Devika Fernando's Blog, page 81

Featured - Masquerade by Georgia Le Carre

Masquerade AN EROTIC ROMANCE (18+ due to mature themes and sexual content)


  Blurb/Synopsis:
Love is deceptive...

Fiery Billie Black thought she knew all she needed to know about her own sexuality, but that was before one night of animalistic passion with the ultra gorgeous and mysterious Jaron Rose. Tall, blond, charming and wealthy, he was the epitome of an Alpha male. 

In the morning he promised he would call.  He didn't.

Six months later, just as Billie had finally managed to free herself from the memories of that night, he arrives on the scene again. Suddenly, all the feelings that burned so intensely are reignited and she finds herself becoming quickly entangled with her enigmatic lover. The passion is incredible, unforgettable, unbelievable, but Jaron Rose is not all that he seems—he wears more than one disguise…and he is hiding a big secret.

Billie is about to find out what that is… 



Excerpt:
‘First let me tell you what you’re going to be doing tomorrow. At sharp three thirty p.m. you will bend over this table, your elbows and hands and cheek pressed against the glass, your ass in the air barely covered by lace and some transparent material that rips easily. Baby doll nighties and thongs are my favorite at the moment. What you are doing is waiting for me to come and fuck you like the little bitch you are.’ My mouth drops open. ‘The rims of the thong will become soaked very quickly and you will consider using your sweating hands to masturbate to relieve the ache, but you will not. Instead you will keep that position, nipples and cunt tingling, and wait. The high heels you’ll be wearing—I like black— will make your calves cramp, but you will ignore it.’ My pussy clenches like a boxers fists, but I pretend to snort. He ignores it. ‘At four I will turn up. You will not turn around to look at me or speak to me. No matter how wide your legs are I will have to correct the position by kicking apart your legs and flipping the last bit of covering over your back, so your ass is totally exposed to me. I will roughly rub your panties, find the jellied part, and dig my fingers into it. You will immediately raise your hips higher to try to catch more of my flesh, and moan the way you would if you were begging for it. ‘I’ll tell you to be quiet. That you are not to make a sound until I allow it. I will flick your clit through the material and your body will start bucking and squirming. At that moment I will swat you on the fleshiest part of your buttocks just once, but hard. My fingers might strike your clit. It will make your head spin and you are bound to cry out from the surprise. But if you do I will spank you again. Just to hear you cry out and see the blush spread. And again, until you are panting and dripping onto my hand. Excitement, shame, joy, desire. ‘Then I will back off, make myself a cup of tea and drink it while I stare at your reddened ass, ripe for the picking. Once I have had my tea I will undress. Slowly. You will strain to hear buttons, material scraping my skin, shoes sliding away, socks pulling, zip tearing. I will grasp the reddened, burning skin in my palms and feel its weight in my bare hands.’ I try not to show it but his dick is slowly growing inside me and I am starting to want him to fuck me all over again. ‘Then I will pull the warm red cheeks apart and holding them apart with one hand I will slide my finger into you, first one, then two and eventually three—the way you like it, the way I did the first night we met. You will moan, and shiver and maybe even grunt like an animal. Your head will start to lift off the table—you are about to come. That is the moment I’ll stop and will ask you to touch yourself. You will take your hand off the table and press it between your legs, turning your head to look at me while starting to masturbate. ‘“Do you want my cock in your pussy?” I will ask. “Yes,” you will whisper. I will ask you again. “Yes, yes,” you will plead. ‘And that is when I will ram so hard into you, you will shudder and scream and arch and quiver and come in a screaming rush.’
‘I won’t be in at three thirty p.m. or four p.m. tomorrow,’ I say coldly.




