Romance for every woman - Guest Linda Bolton

Today we are featuring Linda Bolton a fellow Masterkoda. Linda and I took part in a blog tour last year (my first) and since then I got to know of the novel she had that she was trying to get out there to you readers. On December 29^th, 2012, Linda’s long time dream came through and today I am honoured to feature her book on my blog.

  

Linda:

Anjie, Thank you so much for hosting me today. I really appreciate it!

My first novel, Take 2, was released Dec 29, 2012. It’s a contemporary romance about 40+ year old characters, dealing with love, loss and lots of travel. Check it out!

 Anjie:

          Welcome Linda and it is my pleasure to have you. I read the first three chapters on Amazon about a week ago and must say I am intrigued about it, so go ahead and tell us about your book.

Take 2

Take 2 is a story of love, loss and loving again. There are travels, roadblocks, and struggles. 

Alexandra Daniels is a forty-something, hard-working mom, wife and employee. Her life has been plodding along at a snail’s pace and she’s longing for excitement. She wins a trip to her favorite talk show in New York, the Veronica Becker Show, and it just so happens that the actor of her dreams is a guest, Derek Dunbar! Is Alex’s life about to change?

Derek Dunbar is Scottish, an actor and a hunk! Every woman in America drools after him. He has his pick of women but stinks at relationships. At forty, is he longing for a more meaningful relationship? Does he even know how to have one? Is he willing to make the effort or will it just be too complicated?

Chapter 1

Alex sat in her chair, her eyes wide, staring at the screen. She loved the Veronica Becker Show and was a faithful viewer. During her lunch hour at work she would rush to the break room to turn it on. Veronica had viewer contests every week.  Alex had never won anything but that didn’t prevent her from signing up each week in hopes, knowing full well the likelihood of winning was minimal at best.

            “Today one lucky viewer will win a trip for two to visit New York and my show.  An all-expense-paid weekend!” announced Veronica Becker, touted as the ‘“Every Woman’s Woman’” by national magazines. 

            Veronica Becker had become a household name, a chef for the everyday woman: quick, inexpensive meals that were tasty, too. Veronica had taken her love of cooking to television and added a bit of fashion, some down to earth chat with the audience, and interviews with the latest stars. She was health conscious and wanted the women in her audience to look their best at any age. She also loved to give things away. Coming from a modest family, she believed in giving back. Generous to a fault, if there was an earthquake somewhere, a typhoon, or tornado, Veronica was there to help out.  

            “Our winner is Alexandra Daniels of Plano, Texas! Congratulations! We’ll be giving Alexandra a call today!”

            Her co-workers were staring at her. Had she really won?

            “Alex! That’s you! You won!” they all shouted.

            “Oh...my...God! I can’t believe it! I won!”

            Alex had the hardest time concentrating the rest of the afternoon. As a customer service rep for a marketing company, she was usually swamped with work but couldn’t concentrate. Two o’clock rolled around and Alex’s cell rang, a number she didn’t recognize.

            “Hello?”

            “Is this Alexandra Daniels?”

            “Yes, it is”

            “Alexandra, this is the Veronica Becker show. I am pleased to tell you that you are the winner of a trip for two to New York City and tickets for the show.”

            “I can’t believe it! Are you sure?” Alex was still in shock. She wanted to make sure there was no mistake. Josh would never believe her.

            “Yes, you’ve won! We will send your tickets out next week. Your trip is for April 15^th to 17th. Can you make it those dates?”

             “Oh yes!  I’ll make it work! Thank you so much!”

 “We’ll get back to you Monday to finalize the details. Have a great weekend!”

            “Oh, I will now!” Alex was amazed! It was true, she actually won! She was already mentally packing when reality hit. Josh would never take off work to go. Maybe Mattie could go with her....no, she had school. She could ask Kathleen, her best friend and co-worker, but they couldn’t take off at the same time. Kathleen was her back up so one of them had to be there. No, she’d have to go alone. Well, it was about time she did something adventurous. This was probably the most exciting thing that had happened to Alex in a very long time.

Take 2 is Linda Bolton’s first release which debut on December 29 in ebook on Amazon. When she’s not writing she is a new GiGi, playing with her new granddaughter Z, working full-time and writing. While working on a future projects Linda can be found:

On Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/lindaboltonauthor

On Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/#!/lindalou42 

Her romance blog at http://www.lindabolton.blogspot.com

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As someone who enjoys contemporary romances I am looking forward to this book, sounds different and very interesting. Besides, how many of us have fantasized about meeting our favourite actor and striking up a romance with him? 

