Laura Chapman's Blog, page 14
February 23, 2016
interview with andrea murray
Today I'm pleased to welcome Andrea Murray to the blog for an interview as part of her Chick Lit Plus blog tour for Contra. Be sure to enter to win one of two ecopies of book one in the series by checking out the details at the end.
Change the Word: How did you develop the dystopian world in which this was created?
Andrea Murray: A student inspired this one, and I just couldn’t let it go. It began with a discussion of Greek/Latin root words. The root was “omni,” which basically means “all.” I’d just read an article about censorship, so the discussion branched to governmental control of citizens. I created the society, in part, from our own society, where entertainers like sports heroes and film stars make unfathomable amounts of money while many families can’t even pay their utilities. I created the world of Omni first then looked for a protagonist to drop inside it. My nephew inspired that part. When he was a seventh grader, he was my student, and he loved our study of Greek mythology. He happened to call and ask me a mythology-related question about a movie he was watching, and that led to my choosing the story of Paris and Helen. Those myths are tried and true, and unfortunately, I’ve seen a decline in the study of them. So, I decided to revamp that one, put it in an ultramodern society, and let it happen.
CTW: What was your greatest challenge writing this story and how did you overcome it?
AM: I did a considerable amount of research for Omni and Contra. I've read the The Illiad, of course, and the basic story comes from that text. The story is based on the love a Paris and Helen and the ensuing problems from that love, but it's set in an ultramodern society of the future where the government controls everything, from the birth of children to your career. My most difficult challenge came from taking and remodeling that ancient story. Collapsing that tremendous story into a manageable size induced some hair pulling and moments where I wondered why I was doing this to myself. I outlined, scrapped it, reoutlined, and rejected many avenues until I finally came upon something workable.
CTW: If you could spend the day with one of the characters in this book, who would you choose and what would you do?
AM: I would spend the day with Pierce; he’s just too yummy! I mean, what girl wouldn’t want to spend the day with a dark-haired, green-eyed Adonis! We would hike around the colony then maybe sit by a campfire at night. Sigh . . .
CTW: What was your favorite part about working with these characters again?
AM: I always enjoy watching the evolution of a character, and Harmony’s evolution surprised me. I hadn’t intended to make her stronger in Contra, but it just sort of happened. She became more empowered as the novel progressed. I always thought of her parent-character (Helen of Troy) as a pawn, a toy traded between powerful men, but Harmony isn’t that way at all--at least not anymore.
CTW: Growing up, what were your favorite books?
AM: Honestly, I wasn’t much of a reader growing up. I do remember enjoying mysteries, like Encyclopedia Brown and even Nancy Drew. As much as I love sci-fi and paranormal, I’m shocked I wasn’t drawn to the genre early.
CTW: What is one piece of advice you would give to your teenage self?
AM: Stop worrying! I was such a worrier when I was that age. I worried about my grades, my friends’ opinions about me, my after-school job--you name it! I would tell myself to stop worrying and just have fun. I don’t remember a lot of “teenage antics” because I was so serious all of the time.
CTW: If you could travel anywhere in the world for one week--and money was no object--where would you go?
AM: That’s easy! I would go to the UK. I’ve always wanted to go there and visit all that history! Whenever I read historical novels, those are my favorites. I would explore London then travel to Edinburgh followed by pretty much anywhere in Ireland. I’d hit all the touristy spots and take in as many castles as possible.
CTW: What's next for you and your writing career?
AM: I'm taking a different route with my newest novel. I'm currently working on a ghost story! I'm excited about this one but nervous because I haven't written horror fiction before now. I've been watching a TON of scary movies and paranormal shows to try and "research". As crazy as it sounds, I think I might live in a "haunted" house. Lots of strange things go on in my home, and I've even drawn on a few of those for inspiration. Things get relocated with no explanation. We hear voices and even music sometimes. Our television will turn on in the middle of the night, and once I watched the toilet paper unroll by itself. When I tell people about it, I get to reactions: “You don’t seriously believe that” or “I would move.” I’ve lived with it for twenty years, and I wanted to explore it through the eyes of someone who has never experienced the weird things I have.
About the Book
In the sequel to the young adult dystopian novel, Omni, one young couple will do anything to stay together, and one man will do anything to control them.
After barely escaping death in Omni, eighteen-year-old Pierce has left behind his place in the Artist stratum in exchange for sanctuary with his family. However, when Harmony goes missing, he can’t help but think it’s just another ploy of the Omni government to force him to return.
With Harmony on her own, the two must find a way back to each other while battling against the full might of the government, but one powerful official is determined to keep them apart. Bent on revenge, Pelagic will stop at nothing to expose the secret of Pierce’s parentage.
Find the BookAmazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
About the Author
Andrea Murray has been teaching English for longer than most of her students have been alive. She has taught everything from elementary reading groups to concurrent credit classes. She is currently teaching junior high language arts. She has a BSE and an MA in English. She lives in a very small town in Arkansas with her husband of nineteen years and their two children. In addition to teaching, she also blogs on Chick Lit Plus, writes young adult fiction, and recently completed her fourth novel, Omni, a YA dystopian based on the story of Paris and Helen. Andrea has also written The Vivid Trilogy, a YA paranormal romance. When she isn’t doing that, she’s probably reading or watching bad B movies.
Connect with AndreaFacebook | Twitter | Website
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*** Let's keep in touch. Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. ***
Change the Word: How did you develop the dystopian world in which this was created?
Andrea Murray: A student inspired this one, and I just couldn’t let it go. It began with a discussion of Greek/Latin root words. The root was “omni,” which basically means “all.” I’d just read an article about censorship, so the discussion branched to governmental control of citizens. I created the society, in part, from our own society, where entertainers like sports heroes and film stars make unfathomable amounts of money while many families can’t even pay their utilities. I created the world of Omni first then looked for a protagonist to drop inside it. My nephew inspired that part. When he was a seventh grader, he was my student, and he loved our study of Greek mythology. He happened to call and ask me a mythology-related question about a movie he was watching, and that led to my choosing the story of Paris and Helen. Those myths are tried and true, and unfortunately, I’ve seen a decline in the study of them. So, I decided to revamp that one, put it in an ultramodern society, and let it happen.
CTW: What was your greatest challenge writing this story and how did you overcome it?AM: I did a considerable amount of research for Omni and Contra. I've read the The Illiad, of course, and the basic story comes from that text. The story is based on the love a Paris and Helen and the ensuing problems from that love, but it's set in an ultramodern society of the future where the government controls everything, from the birth of children to your career. My most difficult challenge came from taking and remodeling that ancient story. Collapsing that tremendous story into a manageable size induced some hair pulling and moments where I wondered why I was doing this to myself. I outlined, scrapped it, reoutlined, and rejected many avenues until I finally came upon something workable.
CTW: If you could spend the day with one of the characters in this book, who would you choose and what would you do?
AM: I would spend the day with Pierce; he’s just too yummy! I mean, what girl wouldn’t want to spend the day with a dark-haired, green-eyed Adonis! We would hike around the colony then maybe sit by a campfire at night. Sigh . . .
CTW: What was your favorite part about working with these characters again?
AM: I always enjoy watching the evolution of a character, and Harmony’s evolution surprised me. I hadn’t intended to make her stronger in Contra, but it just sort of happened. She became more empowered as the novel progressed. I always thought of her parent-character (Helen of Troy) as a pawn, a toy traded between powerful men, but Harmony isn’t that way at all--at least not anymore.
CTW: Growing up, what were your favorite books?
AM: Honestly, I wasn’t much of a reader growing up. I do remember enjoying mysteries, like Encyclopedia Brown and even Nancy Drew. As much as I love sci-fi and paranormal, I’m shocked I wasn’t drawn to the genre early.
CTW: What is one piece of advice you would give to your teenage self?AM: Stop worrying! I was such a worrier when I was that age. I worried about my grades, my friends’ opinions about me, my after-school job--you name it! I would tell myself to stop worrying and just have fun. I don’t remember a lot of “teenage antics” because I was so serious all of the time.
CTW: If you could travel anywhere in the world for one week--and money was no object--where would you go?
AM: That’s easy! I would go to the UK. I’ve always wanted to go there and visit all that history! Whenever I read historical novels, those are my favorites. I would explore London then travel to Edinburgh followed by pretty much anywhere in Ireland. I’d hit all the touristy spots and take in as many castles as possible.
CTW: What's next for you and your writing career?
AM: I'm taking a different route with my newest novel. I'm currently working on a ghost story! I'm excited about this one but nervous because I haven't written horror fiction before now. I've been watching a TON of scary movies and paranormal shows to try and "research". As crazy as it sounds, I think I might live in a "haunted" house. Lots of strange things go on in my home, and I've even drawn on a few of those for inspiration. Things get relocated with no explanation. We hear voices and even music sometimes. Our television will turn on in the middle of the night, and once I watched the toilet paper unroll by itself. When I tell people about it, I get to reactions: “You don’t seriously believe that” or “I would move.” I’ve lived with it for twenty years, and I wanted to explore it through the eyes of someone who has never experienced the weird things I have.
About the Book
In the sequel to the young adult dystopian novel, Omni, one young couple will do anything to stay together, and one man will do anything to control them.
After barely escaping death in Omni, eighteen-year-old Pierce has left behind his place in the Artist stratum in exchange for sanctuary with his family. However, when Harmony goes missing, he can’t help but think it’s just another ploy of the Omni government to force him to return.
With Harmony on her own, the two must find a way back to each other while battling against the full might of the government, but one powerful official is determined to keep them apart. Bent on revenge, Pelagic will stop at nothing to expose the secret of Pierce’s parentage.
Find the BookAmazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
About the Author
Andrea Murray has been teaching English for longer than most of her students have been alive. She has taught everything from elementary reading groups to concurrent credit classes. She is currently teaching junior high language arts. She has a BSE and an MA in English. She lives in a very small town in Arkansas with her husband of nineteen years and their two children. In addition to teaching, she also blogs on Chick Lit Plus, writes young adult fiction, and recently completed her fourth novel, Omni, a YA dystopian based on the story of Paris and Helen. Andrea has also written The Vivid Trilogy, a YA paranormal romance. When she isn’t doing that, she’s probably reading or watching bad B movies.
Connect with AndreaFacebook | Twitter | Website
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*** Let's keep in touch. Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. ***
February 16, 2016
interview with phil fragasso
Today I'm pleased to welcome Phil Fragasso, author of Still Counting, as part of his Chick Lit Plus blog tour. Today we're talking about his new release, his favorite reads, what inspires him to write and more.
Change the Word: What was your inspiration for Still Counting?
Phil Fragasso: I’d always wanted to write a classic romantic page-turner like Erich Segal’s Love Story, but I wanted the story to revolve around contemporary issues (in this case sexual identity). My goal was to create a character-driven story that would make readers laugh and cry and provide some insight in the process.
CTW: What was the greatest challenge you faced while writing it, and how did you overcome it?
