Posts Tagged ‘Breaking All the Rules’
This week’s My Sexy Saturday theme, Our Sexy Galaxy, begs for another dip into my sci-fi comedy romance manuscript. You might remember the story of a human from another planet who falls in love with an Earth woman and stows away aboard the Space Shuttle to get to her. However, because I’m not sure which box it’s buried in after my move, I’ll have to settle for seven sexy sentences from something I can lay my hands on.
Oooh — I know. Let’s delve into BREAKING ALL THE RULES, my tribute to Star Trek fans everywhere. I know I used the word “galaxy” in that story at least once.
A tenuous connection, sure. But I’ll take it!
In this scene, Allyson and Van meet in the Walmart parking lot so she can follow him to the hiking spot he’s suggested for their interview. She’s evaluating him for the Klingon interpreter position she must fill, but refused to ride in his car. Her insistence on driving herself, paired with the fact that she drives a Volvo prompts Van to tease her about being a “safety girl.”
***
“Well, hop back in your safe little car and follow me down the switchbacks. The hiking spot I have in mind has great views—and I packed a picnic in case we get hungry.”
“I just had breakfast.” Unless they’d be hiking up the side of a cliff, the Cheerios, strawberries and milk she had every weekday morning would fuel her through lunch, no problem.
“I did, too. But two jelly-filled donuts won’t stick with me long.”
Donuts? She imagined the sticky-sweet jam exploding on her tongue, and her mouth watered. How long had it been since she’d enjoyed a donut? Too long.
Cheerios, fruit and milk were a perfectly balanced breakfast.
Perfectly boring, too.
Allyson banished the rogue thought and smiled at Donovan. “The sooner we get started, the sooner you can get to your lunch.”
BREAKING ALL THE RULES is available now at Turquoise Morning Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, Smashwords and All Romance eBooks.
Happy Monday! I hope you all had a relaxing and rejuvenating Easter weekend. I picked up the milk to make myself one of those Cabury Creme Egg Egg Creams, but have yet to pull the trigger. Maybe tonight after work …
Okay, in truth, even though I’m sure it’ll taste ah-mazing, I’m the tiniest bit scared. I’ve tried escargot, frog legs and alligator, but scrambling a Cadbury Creme Egg makes me quake in my hot-pink Reebok Skyscapes. Go figure.
With JUST RIGHT coming out tomorrow, it’s going to be a busy week for me. (Not that I’ve been counting down or anything …)
If getting your name out there is half the battle, I should be winning this war. I feel as if I’ve been screaming my name from the top of the Empire State Building and scattering my book titles to the wind.
Among the places I’ve been popping up:
• Abigail Sharpe’s newest newsletter. Abs and I go way back. She’s the one who called me to tell me BEAUTY AND THE BALLPLAYER finaled in the FCRW Beacon. The phone rang as I left the post office with receipt in hand for mailing BEAUTY to RWA HQ for the Golden Heart. (Yes, in 2010-11 you still had to mail hard copies.)
I love the idea of including friends’ releases in my newsletter, so I might just steal it. You’ve been warned.
• I’ve been invited to be a guest on author Kim Smith‘s Writer Groupie podcast. My first podcast — and I’ll be doing it via Skype, so it’ll be on YouTube, too.
Gulp. On video, I can’t hide the extra pounds I’ve picked up since taking my author photo …
Seriously, though. I’m both nervous and excited. Now that the antenna fell off my car and I can’t get it to stay on, I’ve only recently started listening to podcasts. Some radio stations still come in, but they fuzz in and out, so I’ve been listening to podcasts on the drive to work, or on longer drives out of town.
I find them informative, inspirational and entertaining. If I can manage to be one of those three, I’ll consider my podcast debut a #win.
We’re set to record the interview Friday night, around 5 p.m. my time. I’ll link to it when it’s ready.
• BREAKING ALL THE RULES is now listed on Night Owl Reviews.
It hasn’t been selected for a review yet (that I know of), so if you know anyone who reviews for Night Owl and likes romcom with a geeky bent, feel free to talk it up.
• BREAKING ALL THE RULES got its first review on Amazon — four stars!
Thanks, sjh in SLC!
• The 2015 Goodreads Author Cyber Convention starts Friday.
Click the banner to visit the fairgrounds. My “booth” is here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2223533-let-the-games-begin-arlene-hittle-s-contemporary-romantic-comedy.
I’ve promised to give away a $5 Amazon gift card to a new newsletter subscriber … so get on it. (You can subscribe using the form to the right of this blog post.)
• I joined Camp NaNoWriMo. Been adding new words to an old, old story that I’m revamping as a Harlequin Blaze. I submitted the first chapter last month during the #BlazeBlitz on Twitter, and now have everything crossed in hopes that they like it and want to see more. I could handle being a Blaze Babe.
If the title “Manic Monday” doesn’t have you tapping your toes and humming a certain Bangles hit, you must not be my age. I remember lying on the floor in my room, listening to that song repeatedly as I tried to write down all the lyrics. Of course, in sixth grade, I didn’t understand half of what I was hearing.
The song is especially apt since things have been crazy lately in the land of romance. Last Thursday was the big day: RWA announced RITA and Golden Heart finalists.
