Archive for the ‘Stories’ Category

Cellphone is one word now—at least according to the Associated Press. And since AP style is drilled into my head at the day job, one word it shall stay, even if it drives me up the wall.

The AP also recently changed style on under way. After two decades of swearing “under way” was two words in all uses except nautical ones—as in underway flotilla, whatever that is—it’s cropping up in stories as “underway”—and … you guessed it … making me crazy.

Enough about AP style—or lack thereof. I wanted to talk about cellphones for a moment. Coconino County, where I live, recently passed a ban on most cellphone use while driving. (Hands-free devices are an exception.)

What’s that you say? A great idea?

There was a time I’d have agreed with you. I remember when I got my first cellphone, circa Y2K. I swore I would NEVER talk and drive. I’d pull off the road to answer and/or make a call.

For a while, that’s what I did. But as time passed, the phone’s newness wore off and I developed new habits.

I found myself answering the ringing phone on the road. Then I started actually making calls from a moving vehicle. A few months ago, I caught myself checking the screen when I heard it beep with a text message. (I didn’t answer it, just quickly read the preview on my lock screen—but even that made the Boyfriend yell. Like he never uses his phone while driving …)

Even worse, when I’m sitting at a stoplight, out comes the phone so I can scroll through tweets or Facebook posts … or take a quick peek at how well my latest release is doing on Amazon.

Hey now—I never said they were good habits.

They are, however, habits I’ll have to curb—and fast. The county’s ban takes effect in a few short weeks. Maybe I’ll start keeping my purse in the back seat instead of the passenger seat. I’m just afraid that when it starts ringing, it’ll drive me nuts.

Email with DIVA and BEAUTYSpeaking of Amazon, I woke up this morning (well before my alarm) to an email advertising not one but two of my books. Beauty is No. 1 on the list; Diva is No. 4.

I love it when Amazon advertises my own books to me. Hopefully it’s an indication they’re being pushed on other folks, too.

That’s what I’m assuming, anyway, despite the well-known dangers about what happens when you assume.

SLIDING INTO HOME is getting its fair share of attention, too. Earlier this week, it received not one but two reviews on Amazon. One was a four-star, one was a five-star.

The highlights:

While reading this book I felt happy, I laughed out loud. One of my favorite quotes is “ So help me, if you apologize for kissing me, I will stab you with the scissors that came with my new desk set.” “ I wouldn’t dream of it.” …
This is my first book by Arlene Hittle and it definitely will not be my last. It’s a very fast paced story, I couldn’t put it down. I read this book in less than one day! Arlene is a very talented author!!

— from a 5-star review by Bre

I really liked this book. It was funny and romantic and sexy. Greg struggles with all these emotions about his relationship with his father. He feels like he is always in his father’s shadow and can’t find a way to get out from underneath it. Jenn is sweet and really like Greg. She wants to find a way to help him. They have great chemistry. The book was very well written and the characters were engaging. I will defiantly be reading the other books in this series.

— from a 4-star review by badkat17us

Now when I pull up SLIDING’s Amazon page, DIVA and BEAUTY pop up as “also-buys.” Not too shabby, I’d say.

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Your turn: Do you have any bad cellphone habits? How do you break yourself of them? 

 

 

 

Not when it’s your first visit to Olympic Garden and you have a snap-happy roommate.

VegasNo, seriously. I didn’t mind her taking photos, because I was having fun—and I looked fantastic. That was me nine years and about a hundred pounds ago. (Side note: I really need to go back on a low-carb diet.) I had some more fun playing with Photoshop effects. This one’s called “neon glow.”

Just Contemporary RomanceI’m blogging at Just Contemporary Romance today, talking about my Las Vegas vacations—all three of them, including the one that involved a trip to the Strip’s famed Olympic Garden strip club. It was all for research. Pinky swear.

So what if it was nine years ago—long before I started writing my Love & Baseball series? One of the characters in another, still unpublished series is a sports reporter who moonlights as a male stripper.

See? Research!

Now that I’ve written Sliding into Home, in which Greg thinks Jenn is a stripper, the strip club experience is paying off again.

Drop by Just Contemporary Romance and share your Vegas adventures … if you dare.

 

April 18, 2014

Greg & Jenn, Stories

1 comment

Please allow me to present my newest book baby, Sliding into Home

Ta-da!

Sliding into Home | Arlene HittleThis is Book 3 in my All Is Fair In Love and Baseball series, and it tackles Arizona Condors first baseman Greg Bartlesby’s story. (You knew there had to be a good reason for his run-in with the law in Diva in the Dugout, right? Here’s where you find out why he acts the way he does.)

The blurb:

Will a sexy attorney help the Condors’ rebel first baseman outrun his father’s shadow—or merely strip him of his illusions?

More than anything, Arizona Condors first baseman Greg Bartlesby wants to make his own name in the big leagues. Too bad being the son of MLB legend Jake “Big Man” Bartlesby makes that impossible. Even worse? His attempts to differentiate himself from his old man more often land him in legal trouble. His latest brush with the law brings him in contact with an attorney he’s met before—as a dancer at the club where he was arrested…for protecting her.

Jenn Simpson isn’t a stripper—not that she can convince her bonehead client her twin is the one doing the dancing. When Greg offers her sister a job at his father’s Foundation, Jenn is the one who accepts, at her sister’s urging. She soon discovers she likes the work—and her new boss. As she and Greg forge a friendship and more, she knows it’s time to convince him she’s not who he thinks. But when his father’s hospitalization compels Greg to fast-track his leap to the majors by capitalizing on Big Jake’s fame, it might be too late for her to expunge the record.

Here’s one of my favorite passages, from near the beginning of the book:

Sliding into Home | Arlene Hittle

It came out yesterday and you can find it at your favorite e-retailer.

Turquoise Morning Press

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

All Romance eBooks

Smashwords

Kobo

iTunes: Sliding Into Home – Arlene Hittle

Happy reading!

Beauty and the Ballplayer | Arlene HittleIt’s a lot like life …

And if that doesn’t set you to humming Depeche Mode’s “Master and Servant” … you’re not as big a fan of that group as I am.

My parents didn’t have cable until I went to college (and even then no MTV), so I didn’t get to watch a lot of music videos. Imagine my surprise when I caught the “Master and Servant” video, years later. I had no idea they were talking about the corporate world.

Yeah, right. We know what that song was really about.

Anyway, that’s all just a tangent. It’s how my brain works (or doesn’t). I’m popping in today to share my guest post over at Just Contemporary Romance. I’m waxing poetic about baseball as a metaphor for life.

OK, I’m mostly quoting other folks who’ve waxed poetic about baseball as life. But I only picked out the quotes I agree with.

Get the scoop.