Meet the Neighbors – return guest MJ Schiller and Abandon All Hope
Meet the Neighbors is pleased to have fellow Illinois -ian? MJ Schiller here talking about her new book and the difference between a series and a collection. Welcome!
Good morning and thank you, Lynn, for having me here today!
I’m going to admit to something here. I may have gotten myself into a bit of a spot. You see, the second in my ROCKING ROMANCE COLLECTION is out now and I’m not sure it’s going to be what people expect. When the first book, TRAPPED UNDER ICE, came out, I was lucky enough to have some people fall in love with my main characters, Beth and Chad.
So where’s the problem, MJ? Right?
The problem lies in the fact that the difference between a collection and a series is not always understood. Two different monsters all together! A series follows the same characters through a span of time, usually in chronological order, but not always. A collection is a group of books gathered around a common theme; in this case, rock romances. After TRAPPED I got comments like, “Can’t wait to see what you have in store for Chad and Beth next!” Still other readers had the next book pegged as Roger’s book (Chad’s best friend). I’m not saying there won’t be a Roger story somewhere down the line. (I do love his character. He’s a hoot!) But right now, that’s not in the works.
ABANDON ALL HOPE, the second in the ROCKING ROMANCE COLLECTION, is not about any of these characters. It is the story of photo journalist Hope Creswell and rock star Chase Hatton. Their story begins when they were kids, follows them into their teens, and brings them back together after an eight year separation. Compared to TRAPPED UNDER ICE, it’s a lot lighter read, in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still some danger lurking. Hope tries to uncover the story behind a reputed mobster’s ties with a city councilman and runs into trouble. And her father is one unpalatable character, let me tell you. But the love story has a sweet sadness that’s different from TRAPPED. Don’t fear, Hope and Chase get their happily ever after at the end. I wouldn’t gyp you all out of that.
Another difference between the two books is that Chase and Chad are dissimilar rock stars. While Chase is as successful as the lead singer from Trapped Under Ice, he purposefully keeps out of the limelight and doesn’t participate in some of the activities that are generally associated with rockers (i.e.- drugs, drinking, and womanizing). I had my editor question some of his activities saying, “Would a rock star do this?” That’s like saying, “Would a dentist trash a hotel room?” Maybe not your average dentist, but it is not completely out of the question for anyone to do something like that. Chase does not have a cook. His home is fairly average. He does utilize a chauffeur and a pilot for a personal plane, but he also likes to do work around the house that he could easily hire out. In other words, he is a real person. Yes, with some of the baggage that goes along with fame, but a real person none-the-less.
Another place where the two books diverge is that Chase’s band is hardly mentioned in ABANDON ALL HOPE. This was intentional. They are not integral to the story, or really to his life. He is like a Sting or a Madonna. Can you name the members of Madonna’s band? I’m sure they are talented musicians, but they are not part of the public package. And Madonna may or may not hang out with them or know their families or what their order at Starbuck’s would be. We all run our lives differently. So do my rock stars.
Anyway, just a little FYI to help you know what not to expect from the second book in the ROCKING ROMANCE COLLECTION. Now that I told you what ABANDON is not, let me tell you what it is.
Blurb:
It was one of those mornings for newspaper-writer/photographer Hope Creswell. The alarm clock didn’t go off and she cut her finger on broken glass. Not one to let such things get her down, Hope headed into her assignment meeting with excitement, only to leave it stunned. Her new assignment is to trail the sensational rock-star, Chase Hatton, for an article. Chase Hatton! No one knows the power that name holds for her. No one knows of the childhood friendship that blossomed into romance, only to abruptly die on the night of Hope’s senior prom. No one knows of the ache that still fills her heart.
What starts out for Chase Hatton as an average publicity trip to Chicago suddenly becomes complicated when his manager tells him that Hope Creswell will be interviewing him in the morning. He had spent eight years trying to forget Hope, and now she would be in his penthouse in a matter of hours?
When Chase opens the door to his penthouse and finds Hope on the opposite side, his heart begins beating a rhythm the rocker has yet to capture in any of his music. The smoldering embers of their former romance are fanned by their mere proximity. Will they both be burned again? Can Hope ever trust her heart to Chase after what he did? Can Chase bear to see her walk out on him a second time? And what about Hope’s boyfriend, Phillip? Where does he fit into the picture that Hope is developing?
Excerpt-
Hope had expected someone else to open the door—a manager, a groupie, a chauffeur, anyone—but not him. She had been in the initial phases of bracing herself for seeing him again, when suddenly he was there in front of her. She was unprepared.
She eyed him. He hadn’t changed much, except for his hair. When they were younger, it had been about the same shade of brown hers was. Now, someone, a manager or promoter, perhaps, had convinced him to dye his hair blond, and he wore it longer than he had in high school, just to his collar, and long on top. The clothes he wore now were different, too. He seemed to have traded in his t-shirts and shorts for black jeans and an expensive-looking, scarlet-colored, button-down shirt. But when Hope peered into his eyes, she was flooded with memories of past times, and a warm feeling spread over her, both welcome and uncomfortable at the same time.
She took in her surroundings, resisting the urge to run across the wide, circular room and peer out the windows covering the far wall where the light streamed in across the lush carpeting. Directly in front of them was a sunk-in area with two large, semicircular couches with an ornate, round table between them. To the left was a wet bar with funky v-shaped stools, which looked somehow top-heavy, as if they would tip over at any moment. To the right was a big screen, plasma TV surrounded by comfortable seats, which had attached cup holders like in a movie theater.
“Wow, Chase! This is great!” She turned back to him. “You really have made something of yourself, haven’t you?”
He grinned. “I’ve done all right, I guess.”
“Done all right?” she exclaimed in surprise. “You’ve had six songs in the top ten in the past two years, and your first album went platinum in less than three months. I’d say you’ve done pretty damn good!” She laughed.
The sound of her voice was intoxicating, like a heady perfume, and he recalled now how she would occasionally insert a curse word into her speech just to catch him off guard and make him laugh.
“You haven’t changed a bit.”
“Oh yes, I have,” she said quickly, unable to keep the edge out of her voice. Hope looked down, moving her foot back and forth across the carpeting, watching as the color of the nap changed with each sweep, her hands clasped behind her back. I’m here for a story, that’s it, she reminded herself. She moved over to the window and gazed out over Chicago. Suddenly, she swayed forward and placed her hand on the glass to steady herself.
“Still afraid of heights, huh?”
Hope hadn’t realized he had followed her. She nodded mutely, surprised he had remembered something about her she had forgotten herself. Unable to resist the temptation, she turned to gaze at him, the pain engulfing her with a suddenness that was frightening. She didn’t want to remember or be reminded that he knew these things about her.
Author bio
MJ is a lunch lady in the heart of Central Illinois. My gosh, can you get more folksy than that? She met her husband at the University of Missouri-Columbia and now she has an eighteen-year-old (how did that happen?) and sixteen year old triplets! She loves to read, karaoke (where she can pretend she is a rock star) and spends WAY too much time on Facebook. She grew up in St. Louis and still has family there.
You can find MJ Schiller at www.mjschillerauthor.blogspot.com, MJ on FB, twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads.
You can find ABANDON ALL HOPE at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