M...M...M...Missing You Monday

So this was supposed to be a weekend post but blogger didn't post it as scheduled so here goes, hope you enjoy.

Tomorrow I will be featuring a new contemporary romance author and her new book, so come back now.

 

Missing You

When I remember you I remember the smell of your skin;

The scent of a man’s body just out of the shower, refreshing

When I close my eyes, I see your smile;

The way your nose wrinkled and the love for me in your eyes

When the coldness creeps in;

I remember your touch; soft, warm and enveloping

When I lay my head down to sleep

Your breath is warm on my neck, whispering words so sweet

  * * * * *

My heart aches for the simple sight of you

My body yearns for your touch; for what was us two

My eyes weep at the loss of everything

And there is a hunger for you deep within

  * * * * * * 

You who completed me for so long

How is it possible that you are now gone?

Not gone to the far beyond

But simply left me to weep and yearn

* * * * * * * ** *  

I reach into the darkness hoping to find you there

My arms return; empty, cold and bare

You haunt my dreams both when I sleep and when I wake

And every time I think of how we parted my heart continues to break

  * * ** * *

I want your touch; your smell; the feel of you in me

I need your taste, your heart, your love for an eternity

I begged you not to look back, not to give in and never to return to me

But how will I live, breath, eat, sleep or exist without you here loving me?

  copyright AnjieHarte © 2013

 

Anjie is Back!

I guess I should start this post off with an apology for the hiatus from posting and continue with a "HAPPY NEW YEAR".

I have been blocked. If you are a fellow writer you may or may not know what it is. I have lost my inspiration, my muse has abandoned me and with it a lot of things have changed in my life. But, why bore you with those details.

Instead I am here to update you on my writing. I am stuck on An Unexpected Desire, changed the plot so many times that now I am not sure where it is going. I haven't written anything new in months and I even though I have a few ideas I don't have the enthusiasm to carry it further, thus, I am stuck.

But I haven't lost faith and I intend to try and keep this blog going so that I can keep writing. Today's post is a little depressing to read, but from tomorrow I am going to run flash fictions. I am going to find random photos online and write a short story on them as often as possible.

Of course on Wednesdays I'll take part in the Horny Hump Day Posts by simply leaving very horny sentences with you, heheheheheheh

I am also going to try and invite a few romance, contemporary romance, erotica romance authors to do guest posts all in the effort to keep you entertained.

So don't give up on me yet. Stay tuned for more . . . .

Xoxo Anjie

Death of the Outline

I spent the better half of yesterday writing character profiles, researching names and reading all sorts of writing tips as preparartion for Nanowrimo 2012.

I came up the following: Four women who are connected by one and they are each searching for happiness in love. One of them is in a common law relationship but her partner has not fully committed himself to the union. One of them is single and struggling to find the "one". One of them is discussing marriage with her boyfriend of four years but has make it a neccessity that there will be no wedding without an engagement ring and the other one has three men vying for her hand. The story is supposed to follow them as they struggle to get their own way and find happiness in love. They will make mistakes, they have character flaws, they will push their men away and in the climax; be all alone. There will be a sub-story following their friendship with each other as it is tested by their character differences and strengthened by their commonality. It was going to be set in my home country with some local dialect, local places and local struggles of women. I picked out names for the girls, making the group of ladies a multicultural one from different financial and educational backgrounds.

So what happened to that plot, to those character profiles?

It still exists on paper but I don't feel like it has the power to make it to 50,000 words.
I read a writing tip yesterday which said, "Every scene and every chapter must keep the protagonist off-balance - things may get better for him/her, or worse, but they need to be constantly changing." (http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/Plot.html) I don't feel like I can do this for these characters. I don't feel they have that sort of impact or their story is such a great one to be told. Sure, they are not Mary Sues, but are their story intriguing enough that someone would want to read about it? I know you will say it depends on how I tell it, but honestly I don't feel I can tell their stories that well.

These women are a reflection of friends I have in my life, and their true struggles with finding happiness in love. I do intend to emblish every detail when I write it, but the truth is, it is based on people I know and I am not sure it that makes for something fascinating or gripping.