Buying Links: Amazon | Amazon IN
Author Bio
Georgia Le Carre lives in England, in an old 19th century romantic cottage surrounded by a magical garden filled with fruit and walnut trees.  When she is not feeding words into her laptop, she is either curled up in bed with a box of chocolates and a good read, or lost in a long walk in the woods. Especially on moonlit nights.  And often with the man of her dreams.
Follow Georgia:





Email: georgialecarre@gmail.com
Giveaway: -Win 3 Ecopies of Masquerade and 1 all new Kindle! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Club Cover Reveal - Lemon Girl by Jyoti Arora

Cover Reveal  Lemon Girl  by  Jyoti Arora  The She.... The He... The Author Jyoti Arora Jyoti Arora is a Post Graduate in English Literature and Applied Psychology. Her writing achievements include two novels, three blogs, several wins in national level blog competitions, over five years of freelance writing experience, developing books for kids and abridging 24 famous English novels like Jane Eyre, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn etc.  Jyoti's first novel, Dream's Sake, was published in 2011 by V&S Publishers. It received great reviews and much appreciation from readers.Books have always been Jyoti’s best friends. In fact, books so fascinated her from early childhood that she learnt reading, by herself, even before she started going to school. And she considers herself most fortunate that she is able to pursue her dream of being a novelist and work at what she loves best. However, if books are Jyoti’s first love, and she’s still very devoted to them, the thrilling and steadily advancing world of technology also fascinates her. As a result, one of Jyoti’s blog is a technological blog called Techn0Treats. In 2011, a post in this blog won her the title of Samsung Mobile when Samsung made her a part of the team of the twenty bloggers chosen from all over India through a blogging competition. In this team of twenty bloggers, she was the only woman and perhaps the only one who had studied literature instead of science. As a Samsung Mobiler, Jyoti acted as the promoter and ambassador of Samsung. Jyoti is a patient of Thalassemia Major which forced her to stop going to school after class seventh. After that, she continued her studies on her own through correspondence courses. Her zest to overcome her medical problems and made her an inspiration for many. Check her out at her website  So are you curious now ????????? 5 4 3 2 1 0 . . . .

FIRE Friday

It's time for Fire Friday again! Here's another excerpt from my book "Playing with Fire", alongside fantastic artwork found on deviantart.com (a huge source of inspiration).
Unconditionally by frozenmistress (art on deviantart - click on picture for link)
Was she dead?
Surely there couldn’t be so much pain after death?
Was she dying, spiraling into an abyss of indescribable pain toward the end of the tunnel where not a light but the fires of hell awaited the one who so proudly thought she was in charge of fire?
She wasn’t a bad person compared to the criminals and lunatics who stalked the world with their sinister presences and saw life as a game of win and lose. She didn’t deserve burning in hell.
But she was burning indeed. She, the one who had set buildings on fire and walked through—no, danced with—flames without so much as having a hair singed.
The pain that came with blackness and unbearable heat climbed up a notch and another until incoherent thoughts were impossible, and Felicia would have resorted to prayers if she had been able to.
When she was sure she’d die any instant, because no human could be allowed to go through such immense suffering without being offered some kind of salvation, she felt another explosion.
With it came the sensation of flying, of being weightless and bodiless and floating free like a bird.


To read more, buy this paranormal romance novel here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LYMQ9NK

Book Club Blog Tour - The Runaway Bridegroom by Sundari Venkatraman (Guest Post)

Guest Post: What inspired you to write your latest book?
Thank you Devika Fernando, for asking me about what inspired me to write The Runaway Bridegroom. :-)

As I was surfing through different TV channels a few years ago, I came across this series that began with a Child Marriage. I was intrigued and watched a couple of episodes in morbid fascination, especially as I am not a fan of TV. While the series went on about how the child bride goes to live in her husband’s home, I somehow could not accept that in this day and age. It seemed bizarre to a person like me who lives in the city.

While my grandmother married my grandfather when she was twelve years old, that was in 1929. My mother was fifteen when she married my father in 1958. But this is the 21st century, the new millennium. Do child marriages happen in the present? That’s when I checked for information on the internet and realised that child marriages are a reality in a country like India even today.

My imagination went overboard, keen to use this premise, then again most definitely not wanting to present it as if it’s the best thing that could happen to humankind. Moreover, I am a writer of romance. Then how would I present child marriage in a novel? That’s when I realised that my bridegroom had to runaway and “The Runaway Bridegroom” was born.



