Guest Post – Emily Cale
I'd like to welcome the wonderful, wonderful Emily Cale here today. She's celebrating the release of her new book so be sure to give her a warm welcome!
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Thanks so much to Sara for allowing me to come on her blog today to promote my newest release, Indian Summer.
When I started writing this book, I wanted to capture all the experiences I have when I'm in India for work. Of course, my heroine, Cara, has a far more exciting job than I do. While I'm sitting at a desk all day reading protocols, she gets to race across the desert searching for an endangered dhole (Indian wild dog) with a handsome man at her side. I've never done that, but I did lend my personal experiences to a few situations in the book, including one of her outfits.
Most of the time, when I'm in India, I wear a simple tunic top with pants. This counts as office casual and I'm perfectly content to wander around in these clothes. Every now and then, my staff insists that it would be far more appropriate if I wore a saree. Something about me being married, older (I'm actually younger than most of them), and a doctor (well, not yet). So I now own three sarees.
If you've never seen one, I'll explain the process to you. It's actually quite simple. First, there are your undergarments. Not your bra and panties (those go under the undergarments). The first is the petticoat which is a floor length skirt and the second is a made-to-order blouse which covers your shoulders and breasts. Once these are on, I always feel fully dressed, but have been told it would be wildly inappropriate for me to go out like this.
Now come the tricky part, you take a long piece of fabric, start somewhere in the middle, and tuck it into your skirt, then make pleats, run the fabric around your body a couple times, then throw the end over your shoulder. Simple, no?
Okay, so I can't actually put it on myself. One of the women in my office always does it for me. She's an expert and claims to be able to teach me in thirty minutes. I've asked her to set aside a couple hours.
I'm not the best at getting around with all this fabric draped over me. I'm always tripping or picking it up funny, or allow some bit of fabric to slip inappropriately.
Cara manages to wear a sorry one day as part of her attempt to better understand Indian culture. Lucky for her, she only has to wear it for a short time before Jai takes it off :)
Excerpt:
"One question." He pulled away, keeping his hands on her shoulders. "Where did you get that?"
She looked down at her outfit. "You don't like it? I stopped by a store, just to look, and ended up wearing it." She laughed. "Two women came out and asked me to hold my arms up and five minutes later I was leaving the store dressed like this."
He pulled her close again, kissing her lips gently. "You look absolutely incredible."
"Really?" She stepped back and spun, the bottom of the skirt flaring out. "I thought I might look a little ridiculous."
"Oh, you do. That is certainly an extremely fancy outfit. Women here would only wear it to a special event, like a wedding or party"
Her face fell as she studied him. "You mean everyone out there thought I was getting married?"
"Not quite. Just attending a fancy ceremony. If you were getting married, your wedding saree would have much finer embroidery on it."
She stepped back and admired her outfit, fingering one of the golden flowers embellishing the piece. She must have gone to a lot of effort to pick it out. He wondered how much the men at the store had convinced her to pay for it, but he didn't ask. It would break her heart to discover she paid a hundred dollars for something she could get for five. All the retail owners knew they could convince the tourist to spend an exorbitant amount of money on clothes. Since they were still less expensive than back home, they thought they were getting deal.
"But you're still stunning." He grabbed her hand and pulled her back into his arms. Dipping his head, he captured her mouth again. Bending, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her back toward his bedroom.
"Wait," she cried, flailing her legs in the air.
Jai set her down on the ground, afraid he'd hurt her. Come to think of it, he had no idea where any of the pins went on one of those. He'd probably shoved one into her skin. "What?"
"If you take this off I'll never be able to get it back on again. I wasn't watching when they tied it. Do you know they only use two safety pins to keep it up?" Her eyes got big and she twisted her hips from side to side, the fabric swishing as she moved.
He groaned and reached his arms out to grab her. Squealing, she took off down the hall. Not used to moving in the confining fabric, Cara moved slowly. He let her get halfway to the bedroom before he caught up and scooped her off the ground again, tossing her an inch into the air to get a better grip. He took her to his room, not listening to a single plea she made to put her down until he reached the bed.
Blurb:
Excited to return to field work, Dr. Cara Newman arrives in India ready for a new experience. She'll stop at nothing to make sure her plans to find the nearly extinct Indian wild dog go exactly as she imagines. What she isn't ready for is Jai.
Jai Subramanium isn't sure his new partner is up to the challenge. After years behind a desk, she might not be capable of dealing with the difficulties of navigating the terrain and surviving hours under an unbearably hot sun. What he doesn't expect is the uncontrollable passion between them.
Their forbidden romance isn't the only thing at risk, a group of hunters threaten the lone dog, and places Cara and Jai's relationship and careers in jeopardy.
Buy Link: http://www.passioninprint.com/ShowBook.php?CR=EC_INDIAN_SUMMER
Twitter: http://twitter.com/EmilyCale
Blog: http://www.emilycale.blogspot.com