So as self doubt prevails, today I aim to either make their stories worth reading about by plotting my chapters out, or by coming up with a whole new idea. Which one I will do, I dont know, you will have to return tomorrow to find out.

Thanks for visiting
XoXo Anjie

NANO IS TWO DAYS AWAY.

What would drag me out of my cocoon and bring me back to blogging? Nanowrimo of course!

I cannot explain why I haven't been blogging or writing. Maybe it is laziness, maybe the muse went for a vacation when I did, or maybe life just interevened and wouldn't let me back to this world of escape. I swear one of the above is an excuse and apology for not keeping you entertained.

But now I am back to blogging and just in time for Nano.

This is my second year doing Nanowrimo and I can't explain what it is that I feel exactly. Am I scared? Yes! I have not decided on a story, or characters or nothing for November and it is two days away. Will I be able to come up with something? I have no idea but I still intend to participate.

Am I excited? A little. With fear there is this excitement of being able to shell out those 50,000 words in thirty days. I acquired it in 27 days last year and I haven't looked back on the story. I know all I have to do is keep a steady 1667 words a day and I will accomplish it but it isn't that black and white. I remember setting times to wake up at 3am in the morning to get words in, trying to accomplish 5000 words a day on weekends and pushing in whatever I can, wherever I can. The thing is we write when the muse gives us something to write about so planning to trot down the road at a steady pace is not something realistic at all.

I am reading all the blog posts by my fellow writers with their tips and advice but does that prepare me? NO!

However, in spite of it all I am not giving up. I aim to accomplish a few things during nano; I aim to get a novel written in thirty days, and I aim to keep you updated through my blog posts, so come on back weekly for updates on the craziness.

xoxo Anjie

We heaved and pushed and made it over the finish line

When I first heard of the words "blog tour" I didn't know what they meant. How was I going to tour around with people who live millions of miles from me? Then I was added to the secret group and besides feeling specially selected, I was bewildered. But Tasha, helpful as she always is, answered all the questions through her posts and clarified all my confusion. Now I was excited. Sure, I had a blog, actually I had two, but I didn’t know what to post about half of the time, and the other half I was rambling stupidly.

Now, a participant in a real live blog tour, I was posting on a weekly basis and writing too. Tasha provided the topics or sent us in search of them and I will admit there were several times that I was going to quit; hand in my honorary blog tour badge and sit with my lip hanging- defeated. But, I didn’t, I made it through 16, yes SIXTEEN weeks of a blog tour, writing a post for every one of those 16 weeks. Sure, they were not always on time, because I don't do PC time on the weekends, my glorious little angel demands my attention on Saturdays and the hubby on Sundays and when I am not showering them with attention I am busy in my little business. But I would still hurry into my office on a Monday morning and tap at the keys trying to bleed some words out for my guest post.

Of course the journey was not without its bumps. I have, in my eleven years of being employed, worked with all sorts of people and so I wasn't surprised to meet some on this tour who didn't keep up their end of the bargain. I do understand that all sorts of things arise in our lives to keep us from keeping deadlines, but if you can update your facebook status every ten minutes you can quickly leave a message in the TTC-VBT group informing the organisers that you won't be making this week's post. However, I know it didn't affect me half as much as it affected Tasha, who is a real trooper for having such patience with all the participants.

I, on the other hand, peeped out of my shell and trotted along the path, week by week, bringing myself out a little more every week until I slowly made it, at my own pace, over the finish line. I am a very shy and introverted person, who would not approach another person about guest posts, but after this blog tour you can bet I will be doing that now. The tour taught me how to seek out people who write in my genres and how to trade with them, a post for a post. I made a lot of new friends too. I also learnt how to post regularly by doing flash fiction and getting my readers involved in my WIP, also a way to promote it before it is released.

I wasn’t like the legend Usain Bolt, instead I stumbled down the path like an awkward child, falling down every now and again, to have Tasha pick me up brush me off and send me on my way again. But I was glad that along the way I got to meet a lot of wonderful people, like Tara Chevrestt; who I am in awe of because of her ambition to write and release romance novels, I think I kind of stalk her now on her progress and I tell myself, get going on your work, look how many books Tara has coming out. She has become somewhat of a role model for me.

I already knew that Ellie Mack was a straight talker and an avid blogger and was pleased to host one of those very "kick in the butt" posts.

I was inspired by Linda Bolton's blog and how she keeps all her posts about romance in keeping with her genre.

