Showing posts with label new author. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new author. Show all posts

Monday, December 18, 2017

The inspiration behind my writing -- #SeasonedRomance #GuestBlogger @PeterPerrin44


By Peter Perrin (Guest Blogger)

A few years ago, my granddaughter self-published two novels on Amazon, at the age of fourteen. I was impressed with this and decided to try writing a novel myself, after all they do say everyone has a book in them. I thought that at the very least it would be a good mental exercise for my then sixty-nine-year-old brain. How much exercise I could never have imagined.

I believed the younger generation thought most people over the age of sixty had one foot in the grave, and were just killing time until the grim reaper claimed them. But, I knew that wasn’t the case for many people, so I looked for a way to write something to show them in a positive light.

Even though at this time I had never read even a single romance novel I decided to write a romance, with the hero and heroine both being over sixty. And, I came up with the idea of my characters being residents at a retirement village that was pretty much a private five star hotel. There was a lot of scope for activities and relationships and I was sure the idea would work.

Unfortunately, I had virtually no previous writing experience or training and no idea about planning, outlining, plotting etc. So, the book started off as a series of conversations, and developed slowly from there. Sadly, my inexperience meant that a lot of what I wrote wasn’t very good, and I had to throw away a lot of material as the book developed and the story just didn’t work properly. This meant the book took a lot longer than I had initially expected it to.

Before I really started on the body of the novel I created separate Character Portraits for both the heroine and hero. Then I created a virtual interview with each of them. On top of that I looked at how certain star signs are supposed to work together, or not. From that I came up with the idea the heroine would be a Pisces and the hero would be Aries. Astrologically it is claimed that for these two signs when their minds link it is magical. They stimulate each other, both in sexual and non-sexual ways. And they are also inclined to irritate each other. This gave me a strong feeling for how they would get on in the story and why at times they wouldn’t.

I think my decision to set my book in a retirement village was a brave one. It meant that much of the action would either be based in that location, or start or finish there. But, I felt that by doing so I had a perfect excuse to have so many mature people in one location, trying to get along with one another. And in some cases, they would be trying to do a lot more than just get along. My wife and I went to visit one such retirement village and were impressed by the facilities available there. It was that establishment that gave me the idea of having my imaginary village (The Grange) set in a seventeenth-century mansion that had been converted into a modern retirement complex with first-class facilities, rather than a characterless modern building.

As the book developed so I came to know my characters—especially the main ones—and began to think of them as real people. At times I could really feel them interacting together as if I was present as an observer. At times I felt quite emotional when reading back some of what I’d written and that made me feel I must be doing something right. But the highlights were when, on several occasions, I looked over what I had written and thought ‘that wasn’t supposed to happen’ or ‘I never meant them to say that’. I had experienced what I had previously only heard about; my characters had written part of the story themselves. What a remarkable and deeply satisfying feeling that was.

I submitted a sample chapter to a publisher to see if it fitted with the sort of work they published, and it did. After a year of rewriting and polishing the manuscript I submitted it and ten months ago I won a publishing contract. Now, at the age of seventy-three, my debut novel, Grace’s Turmoil has just been published by Devine Destinies as Book One of a series called ‘Not Too Old for Love.’ And within a few days it will be available from Amazon, both as an eBook and in paperback.

It seems that over recent years more and more readers of romance had become frustrated that all the heroines they read about were aged about twenty, whilst they themselves were on average at least ten years older. They were looking for heroines they could identify with. Women who had life experience and carried emotional baggage with them. Women who had experienced the pain of becoming a widow, or experiencing a painful divorce. In short, real women.
Unfortunately the book was finished before I knew so many romance readers felt like that, so I guess I’m lucky that my instincts drove me to write about the sort of people I did. Now it seems that there are a growing number of authors writing for this new market, which seems to be being referred to as Seasoned Romance, Second Chance Romance, and the like. I’m proud to be a part of that growing band of authors trying to respond to this demand.