PF: I’ve often said that my tragic flaw is having too many interests. I’ve written in a wide variety of genres and my most recent work has been nonfiction. I have a literary agent who has sold my nonfiction books, but he handles very little fiction and declined to represent Still Counting. I tried to find another agent who specialized in fiction but couldn’t find any takers. Many of them said how much they liked the writing, but they declined primarily because I was an unknown in genre fiction. I loved the book and had decided to self-publish – but first tried some small independent publishers. That’s when Wild Rose Press and I discovered each other – and I couldn’t be happier.
CTW: If you could spend a day hanging out with one character from Still Counting, who would you choose and what would you do?
PF: It would have to be Nina. She’s a remarkable young woman. Strongly independent beyond her years (she’s only 22). She’s a beautiful and sassy artist who knows exactly who she is and makes no apologies to anyone. I love people like that. I’d want to spend the day walking around Boston and Cambridge with her talking about whatever popped into our heads and eating at some of the cool restaurants and bars mentioned in the book.
CTW: What are three things you need when you sit down to write?
PF: First off, gotta have my MacBook Air. It’s weird how my writing process has changed over the years. When I started writing, I wrote on a manual typewriter. When I upgraded to an electric typewriter, I found I could no longer write with my fingers on the keyboard. Maybe it was the impatient hum of the motor, but I had to write longhand and then type it. When I moved to computers I was again able to sit at the keyboard and create. Now I have a hard time writing longhand – probably because I edit extensively as I write. Second thing would be a beverage. Usually coffee in the morning, diet Coke and iced tea in the afternoon, and whiskey in the evening (though not always in that order). Something about writing makes me thirsty. Why? Can’t say. The third thing would be a comfortable place to sit. That may sound strange, but I’m big on comfort. I can write most anywhere regardless of noise levels or lighting, inside or outside, just as long as I’m sitting comfortably. (And yes that means I can’t write while standing up. Tried but can’t do it.)
CTW: Where do you draw inspiration from as a writer?
PF: Everywhere. I have way more storylines, situations, characters, and plot twists than I could ever use. I can’t point to how or why, but the inspiration just pops into my head. Part of it is that I’m always open to new ideas and keep my eyes and ears wide open.
CTW: What are your three all-time favorite reads?
PF: “All-time favorite” is tough and limiting it to three is impossible. I’ve always had a soft spot for what I would call “mainstream/commercial literary fiction” – books like The World According to Garp, The Art of Racing in the Rain, The Help, and The Invention of Wings. They’re all funny, sad, and universally relatable. Also loved Still Alice and The Notebook – both of which combined stories of true love with the inevitability of aging and death.
CTW: What is the most important lesson you have learned so far as an author?
PF: Discipline is king. If you wait for inspiration, you’ll wait a long time and end up with nothing. I’ve learned to be very disciplined. When I wrote Still Counting I had an objective of at least 500 words a day, seven days a week. I wrote the first draft in about three months, and then edited and re-edited for another year.
CTW: What's up next for you and your writing career?
PF: I have another book, Going Both Ways, coming out on March 18 from Wild Rose Press. It’s a funny, gender-shifting paranormal romance. I’m currently writing two novels – a black-comedy and a road-tripper.
About the Book
Adam Donatello and Nina Morales share an immediate and powerful attraction, and their future together seems assured. But love is difficult enough without adding complications—real or imagined—to the mix. Nina sees life as a thousand shades of gray, while Adam tends toward black-and-white. He wants to move fast; she needs time. Nina sees her past liaisons with women as immaterial to their relationship, while her disclosure drives Adam to a state of irrational jealousy. He doesn't know how he could compete with a woman, and his suspicions—which Nina views as hypocritical—lead them both to make decisions they may live to regret.
Find the BookAmazon | YouTube
About the Author
I sold my first article at the age of 16. Since then I’ve written and published a wide variety of books, articles and essays. After many years as a corporate marketer, I left to pursue endeavors that were more fulfilling personally and more contributory on a societal level. Today I focus my time on writing and teaching. I’ve often said “I live the American dream” and that is indeed how I feel. With a wonderful wife, two grown children, great friends and a couple of rambunctious Labrador retrievers, I can’t complain about a damn thing.
Connect with PhilFacebook | Twitter | Blog 1 | Blog 2 | Website 1 | Website 2 | Goodreads
*** Let's keep in touch. Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. ***
Change the Word: What was your inspiration for Still Counting?
Phil Fragasso: I’d always wanted to write a classic romantic page-turner like Erich Segal’s Love Story, but I wanted the story to revolve around contemporary issues (in this case sexual identity). My goal was to create a character-driven story that would make readers laugh and cry and provide some insight in the process.
CTW: What was the greatest challenge you faced while writing it, and how did you overcome it?
PF: I’ve often said that my tragic flaw is having too many interests. I’ve written in a wide variety of genres and my most recent work has been nonfiction. I have a literary agent who has sold my nonfiction books, but he handles very little fiction and declined to represent Still Counting. I tried to find another agent who specialized in fiction but couldn’t find any takers. Many of them said how much they liked the writing, but they declined primarily because I was an unknown in genre fiction. I loved the book and had decided to self-publish – but first tried some small independent publishers. That’s when Wild Rose Press and I discovered each other – and I couldn’t be happier.
CTW: If you could spend a day hanging out with one character from Still Counting, who would you choose and what would you do?PF: It would have to be Nina. She’s a remarkable young woman. Strongly independent beyond her years (she’s only 22). She’s a beautiful and sassy artist who knows exactly who she is and makes no apologies to anyone. I love people like that. I’d want to spend the day walking around Boston and Cambridge with her talking about whatever popped into our heads and eating at some of the cool restaurants and bars mentioned in the book.
CTW: What are three things you need when you sit down to write?
PF: First off, gotta have my MacBook Air. It’s weird how my writing process has changed over the years. When I started writing, I wrote on a manual typewriter. When I upgraded to an electric typewriter, I found I could no longer write with my fingers on the keyboard. Maybe it was the impatient hum of the motor, but I had to write longhand and then type it. When I moved to computers I was again able to sit at the keyboard and create. Now I have a hard time writing longhand – probably because I edit extensively as I write. Second thing would be a beverage. Usually coffee in the morning, diet Coke and iced tea in the afternoon, and whiskey in the evening (though not always in that order). Something about writing makes me thirsty. Why? Can’t say. The third thing would be a comfortable place to sit. That may sound strange, but I’m big on comfort. I can write most anywhere regardless of noise levels or lighting, inside or outside, just as long as I’m sitting comfortably. (And yes that means I can’t write while standing up. Tried but can’t do it.)
CTW: Where do you draw inspiration from as a writer?
PF: Everywhere. I have way more storylines, situations, characters, and plot twists than I could ever use. I can’t point to how or why, but the inspiration just pops into my head. Part of it is that I’m always open to new ideas and keep my eyes and ears wide open.
CTW: What are your three all-time favorite reads?PF: “All-time favorite” is tough and limiting it to three is impossible. I’ve always had a soft spot for what I would call “mainstream/commercial literary fiction” – books like The World According to Garp, The Art of Racing in the Rain, The Help, and The Invention of Wings. They’re all funny, sad, and universally relatable. Also loved Still Alice and The Notebook – both of which combined stories of true love with the inevitability of aging and death.
CTW: What is the most important lesson you have learned so far as an author?
PF: Discipline is king. If you wait for inspiration, you’ll wait a long time and end up with nothing. I’ve learned to be very disciplined. When I wrote Still Counting I had an objective of at least 500 words a day, seven days a week. I wrote the first draft in about three months, and then edited and re-edited for another year.
CTW: What's up next for you and your writing career?
PF: I have another book, Going Both Ways, coming out on March 18 from Wild Rose Press. It’s a funny, gender-shifting paranormal romance. I’m currently writing two novels – a black-comedy and a road-tripper.
About the Book
Adam Donatello and Nina Morales share an immediate and powerful attraction, and their future together seems assured. But love is difficult enough without adding complications—real or imagined—to the mix. Nina sees life as a thousand shades of gray, while Adam tends toward black-and-white. He wants to move fast; she needs time. Nina sees her past liaisons with women as immaterial to their relationship, while her disclosure drives Adam to a state of irrational jealousy. He doesn't know how he could compete with a woman, and his suspicions—which Nina views as hypocritical—lead them both to make decisions they may live to regret.
Find the BookAmazon | YouTube
About the Author
I sold my first article at the age of 16. Since then I’ve written and published a wide variety of books, articles and essays. After many years as a corporate marketer, I left to pursue endeavors that were more fulfilling personally and more contributory on a societal level. Today I focus my time on writing and teaching. I’ve often said “I live the American dream” and that is indeed how I feel. With a wonderful wife, two grown children, great friends and a couple of rambunctious Labrador retrievers, I can’t complain about a damn thing.
Connect with PhilFacebook | Twitter | Blog 1 | Blog 2 | Website 1 | Website 2 | Goodreads
*** Let's keep in touch. Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. ***
February 9, 2016
interview with phoebe fox, author of 'heart conditions'
Today I'm delighted to welcome Phoebe Fox to the blog today to talk about her latest novel, Heart Conditions. I hope you'll enjoy getting to know her better in this interview.
Change the Word: Where do you draw your inspiration for writing?
Phoebe Fox: Life is a fertile ground from which I harvest. And not just mine, people, but yours. If you have ever been my family, friend, casual acquaintance, or someone I bumped into on the subway, there’s every chance that somewhere along the line you have sparked something in one of my books. I don’t lift directly from life, but I certainly shoplift the hell out of it for inspiration.
CTW: What are three things you always need when you sit down to write?
PF: I’m going to bet you get pretty much the same answer from everyone: my computer, coffee, and a decent night’s sleep.
CTW: Are you a plotter or a pantser?
PF: Total pantser. If I know how the story’s going to go, I lose interest in writing it. I have a general idea, and I pretty much know the arc, but the rest grows as I write. I have to “tell myself the story” to want to write it.
CTW: With Valentine's Day just around the corner, what's the most romantic gesture someone has ever made for you?
PF: My husband is a genuine introvert (you may have figured out that I am not), so crowds are so not his thing, and neither are parties, planning, lots of detailed organizing, etc. But when I told him that I’d never had an actual birthday party outside of my immediate family because my birthday is near Christmas, he organized a surprise party for me, secretly contacting every one of my family and friends all over the country, enlisting local friends to get me out of the house, hiring a caterer, helping people with travel arrangements, etc.—and he did it in June, nowhere near my birthday, calling it my “500th month birthday.” I think we’re all very lucky I didn’t wet myself when I walked into the house and dozens of people I knew from every aspect of my life and everywhere I’d lived screamed surprise at me out of nowhere in the middle of summer. The fact that he did all that when he’s such a total introvert…it still makes me feel a little squishy when I think of it.
CTW: What do you most hope readers will take away from the experience of reading Heart Conditions and the rest of the Breakup Doctor series?
PF: I’ve had several readers write or tell me that the books helped them through heartbreak or a tough breakup. That’s everything I hoped for when I wrote them. Just to help share and lessen the pain a little, hopefully with a lot of humor and heart.
CTW: If you could have dinner with any character in this series, who would you pick, where would you go, what would you order, and what would you spend most of your time talking about?
