Hi Sarah, so lovely to welcome you here today and be part of your new tour! After Midnight, your new release, is receiving some fantastic reviews and I can't wait to get to it. I will be downloading my copy TODAY, promise!
Okay, looking forward to hear what you want to talk about. Over to you...
Why do I write romance?
I didn’t always want to be a writer. Wait, can you hear that? That noise is my family unanimously hollering, “Yeah, right!” Sorry, family, but it’s true. Had you asked Sarah Grimm, the young girl, what she wanted to be when she grew up, she would have given a different answer every time. My dream changed like the blowing of the wind through the trees, or with whatever story I was reading. Then, I picked up my first romance novel and oh…my…God! I’d always loved to read, and suddenly I had discovered a whole new world. A world I could get lost in, where no matter how impossible the odds, a happily-ever-after always waited. Let me tell you, for a die-hard romantic, this was nirvana!
What? No shock and awe that I’m a die-hard romantic? Learning that bit probably doesn’t surprise you, does it? I believe in love, not just as a fundamental part of human relationships, but as a force that can heal emotional scars. I truly believe someone exists for each of us—a person we are destined to find. Our other half. A soul mate. Perhaps the surprising part is that I’ve always believed this—even as a young girl.
I love reading romance. But, I love writing romance even more—bringing two people together, even if it is only in my imagination. I love the stuttered heartbeats when the hero and heroine first meet—that first glance. Hell, I love the second and third glances! I love the gut punch of sexual awareness, the sweetness of that first kiss, and the momentary panic over the realization they’ve fallen in love. I love the idea how even at the worst of times, at those moments when you least expect it, two people can find love. I love the idea of good conquering evil, of the hero and heroine winning against all odds, and the bad guy ‘getting what he deserves’ in the end.
So what about you? If you’re a writer, why do you write romance? Readers, why do you read it?
~*~
Thirteen years—that's how long Isabeau Montgomery has been living a lie. After an automobile accident took her mother's life, Izzy hid herself away, surviving the only way she knew how. Now she is happy in her carefully reconstructed life. That is until he walks through the door of her bar...
Black Phoenix singer/front man Noah Clark came to Long Island City with a goal--one that doesn't include an instant, electric attraction to the dark-haired beauty behind the bar. Coaxing her into his bed won't be easy, but he can't get her pale, haunted eyes nor her skill on the piano out of his head.
Can Noah help Isabeau overcome the past? Or will her need to protect her secret force her back into hiding and destroy their chance at happiness?
~*~
Isabeau leaned against the bar, eyes closed, absorbing the welcome silence. The total, absolute silence…that wasn’t. For the first time since she’d reopened the bar, no music played while she prepared for the lunch crowd. It would have been too much to handle what with the music in her head already at an earsplitting level.
The relentless, unavoidable rhythm kept her from sleep the night before. Today, it threatened to sour her mood. Nothing helped, not her morning run, a hot shower, or even the tapping of her fingers against the polished chestnut bar.
The source of her pain was obvious. The return of the man brought the return of the music. It ebbed and swelled, adagio to allegro, pianissimo to fortissimo. It wouldn’t stop and it was not to be ignored. But ignore it she must. She had no choice.
She raised her hand, pinched the bridge of her nose and pleaded with whatever god listened to make it stop.
The door squeaked as it swung inward. The echo of boots upon the wood floor drew nearer then stopped.
What had she done to deserve this?
“I’m not going to say it,” she mumbled before gaining the strength to open her eyes and focus on him. “You never listen anyway.”
His mouth curved into an irresistibly devastating grin, and everything female in her stood at attention. He strode the rest of the way to the bar, his every movement fluid and easy. Confident. Naturally sexy. His lean, rangy body was clad in snug jeans and a black tee. Jeans so worn and faded that only their seams gave hint to their original color. Jeans that rode low on his hips, cupping his sex as tightly as a hand.
Her body reacted before she could steel herself against it. A burst of heat snapped along her nerves. Her pulse raced. She was staring. She knew she was staring but she couldn’t stop.
