Category: Books & Authors

Welcome Guest Elisabeth Naughton

REUNITED…AND IT FEELS SO GOODnaughton_pic

Thanks so much to Cindy for having me here today!

Okay, first off, I’d like to say, “Hi, my name is Elisabeth, and I have a confession to make…”

I. Love. Reunion. Stories.

There. I said it. I’m a big ol’ sucker for second chances. Some of my favorite reunion stories include Judith McNaught’s Paradise, Nora Robert’s Birthright, and Elizabeth Lowell’s Eden Burning. Why do I love reunion stories so much? I’m not entirely sure, but I think maybe it’s because it’s nice to know no matter how badly you screw up the best thing in your life (even if you don’t realize it’s the best thing at the time), there’s always the chance you can make it right again. Personally, I don’t think I want to live in a world where every decision we make is permanent and final. Especially not when it comes to love.

As you’ve probably already guessed, my book – STOLEN HEAT – (which releases TODAY!!!!!), is just that…a reunion story. Pete and Kat had a whirlwind love affair six years ago, and then everything fell apart, leaving them both feeling betrayed and alone. Here’s the back cover blurb:

naughton_stolen_coverHis past tore them apart. Her lies thrust them back together. Now a killer’s out for revenge, but the biggest threat for both may just be the heat they thought they’d already lost….

Antiquities dealer Peter Kauffman walked a fine line between clean and corrupt for years. And then he met the woman who changed his life—Egyptologist Katherine Meyer. Their love affair burned white-hot in Egypt, until the day Pete’s lies and half-truths caught up with him. After that, their relationship imploded, Kat walked out, and before Pete could find her to make things right, he heard she’d died in a car bomb.

Six years later, the woman Pete thought he’d lost for good is suddenly back. The lies this time aren’t just his, though. The only way he and Kat will find the truth and evade a killer out for revenge is to work together—as long as they don’t find themselves burned by the heat each thought was stolen long ago…

I love this book for a variety of reasons – the setting (a good portion is set in Egypt), the research (I learned so much researching this book), the characters (Pete isn’t your typical hero, but no matter how betrayed he feels, he’s still got it bad for the heroine, even if that knowledge ticks him off), but mostly because it’s a reunion story. I love the way Pete and Kat are forced back together after six years. I love the way they have to work together to stay alive. And I love the way both of them fight what’s so very obvious to the reader – that these two are meant to be together.

What about you…do you like reunion stories? Can you think of any that stand out in your mind as being real keepers?

In honor of the release of STOLEN HEAT (did I mention it’s available TODAY????), I’m giving away a copy of either STOLEN HEAT (book two in the Stolen Trilogy) or STOLEN FURY (book one in the Stolen Trilogy) to one lucky commenter. Simply answer the question above in the comment section.

AND…if that weren’t enough…I’m hosting a BIG contest over on my website to celebrate the release of STOLEN HEAT. Go to STOLEN HEAT CONTEST to enter for your chance to win a $100 VISA gift card and a whole host of daily prizes.

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Wow, Eli, you give good goodies! Readers, please leave a comment about reunion stories to enter to win your choice of STOLEN HEAT or STOLEN FURY. I’d tell you to visit yesterday’s post to read the back cover copy of STOLEN HEAT, but I don’t have to. Eli’s graciously provided it here! But hop on over to yesterday’s post to check Elisabeth’s bio or visit her website to learn more about her and her books.

Elisabeth Naughton Visits Tomorrow!

My regular visitors know what a slacker blogger I’ve been lately. So I’m thrilled to welcome my fellow Golden Heart 2007 finalist sister, Elisabeth Naughton, to the blog tomorrow! Eli’s blogging about reunion stories and is giving away the winner’s choice of her new release, STOLEN HEAT, or STOLEN FURY (Dec. 08), the first in her Stolen trilogy.

About STOLEN HEAT:

His past tore them apart. Her lies thrust them back together. Now a killer’s out for revenge, but the biggest threat for both may just be the heat they thought they’d already lost….

 Antiquities dealer Peter Kauffman walked a fine line between clean and corrupt for years. And then he met the woman who changed his life—Egyptologist Katherine Meyer. Their love affair burned white-hot in Egypt, until the day Pete’s lies and half-truths caught up with him. After that, their relationship imploded, Kat walked out, and before Pete could find her to make things right, he heard she’d died in a car bomb.

Six years later, the woman Pete thought he’d lost for good is suddenly back. The lies this time aren’t just his, though. The only way he and Kat will find the truth and evade a killer out for revenge is to work together—as long as they don’t find themselves burned by the heat each thought was stolen long ago…

About Elisabeth:naughton_pic

A previous junior-high science teacher, Elisabeth Naughton now writes sexy romantic suspense and paranormal novels full time from her home in western Oregon where she lives with her husband and three children. Her debut release, Stolen Fury, was a 2007 Golden Heart Finalist and has been heralded by Publisher’s Weekly as “A rock-solid debut.” When not writing, Elisabeth can be found running, hanging out at the ball park or dreaming up new and exciting adventures. Visit the author’s website at www.elisabethnaughton.com.