PF: I think I have to say Sasha, because she is the least like me. She’s like a human dog, just letting out everything she thinks and feels, and totally owning it. We would most likely sneak into a VIP party somewhere we weren’t supposed to be, and we’d drink illicit champagne that we plucked off the trays of passing servers, and we would talk about men and breakups. Of course.
CTW: What's one piece of relationship advice you think every young woman (or man) should keep in mind before they jump into a relationship?
PF: You will never be happy with someone else until you learn to be happy with yourself. Trite but one of the truest things I’ve learned about love.
CTW: What is the biggest lesson you've learned as a writer since publishing your first book?
PF: This answer comes up in every single interview I’ve given in some form or other. Years ago, long before I was published, my friend Sarah Bird, a multipublished, megatalented author, told me that the only thing separating her from all her unpublished friends was persistence. Nothing has impacted me more in my career, and I’ve never received better advice. It applies to your writing itself, to querying, to shopping a manuscript to publishers, to marketing, everything—persist. You must be the person who always believes in you, who never gives up faith. Keep moving forward. Persist.
CTW: What is one of your favorite recent reads?
PF: I read Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Maybe in Another Life recently and just Hoovered it up. I love her voice, her style, and the story—a woman makes one seemingly minor decision and then lives the two very different lives that result from each one in parallel story lines. It’s so genius I wish I had done it--kind of like Sliding Doors, but her twist is that whatever choice you make could be the right one. That there is no one correct path—which I love.
CTW: What's up next for you and your writing career?
PF: I’m almost finished writing book 4 in the Breakup Doctor series, Out of Practice. That will be the last in the series, which is a bit sad, but I think Brook’s story is told (for now!). After that I have a new series I’m working on for my publisher, about a very nontraditional matchmaker and dating guru, plus a single-title women’s fiction that has been awaiting a final edit for a while now while I scrambled to finish all the Breakup Doc books, and I’m eager to get back to it and get it out there.
Laura, thanks for such specific and well thought out questions. I loved answering these, and I’m so happy to be here on your blog!
About the Book
Running a massively successful relationship counseling practice should guarantee smooth sailing in a girl’s own love life. But Breakup Doctor Brook Ogden has spent the last year sifting through the fallout from the disastrous decision that led to her unconscious uncoupling with boyfriend Ben Garrett.
Despite advising her clients you can’t be friends with an ex, she and Ben have somehow begun to stitch together a friendship—one Brook hopes is slowly turning into more. That is, until Ben introduces his new girlfriend, Perfect Pamela, a paragon of womanly virtues who is everything Brook is not.
While Brook navigates her newly volatile emotional life, an unwelcome surprise shows up on her doorstep: the ex-fiancé who broke her heart two years ago—one month before their wedding. Between her ex’s desire to rekindle their attachment, her best friend Sasha’s unexpected crisis, and her own unsquelchable feelings for Ben, Brook finds herself questioning the personal progress she’s made in the last two years—and threatened with the highest-stakes Breakup Doctor failures she’s ever faced.
Buy the BookAmazon | Barnes & Noble | BooksaMillion | Kobo | iTunes
Bedside Manners, book two in the series, is on sale for 99 cents Feb 8-14!Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes
About the Author
Phoebe Fox is the author of the Breakup Doctor series—The Breakup Doctor, Bedside Manners, Heart Conditions, and Out of Practice, coming fall 2016—and has been a contributor and regular columnist for a number of national, regional, and local publications (she currently writes about relationships for the Huffington Post, Elite Daily, and She Knows). She has been a movie, theater, and book reviewer; a screenwriter; and is a close observer of relationships in the wild.
Connect with PhoebeWebsite | Newsletter | Twitter | Facebook
*** Let's keep in touch. Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. ***
Change the Word: Where do you draw your inspiration for writing?
Phoebe Fox: Life is a fertile ground from which I harvest. And not just mine, people, but yours. If you have ever been my family, friend, casual acquaintance, or someone I bumped into on the subway, there’s every chance that somewhere along the line you have sparked something in one of my books. I don’t lift directly from life, but I certainly shoplift the hell out of it for inspiration.
CTW: What are three things you always need when you sit down to write?
PF: I’m going to bet you get pretty much the same answer from everyone: my computer, coffee, and a decent night’s sleep.
CTW: Are you a plotter or a pantser?
PF: Total pantser. If I know how the story’s going to go, I lose interest in writing it. I have a general idea, and I pretty much know the arc, but the rest grows as I write. I have to “tell myself the story” to want to write it.
CTW: With Valentine's Day just around the corner, what's the most romantic gesture someone has ever made for you? PF: My husband is a genuine introvert (you may have figured out that I am not), so crowds are so not his thing, and neither are parties, planning, lots of detailed organizing, etc. But when I told him that I’d never had an actual birthday party outside of my immediate family because my birthday is near Christmas, he organized a surprise party for me, secretly contacting every one of my family and friends all over the country, enlisting local friends to get me out of the house, hiring a caterer, helping people with travel arrangements, etc.—and he did it in June, nowhere near my birthday, calling it my “500th month birthday.” I think we’re all very lucky I didn’t wet myself when I walked into the house and dozens of people I knew from every aspect of my life and everywhere I’d lived screamed surprise at me out of nowhere in the middle of summer. The fact that he did all that when he’s such a total introvert…it still makes me feel a little squishy when I think of it.
CTW: What do you most hope readers will take away from the experience of reading Heart Conditions and the rest of the Breakup Doctor series?
PF: I’ve had several readers write or tell me that the books helped them through heartbreak or a tough breakup. That’s everything I hoped for when I wrote them. Just to help share and lessen the pain a little, hopefully with a lot of humor and heart.
CTW: If you could have dinner with any character in this series, who would you pick, where would you go, what would you order, and what would you spend most of your time talking about?
PF: I think I have to say Sasha, because she is the least like me. She’s like a human dog, just letting out everything she thinks and feels, and totally owning it. We would most likely sneak into a VIP party somewhere we weren’t supposed to be, and we’d drink illicit champagne that we plucked off the trays of passing servers, and we would talk about men and breakups. Of course.
CTW: What's one piece of relationship advice you think every young woman (or man) should keep in mind before they jump into a relationship?
PF: You will never be happy with someone else until you learn to be happy with yourself. Trite but one of the truest things I’ve learned about love.
CTW: What is the biggest lesson you've learned as a writer since publishing your first book?
PF: This answer comes up in every single interview I’ve given in some form or other. Years ago, long before I was published, my friend Sarah Bird, a multipublished, megatalented author, told me that the only thing separating her from all her unpublished friends was persistence. Nothing has impacted me more in my career, and I’ve never received better advice. It applies to your writing itself, to querying, to shopping a manuscript to publishers, to marketing, everything—persist. You must be the person who always believes in you, who never gives up faith. Keep moving forward. Persist.
CTW: What is one of your favorite recent reads?
PF: I read Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Maybe in Another Life recently and just Hoovered it up. I love her voice, her style, and the story—a woman makes one seemingly minor decision and then lives the two very different lives that result from each one in parallel story lines. It’s so genius I wish I had done it--kind of like Sliding Doors, but her twist is that whatever choice you make could be the right one. That there is no one correct path—which I love.
CTW: What's up next for you and your writing career?
PF: I’m almost finished writing book 4 in the Breakup Doctor series, Out of Practice. That will be the last in the series, which is a bit sad, but I think Brook’s story is told (for now!). After that I have a new series I’m working on for my publisher, about a very nontraditional matchmaker and dating guru, plus a single-title women’s fiction that has been awaiting a final edit for a while now while I scrambled to finish all the Breakup Doc books, and I’m eager to get back to it and get it out there.
Laura, thanks for such specific and well thought out questions. I loved answering these, and I’m so happy to be here on your blog!
About the Book
Running a massively successful relationship counseling practice should guarantee smooth sailing in a girl’s own love life. But Breakup Doctor Brook Ogden has spent the last year sifting through the fallout from the disastrous decision that led to her unconscious uncoupling with boyfriend Ben Garrett.
Despite advising her clients you can’t be friends with an ex, she and Ben have somehow begun to stitch together a friendship—one Brook hopes is slowly turning into more. That is, until Ben introduces his new girlfriend, Perfect Pamela, a paragon of womanly virtues who is everything Brook is not.
While Brook navigates her newly volatile emotional life, an unwelcome surprise shows up on her doorstep: the ex-fiancé who broke her heart two years ago—one month before their wedding. Between her ex’s desire to rekindle their attachment, her best friend Sasha’s unexpected crisis, and her own unsquelchable feelings for Ben, Brook finds herself questioning the personal progress she’s made in the last two years—and threatened with the highest-stakes Breakup Doctor failures she’s ever faced.
Buy the BookAmazon | Barnes & Noble | BooksaMillion | Kobo | iTunes
Bedside Manners, book two in the series, is on sale for 99 cents Feb 8-14!Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes
About the Author
Phoebe Fox is the author of the Breakup Doctor series—The Breakup Doctor, Bedside Manners, Heart Conditions, and Out of Practice, coming fall 2016—and has been a contributor and regular columnist for a number of national, regional, and local publications (she currently writes about relationships for the Huffington Post, Elite Daily, and She Knows). She has been a movie, theater, and book reviewer; a screenwriter; and is a close observer of relationships in the wild.
Connect with PhoebeWebsite | Newsletter | Twitter | Facebook
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February 2, 2016
fun facts about 'going for two'
In case you missed any of the stops on my Going for Two launch blitz, I wanted to give you a chance to play catch-up and see the various fun facts I shared about the book along the way. Thank you to all of the bloggers who helped me share these during the past week. And happy (almost) one week birthday to Going for Two!
About the Book
Harper Duquaine is back for another season of fantasy football! This time she’s a year wiser and prepared to dominate the league. But while she finally seems to have her fantasy life in order, reality proves more challenging.
Her plans to peacefully play house with her boyfriend come to a halt when the high school suddenly names Brook its head football coach. The promotion comes with more responsibility on the field and less time at home. It also unexpectedly means more work for Harper, who already has her hands full helping a friend pull off the perfect proposal (while dodging questions about when she and Brook are going to get hitched already). Plus, a new development at work could leave her—and half of the fantasy league—jobless.
With the complications of her career and being “Mrs. Coach” adding up, Harper wonders if she’s committed to the life she’s already building or if there is something else out there.
Find the BookAmazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads
*** Let's keep in touch. Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. ***
About the Book
Harper Duquaine is back for another season of fantasy football! This time she’s a year wiser and prepared to dominate the league. But while she finally seems to have her fantasy life in order, reality proves more challenging.
Her plans to peacefully play house with her boyfriend come to a halt when the high school suddenly names Brook its head football coach. The promotion comes with more responsibility on the field and less time at home. It also unexpectedly means more work for Harper, who already has her hands full helping a friend pull off the perfect proposal (while dodging questions about when she and Brook are going to get hitched already). Plus, a new development at work could leave her—and half of the fantasy league—jobless.
With the complications of her career and being “Mrs. Coach” adding up, Harper wonders if she’s committed to the life she’s already building or if there is something else out there.
