A Shore of Secrets

by Megan Johns

I'm delighted to present my latest contemporary romance 'A Shore of Secrets' published by MuseItUp. LAUNCH SPECIAL OFFER BUY NOW AT 20% DISCOUNT

Here's the blurb:
‘Italia! Oh Italia! Thou who hast the fatal gift of beauty.’ Byron
And Venice is exquisite. Nor is the beauty confined to the place. Hotelier Giovanni Renaldi is tall, dark and devilishly handsome. Yet holiday representative Abi seems immune. Crossed in love, she is in no hurry to fall again. Plus his arrogance is so infuriating.
Surely the discomforting feelings he evokes can only be guilt at covering for his naive sister’s secret lover?
When passion finally wins through, the thrill of their lovemaking is soon wrecked. And Giovanni, proud and fierce defender of his family since inheriting the role of patriarch, is enraged to learn Abi has colluded with his sister.
But Abi quickly discovers her secrecy is nothing compared to Giovanni’s. As the family’s closely guarded secrets begin to unfold, she is sucked into their internal wrangling.
Is nothing what it seems in this clandestine community?
And can love triumph over the turmoil of scarred lives?

‘In all secrets there is a kind of guilt.’ Can Abi learn to trust, and Giovanni to forgive?

A Taste of Megan

The entrance to the Casa Mia was to the right of the piazza, now buzzing with early evening activity as people spilled out to join in with the pre-dinner passeggiata. A slow-moving river of holidaymakers glided along the pedestrian-only shopping street, reputed to be the longest in Europe. From time to time, a group would dip out of the main flow to browse around one of the endless shops that lined the route. Others scanned menus on display outside the equally proliferate
restaurants. Women in fine, tailored dresses and elegant gold jewellery promenaded arm-in-arm with designer-clad males. And then there was the younger set, exchanging playful banter, eager to show off their fashionable clothes. Families, too, strolled in convoy, at one in their low-key unfussy holiday attire. It was that type of resort. Nobody looked out of place.

  Abi paused to retrieve the note from her bag and scrutinised the writing to check she had not misread anything.

  “Hey, Abi!” A voice sounded from behind her.

  Turning, she acknowledged the client with a bright, “Hi. Everything okay?”

  “Great.” The woman’s low-cut dress revealed angry red strips across her breasts.

BUY

  She hunched a resigned shrug, accustomed by now to her clients’ ingrained disregard for the strength of the sun. Despite repeated warnings, it was an endemic madness for which the farmacia had an endless supply of high-strength creams. Thank goodness. The added complication of clients with severe burns would make her job intolerable. In the event, life was not so bad.

A trail of deep, pink bougainvillea escaped from the dense curtain of colourful bracts enshrouding the entrance to the Casa Mia. Stooping to push it back, she allowed a small smile to curve her lips.

  “Ciao.” A disembodied voice chimed the moment she stepped into the foyer.

  She turned to acknowledge Francesca beaming a broad smile from over in the dining room. The young girl’s perfect, naturally white teeth dazzled even from a distance.

  “Ciao,” Abi responded, her spirits lifted as ever. Francesca’s vitality bubbled over clear and bright, as refreshing as a mountain spring.

  “Come stai? Okay?” With careless abandon, the young girl threw down a handful of cutlery and proceeded to lay the table.

  "Così." Abi twitched a little shoulder shrug.

  Stopping her frenetic activity, the Italian girl fixed an earnest gaze on her. The brown eyes were anxious, almost child-like, as if a dimmer switch turned down the light in the youthful face. "Problema?"

  "I've come to meet Mr. Henderson." Abi swept the vicinity with vigilant eyes and then lobbed her a wink.

  A discordant clatter of cutlery resonated through the air. Francesca was by her side in no time. "He is no happy?"

  She grinned at the young girl, so fresh-faced and eager to please. Despite her best intentions, Francesca was like a butterfly—beautiful and graceful, always flitting here and there so you could never be certain what she was likely to do next.

