Spring into #Romance #Blog Tour What am I Working On? #WIP #Author Q&A

My fabulous fellow Kentucky author, Teresa Reasor, has asked me to take part in a blog tour and to tag three authors who might also be interested.

Teresa Reasor was born in Southeastern Kentucky, but grew up a Marine Corps brat. The love of reading instilled in her in Kindergarten at Parris Island, South Carolina made books her friends during the many transfers her father's military career entailed. The transition from reading to writing came easily to her and she penned her first book in second grade. But it wasn’t until 2007 that her first published work was released.

After twenty-one years as an Art Teacher and ten years as a part time College Instructor, she’s now retired and living her dream as a full time Writer.

Her body of work includes both full-length novels and shorter pieces in many different genres, Military Romantic Suspense, Paranormal Romance, Historical Romance, Contemporary Romance and Children’s Books.

For more information about her and her books go to: WEBSITE
Amazon Author Page
Twitter
Facebook
Blog
Goodreads
Google +

Here's mine~

1) What am I working on?
I'm currently editing LOVE BY DESIGN, in preparation for publishing.

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
I'd like to believe I bring a fresh perspective and mix in a bit of humor and realism to my romance. I want the reader to remember the story long after they've read "The End." I hope that I do that with the written word and keep readers coming back to get to know more of my characters time and again because they can see themselves there, with the hero and heroine, perhaps even friends with them. (What writer doesn't hope for that though?)

3) Why do I write what I do?
It's deeply ingrained in me to believe in a happily ever after or at the least, a happy for now. I believe love exists to remind us that we are not alone in the world, that there's bound to be someone else out there who could use a shoulder to cry on, a soft place to fall when the world becomes too much and a heart to hold us- to embrace us and not only fill us with immeasurable joy, but make us feel that we found something here on earth that's as close to heaven as you can get. Sometimes we're lucky enough to find that a few times in this life, sometimes we pick a few bad apples, but it's nice when we find that "one" that fills the whole bill... Regardless of how we get there or what ends up being our destination, it's life experience and love experience and that's what makes this journey worth it.

4) How does my writing process work?
I have always written somewhere in the middle. I don't really outline, though I do have notes with details, but nothing so much as set in stone. I used to swear I was a pantser but I do have some general idea of where the story's going to go... but I tend to ride the fence and let the characters lead me in the direction they want to go---- most the time. Sometimes I hear them speaking louder than I can bear and they fill me in in great detail and other times they're so quiet that it's like pulling teeth, but I try to allow them the freedom to step into the spotlight when it's time and tell their story the way it's meant to be. That doesn't mean I won't go through round after round of edits later to tighten and give them more focus, but I like to allow the story to grow on the page more organically than with strict guidelines and rules. Just seems more natural for me as the storyteller.

 My 3 fellow tagged authors who will be posting May 19th are-

Sharon Hamilton NYT and USA/Today and Amazon Top 100 Bestselling Author Sharon Hamilton’s SEAL Brotherhood series have earned her Amazon author rankings of #1 in Romantic Suspense, Military Romance and Contemporary Romance. Her characters follow a sometimes rocky road to redemption through passion and true love. Her Golden Vampires of Tuscany earned her a #1 Amazon author ranking in Gothic Romance.

A lifelong organic vegetable and flower gardener, Sharon and her husband live in the Wine Country of Northern California, where most of her stories take place.





Sondra Allan Carr lives in the Bluegrass state of Kentucky with her husband of more than four decades. A proud Boomer who loves to travel, she has watched bamboo grow in China, seen the Taj Mahal floating in the light of a full moon like a gravity-defying UFO, and looked on in amazement as the dawning sun set fire to Ayers Rock in Australia. She believes truth is stranger than fiction and fiction is often truer than truth.

Sondra admits to being a bit of a late bloomer, only recently discovering that she would rather write than eat. She hopes you will buy her books so she can continue to do both.

You can go to her website at http://sondraallancarr.com to sign up for email notification of new books, contests, and giveaways. Her books are available at AMAZON



Jean Thompson Kinsey writes sweet romance and light romantic suspense.  Most of her writing also contains an inspirational message. She lives in Brooks, KY. Her hobbies consist of doting on grandchildren, traveling, reading and writing. Jean has four books published which can be found at Amazon.com and most online book stores. Her stories appear in numerous Chicken Soup for the Soul books.

Visit her blog here:

Jean Kinsey's Creative Writing Desk

Natalie-Nicole Bates SEE ME #excerpt #book #tour

Blurb: Carly Anders is hearing voices in her head. Another one of her kind is trying to contact her. She knows of the malevolent freaks—others who are eternal like her and seek out the weak to inflict pain upon. For years, Carly has held up huge protective walls to keep herself and her secrets safe.

Now, physically and mentally exhausted, Carly needs protection and rest. She accepts the invitation to visit an Internet friend who needs help appraising a collection of antique photographs. The situation is not ideal, but Carly hopes a male presence in her life will deter the determined suitor who haunts her thoughts and dreams.

Daniel Tremont is not what Carly is expecting. The former funeral director has a secret of his own. Not only is he eternal like Carly, he is her creation from all those years before—her abomination she thought she killed.

Daniel has been searching for Carly for years. He knows she is the piece of his life that he has been missing for so long. Now that he has found her, he has no intentions of letting her go.

“The quintessential paranormal romance”
5 Stars~Night Owl Reviews
Leap of Faith Publishing

Excerpt #2

     Even though they lived over one thousand miles apart, he could sense she needed to escape from something…or someone. He didn’t care what drove her towards him, just as long as she would come…and stay. And if he was wrong, and she wasn’t his Carly, it would be pleasant enough to spend time with a woman.