This started out to be one stand-alone novel, but people who critiqued it along the way wanted certain characters to get their own book(s) later, so I decide to try my hand at creating a series in which each of the books would be stand-alone, but would be linked by at least one character from a previous book. There have certainly been enough interesting characters created to lead to another two books, and I have the seed of an idea for a couple more. This is exciting for me but has the downside that I’m going to have to write much quicker, and more efficiently in the future to make this possible.

Wish me luck.

Blurb

Divorced and emotionally damaged, artist Grace Stollery wants nothing more than to spend her semi-retirement painting and let time heal her emotional scars.

But when dashing widower Alfred Nobel moves into her retirement village he turns her life upside down and her heart inside out by awakening feelings she wants to keep dormant.

Alfred quickly sets out to woo Grace and slowly she warms to him. But the village’s resident femme fatale wants him for herself. Will she succeed in driving a wedge between Alfred and Grace?

Excerpt

Grace jabbed at the volume button on the remote control, turning up the sound on the television. She was trying to drown out the chatter which filled the palatial residents’ lounge. It had been like that for days, and she’d grown tired of it. Who would have thought the imminent arrival of one man could affect mature ladies like that?

One of the things which had appealed to her when she moved to The Grange retirement village was the lack of men. Yet a man who aroused feelings in her she didn’t want was going to add to their number.

Grace had caught a glimpse of him across The Lounge a few months ago, taking the standard tour of The Grange. He'd towered over the young woman he’d been with, and she’d guessed he was at least six-foot-five. Built like a tank, with a mass of wavy white hair and a snow-white beard, he’d reminded her of a polar bear. His presence had been overpowering and almost menacing. An image of him defending a seventeenth century mansion in days gone by had jumped into her mind.

Looking at him had sent a spontaneous burst of attraction rippling through her. It had caught her by surprise. Becoming attracted to anybody was the last thing she’d needed right then. Her divorce had been too recent and too painful. All she wanted was to focus on her painting to block out the pain. Although she hadn’t come there to look for a man, there was no denying how she’d reacted to the sight of him. She wondered how she would cope when they met. And she couldn’t help feeling he was going to have quite an impact on her life. Whether it would be a good impact or not was the million-dollar question. He might be the greatest thing since sliced bread! Or he could turn out to be a snake in the grass like her ex-husband.

Buy Links:

About the Author

Peter Perrin writes sweet, seasoned romances involving larger-than-life mature characters who will make you rethink your views on older people in a positive way. His characters are mature in age but not necessarily in their behaviour. They may not be in the first flush of youth but that doesn’t stop some of them acting like hormonal teenagers.

Peter was born in Romford, in the county of Essex, near London, England. For nearly twenty years he has lived with his wife of almost forty years in a quiet suburb of Swindon, in the county of Wiltshire, in England. He is a father and grandfather.

He is a former member of The Royal Air Force who has served in the UK, and in Madagascar, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia. He was also stationed for two years in Aden—which nowadays is part of Yemen.

After almost fifteen-years’ service in The Royal Air Force Peter worked in Engineering, Quality Control, and Procurement Management, not to mention myriad smaller jobs in between those careers.

Now that he is retired, Peter’s interests are writing, carp fishing, and (despite being in his early seventies) PC and PlayStation games.

His favourite quote is “Youth passes, but with luck, immaturity can last a lifetime.”


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Saturday, October 22, 2016

A Vision of New Orleans (#eroticromance #suspense #firstnovel @AnniFifeAuthor)


Luke's Redemption cover

By Anni Fife (Guest Blogger)

I began writing Luke’s Redemption in June last year. It was one month after I left the city for the beach, and changed my life forever. It was also the first book I had ever written, or even attempted to write. I was able to stave off my panic because I already had my basic plot outlined. The idea came flowing into my head a few nights before my departure. It was around midnight. I don’t know what triggered my creative juices, but suddenly I could hear Katya’s footsteps beating a desperate rhythm down a dark cobble-stoned road in the early hours of the morning. It was dead quiet. New Orleans was hung over from Mardi Gras. As I watched her, I realized I was looking through the scope of a sniper lens. Was I her hunter or her hero? Or both? My story unfurled at such a rapid pace I was terrified I’d fall asleep, and when I woke my idea, like an elusive dream, would be gone. In a mad spin, I turned on my bedside lamp, and spent the next hour typing manically on my iPhone. When I turned off the light, I had the beginnings of my novel. The next time I looked at it was one month later, when I sat down to write.