Find the BookAmazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads
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January 28, 2016
interview with caroline fardig, author of 'funny valentine'
Today I'm pleased to welcome Caroline Fardig to the blog. In our tradition, we're doing an interview swap to celebrate our respective new releases. You can see my interview on her blog from yesterday here. And I hope you'll join me in congratulating her on the release of Funny Valentine, the latest in her Lizzie Hart series.
Laura Chapman: What was the first murder mystery you remember reading and what did you most enjoy about it?
Caroline Fardig: I know my first mystery was the first book in the Trixie Belden series, The Secret of the Mansion. Once I read it, I was hooked, and I read every Trixie book I could get my hands on. When I got into high school, I quit reading for pleasure because of the mountain of required reading I had to do. I didn’t pick up another book for fun until I was well into my late twenties, when I discovered chick-lit. Probably the first murder mystery I read as an adult was Size 12 Is Not Fat by Meg Cabot because I loved her chick-lit and decided to give it a try. And then I was a true mystery fan.
LC: Who is your all-time favorite fictional sleuth?
CF: Non-literary? Richard Castle. The show is SO much better this season. The writers have really stepped it up. Literary? Probably Trixie Belden. She’s a classic.
LC: If you could spend a day with any of the characters in your most recent book, who would you choose and what would you do?
CF: I think I’d choose Pete from the Java Jive series. He’s fun and funny, and I would love to sit down and play some music with him!
LC: Would you consider, or have you already written any books in other genres? If so, which ones?
CF: I’ve written one that’s a forensic procedural. It’s not funny or light-hearted like any of the books I’ve ever published. It was a real challenge to write—the mystery and evidence had to be much more solid because the main character is a CSI and her partner is a homicide detective. It’s not ready for publication yet, but soon, I hope!
LC: If you were planning your dream writing retreat, where would you go, who would you invite, and what would be on the itinerary?
CF: Sounds like fun! I would rent the vacation home my family gets every year on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. I would invite my long-distance bestie and beta-reader, Karen Franklin; my writer friend, the devil’s advocate with amazing ideas, Jami Deise; and my always inspiring editor, Julia Maguire. On the itinerary, that’s easy—beachside brainstorming sessions, writing and editing while sunbathing in the comfy chaise lounges by the pool, lots of amazing food, and of course, my staple frozen beach cocktail, Sneaky Pete!
Sneaky Pete
1 lg can or bottle of pineapple juice
1 can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 bottle Malibu rum
½ c powdered sugar
1 liter Sprite
Mix together in an empty plastic ice cream tub. Pour the Sprite last, because you might not have room for all of it. Freeze overnight and enjoy!
And now for Carolyn to answer her questions...
Were you a big football fan in high school? A cheerleader, perhaps?
CF: No, way! I was in the marching band, either carrying around a heavy drum or standing up on the rickety ladder for the drum majors while waving my arms around, trying to keep the band members all playing at the same tempo. We goofed around during the game and didn’t really watch what was going on. I’m not much of a football fan. (Sorry, Laura!)
Fun fact about my high school band days: I was in the percussion section with Jeremy Spencer, the drummer for the crazy popular metal band, Five Finger Death Punch! He's a super nice guy, and honestly one of the most talented musicians I've ever had the privilege of playing with. He could play circles around us in high school. It wasn't difficult to see that he'd make it big.
Now that you’re grown up, would you prefer to go to a local high school football game, a college football game, or a professional football game?
CF: Probably a high school game, but mostly to watch the band. Although I will have to say, there’s nothing quite like going to “Friday Night Lights” in a small town. You see everyone you know there!
I wouldn’t mind going to see a Colts game, though, although if given the choice I’d choose a pro basketball game. I’m a big Pacers fan, and I’ve been to a few games. If I lived closer to Indy, I’d have season tickets!
Any big plans for the Super Bowl?
CF: We always have a big party at my house because my husband put a ridiculously large TV in our theater room. I mostly watch the commercials and the halftime show, drink Sneaky Pete (the recipe is included on one of the other questions), and eat yummy snacks until I’m sick.
This series involves fantasy football. Do you play fantasy football yourself?
CF: This was really my question specifically for Laura… But no, I’ve never played.
Do you have a “soundtrack” for your books?
CF: I have a soundtrack for every book I’ve ever written. Probably my favorite one is from Death Before Decaf. I’ve listed them in a blog post here.
I’ve written a new song for each Java Jive book, and the sheet music is included with the books. You can find me performing them on my YouTube channel here.
How do you come up with character names?
CF: I normally go to babycenter.com and look up the 100 most popular names from the year my character would have been born. That way, you won’t end up with a “Grandma Britnee” or a teenager named Bertha.
What can readers expect to see from you in 2016?
CF: I’ve got a lot going on this year! Of course, there’s the launch of My Funny Valentine today. Mug Shot (Java Jive #2) comes out April 19th. Wedding Bell Blues (Lizzie Hart #5) will be out sometime this summer, chronicling Lizzie and Blake’s wedding (and of course there’s also going to be murder and mayhem). And finally, in October, A Whole Latte Murder (Java Jive #3) will be released. Whew! I’m going to be one busy girl!
About the Novella
All Lizzie wants for Valentine’s Day is for her fiancéNOT to be the prime suspect in a murder investigation.
Is that too much to ask?
Lizzie Hart is finally living the dream. She’s engaged to the love of her life, Blake Morgan, and more importantly, she hasn’t even given a thought to dead bodies or murder investigations for an entire year. The only hurdle in Lizzie and Blake’s way to wedded bliss is introducing their polar opposite families to each other at their engagement party.
Blake’s parents have thrown a lavish shindig, but the fun is quickly over when Blake’s brother arrives with an unexpected guest, the woman who left Blake at the altar years ago. If that weren’t enough drama for one evening, Lizzie and Blake find the town mayor dead and the detectives on the case put Blake at the top of their suspect list.
It’s a race against the clock for Lizzie and Blake to find the real killer before the police decide to lock Blake up and throw away the key.
Find it on Amazon!
*** Let's keep in touch. Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. ***
Laura Chapman: What was the first murder mystery you remember reading and what did you most enjoy about it?
Caroline Fardig: I know my first mystery was the first book in the Trixie Belden series, The Secret of the Mansion. Once I read it, I was hooked, and I read every Trixie book I could get my hands on. When I got into high school, I quit reading for pleasure because of the mountain of required reading I had to do. I didn’t pick up another book for fun until I was well into my late twenties, when I discovered chick-lit. Probably the first murder mystery I read as an adult was Size 12 Is Not Fat by Meg Cabot because I loved her chick-lit and decided to give it a try. And then I was a true mystery fan.
LC: Who is your all-time favorite fictional sleuth?
CF: Non-literary? Richard Castle. The show is SO much better this season. The writers have really stepped it up. Literary? Probably Trixie Belden. She’s a classic.
LC: If you could spend a day with any of the characters in your most recent book, who would you choose and what would you do?
CF: I think I’d choose Pete from the Java Jive series. He’s fun and funny, and I would love to sit down and play some music with him!
LC: Would you consider, or have you already written any books in other genres? If so, which ones?
CF: I’ve written one that’s a forensic procedural. It’s not funny or light-hearted like any of the books I’ve ever published. It was a real challenge to write—the mystery and evidence had to be much more solid because the main character is a CSI and her partner is a homicide detective. It’s not ready for publication yet, but soon, I hope!
LC: If you were planning your dream writing retreat, where would you go, who would you invite, and what would be on the itinerary?
CF: Sounds like fun! I would rent the vacation home my family gets every year on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. I would invite my long-distance bestie and beta-reader, Karen Franklin; my writer friend, the devil’s advocate with amazing ideas, Jami Deise; and my always inspiring editor, Julia Maguire. On the itinerary, that’s easy—beachside brainstorming sessions, writing and editing while sunbathing in the comfy chaise lounges by the pool, lots of amazing food, and of course, my staple frozen beach cocktail, Sneaky Pete!
Sneaky Pete
1 lg can or bottle of pineapple juice
1 can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 bottle Malibu rum
½ c powdered sugar
1 liter Sprite
Mix together in an empty plastic ice cream tub. Pour the Sprite last, because you might not have room for all of it. Freeze overnight and enjoy!
And now for Carolyn to answer her questions...
Were you a big football fan in high school? A cheerleader, perhaps?
CF: No, way! I was in the marching band, either carrying around a heavy drum or standing up on the rickety ladder for the drum majors while waving my arms around, trying to keep the band members all playing at the same tempo. We goofed around during the game and didn’t really watch what was going on. I’m not much of a football fan. (Sorry, Laura!)
Fun fact about my high school band days: I was in the percussion section with Jeremy Spencer, the drummer for the crazy popular metal band, Five Finger Death Punch! He's a super nice guy, and honestly one of the most talented musicians I've ever had the privilege of playing with. He could play circles around us in high school. It wasn't difficult to see that he'd make it big.
Now that you’re grown up, would you prefer to go to a local high school football game, a college football game, or a professional football game?
CF: Probably a high school game, but mostly to watch the band. Although I will have to say, there’s nothing quite like going to “Friday Night Lights” in a small town. You see everyone you know there!
I wouldn’t mind going to see a Colts game, though, although if given the choice I’d choose a pro basketball game. I’m a big Pacers fan, and I’ve been to a few games. If I lived closer to Indy, I’d have season tickets!
Any big plans for the Super Bowl?
CF: We always have a big party at my house because my husband put a ridiculously large TV in our theater room. I mostly watch the commercials and the halftime show, drink Sneaky Pete (the recipe is included on one of the other questions), and eat yummy snacks until I’m sick.
This series involves fantasy football. Do you play fantasy football yourself?
CF: This was really my question specifically for Laura… But no, I’ve never played.
Do you have a “soundtrack” for your books?
CF: I have a soundtrack for every book I’ve ever written. Probably my favorite one is from Death Before Decaf. I’ve listed them in a blog post here.
I’ve written a new song for each Java Jive book, and the sheet music is included with the books. You can find me performing them on my YouTube channel here.
How do you come up with character names?
CF: I normally go to babycenter.com and look up the 100 most popular names from the year my character would have been born. That way, you won’t end up with a “Grandma Britnee” or a teenager named Bertha.
What can readers expect to see from you in 2016?
CF: I’ve got a lot going on this year! Of course, there’s the launch of My Funny Valentine today. Mug Shot (Java Jive #2) comes out April 19th. Wedding Bell Blues (Lizzie Hart #5) will be out sometime this summer, chronicling Lizzie and Blake’s wedding (and of course there’s also going to be murder and mayhem). And finally, in October, A Whole Latte Murder (Java Jive #3) will be released. Whew! I’m going to be one busy girl!
About the Novella
All Lizzie wants for Valentine’s Day is for her fiancéNOT to be the prime suspect in a murder investigation.
Is that too much to ask?
Lizzie Hart is finally living the dream. She’s engaged to the love of her life, Blake Morgan, and more importantly, she hasn’t even given a thought to dead bodies or murder investigations for an entire year. The only hurdle in Lizzie and Blake’s way to wedded bliss is introducing their polar opposite families to each other at their engagement party.