  "Francesca!" Another disembodied voice echoed from the depths of the dining room, this one harsh and impatient. "Tavola!"

  "Un momento!" Rolling her eyes, Francesca blatantly disregarded the command.

  "It's okay. Mr. Henderson knows I'm meeting him here. You go back to the tables and I’ll wait." An oblique smile played at the corner of Abi’s mouth, reassuring the younger girl, and she pulled Rosa’s note from her bag, creased into neat folds, despite its dog-eared state.

  However, the voice was upon them before there was time to act. Giovanni's tall, dark form loomed out of the shadowy interior, the short sleeves of his crisp, white shirt a vivid contrast to his deep olive colouring.

  "Francesca!" A spark of temper lit his eyes to flaming gold and, with a commanding nod, he ushered his sister back to her abandoned duties.

  "Hallo." He turned to Abi, his annoyance curbed, and he adopted the cool, crisp, business-like manner that was his usual demeanour. "Can I help you?"

  His tone was mild, yet when she lifted her gaze she was hit by the piercing intensity of his stare. Her heart gave a little leap.

  "Thank you. I already have an appointment to meet Mr. Henderson here." Unsettled by the sensation of being scrutinised and assessed, she glanced aside. With a dry cough, she cleared her throat and endeavoured to regain the equilibrium he had destroyed. Her eyes shot back to him. “Actually, yes, you can help.  Maybe you could explain what happened last night? I need to complete a full and accurate report. There are a lot of unanswered questions at the moment.”

  He turned his watchful stare on her again. “It was nothing of any consequence. The fire alarm in the kitchen was triggered by some smoke from a pan.”

  “At one o’clock in the morning?”

  “Signor Donadini was making himself a snack. We hoteliers often have to eat at odd hours.” His manner remained bland, despite his obvious impatience.

  “And the ambulance?”

  “There was a minor mishap and the pan caught fire. Signor Donadini burnt his arm whilst putting it out and I insisted he should have the wound checked. There’s no need to make a drama of the situation.” Swiping the air with his hand as if to erase the words, he signalled the matter was closed. His body language defied her to question him further.

  A surge of anger threatened Abi’s equilibrium again. She, and not he, should be in the role of assessor. Yet Giovanni oozed authority from every pore. Not for the first time in his presence, she found herself struggling to maintain a professional standing.  She caught his ironic smile, as if he was enjoying her discomfort.

  “Is that all?”

  “Hmm...” Her tone was sceptical, conveying she was far from convinced, and her combative gaze clashed against his.

  For a fleeting second, his eyes seemed to spark. What the hell went on behind them she couldn’t begin to imagine. The moment passed. With one bat of his long lashes, he renewed his assault with a stare so icy it would have frozen a geyser.

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Lindsey Brookes

 A Warm Welcome to Lindsey

Romance author Lindsey Brookes grew up reading romance novels. She penned her first romance, a historical, at the age of seventeen. From there she went on to join Romance Writers of America where she learned the ins and outs of the publishing business and ways to hone her craft. She switched to writing contemporary romance and has finalled in/or won more than 75 RWA chapter sponsored contests with over a dozen different manuscripts. She is also a four time RWA Golden Heart finalist as well as a past American Title III finalist and winner of Harlequin's Great American Romance Novel contest. She's married to her childhood sweetheart, her hero, with whom she has two beautiful daughters.

Kidnapped Cowboy

by Lindsey Brookes          BLURB:

 After countless attempts to speak with the owner of the retreat for troubled teens she runs on the outskirts of Lone Tree, Montana, Caitlin Myers resorts to kidnapping Brandon ‘The Ogre of Lone Tree’ Barnes in a desperate attempt to change his mind about turning Stoney Brook into a vacation resort for the wealthy.

Retired rodeo star, Dalton Barnes, gets the surprise of his life when he’s abducted by a soft-spoken female with a ‘gun’ and taken to the retreat his family owns. He soon learns she’s kidnapped the wrong cowboy by mistake. She wanted his brother. Things go from bad to worse when a late spring snowstorm strands them together at the cabin. But it’s during their snow-in that Dalton learns why Caitlin has gone to such lengths to save Stoney Brook. Having had issues with his older brother himself and a not so happy past, Dalton promises to do what he can to help her.