Completing my debut novel has been a wild journey. Seven months to write it. Two months to edit. Two months to secure a publishing contract. And now here I am, ready for release.

I wrote Luke’s Redemption for my own tastes. So if you like contemporary erotic romances with a lot of angst and some suspense; hot alpha heroes with damage; smart sassy heroines, also with some damage; and burning chemistry that dictates lots of conflict, and even more heat—then why don’t you give this story a go?


Blurb

Red-hot sex. Searing betrayal. A passionate and elusive love…

Chased by her criminal kingpin father, Katya Dalca runs to New Orleans and straight into the arms of Luke Hunter. Sucked into the carnal world of the French Quarter, she succumbs to Luke’s potent sexuality. He not only steals her breath, he steals her heart and the only leverage she has against her father. She is left with no choice except to pick up the pieces and rebuild her life alone.

Undercover DEA agent Luke Hunter thought his newest assignment—recover a stolen flash drive to gain the trust of the Russian mob—was like any other. But his target brings him to his knees, and after one taste of her intoxicating beauty, he's in too deep. Doing his job means walking away, leaving his heart behind with nothing but a promise to reunite. It's a promise he can't keep.

When Katya's past reaches out and her world unravels, her only hope is the one man she is most vulnerable to—Luke.

Excerpt

Luke and I drove alone. Lily insisted she was traveling with Gray and Tane, and clambered into their SUV before anybody could stop her. I didn’t want to argue with Lily. She was still processing the scare of seeing Dani unconscious, and Gray was a safe distraction for her. My distraction was my confrontation with Anna. I asked Luke about the beautiful—but skanky—Russian. All he would say was she worked with Nicu when he was undercover. A tense silence filled the vehicle and for the rest of our drive I mulled over how Anna fitted into the picture. There had been a weird vibe between Luke and Anna that I couldn’t let go of.

Had he used Anna the same way he used me? What could she have had that he needed? Maybe he just liked her!

We pulled into the underground parking at King Security and Luke parked the SUV in line with several other huge black Ford Expeditions. It appeared King Security had its own fleet.

Unable to stop myself, I blurted, “You were with Anna when you were undercover with my father, weren’t you?”

Luke pulled the keys from the ignition. In the deafening silence I didn’t think he was going to answer. Then he turned to me and bit out. “Yes!”

Wow! I didn’t expect him to be so honest. I sat back and folded my arms, tight. Damn, his answer hurt me. “So you make a habit of lying to your women? Being with them while you’re pretending to be someone you’re not? Is that your thing?”

“She wasn’t my woman,” Luke growled. “She was just a woman. She was there, I was there. It was never deep and it sure as hell wasn’t forever. Then it was over, and I made certain she was clear of the investigation. That was it.” He leaned towards me and said impatiently, “That tell you what you want to know?”

“Not even close. You made love to her didn’t you?”

“Hell no!” Luke snarled. “I fucked her. Like I have all the other women in my life. There’s only one woman I ever made love to Katya. And that was you.”

I went rigid, stunned into silence. Luke turned to open his car door. “You didn’t make love to me, Michael did,” I whispered.

He quickly turned back and leaned in close, right up to my face. His breath smelled lightly of coffee. I stopped breathing when his inky gaze drifted from my eyes to my mouth then back again. I felt cornered but also strangely alive. Then in his rough, oh so sexy voice, he replied, “You can wish that as hard as you want, sweetheart, but it was me, Luke, sliding through your innocence, taking everything you had to give. And it was my cock driving you to come, baby. Over and over again!” He stared at me a moment longer, then climbed out of the car, slamming the door closed.


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Luke’s Redemption is also available from Nook, Kobe, Bookstrand, All Romance, iTunes and The Wild Rose Press. 