I didn’t earn a nomination — you can’t be nominated if you don’t enter — but I was thrilled for the chance to cheer my friends’ successes. Not just one but FOUR gals from my Golden Heart class of 2011, the Starcatchers, received RITA nominations, and at least one finaled in the GH. Two friends from another writers’ group I belong to, the LaLaLas, got Golden Heart nods.
Special congratulations to Starcatchers Anna Richland (His Road Home, Carina Press), Kimberly Kincaid (Pushing the Line, self-published), Tracy Brogan (The Best Medicine, Amazon Montlake) and Caitie Quinn (Worth the Fall, self-published); and to Starcatcher Arlene McFarlane (Murder, Curlers and Cream, romantic suspense) and LaLaLas Caroline Bradley (Indulge My Fantasy, a finalist in the GH’s new erotic romance category) and Kristal Hollis (Howlin Hearts, paranormal GH finalist).
I recognize lots of other names on the lists, and consider some of them my friends, such as Ruby Slippered Sister Amy Liz Talley, who finaled with her Harlequin Superromance The Sweetest September.
Good luck in New York, ladies. Wish I had the time off and the cash to join you!
In an attempt to beef up my blog, I’m planning to make Manic Monday a regular feature. I envision it including updates of what’s happening in my writing life — upcoming appearances, new projects, etc.
I’m also launching a Writer Wednesday feature, in which I’ll introduce other writers. I figure it’ll be easier to blog more regularly if I don’t always talk about me, myself and I. First up is fellow Turquoise Morning Press author Jennifer Anderson on April 15.
April 15? The dreaded tax day … and I have yet to do my taxes. I see a future of long hours cuddled up with TurboTax. Ugh.
Another regular feature on the blog will be the Friday Five — a quick list post of 5 things I’m loving this week … or find interesting, or … gee, I don’t know. Whatever the list is, there’ll be five things on it. I also plan to keep doing the “My Sexy Saturday” blog hop a couple of times a month.
What’s happening in my writing life right now?
— Turquoise Morning Press released Breaking All the Rules March 19. It’s the story of a by-the-book health care administrator forced by a new state law to hire a Klingon interpreter. The only applicant for the job is a devil-may-care guy with the appetite of a 14-year-old boy and a disturbing habit of flouting every rule imaginable. Get all the details on my Novels page.
— Just Right, part of TMP’s “and they lived happily ever after” set, comes out April 7. In this fairytale remaining of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” Goldilocks is Hollywood starlet Callista Gold, who flees to an Arizona mountain town to escape when hackers leak nude photos of her to the tabloids. The three bears are construction workers named Behr, whom Callie hires to renovate the cottage she’s bought, sight unseen.
It’s available for preorder now — the first of my books to be on preorder, so that’s exciting. Links to each bookseller are on my Novels page.
— On April 10-12, I’m taking part in the Goodreads Author Cyber Convention.
Click the banner to visit the fairgrounds. My “booth” is here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2223533-let-the-games-begin-arlene-hittle-s-contemporary-romantic-comedy.
I’ve promised to give away a $5 Amazon gift card to a new newsletter subscriber … so get on it. My newsletter comes out even less often than I update my blog, so you don’t have to worry about it cluttering up your inbox too often.
— In July, I’ll be signing books at the first-ever Payson Book Festival. The event is set for Saturday, July 25, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Gila Community College, located at 201 N. Mud Springs Road, Payson, Arizona. I’m sharing a table with my friend Susan Haught, who writes beautiful, lyrical stories. Her tagline: “Love is Ageless and has the power to change lives — one step, one touch, one kiss at a time.”
The festival wants print books, so I’m limited to selling Diva in the Dugout, Blind Date Bride and Home for the Holidays.
That’s it for this week.
Since dialogue is my favorite, this week’s My Sexy Saturday theme is right up my alley! I’ll share a snippet from my new release, BREAKING ALL THE RULES.
In this scene, Van and Allyson are having dinner together for the first time. (She won’t call it a date because he works for her.) They’ve been drinking, and the alcohol loosens her tongue to the point that she tells him her deep, dark secret: She’s still carrying her v-card, thanks to an overprotective father who scared off any potential boyfriends.
Happy reading!
***
A rueful smile replaced the challenge that had flashed in her eyes a moment ago. “I didn’t go out much in college, either. Being dateless all through high school, I was still pretty socially inept. I stayed in most of the time, studied hard and graduated in three years.”
Van absorbed the information, which gave him a new perspective. Maybe Allyson was stuffy and uptight because social situations were uncomfortable for her.
Before he could probe the topic any further, the waitress arrived with their dinners. When the woman slid their plates in front of them, Allyson eyed his dinner with more interest than her own.
He playfully shook his finger at her. “Ah-ah-ah, Ms. Red Meat on Tuesdays. You missed your chance.”
She gave him another pretty pout. At the same time, beneath the table, she squeezed his knee. “I sure hope not.”
Van reached for their margarita so fast that he knocked over his almost-empty glass of water on the way. Water dribbled across the table toward Ally’s boring-looking chicken and veggies, but he needed a drink more than he needed to save her meal. He polished off the rest of the drink in one gulp.
Thus fortified, he was prepared to respond. “I might be willing to renegotiate.”
Find BREAKING ALL THE RULES at Turquoise Morning Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, Smashwords and All Romance eBooks.
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