Mary E. Thompson's Blog, page 9

Better vs. Worse, first kiss

I feel like I’m cheating today. I love sharing the first kiss between my characters, but It feels sneaky today since this isn’t technically their first kiss.

Did you read Order vs. Chaos? If so, you might know what I’m talking about. If not, grab that one now so you’re ready to jump into Better vs. Worse in two weeks! Holy cow, is it really only two weeks?

I’m going to go back to freaking out, but you enjoy this sneak peek!

Excerpt from Better vs. Worse

“I owe you?” I stammered. I didn’t know where the conversation was headed, but I knew it wasn’t going to be good.

She nodded and sipped her wine, draining the glass. She set it down and stood before me. “Sex. Right now. I bought this outfit and sexy underwear and even got a damn wax for tonight. We were supposed to go out to a nice dinner and then back to his place. We had a whole night planned out. And you ruined it. So you owe me.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I pushed to my feet, which proved to be a massive mistake. She was right there, pressing against me.

“I know what you think, Kapena. I know every argument you’re about to make. And I know you want me. I know you’ve wanted me for a while. I’m not drunk yet. I wasn’t drunk when I drove here. I made this decision with full awareness of what I was doing. I need you to give me a night that will take away the frustration that another one of my relationships fell apart. It’s your fault things ended, so you owe me. Please.”

I knew what to say. I knew what to do. I knew how to react. But when I looked into those beautiful hazel eyes, the ones burning with shame that she’d lain herself bare for me, everything I knew went out the window.

I yanked her against me and angled my lips over hers before my brain said to stop. My hand dove into her hair, tilting her head the way I wanted it so I could kiss her until we were both dying to breathe.

She stilled in my arms, something that tickled my brain and told me to back the fuck off. I started to release her, my fingers uncurling and dropping her locks, my other hand slipping off her. My lips were the last to get the message, slowly easing away from hers.

Then something clicked in her, and she pulled me back in.

All of a sudden, she was devouring me. Her fingers tugged my hair and tilted my head. Her breasts squashed against my chest.

From there, it was a war. Who could take control. Who could make the other moan. Who could get whose clothes off first.

Something inside said this was my one and only slip with her, that it wasn’t going to happen again, and I needed to slow down. But I couldn’t. I needed her.

I pulled back just enough to drag my tongue down her throat. She tipped her head back, giving me full rein to do as I wished with her. I could spend all night nibbling and sucking and tasting her sweet flesh. She moaned and slid her fingers into my hair, holding me against her like she thought I was going to stop.

I was too far gone to stop.

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Ready, Set, Focus!

As a mom, I’m constantly after my kids to do something. Do their homework. Put away their laundry. Clean their room. Something.

My kids are like Dory. They get started on a task and quickly forget what they were supposed to be doing. Whether it’s something shiny, or something more interesting, they’re off to the next thing within five minutes of every task.

I’m starting to realize I’m the same way at times!

My problem is I don’t have anyone to tell me to get back on track.

Today is a perfect example. I got up this morning, knowing I needed to write this post. I went through my email because I didn’t read every one yesterday. That took longer than I expected because I had to jump to Facebook a few times and answer emails and look things up online and…

 

Yeah, I couldn’t even get through email.

Then I remembered I wanted to publish this post today, so I jumped over here. Except nothing is ever that easy.

Getting focused is something we all struggle with at times. At any given time, I’d be willing to bet you have at least five things you’re doing – either actively doing or thinking about. For me, right now, I’m thinking about what I need to do today, writing this post, wondering how long I can hold out until I need breakfast, and considering asking my son to turn down his iPad (it’s a snow day today), not to mention stressing over the fact that I won’t get a full day of work in because of that snow day.

Oh, and add in that I can’t make up the time over the weekend because hubby is probably working all weekend, and I’m a mess.

FOCUS!

I need some of it.

One of the things I’ve found most effective is setting a timer. If I have a task, you know like writing a book, that is going to take me a long time, I set a timer and refuse to let myself worry about anything else until the timer goes off. Then I get a good stretch of work done and don’t get distracted.

After the timer goes off, I can do all those other little things for 5-10 minutes, then jump back into work.

I also do things like turning my email off and flipping my phone over so I don’t see every notification, but the timer works the best for me.