Blake’s parents have thrown a lavish shindig, but the fun is quickly over when Blake’s brother arrives with an unexpected guest, the woman who left Blake at the altar years ago. If that weren’t enough drama for one evening, Lizzie and Blake find the town mayor dead and the detectives on the case put Blake at the top of their suspect list.
It’s a race against the clock for Lizzie and Blake to find the real killer before the police decide to lock Blake up and throw away the key.
Find it on Amazon!
*** Let's keep in touch. Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. ***
January 27, 2016
'going for two' is now available!
Hooray! Today's the day--Going for Two, the second book in the Queen of the League series is now available. I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I did writing it. And now for the details...
Harper Duquaine is back for another season of fantasy football! This time she’s a year wiser and prepared to dominate the league. But while she finally seems to have her fantasy life in order, reality proves more challenging.
Her plans to peacefully play house with her boyfriend come to a halt when the high school suddenly names Brook its head football coach. The promotion comes with more responsibility on the field and less time at home. It also unexpectedly means more work for Harper, who already has her hands full helping a friend pull off the perfect proposal (while dodging questions about when she and Brook are going to get hitched already). Plus, a new development at work could leave her—and half of the fantasy league—jobless.
With the complications of her career and being “Mrs. Coach” adding up, Harper wonders if she’s committed to the life she’s already building or if there is something else out there.
Find the BookAmazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads
And from January 20-29 you can get First & Goal, book one in the Queen of the League series, for only 99 cents.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
I'm super excited for all of you to find out what Harper and her friends have been up to since we last saw them at the end of the first season. And I'm also thrilled to be able to send you on a little scavenger hunt of sorts to uncover little behind-the-scenes facts about the books. You can get the details right here on my author website.
Thank you so much for being part of this crazy, but delightful, writing adventure of mine.
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January 26, 2016
interview with erin cawood, author of 'maybe tomorrow'
Today we welcome author Erin Cawood to the blog as part of her Chick Lit Plus blog tour. Be sure to check out the other stops here and check out the fabulous prizes available at the end of the post!
Change the Word: What was your inspiration to write this book?
Erin Cawood: I don’t know where the inspiration came from, I woke up one morning with Keon’s voice inside my head. He was trying to explain to his daughter why he had to go away, and why when he came back he would be a changed man, but he wouldn’t be able to talk about it. He’d realised that he loved Darcy and he intended to follow her. He wanted to be with her when she died but his daughter, Lily, was too young to understand.
CTW: What was the biggest challenge you faced while writing, and how did you overcome it?
EC: This is the first medical romance I’ve written, so learning all about Liver disease and the behind the scenes operations of a hospital. Luckily for me, my sister is a midwife, and my editor is a registered nurse. Their input was invaluable for me.
CTW: What excites you most about this book?
EC: Although this is a second chance romance, it’s also a story about bad decisions, lifelong regrets, acceptance, and forgiveness. Through Keon and Darcy we see how life altering bad decisions can last manifest over a lifetime and how they can lead someone to keep on making bad decisions while they try right those wrongs. Maybe Tomorrow begs the question ‘what if tomorrow never comes?’
CTW: If you could trade places with any fictional character for one day, who would you choose and why?
EC: Ooh what a great question! There’s far too many to answer that…. Would I want to be magical? Or Shakespearian? Or a fairy tale character? Or on the Broadway stage… I am going to spend weeks wondering about this.
CTW: What book have you read recently that stayed on your mind for days?
EC: It’s been a while since my last book hangover. I’d have to say Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.
CTW: Describe your ideal writing retreat.
EC: I don’t need a lot. Just somewhere hot, with a villa/apartment by the sea… or a pool.
CTW: What does a typical Sunday afternoon look like in your world?
EC: Well, I’m out of the house between 8 a.m.-and 7 p.m. most days, so my weekends are full of writing, and preparing for the week ahead. So I’m either writing …or designing …or scheduling emails, social media and blog posts … or the dreaded house work… or I might be visiting with family there’s not rest day unless there’s a good film on.
CTW: Where would you most like to travel to on vacation?
EC: I have two favourite destinations; Mexico and Corfu.
CTW: What is the best piece of writing advice you would pass on to a beginner?
EC: Write for your readers. It might sound hard to do at first because you don’t know who your readers are. But think of your readers as people who like to read the types of books you like to write.
CTW: What's up next for your writing career?
EC: Fans of my Behind Closed Doors series will be happy to know that book three Crossing Lines is on its way early in 2016. Right now, I’m working on Life’s a Ball. Elle Richards is the ultimate career-girl-come-commitment-phobe, juggling a high powered career with being the single mother of a fifteen year old championship figure skater. And she hates Valentine’s Day. Adam Lacey is a self-confessed playboy with an aversion to children, but deep down he’s a hopeless romantic whose favourite day of the year is Valentine’s Day and he’s just waiting for the girl of his dreams (Elle) to see him the way he sees her.
About the Book
Welcome to the FORGIVE OR FORGET series, a compelling contemporary women's fiction love story and family saga series. Cawood's love inspired medical romance series follows the close-knit McGowan siblings; Keon, Kiera, Cormack, and Cara, as they face the difficult choice between forgiving or forgetting true love after a broken heart.
Does a heart ever really heal from its first break?
On an unseasonably hot night in late September, Dr. Keon McGowan is called away from a family gathering to a hospital emergency. Amongst his patients that night is a blast from his past he'd rather forget. He'll certainly never forgive butterfly hunter Darcia Davenport for leaving him alone as a single dad while she chased butterflies through the Amazon rainforest.
Coming face to face with the woman who broke his heart after all this time, Keon realises that he has never fully healed from it. But any chance of finding closure is ripped away when Darcy chooses to end treatment and live her final weeks without regret. Can Keon let her go? Or will he fight for the tomorrow they might never have?
MAYBE TOMORROW is an emotional journey of love caught between fate and destiny, and Keon is forced to choose between his head and his heart, his wants and his responsibilities, forgiving Darcy or forgetting all about her, and between a second chance family or an ill-fated heartbreak romance.
**Maybe Tomorrow is only 99 cents while on tour!**
Find the BookAmazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
About the Author
Erin Cawood is a commercial women's fiction author, with a taste for dramatic storylines and a passion for strong lead characters she really gets behind, cheering on right to the very end of their story. Her focus? Taking romance into the darker, edgier side of contemporary fiction.
Connect with ErinFacebook | Twitter | Website
Get 2 free books when you sign up for Erin Cawood's newsletter!
Enter to win a Kindle!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
*** Let's keep in touch. Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. ***
Change the Word: What was your inspiration to write this book?
Erin Cawood: I don’t know where the inspiration came from, I woke up one morning with Keon’s voice inside my head. He was trying to explain to his daughter why he had to go away, and why when he came back he would be a changed man, but he wouldn’t be able to talk about it. He’d realised that he loved Darcy and he intended to follow her. He wanted to be with her when she died but his daughter, Lily, was too young to understand.
CTW: What was the biggest challenge you faced while writing, and how did you overcome it?
EC: This is the first medical romance I’ve written, so learning all about Liver disease and the behind the scenes operations of a hospital. Luckily for me, my sister is a midwife, and my editor is a registered nurse. Their input was invaluable for me.
CTW: What excites you most about this book?
EC: Although this is a second chance romance, it’s also a story about bad decisions, lifelong regrets, acceptance, and forgiveness. Through Keon and Darcy we see how life altering bad decisions can last manifest over a lifetime and how they can lead someone to keep on making bad decisions while they try right those wrongs. Maybe Tomorrow begs the question ‘what if tomorrow never comes?’
CTW: If you could trade places with any fictional character for one day, who would you choose and why?
EC: Ooh what a great question! There’s far too many to answer that…. Would I want to be magical? Or Shakespearian? Or a fairy tale character? Or on the Broadway stage… I am going to spend weeks wondering about this.
CTW: What book have you read recently that stayed on your mind for days?EC: It’s been a while since my last book hangover. I’d have to say Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.
CTW: Describe your ideal writing retreat.
EC: I don’t need a lot. Just somewhere hot, with a villa/apartment by the sea… or a pool.
CTW: What does a typical Sunday afternoon look like in your world?
EC: Well, I’m out of the house between 8 a.m.-and 7 p.m. most days, so my weekends are full of writing, and preparing for the week ahead. So I’m either writing …or designing …or scheduling emails, social media and blog posts … or the dreaded house work… or I might be visiting with family there’s not rest day unless there’s a good film on.
CTW: Where would you most like to travel to on vacation?
EC: I have two favourite destinations; Mexico and Corfu.
CTW: What is the best piece of writing advice you would pass on to a beginner?
EC: Write for your readers. It might sound hard to do at first because you don’t know who your readers are. But think of your readers as people who like to read the types of books you like to write.
CTW: What's up next for your writing career?
EC: Fans of my Behind Closed Doors series will be happy to know that book three Crossing Lines is on its way early in 2016. Right now, I’m working on Life’s a Ball. Elle Richards is the ultimate career-girl-come-commitment-phobe, juggling a high powered career with being the single mother of a fifteen year old championship figure skater. And she hates Valentine’s Day. Adam Lacey is a self-confessed playboy with an aversion to children, but deep down he’s a hopeless romantic whose favourite day of the year is Valentine’s Day and he’s just waiting for the girl of his dreams (Elle) to see him the way he sees her.
About the Book
Welcome to the FORGIVE OR FORGET series, a compelling contemporary women's fiction love story and family saga series. Cawood's love inspired medical romance series follows the close-knit McGowan siblings; Keon, Kiera, Cormack, and Cara, as they face the difficult choice between forgiving or forgetting true love after a broken heart.Does a heart ever really heal from its first break?
On an unseasonably hot night in late September, Dr. Keon McGowan is called away from a family gathering to a hospital emergency. Amongst his patients that night is a blast from his past he'd rather forget. He'll certainly never forgive butterfly hunter Darcia Davenport for leaving him alone as a single dad while she chased butterflies through the Amazon rainforest.
Coming face to face with the woman who broke his heart after all this time, Keon realises that he has never fully healed from it. But any chance of finding closure is ripped away when Darcy chooses to end treatment and live her final weeks without regret. Can Keon let her go? Or will he fight for the tomorrow they might never have?
MAYBE TOMORROW is an emotional journey of love caught between fate and destiny, and Keon is forced to choose between his head and his heart, his wants and his responsibilities, forgiving Darcy or forgetting all about her, and between a second chance family or an ill-fated heartbreak romance.
**Maybe Tomorrow is only 99 cents while on tour!**
Find the BookAmazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
About the Author
Erin Cawood is a commercial women's fiction author, with a taste for dramatic storylines and a passion for strong lead characters she really gets behind, cheering on right to the very end of their story. Her focus? Taking romance into the darker, edgier side of contemporary fiction.
Connect with ErinFacebook | Twitter | Website
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January 20, 2016
interview with carol maloney scott, author of 'the juggling act'
I'm pleased to welcome Carol Maloney to Change the World as she takes her novel, The Juggling Act, on tour with Chick Lit Plus. Be sure to check out the rest of the stops here.