Welcome Guest Blogger Barbara Freethy

WHY SECONDARY CHARACTERS ARE SO MUCH FUN…freethy_pic1

In my new Angel’s Bay series, SUDDENLY ONE SUMMER, I not only had the opportunity to create the fictional town of Angel’s Bay but also to develop an entire community filled with interesting characters. While I loved creating the central hero and heroine, Jenna and Reid, who have all kinds of interesting secrets and an emotionally compelling story line, I must admit that I had a lot of fun developing the secondary characters.

Minor players in a story can be quirkier. Their personalities can be more extreme. They can be flawed without any redeeming qualities. They can be saints or sinners or somewhere in between. There’s a certain freedom to writing a secondary character, because there aren’t any expectations.  They don’t even have to be particularly likeable; they just have to be interesting.   

freethy_summerIn SUDDENLY ONE SUMMER, I introduce several characters who will have continuing story lines through the series. One is the chief of police, Joe Silveira, who is half-Hispanic, half-Irish, and you know with that combination, he’s going to be trouble. Joe has come to Angel’s Bay after years of working vice for LAPD. While he’s thrilled with this new change in his life, his wife, Rachel, a realtor to the rich and famous in Beverly Hills, is nowhere near as happy. Rachel is brittle, ambitious sophistication, and finds fitting into this idyllic seaside community a definite challenge. But she loves her husband, or at least she thinks she does. They’ve been together a long time…fell in love as kids…but now find themselves wondering if their love can stand the test of time. 

Joe also finds himself reluctantly attracted to the charming, beautiful OB/GYN in town, Charlotte Adams. Charlotte has her own problems. After coming back to Angel’s Bay after her father’s funeral, she is dealing with her mother and a strained mother-daughter relationship that continually tests her patience. She’s also shocked when her old boyfriend, Andrew, turns up in town as the new minister. Charlotte has secrets in her past that she doesn’t want Andrew or anyone else to find out.

The challenge of writing books with multiple characters is to make sure the secondary characters stay in their place and are used to enhance the feature couple and at times echo themes in the plot. Sometimes the secondary characters demand their day in the sun and become a feature couple in another book. One of the secondary characters in my book, SILENT RUN, was an eccentric painter who had a beautiful ethereal personality but painted monstrous grotesques pictures of murders, usually after awakening from a nightmare. Catherine eventually got her own story in SILENT FALL, but she originally started out as a throwaway character who could provide a clue to a crime. Who knew those horrific paintings would make me want to write her story? I certainly didn’t. But then I’m a writer who loves to plot out only the basic story line and find additional inspiration along the way.

So who are some of your favorite secondary characters? Anyone stand out?

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Please leave a comment to enter to win a copy of SUDDENLY ONE SUMMER. To read the back cover copy and Barbara’s bio, visit yesterday’s post. To learn more about Barbara and her books, please visit her website.

Barbara Freethy Visits Tomorrow

I’m delighted to announce that Pocket Books author Barbara Freethy is visiting tomorrow. Barbara’s blogging about secondary characters and is giving away a copy of SUDDENLY ONE SUMMER, Book One in her new Angel’s Bay Series.

About SUDDENLY ONE SUMMER:

In the California coastal town of Angel’s Bay, there’s a legend many believe is true…that sometimes when the light is right, angels dance above the waves, and good triumphs over evil… Award-winning, bestselling author Barbara Freethy enchants with the first book in a series that will capture your heart.

Jenna Davies flees to the close-knit community of Angel’s Bay with a seven-year-old child, a dangerous secret and a heart full of pain. She wants nothing more than to live a quiet life, but when she sees a teenager plunge off the pier, she doesn’t hesitate to dive in after her. Saving the desperate girl’s life thrusts Jenna into a spotlight she can ill afford. Suddenly everyone in town wants to know her story—a story that could cost her life.

Reid Tanner was once a tough reporter before a shattering incident changed everything.  Now all his instincts are on alert. Who is Jenna and what is she hiding?  He wants answers, but his quest for the truth could put them all in danger. They say love is a miracle, but can it keep Jenna safe in his arms?

About Barbara:freethy_pic

Barbara Freethy celebrates the release of her 25th novel with SUDDENLY ONE SUMMER. Barbara’s books, which range from contemporary to romantic suspense and women’s fiction, have regularly appeared on national bestseller lists including USA Today, Borders and Barnes and Noble. She is a four-time RITA Finalist and won the RITA for her contemporary, DANIEL’S GIFT. For a complete list of books and excerpts, check out Barbara’s website. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

Books to Film

msk-movie-157The other night I saw MY SISTER’S KEEPER with my mom and the Little Pisser. My mom lent me the book by Jodi Picoult two weeks ago, but naturally I forgot to read it until I realized the movie was looming (um, don’t visit the link to Jodi’s website, if you were thinking about it, until you read my spoiler alert, down below). So I ate the book with my brain, finishing this weekend. Usually, I’m disappointed in movies made from books. But MY SISTER’S KEEPER, the movie, which was pretty decent, was a good representation of the novel. The movie even kept the multiple first-person viewpoints of the book intact.