What really bugs me is that I have to do it at all. I wish I could just sit down and do exactly what I need to do. I doubt I’m alone on that one.

How do you focus when your attention is pulled in different directions?

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Introducing Freedom

I promised last week that I would tell you about my new series, and the first book. I’m really excited about this because it’s different from everything I’ve done in the past. All my books have been contemporary romance, small town contemporary with very little variation on a great, steamy read.

But it was time to do something a little different.

My first romantic suspense series will debut in May! I’m really excited about the series as a whole. The first book is Freedom. I’m shooting to have it out May 1, but I haven’t put out a preorder yet because I don’t want to end up having to push it off. I’ll keep you posted!

The series will have all the things you love about my other books (like curvy women, sexy men, and small town charm that draws you in), but with a few bad guys for good measure. Throw in some hot, ex-SEALs with bad tempers and dominating personalities, and it’s definitely going to be something you won’t want to miss.

When everything goes wrong, sometimes you need to drop an F-Bomb. 

Freedom is Archer’s story. When his brother is kidnapped, Archer gets a phone call from his brother’s best friend. When he meets Lily, Archer knows she’s hands-off, but his hands have different ideas. As they work together to search for Jaymes, Archer does everything in his power to resist the curvy beauty who’s taken up residence in more places than just his bed.

Excerpt from Freedom

Her hands shook uncontrollably. She couldn’t get them to stop no matter what she did. It was stupid, but fear rolled through her, settling at the base of her spine and running up and down until she was practically choking on it.

Seconds passed like hours until she heard footsteps. Two knocks on the door.

Tentatively, Lily flipped the lock. Before she could open the door, someone on the outside pushed it in. The darkness masked his face, but she knew his body, his solidness.

Archer.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his large hands cupping her cheeks.

She couldn’t see him, but when she shook her head, she knew his lips tugged down on the edges. He pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

“I’m sorry, honey. I so fucking sorry.”

She clutched him, silently begging him never to leave her again. It hadn’t been nearly long enough to fall in love with him, but the thought of losing him gutted her. She knew that meant she was in the danger zone.

And not just because there were people who wanted them both dead. Oh, no. Those guys were nothing compared to falling in love with a man who insisted he was unlovable, and incapable of loving someone else.

The bad guys could take her body, but Archer would destroy her.

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Whoosh… there goes February!

I was thinking about what to write today when I realized it’s the last Friday of the month. Where in the world did February go? Wow, it was just starting like yesterday, wasn’t it?

I promised to keep you updated, and keep myself on track, so I’m back today to tell you how my month went. Spoiler alert… Not much happened!

Publish 6 novels and 3 boxed sets

One book has been published. I haven’t done any new boxed sets, but in two months, I’ve finished two of my nine publishing items. One more book will come out in March and probably a new boxed set in April. I’m feeling good!
Pay off debt

I hate debt. Absolutely despise it. I hate having debt. I hate knowing I have to pay it back. I hate everything about it. I hope to one day eliminate it entirely, but I’m not there yet. We’re moving in the right direction, but it’s tough. A lot tougher than I thought it would be. We’ll get there!
Eat, exercise, and lose weight

I’ve read that people who get the right amount of sleep have an easier time losing weight and staying on track. In that sense, I’m screwed. I never feel like I’ve gotten enough sleep! I’m still hitting the gym 1-2 times per week. I’ve made a push for 2x/week, but it hasn’t worked every week, so I’m keeping that as my goal for March. Hopefully it’ll stick this time!
Publish audiobooks and app

I redesigned part of my app and looked into audiobooks, but nothing is concrete on either at this point. That’s okay. Both are more long-term type or projects.
Develop 3 workshops

My second workshop is almost finished. I’ll have it done before the end of the month, but it’s not finalized right now. I love it! I can’t wait to teach it! So that’ll be two down, one to go!
Stick to a budget

We’re doing okay. Sort of like paying off debt, staying on budget is not easy. We’re miles better than we used to be, but there’s always work to do. It doesn’t help that we had a few unexpected expenses this month. But that’s life, right?
Save

I’ll admit, I want more money. There, I said it. I wish I had more in my account, but don’t we always wish we had more? I’m okay with where we are. If we could do better about our budget, saving would be easier. It all goes together!