THE RUNAWAY BRIDEGROOM by Sundari Venkatraman




Blurb
Chanda Maheshwari’s family is shaken when her thirteen-year-old bridegroom Veerendra runs away immediately after the wedding. The eight-year-old child doesn’t even understand the impact on her life. Unable to face their neighbours and friends, the Maheshwaris move from their village to Jaipur and begin a new life in the city.
Fourteen years later, Chanda is studying in a Delhi College. She takes up a temporary job at RS Software Pvt. Ltd. and falls head-over-heels for the boss of the operation. But what about  Ranveer Singh? Is he interested in her?
Ranveer’s secretary Shikha is desperate to make him fall for her. All she wants is life-long security with a rich man. But it’s nerd Abhimanyu who keeps getting in the way. Abhi is Ranveer’s second-in-command and Shikha isn’t keen on him as she’s eyeing the main chance. 
When Ranveer appears to show interest in Chanda, she’s faced with a new problem. Astrologer Vidyasagar insists that she would get back with her husband Veerendra. Does anyone want to know what she wants? 
Chanda feels torn between the man she has fallen for and the family values that have been instilled in her. Will she ever find happiness? 
Buy @
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Meet the Author

Sundari Venkatraman has authored four ebooks so far, The Runaway Bridegroom being the latest. Three of her books, namely, The Malhotra Bride; Meghna and The Runaway Bridegroom have all been self-published on Amazon under the banner of Flaming Sun. All three books are regularly seen on Amazon’s Top 100 Bestsellers’ Contemporary Romances list. 
A great fan of Mills & Boon romances over the past four decades, Sundari has always believed in ‘Happily Ever Afters’ and all her books promise happy endings. 
The Runaway Bridegroom talks about ‘Child Marriage’, an evil perpetrated even in the 21st century in a country like India. While a large number of the country’s population live in the cities and lead modern lives, there are many who follow old customs unaware of the negative impact on the lives of the younger generation. 
The book is a work of fiction and of course does not preach. The author has but made an attempt to bring this ancient custom to the eyes of the modern public around the world while bringing a simple solution to the protagonists, the victims of child marriage. 
“I hope you enjoy reading the book as much as I loved writing it,” says Sundari Venkatraman. 
You can stalk her @                                
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Featured - Conduct Unbecoming by Dellani Oakes

Today, another friend of mine has a new release to showcase. Read on to find out more about author Dellani Oakes and her book "Conduct Unbecoming".
Dellani Bio
Dellani Oakes makes her home in Florida, but she grew up in Western Nebraska. Before that, she lived in Tennessee, Ohio, Massachusetts and Texas. After graduating from high school, she added Mississippi. The diverse locations gave her a unique perspective on life. Always a people watcher, Dellani put that talent to use when she became an author. Bitten by the writing bug early in life, Dellani first pursued poetry as her medium of self-expression. Soon, she moved on the song parodies and then short stories and humorous essays. Once she got to high school, it became apparent that she needed to learn to spell when she got a paper back from her English teacher, “For content: A+. For mechanics: F.” That comment changed her life, forcing her to focus as much on how she said things as well as what she said. Dellani took up writing full time when her youngest son started kindergarten in 2002. Since then, she has published five books. She has two romantic suspense novels are with Tirgearr Publishing and an historical romance and two sci-fi novels with Second Wind Publishing. She has also contributed to several anthologies, MJ Magazine and shares her unpublished works on her blog. Because she loves to talk to other authors, Dellani hosts two talk shows a month on Blog Talk Radio. Listen in every second Monday of the month at 4:00 PM Eastern for Dellani's Tea Time, and every fourth Wednesday, at 4:00 PM Eastern for What's Write for Me. Armed with bravado and wonderfully supportive friends and family, Dellani has embarked on a journey of self-publication. Conduct Unbecoming is her first venture into this new, and somewhat scary, world.
Author Interview
Where are you from? I was born in Tennessee, but have lived in Ohio, Massachusetts, Texas, Nebraska, Mississippi and now live in Florida.