Bruce Blake and Doug Simpson got me interested in their novels and after acquiring On Faithful Wings in a free giveaway, I am now reading it and quite intrigued to see where the story is going.

Nikki Noffsinger taught me about vanity presses and I was very grateful for that lesson.

I learnt how to create author interview questions, and how to write author spotlights, things I knew nothing about before this tour.

I made it to the end because I didn’t want to be one of the persons who disappointed Tasha. Every time I thought of dropping out I thought about the fact that I wasn’t doing so because my schedule was packed, or I had more pressing and important things to do, but was doing so because I didn’t believe I could do it, and then I would go read the posts in the group and there was always an encouraging word from Tasha; offering tips on how to do the post, where we can inspiration from, inviting persons who were encountering problems to share the problems so she could work with them and so much more. I made it to the end of this tour without missing a post because of Tasha Turner’s encouragement, leadership and support. She is not only a brilliant and magnificent individual; she is also a great leader, guide and friend.

So now I congratulate myself for making it here and I hope I can continue to post at least weekly, using the knowledge I have acquired from the blog tour and keep all you new supporters on my blog entertained.

Thanks for the experience Tasha and all those who participated.

Kiss of the Dragon - a tantalizing excerpt by Ellie Mack

Now isnt this my lucky week; two guest posts in one week and by two very talented authors. You should know todays guest from Storytimetrsyts and her wonderful titlating writing. Today she offers a brush on the lips from her WIP.

* * * * * * * *

Kiss of the Dragon by Ellie Mack

Ever had the feeling that you just didn't fit in or that you didn't know who you really were? Isabelle Lennox is about to find out the hard way about her true self as she is thrust into a world of magic and dragons. True love has never been this dangerous. Kiss of the Dragon takes you beyond time to a fated love that's out of this world in this paranormal romance.

Isabelle attends a Renaissance Fair in a real Scottish castle with her friend to help get her cheating ex-husband out of her system. When a "black hole" headache strikes, everything changes. Set on the coast of Scotland and spanning thousands of years, Isabelle is about to embark on an adventure like none she's ever heard of before. A mystical land of dragons, mages, and treasures surround her as she discovers a truth long hidden from the human world.

While Laird Zane is discovering the truth about his heritage, Isabelle is discovering a world she never knew existed. The truth lies somewhere between the prophecy and fate, and only time will tell.

Excerpt from Kiss of the Dragon

*The following excerpt is Zane and Izzy's first kiss upon the battlements of Zane's castle walls. *

He laughed. Not just a slight laugh, but a full belly laugh. He reached for her hand. “You must have been a handful.” He pulled her closer, moving the wine bottle out of the way. His breathing no longer calm, but jagged. His gaze held hers captive. Tension built and coiled within her while she waited for what she knew was coming.

“I know this is very forward. Please don’t think me a rogue, but I’ve been sitting here listening to you, trying to focus on your words whilst imagining what it would be like to kiss you.”

Isabelle felt the heat snaking up her arm from his touch. She felt the heat within herself stirring. Hadn’t she wanted him to kiss her?

He brushed an errant strand of hair from her face and traced her jaw line with his finger. Leaning in, his mouth so close she felt the puff of breath on her own lips. “Just one taste.”

He pressed against her gently. A quick dart of his tongue against her lips beckoning them to part. She was helpless to do anything else. Her lips parted, allowing him to sweep her teeth with his tongue. A thrill rippled through her at his kiss. He lingered, daring to entice her to more. Isabelle brought her hand up to his chest, touching him, yet not pushing him away. She wanted more. He pulled back slightly, their lips a hair breadth apart.

Isabelle exhaled with a slight catch in her breath. His lips were on hers again, his tongue probing inside her parted lips. She was lost in the sensations. How long had it been since she’d let a man get this close? She’d forgotten how good it felt to be touched, to be kissed. On the other hand, it had never been even close to this.

A heat like a flickering flame warmed her. It started where his lips met hers and continued down, all the way down. Wanting. Needing. Raw. Hungry, oh so very hungry for his touch. Flames of her own passion began to build. She had her hand at the back of his head before realizing what she was doing.

Zane rolled towards her, still supporting his weight on his elbow. He eased Isabelle to the ground smoothly. Sliding his free hand from her face, trailing down her neck, and brushing against her breast. Hardened buds formed as the back of his hand brushed against them. Zane’s hand continued down to her waist, then reached around and pulled himself against her. A low growl escaped Zane’s throat a second before he covered her mouth again. It started gentle then grew more insistent, stirring feelings that quickly turned to raw desire. A slow sweep of his tongue in her mouth sent her closer to that ragged edge.