I can’t complain. Every single thing on this list is under my control. I can do all of it, but I need to make them all priorities. I need to make it happen. No one else is ever going to make my dreams come true, so I have to push for them to be my new reality. And they will be.

How was your February?

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Introducing Fake It Till You Break It

With every new story, I fall in love all over again. This is one of those stories I have been excited to write for so long! Kristen is one of those characters that I just love. That I cheer for and want to see happy.

Zane is her counterpart. He’s that wounded soul that you know buries himself under a mask of who he wants you to think he is.

I can see this story being a new favorite of mine. Hopefully you feel the same way!

I don’t have a preorder ready for this yet. I’m hoping to have it done and released the end of June, but I have another project (that I’ll talk more about next week) to finish before I can work on this one. It’s coming though!

Excerpt from Fake It Till You Break It

”Come on, Kristen. You know we’d be good together. We should just go out and bump uglies.”

Kristen scoffed at him. She whirled on her heel and got right in his face. She could see the humor in his eyes. He was trying to piss her off, get a reaction out of her. It pissed her off that she was rising to his taunts. Then again, that’s exactly what their relationship was. He made her mad and she told him off.

It was the only way she could survive him.

She tilted her head to the side and grinned up at him, trying not to be affected by the light in his eyes. She let her own eyes spark before she put him in his place. “There is nothing ugly about my vagina.”

Zane laughed, loud and deep. He rested his hand on his flat stomach, drawing Kristen’s eyes to his tight muscles. Her eyes drifted from there down, following the vee his muscles created until they disappeared beneath his neon green swim trunks, still wet and clinging to his body.

There was definitely a bulge in his shorts, a sure sign of a sizable cock. Staying celibate was testing Kristen’s resolve. She licked her lips unconsciously and heard him snicker.

Her eyes snapped back up to his. He was watching her, a smirk on his face. “See something you want?”

Kristen rolled her eyes and huffed before she spun and walked away. Her face heated because he was totally right. She wanted him. It was getting harder and harder to resist him. He was sneaking in past her defenses when she wasn’t paying attention and she’d actually come to like him.

Which meant she was in big trouble.

“How about we bump pretties then?” he shouted after her.

She couldn’t help the grin that split her face. Kristen shook her head, knowing he was watching her. It didn’t matter what he did or what he said, he was definitely getting to her. She wanted to turn back and jump into his arms and do exactly what he was suggesting, but she couldn’t. She promised herself she would stay away from men for the summer.

Besides, Zane was only interested in sex.

Kristen had enough of sex with no emotion. So much that she was fairly certain she broke something. Certainly not her heart. Maybe her spirit?

Her mom was wrong. Or maybe just Kristen was. She couldn’t fake it any more. She never made it, she just broke it.

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Putting Myself In Books

A lot of advice for early writers is write what you know. Obviously we hope authors like Stephen King aren’t writing from personal experience, but I think it’s much deeper than the story that a writer connects to.

For me, there are a lot of characters I’ve written that I felt I had very little in common with the situations they were in. But every character has a little bit of me in them.

I’m not going to list all the ways I’m like my characters, but I will tell you how I came up with some of them.

Names are important to me. I’ve always been fascinated by the origin of a person’s name. Is it a family name, or that of someone important to the parents? Is it a name the person loves or hates? Does the person go by a nickname? Who chose that nickname? All those things fit into defining a character.

For me, I was named after two saints. My family is Catholic and when I was adopted, my parents named me for two saints. It has defined me in some ways, and I know the names of my characters define them.

Appearance is another big one. Most of my women are overweight women. They’re characters I can relate to because I’m not a small woman and never have been. I couldn’t find a lot of stories about women I could relate to, so I started writing them. Now it’s more popular to have characters of different sizes, but these are the women I relate to, so I’ll keep writing about them!

Little things like religion and music tastes and families are all factors I take from my personal life. I’m Catholic, like many of my characters. I listen to country music (hello Kate Maddox). I have a brother and a sister so I understand what it’s like to have both and can relate. I do struggle writing only children, but between friends and other family, I’ve gotten a good picture of what that’s like. But most of my characters are similar to me in more ways than one.