Change the Word: How would you describe your book in fewer than 25 words?
Carol Maloney Scott: The Juggling Act is the story of a couple who have forgotten how to communicate, with disastrous but hilarious consequences, at least for the reader.
CTW: What was your inspiration for this story?
CMS: My original inspiration for Claire’s story in There Are No Men, the first book in the Rom-Com on the Edge series, was my own experiences as a mid-thirties divorced woman with very little dating experience. However, my life is very different than Claire’s, and her story took off in different directions.
CTW: What do you like most about your main character?
CMS: Her growth in The Juggling Act makes me happy. In There Are No Men, she was neurotic and behaving in self-destructive ways. Her decision making has improved, as has her confidence. Watching Claire learn and develop as a woman is a fun part of writing this series.
CTW: What was your greatest challenge writing this story and how did you overcome it?
CMS: One of the most challenging things about writing a series is ensuring that each novel can be read as a standalone, but without boring the pants off readers who have read the other books, and don’t need as much backstory. I made sure some of my early beta readers had read the first two books in the series, There Are No Men and Afraid of Her Shadow, and some were new to the Ron-Com on the Edge world. Having both perspectives was helpful in making sure that I had struck a balance.
CTW: What are your three favorite books?
CMS: Tell The Wolves I’m Home, I Know This Much is True, and Bridget Jones’s Diary.
CTW: Where would you hold your dream writing retreat?
CMS: I am not sure exactly where geographically, but the setting would be in the mountains, in a log cabin, near a lake. But a fancy log cabin with a Jacuzzi and someone delivering gourmet meals. I like to dream big.
CTW: If you were holding a dinner party, what three people would you most want to invite (living or dead)?
CMS: Bradley Cooper. Bruce Springsteen. Billy Idol. All the ‘B’ men.
CTW: What is one goal you have for yourself in the coming year?
CMS: In addition to writing my socks off, my main goal is to embrace myself as I am. I am a super high energy person, and I have a hard time relaxing. But I have decided to embrace it, keep busy and enjoy my productivity – instead of trying to be calmer or more like others who are more laid back.
My husband helps by forcing me to sit still and watch TV shows – but they have to be extremely engaging! We just finished Breaking Bad. Wow, is all I can say!
CTW: What is one piece of advice you would offer to someone just beginning his or her professional career?
CMS: Do your research! Read books on the craft of writing, ask questions, join writing groups in your area, and engage other writes on social media. Take advantage of the wealth of information available to you, but take your time in the beginning.There is SO much to learn if you want to do it right.
CTW: What’s next for you and your writing career?
CMS: I am releasing a Valentine’s Day-themed short story collection in early February – three stories set at Valentine’s Day and narrated by three different Rom-Com on the Edge supporting characters. It’s called Valentines on the Edge.
This week I am in Chicago bringing my son to art school, and crying. A lot! No, really I’ll be okay. When I get home I am going to get back to writing Book 4 in my series, Accidental Makeovers. This is a fun one and about a third of the way completed. I’m excited to share Bianca’s story, and to continue to develop the cast of the Rom-Com on the Edge world.
About the Book
Now that her dating days are finally behind her, Claire is enjoying a blissful life with her new husband and baby boy. Gone are the drunken nights in impractical shoes, and Internet dates with men who lose their hair…and their pants.
Unfortunately, she’s discovering that life as a married, working mom isn’t turning out to be the perfect happily ever after she dreamed about. She adores her little boy, but her husband’s behavior is about to make him eligible for the Most Disappointing Spouse of the Year Award.
His unwillingness to help around the house and his slacker work ethic are frustrating enough, but the constant parade of beautiful, single women in his life has Claire in a constant state of distress. Didn’t she realize that the cute front man of a popular cover band would attract hot, young women with perfect cellulite-free legs? And whose idea was it to hire the curvy nanny with the sexy accent?
When an unexpected business trip pops up – with a super-hot, much-too-young former love interest, Claire’s own loyalty is put to the test. A publishing conference in Key West may be the ideal escape from her troubles, but will she be tempted by the forbidden in a town full of swingers and breakfast alcohol consumption? And why does everyone they meet think the business colleagues are on their honeymoon?
Scrambling to cover up innocent, but suspicious circumstances, the couple struggles with honesty, loyalty and what to share with each other. As they sink deeper into their marital gloom, will they find their way back to wedded bliss, or finally succumb to the enticement of new…and uncomplicated romance?
THE JUGGLING ACT is Book 3 in the Rom-Com on the Edge series. All books are standalone novels, however read in order for maximum fun!
Find the BookAmazon | Goodreads
About the Author
Carol Maloney Scott, author of the Rom-Com on the Edge series, is a frazzled new bride and wiener dog fanatic. She is a lover of donuts, and a hater of mornings. Recently unearthing a childhood passion for writing, she can once again be seen carrying around a notebook and staring into space. Her stories are witty, fresh and real, just like life.
Join her on "The Edge" for giveaways, cover reveals, excerpts, contest and members-only content at carolmaloneyscott.com/.
Connect with CarolWebsite | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest
*** Let's keep in touch. Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. ***
Change the Word: How would you describe your book in fewer than 25 words?
Carol Maloney Scott: The Juggling Act is the story of a couple who have forgotten how to communicate, with disastrous but hilarious consequences, at least for the reader.
CTW: What was your inspiration for this story?
CMS: My original inspiration for Claire’s story in There Are No Men, the first book in the Rom-Com on the Edge series, was my own experiences as a mid-thirties divorced woman with very little dating experience. However, my life is very different than Claire’s, and her story took off in different directions.
CTW: What do you like most about your main character?
CMS: Her growth in The Juggling Act makes me happy. In There Are No Men, she was neurotic and behaving in self-destructive ways. Her decision making has improved, as has her confidence. Watching Claire learn and develop as a woman is a fun part of writing this series.
CTW: What was your greatest challenge writing this story and how did you overcome it?CMS: One of the most challenging things about writing a series is ensuring that each novel can be read as a standalone, but without boring the pants off readers who have read the other books, and don’t need as much backstory. I made sure some of my early beta readers had read the first two books in the series, There Are No Men and Afraid of Her Shadow, and some were new to the Ron-Com on the Edge world. Having both perspectives was helpful in making sure that I had struck a balance.
CTW: What are your three favorite books?
CMS: Tell The Wolves I’m Home, I Know This Much is True, and Bridget Jones’s Diary.
CTW: Where would you hold your dream writing retreat?
CMS: I am not sure exactly where geographically, but the setting would be in the mountains, in a log cabin, near a lake. But a fancy log cabin with a Jacuzzi and someone delivering gourmet meals. I like to dream big.
CTW: If you were holding a dinner party, what three people would you most want to invite (living or dead)?
CMS: Bradley Cooper. Bruce Springsteen. Billy Idol. All the ‘B’ men.
CTW: What is one goal you have for yourself in the coming year?
CMS: In addition to writing my socks off, my main goal is to embrace myself as I am. I am a super high energy person, and I have a hard time relaxing. But I have decided to embrace it, keep busy and enjoy my productivity – instead of trying to be calmer or more like others who are more laid back.
My husband helps by forcing me to sit still and watch TV shows – but they have to be extremely engaging! We just finished Breaking Bad. Wow, is all I can say!
CTW: What is one piece of advice you would offer to someone just beginning his or her professional career?
CMS: Do your research! Read books on the craft of writing, ask questions, join writing groups in your area, and engage other writes on social media. Take advantage of the wealth of information available to you, but take your time in the beginning.There is SO much to learn if you want to do it right.
CTW: What’s next for you and your writing career?
CMS: I am releasing a Valentine’s Day-themed short story collection in early February – three stories set at Valentine’s Day and narrated by three different Rom-Com on the Edge supporting characters. It’s called Valentines on the Edge.
This week I am in Chicago bringing my son to art school, and crying. A lot! No, really I’ll be okay. When I get home I am going to get back to writing Book 4 in my series, Accidental Makeovers. This is a fun one and about a third of the way completed. I’m excited to share Bianca’s story, and to continue to develop the cast of the Rom-Com on the Edge world.
About the Book
Now that her dating days are finally behind her, Claire is enjoying a blissful life with her new husband and baby boy. Gone are the drunken nights in impractical shoes, and Internet dates with men who lose their hair…and their pants.
Unfortunately, she’s discovering that life as a married, working mom isn’t turning out to be the perfect happily ever after she dreamed about. She adores her little boy, but her husband’s behavior is about to make him eligible for the Most Disappointing Spouse of the Year Award.
His unwillingness to help around the house and his slacker work ethic are frustrating enough, but the constant parade of beautiful, single women in his life has Claire in a constant state of distress. Didn’t she realize that the cute front man of a popular cover band would attract hot, young women with perfect cellulite-free legs? And whose idea was it to hire the curvy nanny with the sexy accent?
When an unexpected business trip pops up – with a super-hot, much-too-young former love interest, Claire’s own loyalty is put to the test. A publishing conference in Key West may be the ideal escape from her troubles, but will she be tempted by the forbidden in a town full of swingers and breakfast alcohol consumption? And why does everyone they meet think the business colleagues are on their honeymoon?
Scrambling to cover up innocent, but suspicious circumstances, the couple struggles with honesty, loyalty and what to share with each other. As they sink deeper into their marital gloom, will they find their way back to wedded bliss, or finally succumb to the enticement of new…and uncomplicated romance?
THE JUGGLING ACT is Book 3 in the Rom-Com on the Edge series. All books are standalone novels, however read in order for maximum fun!
Find the BookAmazon | Goodreads
About the Author
Carol Maloney Scott, author of the Rom-Com on the Edge series, is a frazzled new bride and wiener dog fanatic. She is a lover of donuts, and a hater of mornings. Recently unearthing a childhood passion for writing, she can once again be seen carrying around a notebook and staring into space. Her stories are witty, fresh and real, just like life.Join her on "The Edge" for giveaways, cover reveals, excerpts, contest and members-only content at carolmaloneyscott.com/.
Connect with CarolWebsite | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest
*** Let's keep in touch. Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. ***
January 19, 2016
new bookish digs
At the end of 2015, I was fortunate to have a week off from my day job. This year, I elected to treat it as a total work break, meaning I didn't blog, write, or do much interaction on social media.
I spent a big chunk of that time moving out of my apartment and into a house I'm renting from my parents. It's actually the house I lived in from birth through middle school, during college, and again a few years during my mid-twenties (which wasn't that long ago). This time it's different. It's just the cats and I, which means we have space to sprawl out. And because it's just me, I get to arrange and decorate to my taste. And because I'm me, books are core to the design.
For one, I made some new throw pillows for my living room couch. I scored this fantastic typewriter burlap at Michael's a year ago and finally put it to use. I totally heart them.
I also worked some of my favorite book quotes into frames that line the hallway to the bedrooms. It was difficult to pick just four, but I chose from favorite reads that have left their mark on me at various points of time in my life.
But the big room filled with literary influence is my office. It was actually my dad's study when I was young. I even had it for a bedroom my first year after college. Now it's my glorious office.