     It was well past ten when the doorbell sounded. Daniel rushed down the stairs from the upstairs flat, and into the hallway of the empty funeral home below. He opened the heavy wooden door that separated the funeral home from the street.

     Lit only from the streetlights behind her, he could see how beautiful she was, but when she stepped into the lighted foyer, her beauty surpassed his imagination. For a start, she didn’t look a day past twenty.

     Her long, straight mane of hair was the color of fallen oak leaves and dusted with gold. Her eyes were a deep espresso brown. An amber briolette hung at her throat. She wore a form fitting purple sweater that hugged her ample curves, and a matching skirt that fell a few inches above her knees. A pair of heels completed the outfit. Her suitcase and handbag sat at her feet.

Natalie-Nicole Bates is a book reviewer and author.

Her passions in life include books and hockey along with Victorian and Edwardian era photography and antique poison bottles. Natalie contributes her uncharacteristic love of hockey to being born in Russia.

She currently resides in the UK where she is working on her next book and adding to her collection of 19th century post-mortem photos.

Amazon

Visit Natalie online
 Natalie-Nicole Bates Website

Social media links for Natalie-Nicole Bates

On Twitter: @BatesNatalie

Facebook

Blog

YouTube

Prize Info:

Natalie is offering a total of 5 ebook copies to random commenters throughout the tour. She is also offering a grand prize of a $25 Amazon Gift Card to one random commenter. All winners will be picked using the rafflecopter below. Readers may enter to win both the ebook and the grand prize each day for additional chances to win. Please only one entry per day.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here's the rest of the schedule-

Excerpt Tour Schedule

Jan 20 - Harlie's Books

Jan 21 - Author Taryn Raye

Jan 22 - Salacious Reads

Jan 23 - Mrs Condit and Friends Read Books

Jan 24 - Guilty Pleasures

Jan 25 - Cocktails and Books

[Cover Reveal] Am I "The Next Big Thing?" #bloghop #workinprogress #authors

There are the books everyone has heard about: Twilight, Hunger Games, Fifty Shades of Gray. But what about all those books written by people you’ve never heard of? Some of them are treasures, just waiting to be found, and that’s what this blog hop is all about: the books you might not have heard about, but that you might end up loving.

This blog hop is like a game of tag. One author posts and tags five other authors who link back to their website the next week and tag five new authors. If you follow the blog hop long enough, you’re bound to find some books you’ll love! Maybe you’ll even discover a book that ends up being the next big thing.

I was tagged by Jennifer Madden. You can learn more about her book Embattled Love on her website.

This blog hop includes ten questions to help you learn more about an author’s current work in progress, so here’s a little info about my current project and

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!

I'm also revealing the cover!
(Cover by Tracy Stewart of All About the Cover)

1: What is the working title of your book? Love By Design, Book one in the Love By Series

2: Where did the idea come from for the book? Love By Design originally started as a single stand alone book idea in 2006 or 20007 when I was brainstorming ideas. I'm not sure where I got the idea, other than knowing that it felt like a rom-com type story with a clumsy interior designer fighting her attraction to a playboy actor who hires her to decorate his fixer-upper.

3: What genre does your book fall under? Contemporary romance with a touch of humor, but I like to believe that all my stories aren't just romance novels, but Life stories with heart. Their pasts aren't always spotless and sometimes it comes back to haunt them. Sometimes it's just a matter of the hardships they face that get them to their Happily-Ever-Afters.

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? When I was writing LBD I envisioned Matthew McConaughey as Derrek Martin and Sandra Bullock as Jasmine Galloway.

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? Jasmine Galloway's had it up to here with wannabe actors, so when Hollywood's current blockbuster playboy seeks out her business to decorate his new home, he manages to gets under her skin and put his own designs on her heart.

6: Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? I plan to self-publish the Love By series in the next few months and follow it with the 2nd series, Pryce of Love, which centers around four of five brothers (the 5th brother is the hero in the 4th book in the Love By series)

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? Approximately a month or so of self-imposed "NaNo-like" determination and reckless abandon. I didn't write this one for NaNoWriMo, but I did set myself to the standard 50K/30 days. I still have more editing to do though before I put it out there. (plot holes, grammar, etc)

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? I'm honestly not sure. There are so many wonderful contemporary authors out there but I'm not sure who I could compare my own stories to. As I said before, it does, for me have a very rom-com movie feel to it though.

9: Who or What inspired you to write this book? The characters themselves. As the ideas for the story (as well as the other sisters) started to take shape, Jasmine and Derrek began to really come to life for me and I just had to get their story written. Sometimes they would interrupt my sleep, or my attempts at sleep, trying to tell me about what was going to happen next. (not as bad as Jasmine's sister Juniper, who insisted her story be the 2nd one, though I'd originally planned to write Blossom's 2nd. Juni would NOT shut up.)

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? I took a "virtual plane ride" because I spent a LOT of time studying airplane flights, time zone changes and what certain bookings would be like and actually "plotted" out what a trip from LAX to Indianapolis would be, including layovers, and driving distance for Derrek and Jasmine's trip to Derrek's childhood home in Smalltown, Indiana to pick up his sister and pack furniture to move to California in a U-haul while writing this. I've never actually been on a plane. Not sure I ever will, but it was fun to pretend! :)

Here is a list of authors who will be joining the hop for week 27 on December 24th. I hope you’ll visit their blogs next week and learn more about their books. Maybe one of them will become your new favorite author!
(I don't have anyone yet, but if you want to be listed, you don't have to do it during the holidays- you can pick up Week 27 afterward, if it would be more convenient! Just email or leave a comment and let me know!) 

1 Teresa Reasor is also participating in The Next Big Thing over on her blog, where she's talking about her current work-in-progress, Breaking Away, the 3rd book in her Seal Team Heartbreakers Series. Go check out her answers about what she's working on!

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