Writing people that I share no similarities with is tough. That’s not to say I’ll never write characters that aren’t like me, just that it’s more of a struggle. Opposites Attract has been more of a challenge than I expected because I’m exclusively in the head of the men. Boy, are they hard to figure out! But I’m enjoying the challenge. I’ve been to Hawaii, but it’s been a long time. So I’m doing a lot of research about the area, the language, and the culture. It’s all new to me, but I’m loving it. It’s definitely making me anxious to go back!

One day I’ll get back there, and then maybe I can write more stories about Hawaii. It’ll feel like it’s a part of me again!

What parts of you would you incorporate into a character?

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Walk Of Fame, feeling flirty

I love scenes that show a fun side to characters. One making the other a little crazy. One saying something to get under the other’s skin. I’ve always been a big fan of romantic comedy, so the funny scenes always get to me. And who doesn’t like making a man cringe, just a little!

Excerpt from Walk Of Fame

“I can’t take you in there looking like this. Every man in the county will be trying to take you home.”

“I’m coming back here with you, Dillon. No one else.”

“Hell, it doesn’t even have to do with that. Are you wearing underwear?”

She rolled her eyes at him.

“This isn’t that fancy of a party. I think you’ll be uncomfortable.”

Katherine took a deep breath and had to admit he was a little right. Just walking out of the bedroom had her slightly on edge. If it was just her and Dillon, maybe. But knowing how many other people would be there… She needed to dial back the Kate Maddox and be more Katherine Price.

“You’re right,” she confessed. “I always feel uncomfortable in this dress.”

“Don’t get me wrong. It’s a hell of a dress. But I can’t walk in there with you looking like that.”

Katherine grinned at the heated look in his eyes then went to change into the other dress she packed.

In ten minutes, she was back in the living room in a handkerchief dress that hugged her top half and flared out on the bottom. The greens, blues, and purples swirled artistically and hid all the parts of her figure she didn’t like. The high neck and capped sleeves helped add to the modesty of the dress, until you looked closely and realized the top layer of the dress was sheer.

“Do you own anything that doesn’t make me want to strip you naked and skip the party?”

Katherine grinned. “I’m not sure. I was wearing jeans when we met.”

Get it today!

Ebook on Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | B&N | Smashwords

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Ten Romantic Gestures to Spice up your Weekend

Valentine’s Day is just a few days away. Most people will celebrate a little early, especially since Valentine’s Day also falls on Ash Wednesday for Catholics like me. It’s also a Wednesday, which isn’t always conducive to a night out.

Valentine’s Day might be a contrived holiday, but it’s also a chance to show the person you love how you feel about him or her. Flowers and candy are nice, but there are so many other things you can do to bring some spice to your weekend. Have fun!

Wear something sexy. I know, it’s been done. But how often do you drag out the lingerie or wear something a little nicer, a little sexier, for your other half? I know I rarely do. Usually I’m in my yoga pants and a t-shirt and my comfy cotton undies. There’s nothing inherently sexy about my clothes, but they’re comfortable. If I’m trying to bring in a little romance, changing things up always gets his attention!
Go dancing. Or stay in and dance. My hubby is not a dancer. It took some convincing to get him to dance at our wedding. He is very self-conscious about dancing, so we don’t dance much. But we can put on some music and dance around the apartment after the kids are sleeping.
Get him something special. I asked for suggestions on Facebook a few days ago. There were a lot of great ideas, and what I loved was they were real. Little things that we could do or I could get for him. It doesn’t have to be big in order to be special, and I was reminded of that a few days ago.
Act out a scene from a book. You guys know what I write. Maybe it’ll be a little inspiration!
Leave him a note somewhere you know he’ll see it. I get up with my hubby every morning and help him out by making him a sandwich while he cooks his breakfast. I haven’t done it yet, but I’m going to start putting a note in his bag some days. I know he’ll smile when he reads it.
Say I love you. It’s simple, but do you say it? If you do, get his attention and say it when you’re looking into his eyes. If you don’t say it regularly, still get his attention and tell him honestly. Remember the first time you told each other? It’ll still have an impact. Along the same lines, tell him something you love about him. He’d love to hear it.
Cook him a nice dinner and offer yourself as dessert. I don’t think I need to elaborate on that suggestion! You know what to do! If not, go back to #4.
Do something neither of you have ever done before. There are tons of date ideas all over Pinterest. Look up some ideas and do something new. There are also lots of free date ideas if the budget is a concern (and let’s face it, it always is).
Do something you know he enjoys. We all have different tastes. Has he asked you to go to a movie that you’re really not into? Or maybe he wants to tell you all about something he’s excited about. Whatever it is, give him a chance to share something that he likes. It will bring you closer.
Make him a playlist. Do you remember when people used to make mixed tapes for the one they had a crush on? Maybe that’s just me, but I certainly made a couple and had a few made for me. It was nice to hear the songs the person thought of when they thought of me. You can still do that. We were in the car last night and Devin Dawson’s All On Me was playing. My nine year old sang along with it, but at the end she asked if that’s how daddy was with me. If I could put everything on him if I needed it. Even though he doesn’t like country, it would be one of the many songs I’d put on a playlist for him. (If you don’t know the song, you can listen to it here.)