I selected a beautiful shade of green (minted lemon from Behr) for the walls, hoping it would be both calming and inspiring.
I found a home for my fiction and writing books. (I didn't have room for the non-fiction, so they're in my living room.) And of course my favorite bookish art hangs on the walls. You can see it all a little better in this little video tour I put together for my YouTube channel last week.
So far, I love my new office and having a place totally devoted to books. It's still too early to say if I'll be crazy productive in there, but I have high hopes it will continue to be a haven for writing and reading.
*** Let's keep in touch. Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. ***
I spent a big chunk of that time moving out of my apartment and into a house I'm renting from my parents. It's actually the house I lived in from birth through middle school, during college, and again a few years during my mid-twenties (which wasn't that long ago). This time it's different. It's just the cats and I, which means we have space to sprawl out. And because it's just me, I get to arrange and decorate to my taste. And because I'm me, books are core to the design.
For one, I made some new throw pillows for my living room couch. I scored this fantastic typewriter burlap at Michael's a year ago and finally put it to use. I totally heart them.
I also worked some of my favorite book quotes into frames that line the hallway to the bedrooms. It was difficult to pick just four, but I chose from favorite reads that have left their mark on me at various points of time in my life.
But the big room filled with literary influence is my office. It was actually my dad's study when I was young. I even had it for a bedroom my first year after college. Now it's my glorious office.
I selected a beautiful shade of green (minted lemon from Behr) for the walls, hoping it would be both calming and inspiring.
I found a home for my fiction and writing books. (I didn't have room for the non-fiction, so they're in my living room.) And of course my favorite bookish art hangs on the walls. You can see it all a little better in this little video tour I put together for my YouTube channel last week.
So far, I love my new office and having a place totally devoted to books. It's still too early to say if I'll be crazy productive in there, but I have high hopes it will continue to be a haven for writing and reading.
*** Let's keep in touch. Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. ***
January 12, 2016
a sneak peek of 'novelista girl' by meredith schorr
I'm super thrilled to welcome Meredith Schorr to the blog to help her celebrate Novelista Girl, the follow-up to her Blogger Girl (which I loved!). She was good enough to share an excerpt of the book with us. I hope you enjoy it!
CHAPTER ONE
To: KimMLong@gmail.com
From: Libby_Knox@Knoxliterary.com
Subject: Re: Query—A Blogger’s Life
Dear Ms. Long,
Thank you for your interest in Knox Literary. While I found the premise of A Blogger’s Life interesting, I’m afraid I wasn’t sufficiently intrigued to ask for more at this time. Because this business is so subjective, and opinions vary widely, we encourage you to query other agents.
After all, it only takes one.
Best of luck on your journey to publication.
Libby Knox
Knox Literary
I let out a deflated sigh before resting my head on my boyfriend Nicholas’s shoulder. It was a Sunday afternoon, and after a late lunch, we had come back to my place to watch television. Well, I was watching television—a romantic movie on the Hallmark Channel. Nicholas was doing work. As the in-house attorney for a cosmetics company, he often took work home with him.
Nicholas stopped typing furiously on his laptop. “What’s the matter, Kimmie?”
With my eyes closed, I responded, “I got another rejection from an agent.” Making it fourteen rejections in total for my chick lit novel, A Blogger’s Life. When I finally gathered the courage to write a novel—a complete manuscript with a beginning, middle, and an end, as opposed to a partial story that I shoved in the back of my closet unfinished—I knew the journey to publication would be difficult. Now, I was thinking “impossible” was a more befitting adjective.
Giving my hand a gentle squeeze, Nicholas said, “I’m sorry.”
I opened my eyes and sat up. “Me, too.”
“It’s just one agent. Did you know Kathryn Stockett received sixty rejections of The Help before she got an agent?”
I jerked my head back in surprise. “I did know that. How did you know that?”
Nicholas smiled. “I did some research after your last rejection.”
I kissed his cheek and ran my palm up against his ever-present five o’clock shadow. “How nice of you.”
“I’m a nice guy.” Nicholas paused for a beat. “For a player, that is.”
When I first met Nicholas a little over a year ago, he was an attorney at the New York City firm where I worked (and still work) as a legal secretary. He was single, successful, hot, and flirtatious. Naturally, I assumed he was a player when we first hooked up. Either that, or out of my league. What would someone with his credentials want with me—a measly legal secretary with a nice rack? When Nicholas gently suggested my dreams might extend beyond book blogging to book writing, I worried maybe he was the one who wanted me to be a writer so I would be “good enough” to hang with all of his successful friends. I was blinded by my insecurity, but after some soul-searching, I concluded he was right, and I was wrong—something he enjoyed reminding me of on a regular basis. It had been almost six months since our reconciliation, and sometimes I still had to pinch myself to confirm that the guy I adored—the one who not only caused my knees to go weak and the butterflies to dance in my belly whenever he touched me, but also made me laugh and encouraged my dream to be a published author—was equally crazy about me. I was in love big time but too chicken to be the first to say the words.
I playfully punched his arm. “Are you ever gonna let that go?”
Nicholas flashed me a sexy grin. “Not likely.”
I shook my head in mock annoyance. Inching closer to him on my love seat, I draped one of my legs over his and sighed. “Maybe I should have tried to publish Read My Mind first.” A Blogger’s Life was technically my second novel. I had given up writing Read My Mind in high school only to pick it up and finally finish it ten years later. Although Read My Mind was the novel that qualified me as a “finisher,” I ultimately decided to shelve it and pursue A Blogger’s Life instead.
Crinkling his brow, Nicholas asked, “I thought you said this one was much better.”
Rubbing the opal pendant on my necklace, I said, “Do you not think so?”
Nicholas shook his head. “I can’t say. I haven’t started reading it yet.” Probably noticing my face drop, he added, “I promise I will soon.”
“It is better, but apparently, chick lit is dead among traditional publishers unless you’re an established author in the genre. Young adult paranormal, on the other hand, is hot.”
“Considering how many fans Pastel Is the New Black has, I’d say chick lit is pretty hot, too.” Patting my knee, he added, “Almost as hot as its founder.”
Nicholas was correct that my book blog, Pastel Is the New Black, had thousands of followers.
Unfortunately for me, none of those fans were literary agents as far as I knew. “Why couldn’t I have written A Blogger’s Life ten years ago when chick lit was on fire?” I whined. Considering I didn’t even know what a blog was when I was nineteen, it was a rhetorical question.
“It is what it is, Kimmie.” Nicholas ran one hand along my thigh and then slowly up to the zipper on my black skinny jeans. “Anything I can do to make you feel better?” he asked.
“You can try, but it will be hard.”
Placing my hand over his crotch, he said, “It’s very hard, but you’re worth it.”
There was nothing I wanted more—besides an offer for agent representation—than to get down and dirty with Nicholas right then and there, but I was so behind on book reviews for my blog. I also wanted to make some revisions to my agent query letter based on suggestions from one of my author friends. And I knew Nicholas was swamped, too. I decided a compromise was in order. “How about we do it in an hour?”
Nicholas frowned and tugged at my zipper. “But I want to do it now,” he said, adopting the bratty entitled voice of Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
Sliding away from him, I said, “It’s called delayed gratification. You should try it.”
Nicholas got up from the couch and stood in front of me. Extending his hand, he said, “You don’t want to make my brown eyes blue? Do you, Kimmie?” He frowned, drawing my eyes to his full and completely bitable lower lip.
I couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” had become “our” song the night we got back together. I sang it to him at karaoke in a grand gesture when my two best friends, Bridget and Caroline, dared me to stop moping about and write my own happy ending.
I reached for Nicholas’s hand and allowed him to pull me to a standing position. “I don’t want anything of yours to be blue,” I said as my eyes dropped down to his groin.
Leading me to my bedroom, he said, “That makes two of us.”
As promised, Nicholas made me feel better. He had mad skills. But even as I writhed in ecstasy beneath him, I wondered if my fifteenth rejection letter had already landed in my in-box.
***
“Can I tell you how much I hate the commute downtown from here?” Nicholas asked later that night. He was sitting on the edge of my queen-sized bed and stood up to pull his jeans over his hips.
I gazed at his lean but muscular chest and reached forward to run my pointer finger up and down the happy trail of dark hair that extended from his belly to the button of his jeans. “Why don’t you stay over?” I might have been preoccupied with catching up on my blog a few hours ago, but now I just wanted more Nicholas.
“I don’t have work clothes here, so I can either go home now or stay and stop at my place before work first thing tomorrow.” Crinkling his nose, he added, “But the thought of getting up extra early to go downtown just to go back to midtown is not at all appealing.” He leaned down to plant a soft kiss on my lips. “Sorry, Kimmie.”
I reclined against my headboard and sighed. “I suppose I’ll do some reading. The exciting life of a book blogger.”
Nicholas narrowed his eyes at me. “You love reading.”
“Not as much as I love …” You. Not as much as I love you! “Spending the entire night with you.”
“Then why don’t you move in with me?”
I sat upright. “Wha-what?” My heart was beating rapidly, and I wasn’t sure if it was due to excitement about possibly cohabitating with Nicholas or terror at possibly cohabitating with Nicholas. What would my parents say? I was almost thirty, and my younger sister was already married. They wouldn’t say anything.
His brown eyes probing mine, Nicholas said, “Just think about it, Kimmie. We spend several nights a week at each other’s apartment anyway, and mine is more spacious. Why pay the extra rent?”
I gaped at him, still in a semi state of shock. “Isn’t it too soon?”
Nicholas shrugged and ran a hand through his short, dark hair. “Later this month will be six months we’ve been dating … would be longer if you weren’t such a stubborn brat.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but he put his finger to my lips and smiled. “Joking.”
Nicholas sat on the bed and kissed the top of my head. “I’ve been thinking about us moving in together for a while.”
“You have?” This was news to me, albeit good news.
Nicholas nodded. “Unless you’re not taking this relationship seriously.” With a straight face, he went on to repeat verbatim what I said to him after the first time we had sex. “I’m not interested in a fuck buddy or friends-with-benefits situation.” And yes, I’m aware I should have mentioned that before getting naked with him.
I jabbed his elbow with mine. “Okay, I’ll give it some thought.”
While Nicholas continued getting dressed, I began thinking out loud. “My lease is up next month, so the timing is good. It would be weird living so far away from Bridget, but since Jonathan moved into her apartment, I don’t see her as much, anyway. At least your place is close to the subway, and the Village is hipper than the Upper East Side with more coffee shops for me to write—”
Chuckling, Nicholas said, “You keep thinking about it, Kimmie.” He bent down and twirled a strand of my long, light brown hair around his finger. “I’ll text you when I get home.”
“Sounds good,” I said. As I followed him to my front door, I visualized his apartment, already mentally redecorating it with splashes of femininity. I wrapped my arms around his neck and stood on my tippy-toes to give him a real kiss good-bye. At four foot eleven, I was still significantly shorter than Nicholas, who was also somewhat vertically challenged (but hot) at five foot seven. “Get home safely.”