When confronted Brandon tells Dalton he’ll hold off on his plans for the retreat, but only if Dalton agrees to stick around and help run it. Keeping his promise to Caitlin, Dalton agrees and what starts out as a common goal to turn the troubled teens’ lives around that summer ends up turning theirs around as well. Can a man who has always avoided putting down roots and a woman with a deep-seated fear of abandonment hang on to the happiness they’ve found together? Or will the past return to threaten their newfound love?

Love, laughter and a heartwarming read…

A Taste of Lindsey:

 

“D...don’t move or else.”

Dalton Barnes froze, one leg hiked up on the chrome running board of his brother’s truck one hand curled snugly about the open door.  Being held up on the main street of Lone Tree, Montana, where crime was virtually nonexistent, was the last thing he expected to happen when he’d driven into town that evening for a couple of drinks.  No, make that being held up by a woman on the main street of Lone Tree.

BUY

“All right,” he said in the same calming tone he used when working with horses, “I won’t.”

If his assailant were a man he might have attempted to wrestle the gun away.  Instead, it was a female jabbing the barrel of her weapon into his back.  A nervous female at that if the trembling of her hand was any indication.  Not a good combination.

“Good.”  Her voice shook as much as her hand.

“If you’re after money, there’s about fifty bucks in my wallet.”She let out what could only be described as an unladylike snort.  “That’s all?”

“Look,” he said, his patience slipping, “I can get more.  There’s an ATM machine across the street.  We can just take a walk on over there and I’ll get you whatever you need.”  He started to turn.

“D...don’t turn around,” she gasped, sounding panicked.

The barrel felt like a tree trunk pressing into his back. “I won’t,” he said, throwing up his hands.  “Just take it easy.”

“I don’t want your money,” she replied, sounding more shaken than he felt and that was saying a lot, considering he was the one with a gun barrel rammed into the center of his back.  “I want you.”

Okay, now that was unexpected. 





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www.lindseybrookes.comwww.possumhollowseries.com Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/lindsey.brookes.9?ref=tn_tnmn

Twitter - https://twitter.com/Lindsey_Brookes And BUY Kidnapped Cowboy at Amazon or Barnes and Noble click links
Many thanks for droppping by today, Lindsey

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Barbara Casey

A Warm Welcome to Barbara
Barbara Casey is president of the Barbara Casey Agency, representing adult fiction and nonfiction for authors throughout the United States, Great Britain, and Japan.  She is also the author of numerous articles, poems, and short stories.  Her award-winning novels have received national recognition, including the Independent Publishers Book Award, the Dana Award for Best Novel, and the Publisher’s Best Seller Award.  Her novel, The House of Kane, released in 2008, was considered for a Pulitzer nomination, and her novel Just Like Family received special recognition by the 7-Eleven Corporation.  Her latest young adult novel, The Cadence of Gypsies, was reviewed by the Smithsonian for its list of 2011 Best Books. The Gospel According to Prissy, a contemporary adult novel, was released in the spring of 2013. 
In addition to being a frequent guest lecturer at universities and writers’ conferences, Ms. Casey served as judge for the Pathfinder Literary Awards in Palm Beach and Martin Counties, Florida, and was the Florida Regional Advisor for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators from 1991 through 2003. 

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PRISSY  By  Barbara Casey

BLURB:  

Three Army veteran misfits, a college dropout, an unmotivated high school graduate accused of murder, a controversial warden of a women's prison, and a little girl with the gift of prophesy – these are the people 31-year-old Lara Kruger invites into her life after suffering a miscarriage, a divorce from an abusive husband, and unemployment.