What components, in your opinion, make a great story? A great story needs good conflict, a discernible opposite of the main characters. This can be in the form of an actual person, entity or group. It can also be some hurdle the hero has to overcome. With good conflict comes good characters. They must be up to the task they've been presented with, even if they don't think so themselves. Despite weaknesses, they manage to rise to the challenge and overcome it. Good plot dynamics also add to the story. No good tale can go straight up to the climax and straight down to the denouement. There have to be levels built, like steps, guiding the reader to the conclusion.
What was the hardest part of the story to write? It was hard to keep the plot fresh and not do a rehash of The Ninja Tattoo. I didn't want the characters in hiding, as they were before. However, when I thought of a full on confrontation, the characters stopped me. Two of the bad guys were too formidable and unpredictable for a frontal assault. I would have lost all my main characters and had a slaughter of innocents on my hands. Teague was champing at the bit to take the villain head to head and I couldn't let him. Amazingly, Jasper, who is even more impetuous than Teague, talked him out of it. After that, I let them decide and I like where they went with the story.
What was the easiest part of the story to write? The love scenes were the easiest part. I love having people fall in love and bringing them together for the first time is always kind of magical.
Was there much research involved? Since I had already written a story with similar aspects, there was very little research involved. I did ask an author friend of mine, Seth Bailey, for advice on a rifle for one of the scenes. Though the weapon isn't specifically named, he gave me some useful information. He also told me a real sniper wouldn't be seen or miss, which was exactly what I was after.
What do you feel is your biggest strength as a writer? Dialogue, hands down. I wrote plays in college and that has stayed with me. Info dumps, back story, characterization—all this and more can be portrayed through dialogue.
When your first started writing, did anything about the writing process surprise you? I didn't think about how long it would take to get from the beginning to the end. I would get these fabulous ideas and couldn't type fast enough. What I thought would take an hour to write, often took 2 or 3.
Do you celebrate when you finish a story, and if so, how? I do celebrate a little. I keep my book files separated by Finished and Unfinished files. When a book is done, I move it from one folder to the other and do a little happy dance. Sometimes, if it's a been a real bear to finish, I'll have a glass of wine. I love finishing a book, but once it's done, the real work—editing—begins. I give myself some down time afterward, before I move on to a new project or begin my first phase of editing.
Do you have a set writing routine? No. My time is too broken up with errands I have to run, needs of my family (buggers have to eat, after all) and all the Mom and Wife stuff I have to do. I try to get in my office by 10:00 most mornings, and put in time on my various projects. Sometimes, it's editing, other times it's setting up my blog posts. Other days, I go on Facebook & promote my books or radio shows. I try to put that off until later in the day, though, because it's easy to get sucked in. I write or edit awhile, break for a late lunch, watch reruns on Netflix and relax, before going back to work. I take another break to fix dinner. Sometimes, I stop and watch a movie with my family, then I'm back at my computer until around 1:00 a.m. I often have to make myself go to bed. I'm not usually sleepy, but I can't allow myself to stay up all night, even though I'd like to.
Do you listen to music when you write? Always! I have to listen to music. It keeps me going and makes me feel energized. It also serves a more mundane purpose, it provides a screen between me and the outside world. Even in my office, the sounds of the rest of the house annoy and interfere. I've learned to filter out and ignore some, but I can't separate myself from it all. Also, I have constant ringing in my left ear. The doctors can't do anything about it, so I play music to tone that down.
You’re marooned on a desert island. What’s the one book you’d want with you, and why? Give me unlimited paper & pens, I'll write my own. The voices in my head won't shut up just because I'm not at my computer.
What’s next for you? Can we look forward to a new story in the near future? I'm always working on something. I have several books that I've shared on my blog. I plan to get these ready to self-publish. The one I'm currently sharing on my blog, Bad Fall, is actually a companion novel to Conduct Unbecoming. The main character is mentioned in Conduct Unbecoming, and one of the villains is the same. I am also writing a sequel to Bad Fall, and it's an extension of both Conduct Unbecoming and Bad Fall. The title is A Matter of Time.
What advice would you give an aspiring author? Learn grammar! I realize that makes me sound like an English teacher, which I am, but it's important. I just finished reading a wonderful book that had a great plot and held my interest, but the author kept hopping from present to past tense. There were times that she switched from first person narrative to third person in the same sentence. It was a little frustrating. Also, PLEASE learn the difference between LAY and LIE and use them right! That bugs the crap out of me. I despair of ever winning that battle, because nearly everyone does it wrong.
What made you decide to venture into self-publishing? I love my publishers, but they are busy with other authors as well as me. I have books I really want to have published, but can't get out as soon as I'd like to. I've been afraid to do this until many of my friends encouraged me to try it. Thank you Christina Giguere, Karen Vaughan and Ethel Cook-Wilson for convincing me that I could, and should, give it a try.