“I will, Kimmie Long.” He gazed into my eyes for a moment and then gave me a soft smile. “I love you.”
Before I could digest the magnitude of those three words—words we had yet to exchange in the entirety of our relationship—he turned his back on me and jogged down the two flights of stairs to the ground floor of my building, whistling to the tune of “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.”
“I love you, too,” I whispered to the air before closing my front door and leaning against it with a huge smile on my face.
He loved me. I couldn’t wait to tell Bridget.
Buy the BookAmazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes
And check out Blogger Girl, the story that started it all, on Amazon.
About the Author
A born and bred New Yorker, Meredith Schorr discovered her passion for writing when she began to enjoy drafting work-related e-mails way more than she was probably supposed to. After trying her hand penning children’s stories and blogging her personal experiences, Meredith found her calling write chick lit and contemporary women’s fiction. She secures much inspiration from her day job as a hardworking trademark paralegal and her still-single status. Meredith is also the co-founder of Bookbuzz, a live author/reader event held annually. She is a loyal New York Yankees fan and an avid runner. Novelista Girl is Meredith’s fifth novel.
To learn more, visit her at www.meredithschorr.com.
*** Let's keep in touch. Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. ***
CHAPTER ONE
To: KimMLong@gmail.com
From: Libby_Knox@Knoxliterary.com
Subject: Re: Query—A Blogger’s Life
Dear Ms. Long,
Thank you for your interest in Knox Literary. While I found the premise of A Blogger’s Life interesting, I’m afraid I wasn’t sufficiently intrigued to ask for more at this time. Because this business is so subjective, and opinions vary widely, we encourage you to query other agents.
After all, it only takes one.
Best of luck on your journey to publication.
Libby Knox
Knox Literary
I let out a deflated sigh before resting my head on my boyfriend Nicholas’s shoulder. It was a Sunday afternoon, and after a late lunch, we had come back to my place to watch television. Well, I was watching television—a romantic movie on the Hallmark Channel. Nicholas was doing work. As the in-house attorney for a cosmetics company, he often took work home with him.
Nicholas stopped typing furiously on his laptop. “What’s the matter, Kimmie?”
With my eyes closed, I responded, “I got another rejection from an agent.” Making it fourteen rejections in total for my chick lit novel, A Blogger’s Life. When I finally gathered the courage to write a novel—a complete manuscript with a beginning, middle, and an end, as opposed to a partial story that I shoved in the back of my closet unfinished—I knew the journey to publication would be difficult. Now, I was thinking “impossible” was a more befitting adjective.
Giving my hand a gentle squeeze, Nicholas said, “I’m sorry.”
I opened my eyes and sat up. “Me, too.”
“It’s just one agent. Did you know Kathryn Stockett received sixty rejections of The Help before she got an agent?”
I jerked my head back in surprise. “I did know that. How did you know that?”
Nicholas smiled. “I did some research after your last rejection.”
I kissed his cheek and ran my palm up against his ever-present five o’clock shadow. “How nice of you.”
“I’m a nice guy.” Nicholas paused for a beat. “For a player, that is.”
When I first met Nicholas a little over a year ago, he was an attorney at the New York City firm where I worked (and still work) as a legal secretary. He was single, successful, hot, and flirtatious. Naturally, I assumed he was a player when we first hooked up. Either that, or out of my league. What would someone with his credentials want with me—a measly legal secretary with a nice rack? When Nicholas gently suggested my dreams might extend beyond book blogging to book writing, I worried maybe he was the one who wanted me to be a writer so I would be “good enough” to hang with all of his successful friends. I was blinded by my insecurity, but after some soul-searching, I concluded he was right, and I was wrong—something he enjoyed reminding me of on a regular basis. It had been almost six months since our reconciliation, and sometimes I still had to pinch myself to confirm that the guy I adored—the one who not only caused my knees to go weak and the butterflies to dance in my belly whenever he touched me, but also made me laugh and encouraged my dream to be a published author—was equally crazy about me. I was in love big time but too chicken to be the first to say the words.
I playfully punched his arm. “Are you ever gonna let that go?”
Nicholas flashed me a sexy grin. “Not likely.”
I shook my head in mock annoyance. Inching closer to him on my love seat, I draped one of my legs over his and sighed. “Maybe I should have tried to publish Read My Mind first.” A Blogger’s Life was technically my second novel. I had given up writing Read My Mind in high school only to pick it up and finally finish it ten years later. Although Read My Mind was the novel that qualified me as a “finisher,” I ultimately decided to shelve it and pursue A Blogger’s Life instead.
Crinkling his brow, Nicholas asked, “I thought you said this one was much better.”
Rubbing the opal pendant on my necklace, I said, “Do you not think so?”
Nicholas shook his head. “I can’t say. I haven’t started reading it yet.” Probably noticing my face drop, he added, “I promise I will soon.”
“It is better, but apparently, chick lit is dead among traditional publishers unless you’re an established author in the genre. Young adult paranormal, on the other hand, is hot.”
“Considering how many fans Pastel Is the New Black has, I’d say chick lit is pretty hot, too.” Patting my knee, he added, “Almost as hot as its founder.”
Nicholas was correct that my book blog, Pastel Is the New Black, had thousands of followers.
Unfortunately for me, none of those fans were literary agents as far as I knew. “Why couldn’t I have written A Blogger’s Life ten years ago when chick lit was on fire?” I whined. Considering I didn’t even know what a blog was when I was nineteen, it was a rhetorical question.
“It is what it is, Kimmie.” Nicholas ran one hand along my thigh and then slowly up to the zipper on my black skinny jeans. “Anything I can do to make you feel better?” he asked.
“You can try, but it will be hard.”
Placing my hand over his crotch, he said, “It’s very hard, but you’re worth it.”
There was nothing I wanted more—besides an offer for agent representation—than to get down and dirty with Nicholas right then and there, but I was so behind on book reviews for my blog. I also wanted to make some revisions to my agent query letter based on suggestions from one of my author friends. And I knew Nicholas was swamped, too. I decided a compromise was in order. “How about we do it in an hour?”
Nicholas frowned and tugged at my zipper. “But I want to do it now,” he said, adopting the bratty entitled voice of Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
Sliding away from him, I said, “It’s called delayed gratification. You should try it.”
Nicholas got up from the couch and stood in front of me. Extending his hand, he said, “You don’t want to make my brown eyes blue? Do you, Kimmie?” He frowned, drawing my eyes to his full and completely bitable lower lip.
I couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” had become “our” song the night we got back together. I sang it to him at karaoke in a grand gesture when my two best friends, Bridget and Caroline, dared me to stop moping about and write my own happy ending.
I reached for Nicholas’s hand and allowed him to pull me to a standing position. “I don’t want anything of yours to be blue,” I said as my eyes dropped down to his groin.
Leading me to my bedroom, he said, “That makes two of us.”
As promised, Nicholas made me feel better. He had mad skills. But even as I writhed in ecstasy beneath him, I wondered if my fifteenth rejection letter had already landed in my in-box.
***
“Can I tell you how much I hate the commute downtown from here?” Nicholas asked later that night. He was sitting on the edge of my queen-sized bed and stood up to pull his jeans over his hips.
I gazed at his lean but muscular chest and reached forward to run my pointer finger up and down the happy trail of dark hair that extended from his belly to the button of his jeans. “Why don’t you stay over?” I might have been preoccupied with catching up on my blog a few hours ago, but now I just wanted more Nicholas.
“I don’t have work clothes here, so I can either go home now or stay and stop at my place before work first thing tomorrow.” Crinkling his nose, he added, “But the thought of getting up extra early to go downtown just to go back to midtown is not at all appealing.” He leaned down to plant a soft kiss on my lips. “Sorry, Kimmie.”
I reclined against my headboard and sighed. “I suppose I’ll do some reading. The exciting life of a book blogger.”
Nicholas narrowed his eyes at me. “You love reading.”
“Not as much as I love …” You. Not as much as I love you! “Spending the entire night with you.”
“Then why don’t you move in with me?”
I sat upright. “Wha-what?” My heart was beating rapidly, and I wasn’t sure if it was due to excitement about possibly cohabitating with Nicholas or terror at possibly cohabitating with Nicholas. What would my parents say? I was almost thirty, and my younger sister was already married. They wouldn’t say anything.
His brown eyes probing mine, Nicholas said, “Just think about it, Kimmie. We spend several nights a week at each other’s apartment anyway, and mine is more spacious. Why pay the extra rent?”
I gaped at him, still in a semi state of shock. “Isn’t it too soon?”
Nicholas shrugged and ran a hand through his short, dark hair. “Later this month will be six months we’ve been dating … would be longer if you weren’t such a stubborn brat.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but he put his finger to my lips and smiled. “Joking.”
Nicholas sat on the bed and kissed the top of my head. “I’ve been thinking about us moving in together for a while.”
“You have?” This was news to me, albeit good news.
Nicholas nodded. “Unless you’re not taking this relationship seriously.” With a straight face, he went on to repeat verbatim what I said to him after the first time we had sex. “I’m not interested in a fuck buddy or friends-with-benefits situation.” And yes, I’m aware I should have mentioned that before getting naked with him.
I jabbed his elbow with mine. “Okay, I’ll give it some thought.”
While Nicholas continued getting dressed, I began thinking out loud. “My lease is up next month, so the timing is good. It would be weird living so far away from Bridget, but since Jonathan moved into her apartment, I don’t see her as much, anyway. At least your place is close to the subway, and the Village is hipper than the Upper East Side with more coffee shops for me to write—”
Chuckling, Nicholas said, “You keep thinking about it, Kimmie.” He bent down and twirled a strand of my long, light brown hair around his finger. “I’ll text you when I get home.”
“Sounds good,” I said. As I followed him to my front door, I visualized his apartment, already mentally redecorating it with splashes of femininity. I wrapped my arms around his neck and stood on my tippy-toes to give him a real kiss good-bye. At four foot eleven, I was still significantly shorter than Nicholas, who was also somewhat vertically challenged (but hot) at five foot seven. “Get home safely.”
“I will, Kimmie Long.” He gazed into my eyes for a moment and then gave me a soft smile. “I love you.”
Before I could digest the magnitude of those three words—words we had yet to exchange in the entirety of our relationship—he turned his back on me and jogged down the two flights of stairs to the ground floor of my building, whistling to the tune of “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.”
“I love you, too,” I whispered to the air before closing my front door and leaning against it with a huge smile on my face.
He loved me. I couldn’t wait to tell Bridget.
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And check out Blogger Girl, the story that started it all, on Amazon.
About the Author
A born and bred New Yorker, Meredith Schorr discovered her passion for writing when she began to enjoy drafting work-related e-mails way more than she was probably supposed to. After trying her hand penning children’s stories and blogging her personal experiences, Meredith found her calling write chick lit and contemporary women’s fiction. She secures much inspiration from her day job as a hardworking trademark paralegal and her still-single status. Meredith is also the co-founder of Bookbuzz, a live author/reader event held annually. She is a loyal New York Yankees fan and an avid runner. Novelista Girl is Meredith’s fifth novel.To learn more, visit her at www.meredithschorr.com.
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