A Taste of Barbara:

Miriam walked away from her desk and paused in front of the unframed full-length mirror she had salvaged from the recent renovations in the women’s shower rooms.  The edges were chipped and blackened, and there was a fairly large crack that ran vertically from one corner to the other.  The condition of the mirror was the result, no doubt, of one of many displays of frustration and anger within the prison walls before she took over.  Still, the mirror served its purpose.  On those rare occasions when Warden Miriam Temple of the Braden Women’s Correctional Institution needed to be sure she looked her best, at least she could do so in the privacy of her own office.


Studying her reflection, she saw a tall, aging fifty-nine-year-old woman with dark hair streaked with gray cut in a simple shag, myopic brown eyes made evident by the wire-framed glasses, and a raw-boned body that could be considered well-proportioned if it weren’t for the fact that it was about twenty pounds on the heavy side, fifteen of which had settled around her thighs and buttocks.  “Pear shaped, as opposed to apple shaped,” she frequently reminded herself, “so that means at least I won’t die of a heart attack.”  The fact that her ear lobes were also plump and didn’t have the diagonal creases indicating some type of heart disease seemed to confirm that fact.  She didn’t know if these old-wives’ tales she had grown up with were really true, but she liked to keep an open mind, especially when they worked to her benefit.


She normally didn’t wear make-up, but this morning before leaving for work, she had dug out her small tapestry bag that held what few cosmetics she owned and applied a little blush and a touch of lipstick.  She rubbed one cheek with her hand now, thinking that maybe she shouldn’t have bothered.  She didn’t need to impress anyone.  Even if there had been the awkwardness that sometimes comes with being a large woman, it had been replaced years ago by the confidence born from a privileged background and the level of acceptance and comfort from which she viewed herself.

Her dark gray suit and crisp white blouse were clean and unwrinkled, thanks to the prison laundry facilities.  The plain black pumps she wore looked both practical and appropriate to complete the over-all appearance of discipline, control, strength, and above all, a positive attitude.  It was the attitude within the prison that Miriam had worked the hardest on when she took over as head warden six years earlier.  There had been a stifling wave of hopelessness and despair among the female inmates so thick it made it difficult to breathe.  This was manifested daily in brawls, food fights, and a behavior of non-compliance in general.  “Animals get treated better than we do,” had been the mantra at the prison.

For six years Miriam had been working fourteen-hour days, overseeing the operations of the facility, staying on top of problems, writing reports, and talking to every person she could reach about helping to set up programs for “her girls” as she referred to them.  Each of Miriam’s programs offered something to a few of her girls, but not to all, something she struggled with daily.  She constantly researched what other correctional institutions were doing not only in this country but other countries as well, trying to come up with new ways to stimulate her girls and help them feel enthusiastic about their lives.

It had worked.  She started getting noticed after the first year of her tenure.  Complaints from the prisoners dropped, a State audit confirmed that for the first time in over a decade the prison budget would be in the black, and the over-all appearance of the facility was vastly improved.  Government officials who previously had been reluctant to show interest now started to open doors for this hard-working, persistent, and obviously dedicated woman. 

And then Prissy had been born.


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www.barbaracaseyagency.com

www.strategicmediabooks.com

BUY       www.amazon.com

http://www.barnesandnoble.com

Delighted to meet you, Barbara!
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Caitlyn Nicholas

A Warm Welcome to Caitlyn

Bio: I began writing in 2005. Exhausted, pregnant (sure I was going to expire from morning-sickness) and coping with a demanding toddler, I decided the time was right to embark on a writing career. (In hindsight I may have been suffering from a scorching case of sleep-deprivation).

 

Still, it kinda worked out. My debut novel - and the first manuscript I'd ever written - Running Scared, was published in January 2007.  My next book, Secret Intentions followed.  Then I had a short story published in the Mammoth Book of Special Ops Romance (MBSOR) in 2010 - my story is called The Grey Man.

 

In 2012 my novel Drive Me To Distraction was published, and my novella The Danger Game came out just before Christmas.  My next book, The Bunker, will be published in July 2013.

The Danger Game   by Caitlyn Nicholas

BLURB:

Flick likes computers. She’s good with them, and they do what she tells them, mostly. People, however, are more of a challenge.