Find Sarah here:
Website: http://www.sarahgrimm.com
Blog: http://www.authorsarahgrimm.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SarahGrimm.Author
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/SGrimmAuthor
But Links:
The Wild Rose Press - http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=191&products_id=4650
Amazon:
To answer your question about why I write romance? My answers aren't too different than yours. It's the belief in what I am doing. The fact that when my characters experience the emotion, the trauma or joy of their stories, I am writing from the heart and am right there with them. Love is the greatest, lol!
Great excerpts! Can't wait to get to this book - lots and lots of luck with sales for the future, lovely lady. Okay, over to you guys for questions and comments!
Rachel-
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for allowing me to spend the day with you!
Lovely post, as always, Sarah. Now, if I can only get Bitchy Blogger to cooperate because this is the third time I've written this and I haven't had my first cup of coffee yet. I might be "muzzy-headed", Blogger, but I WILL prevail. I'm a romance writer, and...and...we ALWAYS prevail. Where's my damn coffee??? Sip. Slurp. Ahhh...ok...why do I write romance?
ReplyDeleteI write it because I'm a gentle soul.
Romance equals hope. The hope that there's someone special out there, the hope that we can be loved--cottage cheese thighs and all--just as we are, and the hope that we'll always have someone by our side to face the cruel world.
Sarah, I wish you great sales. And if this comment doesn't post, I'm going on a Blogger hunt.
Great post Sarah and fantastic excerpt. My answer isn't very different either. I get to watch people fall in love and at the end, I always get a happily ever after. What in the world is better than falling in love? In a world where hatred and violence lives, right outside our front doors for many, I get to lose myself in a little piece of heaven where the whole point...is to fall in love.
ReplyDeleteMany happy sales, Sarah!
Vonnie-
ReplyDeleteYou are victorious! And I'm with ya bout the hope that we can all be loved, cottage cheese thighs and all. :-)
Joanne-
ReplyDeleteYou have hit on the very answer I give all the people who ask me why I read romance instead of 'something worthwhile' (they usually follow it up with 'You know, non-fiction). Sorry, but if I want the cold hard realities of this world, I'll turn on the news or open my front door. I read to escape, to get lost in the book and forget, even if it's just for a moment, just how cruel this world can be.
Sarah -
ReplyDeleteI agree with Vonnie - I write romance because it offers hope - that we can find someone we love; that we may have problems, big problems, but they can be overcome, that committment to one person is a gift that can last a lifetime, and though it isn't always easy (how many times in a day can you think about getting a divorce?) it is definitely WORTH IT!
Yeah - that's my story and I'm sticking with it.
Lynne Marshall
Another great post Sarah!
ReplyDeleteI have always wanted to write. I used to make up stories at recess on the playground for my friends, and they'd get the lead spots. As I grew up and started to read romance, I discovered I LOVED watching to people fall in love. To be there for their journey and to witness their HEA! And the best part is that now I get to create their journey, but still am there to watch! Writing romance is the best!
Just stopping by to apologize to those of you having trouble posting - i have no idea what's wrong and no idea how to fix it. Yes, I am a techo-phobe, sorry!
ReplyDeleteWelcome, Vonnie, Joanne & Christine - lovely to see you all here!
R x
Great excerpt, Sarah!
ReplyDeleteI had a childhood much like yours where about every couple of months I wanted to be something else. I didn't seriously entertain the thought of being a writer until high school. But then I wanted to be a journalist. When I started thinking of writing fiction, my first chosen genre was mystery, followed by science fiction.
I came to reading romance later in life while a stay-at-home mom. My first romance reads were time travels and I was hooked. Most of the books I read after that were romances in a variety of genres. The first romance book I wrote was, of course, a time travel.
Wish you tons of sales with yours!
You're right, Christine, writing romance is the best. :-)
ReplyDeleteSusan- Thank you so much. :-) I love time travel. Of course, I haven't found many romance genres that I don't like.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!