feet up are now mistakenly aimed at Drew.

Can Luke get Kate to realize that the feelings she has are for him? He’s got forty-eight hours in paradise to try.

Purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo or iTunes Today!

 

About Robyn:

Robyn Neeley is an East Coaster who loves to explore new places; watches way more reality TV than she cares to admit; can’t live without Dunkin Donuts coffee and has never met a cookie she didn’t like. If you have a must read romance suggestion or a fabulous cookie recipe, she wants to know. Visit her at robynneeley.com (And do send those cookie recipes!)

Twitter – @robynneeley

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/robyn.neeley.1