Excerpt from Chapter Two Birds squawked nearby, flapping their wings wildly. Teague looked up to see what caused the commotion. Instead of focusing on the birds, his gaze homed in on a woman. She stood on the boardwalk on the dunes, overlooking the jetty. She was dressed in black pants and tank top. The wind from the ocean blew her long hair around her like an ebony fan. He couldn't see her face, but he knew instinctively who it was. Saying nothing, he took off up the dunes, trying to find the access. There wasn't one near enough, so he climbed the struts and jumped over the railing. The woman was gone, but he saw her retreating, jogging away from the beach. She wasn't running fast and he knew he could catch her. He sensed that she wanted him to. Knowing he would probably regret it, he took off after her. Neil called from the beach, but Teague ignored him, intent on following the woman in black. He heard the thud of footsteps behind him and knew his friends were following. The woman in black disappeared around a curve. Teague sped up, but she was out of sight. She could have jumped over the side of the boardwalk at any time. She might even be under it. Teague stopped to reconnoiter. He didn't see footprints in the sand, which meant she was probably still on the boardwalk. Danielle caught up with him before the men. "What's up?" "I thought I saw Nadeya." Danielle shaded her eyes, frowning. "Dammit!" "Yeah." He took off running again. He didn't expect to find her, but he could hope. "Teague!" Danielle called after him. "Wait." "She can't be far," he said. But he knew she was probably long gone. He jogged the rest of the way to the parking lot, but had no idea what Nadeya might be driving. The few cars in the lot were empty. He walked over and examined each one carefully, peeping inside. A woman came out of the restroom and yelled at him. "Hey! Get away from my car!" she bellowed. She wasn't Nadeya. Her hair was short, blond and frizzy. She weighed over 200 pounds and her skin was pale. If it was a disguise, it was the most authentic fat suit he'd ever seen. "Sorry. I was looking for a friend of mine." "In my car?" "I don't know what she's driving. Did you see a tall woman in black in the restroom?" "If I did, what's it to you?" the woman said, hands on her hips. Her beefy jaw stuck out and she looked like she was spoiling for a fight. "She's a friend of mine. She's in trouble." "Didn't see her. Get away from my car." Teague held his hands away from his body and moved laterally away from her. "Sorry for the misunderstanding." He walked toward the restroom. "That's the women's bathroom!" the blonde woman yelled after him. "So?" He kept moving. The last he saw of the fat woman, she was on the phone, presumably calling the authorities. Teague knew most of the park rangers and was related to some of them. He wasn't worried. "Nadeya?" he called softly as he approached the bathroom building. "It's Teague." There was a rustling in the bushes behind him, but it turned out to be a raccoon. Frustrated, Teague surveyed the area before going into the bathroom. She wasn't there. He hadn't really expected her to be. There was no sign of her anywhere. Suddenly thirsty, Teague headed to the vending machines for a drink. There was a supply shed attached where the rangers kept tools and spare drinks for the machines. It was always locked with a padlock. Today, the lock was missing and the wood looked freshly scored. Wishing he had backup, Teague moved quietly to the shed door, his borrowed weapon in hand. He slid his sunglasses up to the top of his head as he reached for the door. The shed was dim inside, very little light coming through the lattice work on the side. His eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness and he checked the shed carefully. "Nadeya?" He spoke softly, moving into the shed another step. Warily, he pushed the door all the way back, propping it with a case of Coke. The space was about fifteen feet deep and eight feet wide. Soda cartons were stacked on the left side and a tool bench stretched across one end. Yard equipment and a golf cart took up the rest of the space. There was really no hiding place in here, unless she could squeeze herself into the tiny space under the tool bench. Teague checked. Nothing.