Sure, the movie wandered from the book here and there, but not in a way that bothered me. Even the ending didn’t bother me, but…okay, I’m going to have to put this part in white font, because it’s a spoiler. If you’ve read the novel and plan to see the movie, DON’T READ this spoiler. If you’ve seen the movie and now really want to read the novel, DON’T HIGHLIGHT the big white section below. If you don’t give a rip and want to read the spoiler, anyway, highlight the white section with your cursor. My words will magically appear! (I am truly amazing sometimes).

SPOILER ALERT!! (Just in case I wasn’t clear).

The movie changes the ending of the book big time. I can kind of understand why the producers, the director, or whoever makes these decisions, did change the ending. In the novel, the ending was a complete surprise to me. It worked, on the page, but it might have come across a bit too soap-operish on the big screen. You see, in the movie, the wrong sister dies.

In the novel, the sister with cancer doesn’t die. The courtroom scenes play out pretty much like they do in the novel, except for one part in the novel where Anna, the sister without cancer, tells her lawyer that what she wished for the future was to see her sister alive in ten years. That she would gladly give her sister her kidney if her sister would allow her to.

Then the lawyer and Anna drive off in the pouring rain, get in a car accident, and Anna dies. Yes, Anna dies. Well, she’s brain dead, hooked up to machines, and Kate, the sister who needs the transplant is still alive. The parents are trying to decide what to do when the lawyer rushes in to announce that Anna wanted to give her sister the kidney, Kate will die without the surgery, so sign the organ donor forms.

The novel ends with an epilogue set ten years later. Kate survived her cancer and has gone on to live a rewarding life. Now, you tell me, isn’t that a huge departure from the film, where Anna doesn’t give Kate her kidney and Kate dies?

End of Spoiler.

Spoiler P.S. What I discuss in the spoiler is addressed on Jodi Picoult’s website and includes her thoughts on it, so I’m warning you, don’t visit her website link if you don’t want to know.

I don’t want to discuss MY SISTER’S KEEPER, the movie, or even MSK, the novel, because I don’t want to ruin it for others. But the experience got me thinking about other novels to film. Which have worked for you and which haven’t? I was super disappointed in the film adaptation of SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD. I read the book before the movie. I loved the book and couldn’t have given two hoots about the film. However, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, I saw the movie before I read the book, and I enjoyed both greatly. FIRST BLOOD, I’ve never read the book, and I thought the movie was great. So maybe I should stop reading books before seeing the movie. But that’s hard to do when you don’t know which books will get made into movies.

Do you prefer to read the book and then see the movie, or vice versa? Does it drive you nuts when the movie veers extensively from the book? Or can you separate them in your mind and enjoy both versions for what they are? 

If you’re interested in sharing your thoughts with the director and screenwriter about the book-to-film process of MY SISTER’S KEEPER, you can do so here.

Margay Leah Justice Visits Tomorrow

Tomorrow please welcome Second Wind Publishing author, Margay Leah Justice, to the blog. Margay is blogging about publishing her book with a small press and will give a copy of NORA’S SOUL, available on Amazon.

About NORA’S SOUL:

When angels of light and dark collide on earth…

Once he held a favored position in the heavens. But one moment of weakness casts Dante out and now he is cursed to walk the earth, collecting the souls of vulnerable women to buy his way into hell.

All hell breaks loose…

But standing in his way is Peter, an angel of light. Peter is everything Dante is not. Pure, above reproach. And determined to prevent Dante from achieving his goals. Peter will stop at nothing to protect the souls in his charge, even if it means achieving the impossible—leading Dante back onto the right path.

And no one is safe from the fall-out.

Nora Kendall believed in angels. Once. But then she lost her brother to cancer despite all of her prayers—and she lost her faith in all things angelic. Now, she is a lost soul who wanders through life like a sleepwalker, playing it safe and leaving the risk-taking to others.

Kyle Cameron is one of those risks. Burned by a bad marriage, his only concern now is providing a stable life for his children, who are left motherless by the unexpected death of his wife. This means working overtime to grow his architectural firm into a viable business—and leaving the care of his children to the care of someone he trusts. Despite his past connection with Nora, Kyle isn’t certain that she’s the right person for the job. He also doesn’t want to reconnect with her and repeat history.

But fate—and the machinations of two angels—has other ideas.

About Margay:justice_pic

Margay Leah Justice is the author of the book, NORA’S SOUL, from Second Wind Publishing, LLC. She lives in Massachusetts with her two daughters and their two rambunctious cats.