All the Buy Links are available on Anni’s Website: http://annifife.com/


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Saturday, March 5, 2016

How I went from unpublished to author in 7 weeks! (#guestblog #glbt)

By Matt Converse (Guest Blogger)

I had read all the stories of best-selling novelists that had twenty-five rejections before they achieved success, but after I hit my twentieth or so I began to wonder if my journey would end in success. I had sent out my novel, a novella, and several short stories to countless agents, publications and publishers, all ending the same way. You know the routine, you anxiously await the email reply only to see those dreaded words in the subject line, “Thanks for your submission, but...” You don’t even have to read the email.

Then on January 9, 2015, everything changed. I checked my email and there was a response from a publisher I’d been waiting for, but this time the subject line said, “We absolutely LOVED Behind the Velvet Curtain.” I could hardly believe it. I hurriedly clicked on the email, and there it was. They loved my novella and attached was a contract from Comet Press. I was over the moon--and slightly hysterical. I called my Mom and she thought something was terribly wrong because I was such a babbling mess, until she realized what I was saying was that I was finally going to be published. My Mom was a great inspiration to my writing as she first got me into watching scary movies on Friday nights. This led me to writing scary short stories, and led up to me being an author in the genre of horror, mystery and thrillers.

This novella is an erotic thriller that fell naturally into that category due to the subject matter. The lead character, Matt, is a male stripper at a gay club In San Francisco.

As a novella, it would be an eBook only, so publication moves pretty quickly anyway, but this was being fast-tracked. Just seven weeks later, on March 2nd, Behind the Velvet Curtain was released. It all happened so fast I could hardly believe it. All the struggle and hard work was worth it. It has been like a roller coaster, and I don’t want to get off any time soon.

So the stories of countless rejections and then finally a yes are true. Every no is one step closer to that yes. Keep at it, and keep writing. Do what you love and you’ll find it’s true, success doesn’t bring happiness. Happiness brings success.

My next project is publishing my first full length horror novel, which I recently finished. I’m currently writing two books at the same time, a paranormal horror novel, and a prequel to Behind the Velvet Curtain. I also have several short stories completed.

GIVEAWAY! Feeling lucky? Enter to win a free eBook copy of my erotic gay thriller novella BEHIND THE VELVET CURTAIN. It’s easy, just email me at SFMattConverse [at] aol [dot] com and one lucky entrant, chosen at random, will win a free eBook copy via Amazon. Good luck!



BEHIND THE VELVET CURTAIN by Matt Converse

People have an idea of what being a stripper is like, and they'd probably be wrong. It takes swagger to strip for a room full of men but what goes on in his head might surprise you.

Matt was just a scrawny kid from Ohio who moved to San Francisco in hopes of starting a new life. He cut his hair, started working out, and suddenly he was desirable. But when he was up on stage, he held onto the same insecurities he clung to in his childhood. The stripper façade was complete, but inside, he was still the anxious kid he’d always been. 

 Justin was a young hunk living in the same apartment building. Matt previously would’ve thought Justin was out of his league. But Matt took a chance and approached, and to his surprise, the attraction was mutual. Over time, the off the charts sex began to turn to love, something Matt hadn’t expected.
 
But just when Matt seemed to have everything he desired, a stalker with a twisted obsession appeared with plans to take it all away. Sex sells, what it attracts can be deadly.

Justin was a young hunk living in the same apartment building Matt would have previously thought was out of his league. But Matt took a chance and approached, and to his surprise, the attraction was mutual. Over time, the off the charts hot sex began to turn to love, something Matt hadn’t expected.

But just when Matt seemed to have everything he desired, a stalker with a twisted obsession appeared with plans to take it all away. Sex sells, what it attracts can be deadly.


Comet Press buy links (includes Kobo, Barnes & Noble (Nook) and Amazon UK. http://sexfiles.cometpress.us/books/behind.html



About Matt

San Francisco's hot new author Matt Converse makes his debut with his erotic horror novella Behind the Velvet Curtain. He draws inspiration from a wide spectrum of influences, from Alfred Hitchcock and Stephen King to Lady Gaga. He strives to bring diversity to the publishing world.


Thank you so much for hosting me on your blog, I appreciate it.


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