To Buy Dellani's Books

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Featured - Stirring Up Trouble by Kimberly Kincaid

Perfectly in time for fall, feast your eyes on this gorgeous cover and find an awesome autumn read with this new release by Kimberly Kincaid.
Stirring Up Trouble by Kimberly Kincaid About the Book
Blurb

Sloane Russo's turned a decade of crazy jobs and whimsical travel into a career writing steamy novels set in exotic places. Trouble is, Sloane's flat broke now--and she can't channel sun-drenched beaches in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The only fast cash in town comes with some seriously distracting temptation: Gavin Carmichael, hot, handsome and oh-so-hard-headed.
Gavin isn't the impulsive Don Juan of Sloane's novels. He's raising his thirteen-year-old half-sister, and he's pretty sure he's supposed to act like he's never heard of fun. Sloane is way too sexy and irresponsible to be his idea of a good tutor for Bree, but the unpredictable anti-nanny may be irresistible as well. . .


Excerpt

Somewhere between the sexy curve of her mouth and the half dare coming out of it, Gavin flung his stalwart caution to the wind. He knew how to live life, dammit. Losing his mother with barely any warning had taught him just how quickly things could slip away.
This moment wasn’t going to be one of them.
Gavin rounded the bistro table in a purposeful stride, stopping only when he was close enough to feel the rise of Sloane’s chest over her sharp inhale of surprise. “I know how to have fun, and I don’t have to run around in the rain to do it.”
“You don’t?” Sloane squeaked, but she didn’t take a step back. Instead, she lifted her gaze to meet his head-on, and there was no mistaking the want in her eyes.
“I don’t. Let’s go.”


Buy Links

Amazon
Barnes&Noble
Apple iBooks store

About the Author
Author Kimberly Kincaid Kimberly Kincaid writes contemporary romance that splits the difference between sexy and sweet. When she's not sitting cross-legged in an ancient desk chair known as "The Pleather Bomber", she can be found practicing obscene amounts of yoga, whipping up anything from enchiladas to éclairs in her kitchen, or curled up with her nose in a book. Kimberly is a 2011 RWA Golden Heart® finalist who lives (and writes!) by the mantra that food is love. Her digital Line series is all about the hot cops and sexy chefs of Brentsville, New York. She is also the author of the Pine Mountain series, which follows small town singles as they find big-time love. Kimberly resides in Virginia with her wildly patient husband and their three daughters. Visit her any time at www.kimberlykincaid.com or come check her out on Facebook (www.facebook.com/kimberly.kincaid1) and Twitter (@kimberlykincaid).

Book Club Blog Tour - Spotlight on Lucifer's Lungi by Nitin Sawant

Lucifer's Lungi by  Nitin Sawant



The Blurb  An atheist city-slicker unleashed on a medieval holy village...

A simpleton village priest's boy who blindly worships and guards a pantheon of Gods and Their traditions...

Strange things happen when their worlds collide!

This is a tale of that turmoil on a lonely night in a jungle, when the ghosts you never knew till a few hours ago are let loose on the ghosts that you always carried within, unknowingly.

Welcome to the unholy clash of beliefs, fears and frailties with unknown Gods and demons. A clash that will test your convictions. A clash that will rabidly claw and unmask your subconscious, leaving you naked and paralyzed in front of your demons - in a climax that is as ambiguous as it is certain...


Buy @
Amazon.com | Amazon.in | FlipKart | 
Watch It 





Meet the Publisher 


Fablery Publications is a contemporary publishing start-up based in Bangalore. At Fablery, our focus is on bringing out books that are more in tune with the current reading habits. Our present portfolio includes a psycho-thriller novella “Lucifer’s Lungi”, two graphic novels “Subbu’s Code” and “Ka Kaa” to be launched at Bangalore Comic Con, along with a book adaptation of a National Award winning movie “Ri” and an anthology of historical fiction “Once Upon A Time”.



You can stalk Fablery@                                              




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World Animal Day - Book Recommendations

I love animals. So much so that I refuse to eat them - and that I love reading about them, or even writing about them. As October 4th is World Animal Day, here's a list of books with animal protagonists that are well worth a read (and that I enoyed).

1. Animal Farm by George Orwell (one of my favourites)

2. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (much more than a children's book)

3. Watership Down by Richard Adams (made me cry when I was a child)

4. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (a classic)

5. Call of the Wild by Jack London (a memorable adventure)

6. The Wolf Chronicles Series by Dorothy Hearst (i LOVE wolves)

7. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell (made me fall in love with horses)

8. The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling (a must read)

9. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White (although I hate spiders)

10. The Sight Series by David Clement-Davies (did I mention I love wolves? *lol*)

Have you read any great books where the main characters were animals? I'm always open for suggestions!

