Archive for the ‘Excerpts’ Category
My debut novel, DIVA IN THE DUGOUT, will be one year old Saturday.
How can I mark this momentous occasion? Well, I have a few blog posts scheduled. I also got the okay to release the rarely seen deleted first chapter—in full.
You can find a My Sexy Saturday snippet here, but the whole story will be available only to folks who subscribe to my newsletter.
Sign up now. I’ll send out a newsletter with a link to the password-protected page on my website a week from Friday.
Hi, friends. How was your week?
My week—my second full week of being (f)unemployed—was spent waiting for my severance check and writing feverishly. I’ve been drafting a novella. On Friday, I crossed the 20K mark, giving me about 10K to wrap up the story. I hope to be able to divulge all the details soon.
Until then, let’s get to this week’s My Sexy Saturday fun.
Fall is officially here. With the change in seasons comes a new emphasis on holiday romance. Seems every time I check my tweet stream or Facebook feed, someone’s talking about their new holiday release.
Not to be outdone, my sexy 7 this week comes from my holiday novella, HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS. In this story, rockstar Cher Stanton reluctantly returns to small-town Indiana for some much-needed R&R. Things get much less relaxing when she bumps into high school crush Derrick Mullins, the one guy who never paid her any attention—or so she thought.
Here, Cher and Derrick are on their way to dinner. They stop to clear the air and she ends up kissing him.
****
Chalk up another one to missed opportunities.
Story of his life. One missed opportunity after another, starting with Cher. Med school— nope. Not going there. Being a paramedic was as close as he’d ever get, and it was plenty. Doctors dealt with way too much stress.
Seemed he wouldn’t get any answers from Cher unless he demanded them. He cleared his throat. “What was that?”
“What was what?”
His gaze locked on her mouth. “That.” He waved his hand between them.
“That kiss?” Her tongue darted over her plump bottom lip, leaving shine in its wake.
Shifting in the Porsche’s bucket seat, he nodded. “Yeah. That kiss.”
Like what you’ve read? Home for the Holidays is on sale for 99 cents at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Kobo. If you prefer to read books on paper, grab the print version from CreateSpace.
Saturday again? Now that I don’t have a day job, the days are all running together.
Lucky for you—or maybe for me, I got an email reminder to sign up for My Sexy Saturday. This week’s theme? Love on the road … I think.
This week, show us the characters who who love each other so much that it doesn’t matter where they are, who they are, what they have or don’t have. Show us that these characters are going to stick with each other through thick and thin. These are the ones who just want to be with each other, love each other and always be together, no matter how long or short the time.
I’m sharing a snippet from TROUBLE IN PARADISE, a work-in-progress. This companion to BLIND DATE BRIDE, my June indie release, tells the story of Bethany and Cody, the friends that got Kari and Damien into the winners’ circle. They met the day of Kari and Damien’s bogus wedding…and ended up getting more wedding night action than the bride and groom, as Kari pointed out.
TROUBLE IN PARADISE picks up where BDB leaves off. Bethany, concerned that Cody is losing interest, convinces him to audition for the network’s new show, “Invitation to Sin,” a “Survivor” meets “Temptation Island” reality show she thinks will test his love for her. A reluctant Cody agrees, figuring Romance TV lightning won’t strike twice. But it does, and the couple flies to Bora Bora for a month to shoot the show. Little does Beth know she’s the one who’ll be failing all the network-manufactured tests.
Here, they’re strolling on a moonlit beach, away from the cameras, as they have a heart-to-heart about the day’s events.
****
When she tipped her head up this time, he saw laughter in her eyes. “You said we’re the sum of all our experiences, right?”
“I did.”
Her fingers hovered over the knot at her waist. “There’s an experience I’ve never had and I want to share it with you.”
Cody’s mouth went dry when she scrambled to untie her sarong. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”
The cover-up pooled in the sand at her feet, quickly followed by her bikini top and bottom. She stood before him, her milky skin glowing in the moonlight. “Guess.”
Cody gulped. “Skinny-dipping?”
“In the ocean under a full moon.”
TROUBLE IN PARADISE … coming soon to e-bookstores everywhere.
Welcome, welcome. This week’s My Sexy Saturday theme has forced me to dig deeply into my personal archives.
This week, we’re traveling the universe as we give our wonderful sci-fi romance, of any subgenre, a nod to entertaining us with their wonderful stories.
Y’all know by now that I write contemporary romantic comedy. What you probably don’t know is that one of the first stories I wrote (still unfinished, as a matter of fact) was a sci-fi/comedy/romance. It fills part of two spiral-bound wide-ruled notebooks, pencil on yellowing sheets.
A communications specialist named Marc—human, but from a distant utopian planet that’s nearly all water—scans the universe’s airwaves for beings open to alien contact. He sees an Earthling woman and—despite protests from his brother, who learned all he knows about Earth women from the movie “Earth Girls are Easy”—undertakes a mission to woo her, wed her and take her back to his planet.
Of course, mayhem ensues from the moment Marc sneaks aboard the space shuttle, which is docked at the International Space Station. (Brother Rik notes that Earthlings are the only species arrogant enough to assume no need for security in space.) He’s a fish out of water, so to speak, trying to fit into California culture, win over Kyree’s overprotective friends and convince her she’s meant to be his life mate.
This story will probably never see the light of day. I started it in the mid-90s, long before I joined RWA and started learning about the craft. That means it’s rife with head-hopping, telling instead of showing and other beginner mistakes.
But the premise is fun and I had a blast writing the parts I finished. (Just imagine Marc shopping for condoms for the first time, with assistance from the boyfriend of Ree’s best friend.) I’ll share a snippet here—head-hopping and all—in hopes of brightening your day.
****
Marc had decided it wouldn’t be right to make love to Kyree until he convinced her of his origins. Now was as good a time as any, he supposed.
“Ree,” he began cautiously as they stepped onto the beach. “Remember when I told you I’m from Quaaline?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes.”
Marc sighed. He could sense she still wasn’t ready to believe him. “Never mind.”
Ree gave him an odd look. She hoped he didn’t actually believe he was an alien. She knew some real sci-fi nerds who tried to become someone dashing, like Captain Kirk, Han Solo or Lance Lincolnway, to overcome their awkwardness—but Marc was charming enough on his own. He didn’t have to pretend to be a hero.
Marc watched her face as the thoughts ran through her mind. He raised an eyebrow in amusement and murmured, “If I’m Han Solo, you have to be my Princess Leia.”
Kyree smiled at him. “That can be arranged.”
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