She could feel his hardness against her hip. Every cell of her being had been awakened with his kiss. Her mind raced with images of passion igniting between them. The desire he stirred just with his kiss was overwhelming. She moved her hand down his back, resting it at the small curve there. He smelled like strong spice and leather. She could taste the wine on his lips mixed with a stronger, fiery something. The vaguest hint of it touched her taste buds when his tongue tangled with hers. He tasted like heaven or decadent sinful desire, her every fantasy in the flesh.

She had to have more! Isabelle kissed him back enthusiastically, as each slight movement of his tongue stoked her own fire. She didn’t know if it was his amazing kissing or the spicy taste, but she had to have more.

Suddenly he pulled back. She missed the separation immediately. Her eyes flew open, locking with his, questioning.

“I should see you to your room.” There was a feral, barely restrained look in his. She heard his words, yet he made no effort to move. His breathing was ragged, catching on the exhale. “Else I won’t be able to stop.”

“I, I didn’t say you had to stop.” Her eyes pleaded with his. Her voice came out in breathy whispers.

A slight twitch at his jaws, his gaze never left hers. He contemplated briefly. He released his hold on her and got to his feet. Clenching and unclenching his hands, he stared out over the sea below. He turned and helped her to her feet, then silently gathered the items in the cloth. He grasped her hand in his and took off with a long stride. Isabelle shuffled her feet, nearly at a jog to keep up with him.

He walked her around the wall to the main house entering the doorway there. A guard stood just inside the door, he dropped his eyes, not meeting hers. Down the corridor he strode at nearly a race. What had she done to infuriate him? When they had reached her chamber door, he pressed her against the wall, lifted her face to his and kissed her firmly. He was pressing the length of his body against hers. His mouth claimed hers, demanding this time. Demanding her response, demanding she open to him. He moved over to the soft spot of her neck, just below her ear and nuzzling his chin upwards, grazing her jaw line with his teeth.

A quick gasp of pleasure escaped her. He tensed, and pulled back. “ I will say good evening to you Lady Isabelle.” He turned, and at the same pace barreled off down the corridor. She still stood, pressed against the wall when Merryk came around the corner to assume his post.

A knowing grin crossed his face as he came closer. “Perhaps milady, you should go inside your chamber. Do you require assistance?”

Her lips still tingled where Zane’s had been mere moments before. Dazed, and highly aroused she ducked under his arm to enter the chamber. Isabelle sat on the edge of the bed, staring at nothing, memorizing every touch, every taste. She had never been so turned on in her entire life. With Jake, she had never reached an orgasm. Not once. Not even when he went down on her. Jake apparently had no problem so it had to have been her. That was part of his reasoning of why he cheated.

Right, he was a no good cheating snake because she was the ice queen. She had come to believe it for a long while. But tonight. . . Tonight she was nearly there when Zane merely kissed her. She lay back on the bed imagining if things had progressed further with Zane.

It was a long while later before she regained her composure. In some measure she wasn’t sure she would ever completely recover after that kiss.

~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II~II

Ellie Mack lives in a small town near St. Louis, Missouri. She graduated from Southeast Missouri State University with a BS in geography/cartography. She has worked for Department of Defense, county government, as a substitute teacher, and various other jobs.  Her hobbies include reading, bicycling, playing Tombraider, and Dance games such as Dance Dance Revolution, and Zumba. Between being a mother to two teenage girls, a wife, homemaker, and a mortgage loan officer, Ellie writes paranormal romances.
Ellie’s first erotica piece is appearing on http://storytimetrysts.blogspot.com/

Ellie’s blog can be found at:  http://quotidiandose.wordpress.com/2012/05/25/passion-2/

* * * * * *
Well that was an emotional ride. The way Ellie describes the kiss and paints a very clear picture of exactly what is going on and how they both feel put me there in that scene and I felt as though I was Isabelle. The part with the tongue against teeth, took away a little from the mood that Ellie set for the scene, but not enough for me to loose it altogether. I was there with Isabelle feeling Zane kiss her below the ears, and feeling the heat build up in her and was just as forlon when he left.

That is my view of the excerpt, what is yours?