Typically German

October 3rd is Germany’s National Day because it marks the day in 1990 when West Germany and East Germany united after 45 years of separation. You can find out a little more about that here. I want to use this opportunity to write about what I think is "typically German". No, don’t expect well-known stereotypes such as sausages, wearing sandals with socks, beer, and Fußball (soccer) – I want to have a closer and more personal look at things. After all, I lived there for 19 years, and I’m a German by citizenship, by mind and also by heart.

Germans are extremely well organized.

Whatever it is in life, Germans either have a plan or they make one up (preferably more than one). Things years in the future want to be organized. Does that mean they’re not spontaneous or they don’t like change and avoid risks at all cost? I’m hesitant to answer this with a "yes", but a "no" isn’t correct either. Planning has its many advantages, most of all that there are rules to go by, and a goal to set eyes on and reach. You’ll find plans and thorough organization everywhere in Germany, from neat lists pinned to office notice boards over the most complex school projects to detailed city and traffic maps even for small villages. An example I love to discuss: waste separation and recycling. If you’re new to it, you’ll be happily lost in the task of sifting through all your waste and separating it by material, colour, size and what-not. There are a handful of different tons, bags and containers to throw specific things into, and you can spend hours occupying yourself with dissecting your garbage… One could write books about garbage separation in Germany!

Germans love bread.

I’m a typical German in that regard. While I do like white bread / toast, I terribly miss the brown bread and whole-meal bread I am used to. If you go to a German supermarket, you’ll find shelves and shelves of freshly baked as well as practically packaged bread and rolls. It comes in all shapes and sizes, contains every grain and ingredient possible, and covers a huge range of tastes. If there’s a bread king to be crowned, it’ll be Germany. In a year, a German will approximately eat the equivalent of his own weight in bread and rolls (almost 90 kg, to be more specific). I know personally how miserable tourists and migrants can feel when they cannot find proper Vollkornbrot abroad…

Germans have a love-hate relationship with their language.

Anyone who has ever tried to learn German will agree with me that it’s a difficult language. I love it because it is so full of possibilities for a writer (then again, so is English, though in a completely different way). On the one hand, Germans seem to love their language. They mostly refuse to learn other languages, they manage to give it life by speaking it in dozens of dialects, and they are very proud of German literature (rightly so). Also, they are a big fan of long words. You can find thrilling examples here—which aren’t even that long, go figure. On the other hand, I think the Germans sometimes do their best to kill their language. There’s the Rechtschreibreform, the German orthography reform introduced 1996. People went through hell to get it thought out, then through hell again to have it implemented in various stages over the course of several years. The aim was to simplify grammar and spelling, but if you ask me (and a million others), the mission was only partly successful. To top it all, now there’s talk of ditching the wonderful new rules and slowly reverting to the archaic style of the past… Here’s a little insight on the Neue Rechtschreibung.


Now it’s your turn! Tell me what you think is typically German, or ask me about something you’ve always wondered about.

Teaser Tuesday - Snippet from "In Deep Water"

For this week's #TeaserTuesday I'm revealing a little bit more about Calder. He's the hero of "In Deep Water" (4 Elements of Love, Book 2), still a work in progress.

"What the..."
A voice, caught between anger and surprise, made her freeze in place.
Wendy's head swiveled towards the sound.
Several feet away stood the hotel suite's inhabitant, dressed in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, having obviously indulged in a midnight shower just like she had done it moments ago.
His sudden appearance and spectacular body weren't what made her gasp, though.
Staring and staring, she could feel her pulse hammering a staccato rhythm that made her light-headed.
His eyes!
This was the first time she had seen him without sunglasses, and now she knew why he chose to wear them day and night.
His irises sparkled in an impossible shade of blue, reminding her of a glittering turquoise tourmaline.
How could anyone's eyes shimmer like that, as if somebody had switched on a tiny light bulb behind translucent skin?


Read the blurb here.