But when a terrifyingly dangerous program is stolen, and her mentor killed, Flick finds herself on the run. The police are convinced she’s committed murder, and a sinister weapons developer will stop at nothing to force her to work for him.

In Ben’s line of work being suspicious keeps you alive. So when Flick turns to him, he quickly realises that she’s up to her neck in trouble and hasn’t fully grasped the danger she is in. 

First he has to keep her safe, and then, together, they have to figure out how to save the world from an epic meltdown.

Before treating us to an excerpt, Caitlyn Reveals:
 

From where do you get inspiration and what inspired you to write The Danger Game?

I love research, and that is where I get all of my inspiration.  I’ll pick a subject that interests me and research it, putting together a story as I go.  The Danger Game was inspired when I was researching for my next release (The Bunker July 2013). I came across a Wired article on cyber-war and it gave me an idea for a story.  A few days later I had the story plotted out and the first draft was done three weeks later.  If only all of my stories were so easy to write!

In a couple of sentences, describe the hero’s character.  What do you like best/least about him?

I do love Ben, the hero.  He works for ASIO (the Australian equivalent of the CIA). He’s picked up his life from a horrible start and is doing a job he loves.  He’s clever and resourceful, focused on the task at hand, but deep in his heart he’d quite like to be down at Bondi beach catching a few waves.  He admires Flick from the moment he meets her, and is intrigued by her very special skills and abilities rather than being scared away.  He’s just lovely.

And the heroine? How do you relate to her?

I want to be Flick’s best friend.  She’s very smart, a real introvert with a big heart and a kind attitude.  She stands up for what’s right, and when she makes a mistake she’ll go to great lengths to fix it.  She’s brave and tenacious, and when things go wrong she’s not hiding in a corner waiting to be rescued, she’s figuring out how to rescue herself.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? What would be your tips to overcome it?

I get writer’s block all the time.  For me it basically means I’ve got to a point in my story and I’m not sure how to proceed.  My usual methods of getting over it are…

1. Talk it over with anyone who will sit still long enough.  Last time I got stuck I put my problem out on facebook, an hour later a friend had come up with the perfect solution
2. Put on the headphones, crank up the music (to drown out that darstardly internal editor) and just get the words down
3. Research – this can give new ideas and suggest new directions
4. Chocolate / cake / mani-pedi – I am all for self bribery

Do you have a writing routine?

My routine is to write in every spare second I have (life is busy with kids and so on, so I have to grab every chance I get)

What can we look forward to from you in the near future?

My next book, The Bunker, is out in July 2013.  It’s a romantic suspense set in a bunker deep under the idyllic green hills of England.  Geeky Dimity Pond is the only person who can save the world from an epic financial meltdown, but to do it she’s going to need help from the reclusive and terse Lord Richard Summerhayes.

What was your favourite book as a child/teen/adult? Are you currently reading anything?

As a child my favourite book was The Dark Is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper.  It was the late 70s, early 80s version of Harry Potter.  I went back and read it last year, and I still love it.

Right now I’m reading A Man Like Mike by Sami Lee.  It’s a lovely story and I’m really enjoying it.

What is your culinary speciality?

I love to cook, in fact I love it so much I trained to be a chef when I was younger.  I used to have all sorts of culinary specialities, spend hours in the kitchen, host fabulous dinner parties… but then I had kids!! Yeah, that slowed me down a bit! 

One of my favourite and most used recipes these days is my four ingredient sponge cake (Recipe on my blog http://caitlynnicholas.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/lovely-smells-bake-easy-cake-recipe.html).  Quick, easy and the kids plus any guests that may be floating around really enjoy it!

Any exciting plans for the near future?

The next few months hold nothing but work, and for me that’s really exciting!  I love to write J My next release, The Bunker, is out in July, and I’m in the midst of editing it at the moment. The manuscript for my Christmas release is due with my publisher in June so I’m busily finishing that as well.

Now A Taste of Caitlyn:

“It’s your last chance with the Vice Chancellor.”

