An Interview with Murphy

By Jennifer Lowery (Guest Blogger)

Hi Lisabet and all you fabulous readers out there *waves* Thank you so much for having me today! My contemporary romance, Murphy’s Law, released this month so I’m very excited to be here! Thank you so much for sharing it with me!! 

Murphy’s Law touched a deep part of me. For many reasons. Mostly, because the heroine, Sara, had to face one of my biggest fears. Overcoming this fear was hard for her and Murphy was there to help her through it, but not without being forced to face his own demons. It was quite a journey for the two of them. For all of us. I didn’t come out of it untouched. I think writers face their own fears and hurts and needs when they write, even if they don’t realize it. Writing is therapeutic. And I love it even when I’m putting my characters through the ringer. I once read that you should put your characters in a tree and throw rocks at them. It’s a play off a formulation for a movie script, I believe. And excellent advice to add conflict and tension to your writing.

Well, Jon and Sara certainly had a lot of rocks thrown at them, but they weren’t always physical rocks. Many of them were emotional. I thought I’d give you a chance to talk with them and see how they handled some of those moments when I tormented them J Please welcome Jon and Sara.

Jennifer: Thanks for coming today. Did either of you ever think your life would end up in a book?

Jon: No, and I don’t like it.

Sara: *small chuckle* Not really, no.

Jennifer: Are you happy with the genre I placed you in?

Jon: *shrugs*

Sara: Definitely. I like contemporary romance. I’ve actually started reading it.

Jennifer: What are your favorite scenes in your book: the action, the dialog or the romance?

Sara: *blushes and smiles* Definitely the romance. Thank you so much for bringing Murphy into my life, Jen. Our love life is incredible.

Jon: *scowls*

Jennifer: Did you have a hard time convincing me to write any particular scenes for you?

Jon: No, you seemed ready to write.

Sara: I agree. You were very willing. I think we were more hesitant than you sometimes. But it all worked out in the end.

Jennifer: If you could rewrite anything in the book, what would it be?

Jon: *voice hard* I never would have let Sara leave the ranch on her own. What were you thinking, Jen?

Sara: *puts her hand over Murphy’s* Jon, you know why Jennifer wrote that scene. She had to. It was supposed to go that way. I wanted it.

Jon: You could have been killed.

Sara: But I wasn’t.

*Murphy scowls but relents*

Jennifer: How about an easy question. What do you like most about where you live?

Sara: *dreamy smile* The ranch. It’s beautiful. There’s nowhere like it in the world. Peaceful. Healing. It healed me.

Jon: *looks at his wife and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear* Both of us.

Jennifer: On that note, I’ll wrap up this interview and give the readers a blurb and excerpt from the book. *leaves the couple alone just as Murphy leans in to kiss his wife*

Murphy’s Law/Contemporary Romance

Blurb

Nowhere to go. No place to hide.

Home is the last place Jon Murphy can go. After being held captive in Tazbekistan, he returns to the States only to find he can’t face his mom and sisters with what he did while he was a prisoner, so he retreats to the mountains.

Widow Sara Sheldon has made a lifetime of mistakes and is now running scared from her husband’s powerful family, who are determined to take her daughter away from her. When her little girl goes missing in the Rockies, Sara enlists the only help she can find: a gruff recluse with tracking skills to admire and a body to covet.

A storm strands Sara and her daughter at Murphy’s cabin, leaving her no choice but to hope her in-laws don’t catch up while she plans where to run next. Murphy resents the invasion of his privacy, but can’t seem to keep his mind--or his hands--off Sara. How can she stand to look at him, with all his scars? He’s not nearly as honorable as she might think…only enough to make sure she’s safe, and then he’ll go back to being alone, the way he should be.

CONTENT WARNING: Sexual content

A Lyrical Press Contemporary Romance

Excerpt

Murphy sat at the kitchen table, half in the shadows created by the soft light glowing above the stove, hair tousled from sleep. Naked to the waist. A bottle of amber liquid sat in front of him, an empty glass in his hand. Her gaze landed on his muscled shoulders and trailed across his tanned chest. So much for getting him out of her mind. Now she had the real thing to dream about. Looking at the dark hairs that veed down his chest and disappeared behind the table, she decided he’d been right. He was a dangerous man.

She tore her gaze away from temptation and looked at the granite lines of his face. Beneath the hardness of his expression, something haunting lingered. Drawn, she circled the table to the opposite end.

Murphy met her eyes with coldness that should have sent her running for the safety of her room, but she remained standing in place. He wanted to chase her away. This time she wasn’t running.

“Mind if I join you?” She grabbed a glass and from the cupboard and reached over his shoulder for the bottle.

His hand snaked out and wrapped around hers, preventing her from pouring a drink.

“I mind,” he growled.

“Well, get over it. I need a drink.”

Scowling, he let go of her hand and allowed her to pour a glass for herself. She refilled his glass next, set the bottle on the table, moved to the chair beside him and sat, lifting her glass.

“Cheers.” She brought the glass to her lips. His gaze as she drained the glass made her fight the urge to cough as the fiery liquid burned its way down her throat. Seconds later she felt the familiar warming sensation as it numbed her insides. Her eyes filled with tears. She blinked them away and reached for the bottle.

Murphy held it away from her. “What are you doing?”

“Having a drink. I’m not in the mood for warm milk tonight.”

His eyes darkened and narrowed. “You don’t strike me as the drinking type.”

She wasn’t, but tonight it sounded good. Maybe it would soothe away her problems and make her forget how screwed-up her life was. Talking about Kent earlier had brought back painful memories. She didn’t want to feel that misery anymore.

“Maybe you don’t know my type,” she said.

He studied her closely for a moment before rubbing a hand over his face. “Go back to bed, Sara. Sleep it off.”

“I don’t want to sleep it off. I’m tired of thinking about it.”

Maybe it was the whisky, or his naked chest, or the part of her that had been dormant for six years coming back to life. More than anything she wanted to discover it with Murphy, her strong, scarred hero.

She rose to her feet. He watched warily as she stepped in front of him and positioned herself between him and the table. He leaned back in his chair and sent her a thunderous look.

“You and I are alike in many ways, Murphy,” she said softly. “We’ve both lost pieces of ourselves we can’t ever get back and it has forced us into a life of loneliness and solitude. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of being alone.”

He pinned her with a hard glare. “I’m not what you want. Go back to your room before I do something we’ll both regret in the morning.”

His harshly spoken words sent little electrical shocks through her body.

“I’m tired of people telling me what I want.”

Author Bio:

Jennifer Lowery grew up reading romance novels in the back of her math book and on the bus to school, and never wanted to be anything but a writer. Her summers were spent sitting at the kitchen table with her sisters spinning tales of romance and intrigue and always with a tall glass of ice tea at their side.

Today, Jennifer is living that dream and she couldn’t be happier to share her passion with her readers. She loves everything there is about romance. Her stories feature alpha heroes who meet their match with strong, independent heroines. She believes that happily ever after is only the beginning of her stories. And the road to that happy ending is paved with action, adventure, and romance. As her characters find out when they face danger, overcome fears, and are forced to look deep within themselves to discover love.

Jennifer lives in Michigan with her husband and two children. When she isn’t writing she enjoys reading and spending time with her family.

Find Jennifer:

Author Website   Facebook   Twitter   Romance Recipes

Buy Murphy’s Law:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

iTunes

Lyrical Press

Thank you for having me today, Lisabet!! I just want to send out a big THANK YOU to all my readers out there! Without you I wouldn’t be here. My wish is to one day meet each and every one of you so I can personally thank you for your generosity and support! 
All my best, 
Jennifer