Hopefully you can take at least one of these ideas and have a fun weekend! If not this weekend, do it next. There’s never a bad time for romance!

Do you have any tips to share?

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Walk Of Fame, release day

It’s always exciting for me to share a release with you. When I first thought about writing this series, Walk Of Fame was one of the first books I had in my mind. I loved the idea of a country star who ended up at Amavita Estates and fell in love with one of the cousins.

Katherine was a character I fell in love with immediately. She needed someone who would take care of her and let her be independent. Dillon (whose name was originally going to be Jackson, but I had too many J names) was the man for the job!

Excerpt from Walk Of Fame

The crowd moved on without her, and those girls, women really, left, too. She couldn’t explain why she felt possessive of him when she heard them talking about the hot guy at the pinot station. They obviously went on the tour already and made a second trip so they could see him. Katherine made sure they overheard her comment about being at his house the night before for dinner.

Yeah, she had her own jealous side.

“I thought you’d want to hang around my brother. He’s probably closer to your age.”

Katherine grinned at Dillon and shrugged. “I’d guess, but I’ve always had a thing for older men. Especially older men who know how to make a woman feel good.”

Dillon stepped closer to her, turning his body so they were in perfect alignment. “How do you know my brother can’t take care of a woman?”

She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Are you trying to get me to go with him? Because I don’t tend to stay where I’m not wanted.”

She moved to go around him and was rewarded by a large hand low on her belly. His bicep rested against her breast, his side pressed against hers. He shifted, barely enough to make a difference, but it put his lips in contact with the shell of her ear.

“He wasn’t in that hotel room when you screamed loud enough to wake the neighbors. That was all me, honey.”

Available Now!

Ebook on Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | B&N

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Getting to the HEA

It’s a rule in romance that every story has to end with an HEA, or happily ever after, or at least a happy for now scenario. I like to break rules a lot of the time, but this is one of those rules I will never break. I can’t tell you how many times I read a Nicholas Sparks book or watched one of his movies and cried. I mean, really, who hasn’t?

Getting to that happy ending isn’t always easy, though. Sometimes the characters have to lose what they want the most. Sometimes they have to give up completely. And they always have to change. If the love story was as simple as two people met and fell in love, it would be a short and boring book.

We want someone to root for. Someone we see ourselves in. Someone who needs people in their corner.

I do my best to make each of my stories believable. I don’t want you walking away thinking this would never happen in real life. We all go through challenges and struggle to figure out our love lives. Love is one of the most difficult, confusing, and rewarding things any person can ever experience. I’m fortunate that I get to make people fall in love every day!

But getting to the happily ever after means going through those challenges, facing the difficulties, and battling the confusion to get the reward. Some of my favorite stories are the ones that don’t feel completely hopeless but make you doubt. The hero overhears something and misunderstands. Or the heroine finds out he’s been hiding something. Or there’s something outside the control of both of them that tears them apart.

Our challenges tell us who we are. It’s in that where we find opportunities to be better. We can always be better people, and novels help us to see that. We find parts of a character that we see ourselves in, and believe we can change the same way the character did. We can find that same love. We can have the things we really want. There’s always hope.

In real life, we don’t have the luxury of turning the page and finding out what happens next. Instead, we have to write our own book. We have to decide if we’re going to give him another chance, or if we’re going to be the first to call after a date, or if we’re going to grovel for forgiveness when we screw up. It isn’t set. It isn’t easy to make these decisions. It’s painful and heartbreaking and so worth the reward when we get it.

Keep pushing toward your reward! It’s worth it!

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