“I said I’d be there.” Flick didn’t bother to hide her irritation. “I just won the man a million dollar grant, what more does he want?”

BUY

“Your bubbly and fun personality?” There was amusement beneath Andy’s sarcasm.

Flick snorted. “All right. Okay. I’m leaving now.” She growled the words, and hit the off-button on her phone.

They both knew she lied.

She dropped the phone onto the desk. Then, scowling, she clicked on the icon that’d run the Bellona program.  It crashed instantly, and took the computer with it.

“Awesome.”  She threw herself back into her chair and stared at the ceiling panels, running the changes she’d made to the code through her mind.  Realizing it’d be a waste of time to unpick what she’d done, Flick rebooted her computer and went in search of a clean copy of the program on the backup server. 

There were two versions. Usually they only kept one, but she thought nothing of it, and after saving a copy to her hard drive, she opened it up.

She scanned quickly through the code, looking for the section she’d been working on, so preoccupied with figuring out how to manipulate it into doing what she wanted, she nearly missed the strange command, her eye travelled straight past it. But then she hesitated, and went back to the unusual group of letters.  They hadn’t been there before.

A logic bomb? Some little joke Andy was playing?

She ran the command and it brought up a whole section of Bellona that she’d never seen before.

“Bloody hell -” For a moment she simply stared at the screen. 

It was no joke.

 

 Pleasure to meet you, Caitlyn!

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http://www.caitlynnicholas.com

Blog: http://www.caitlynnicholas.blogspot.com  Twitter: http://twitter.com/CaitlynNicholas  Fb: https://www.facebook.com/CaitlynNicholasAuthor  Google plus: https://plus.google.com/u/0/105412279044420141735/  Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/783424.Caitlyn_Nicholas

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Leave a comment for the chance to win one of three prizes: a $25 Amazon GC and Caitlyn Nicholas gift bag to one randomly drawn commenter, and a Caitlyn Nicholas gift bag to two randomly drawn commenters during the tour.(International)

Angela Kay Austin

A Warm Welcome to Angela

Bestselling author Angela Kay Austin has expressed herself through words for as long as she can remember.  Poems became songs performed with her cousin at every family gathering.  But, eventually, short stories filled her favorite pink diary.  An infatuation with music and theater led to years playing various instruments and small extra roles in TV shows before giving way to a degree and career in radio and TV production.  After completing another degree in marketing, Angela found herself combining her love for all things creative and worked for many many years in promotions and advertising.  But once again, she found herself writing, which led to her first published work which stayed on her publisher’s bestseller list for ten weeks.  Her second release hit the bestseller list at All Romance eBooks. She’s spoken on author panels, and served on boards for various author groups.  When she’s not writing, you can find her reading her favorite authors, or researching her next story idea.  Angela shares her downtime with her mixed-bred rescue terrier—Midnight, in the beautiful southern state of Tennessee.

BUY click here

Here's the blurb for her latest release Derailed:

When you’re given away by the people who are supposed to love you forever, it makes it hard to believe love and family really exist.

JoAn Fentress thought the military would take care of her in the way her family never did, but that didn’t happen.  Homeless on the streets of Memphis, TN, she walked through the only open door she could find, and it changed her life.

Jeremy Hooks needed only to smile, and the world gave him whatever he asked of it.  Eventually, people stop partying, right…at least when they’re threatened.  He has one more chance to prove himself before he loses everything.

Before treating us to an excerpt, Angela Reveals:

From where do you get inspiration and what inspired you to write Derailed?

For me, inspiration comes from life: news, the local mall, church, wherever there is something happening.  All of it can give me the answer to the question—what if. 
Sweet Victory was birthed from my own life and today’s economy.  Everyone I know can tell me a story about someone they know who has lost their job in the past two years.  But, what happens next?  What if, they lost their job, and then had to return to their hometown?  What if there, they had an estranged grandfather and an ex-love?  What if there was a ton of history which they wanted to forget?  But, what if the only person or people willing to help were the people they’d hurt or who’d hurt them?
This basically becomes a story structure for me.

 How do you relate to the heroine?

I relate to Victoria James, my heroine in Sweet Victory because we both had to face what do we do after we lose everything?  When you have your life planned to go in one direction, and you hit a wall...what happens next?
I love that Victoria never gave up.  Even when she was scared, and had absolutely no clue about what to do next.

Who controls the story – you or your characters?

My characters.  I’ve tried to force story ideas.  Outlined everything.  Character descriptions.  But, the stories wouldn’t flow.  They would get stuck in the middle, but when I let go of what my ideas were, and let the characters tell me their stories, the ideas are much clearer and stronger.

 What do you enjoy about writing romance?

Contemporary Romance inspires me.  I don’t necessarily need fairy tales.  I need to know if I work hard, and don’t give up there is a reward.  That you gain ground, not lose it.  So often, fairy tales replace reality.  Or, worse yet, reality overtakes dreams.  There has to be a balance.  Why can’t life offer wonderful surprises or rewards for those who give it everything they’ve got: life, love, work, family, etc.

What do you like best and least about writing?

Not knowing what’s going to happen next.

What is the best writing advice you have ever received?

The best writers think their writing is no good J

 How do you like to spend your free time?

Living.  Doing anything that will allow me to have one more thing to write about.

Do you have any unfulfilled ambitions you wish to accomplish? What would you most like to accomplish this year?

There are a million things I’d like to do.  I’ve crossed several off of my list: acting, writing, playing a musical instrument, travelling, etc.  What I’d like to do is to continue to add to each one of these “pots.”  More of all of it.  Is that too greedy.
This year, I’d like to attend a conference.  I also want to achieve enough sales to be considered PRO by RWA.

Now A Taste of Angela:

Derailed

“Damn it!” JoAn Fentress sprinted through the traffic of downtown Memphis, Tennessee – not much compared to Nashville, but enough to stop her from reaching her car. “Wait! Wait!”

The young driver danced to the beat of whatever played through his headphones. He didn’t see her flailing her arms, and definitely didn’t hear her pleas. He continued to hook her car to the back of his truck.

A gust of wind, powered by the bus barreling down the road beside her, blew her skirt in soft waves around her legs. The faster she ran the more the ankle strap of her shoe slipped. With one misplaced step the shoe twisted, along with her ankle, and the heel snapped. She fell to the cold hard ground beneath her, tearing and muddying the papers she carried.

The pain of her ankle pissed her off because she didn’t have time for it. Tears filled her eyes, as she stretched her hand toward the tow truck dragging her car away. Damn! Damn! Damn!

The unwanted crowd of people hovering around assisted her to her feet as they questioned her. “Are you okay?” asked one short woman watching from nearby with bags of groceries.

She stared at the car wishing for something to happen. Something to stop that truck…to give her a chance to talk to the guy towing it. No food. No clothes. Nowhere to sleep. Anger forced the tears she held back to fall. What am I going to do now?

If only the people surrounding her would go away. “Yes, thanks.” She sniffed. Annoyed with herself, she picked up her torn papers and, with the help of a young man, tried to stand. “Crap.” The sting of the pain traveled through her left leg fast.

“Maybe we should call an ambulance,” he said with a question in his voice.

How would she pay for an ambulance or a doctor’s examination? “No, I should be fine.” Tears fell steadily and heavy, now, she wished she could disappear. If she just had a few minutes to close her eyes and make it all disappear until she could figure out what to do next.

“Could you help me to the church on the corner?” she asked. “I just need to sit for a little while, and I’ll be okay.”

He looked at her, at her tears, at her torn clothes as if he didn’t believe her. “Okay.”

Day turned to night as she sat on the back pew of the church with no idea what to do next.

Pleasure to host you, Angela!
You can contact Angela at these links: Website: http://www.angelakayaustin.com/  Blog: www.angelakayaustin.blogspot.com
FaceBook: www.FaceBook.com/AngelaKayAustin  Twitter: @AngelaKayAustin  YouTube: www.YouTube.com/AngelaKayAustin