1)
Did you
set any goals for 2013?
My
writing goals were pretty much set for me by my publisher. I have my various
due dates written out and posted on my desk so I can make sure I stay on track.
2)
What is
the best part of the writing process for you?
Hmm.
That’s hard. I enjoy it all. I think my favorite part is reading through and
tweaking what I’ve already written. I entertain myself all over again.
3)
The worst
part?
Big
edits that involve moving around scenes. Ugh. That gets complicated!
4)
Tell me
where you write?
I
have an office set aside for my work. And my desk doesn’t even face the window.
The only view I have is the words on the page.
5)
Tell us
about your latest release?
I’m
very excited about “What She Wants” which is about a group of poker buddies
trying to solve their woman problems using romance novels as their tutorials. I
truly love my hero Jonathan Templar. He’s geeky and shy but he’s so darned
sweet. I’m hoping readers will fall in love with him, too.
6)
Tease us
with a blurb/short except
Let’s
take a peek at my hero, getting his first lesson in the importance of romance
novels. He and his sister are about to hit the library book sale. And Jonathan
is about to get his first lesson in what women want.
Saturday morning Jonathan attempted
to ease his suffering by going with his sister Juliet to the library for the
Friends of the Library monthly book sale.
A stranger seeing them enter the
musty room in the library basement would never have taken them for siblings.
Other than their hair color they didn’t look at all alike. Juliet had big,
brown eyes and perfect eyesight where his gray eyes hid behind glasses. He had
a long face, she’d been blessed with a perfect oval
like their mother’s. He was skinny and barely 5’
8”;
she was long-legged and stacked. She’d definitely gotten the looks in the
family while he’d gotten the brains. Not that Juliet
was stupid but it quickly became apparent who the family genius was. In the
world of kids that wasn’t necessarily a blessing. When they
were younger he’d wished it was the other way around,
but then he’d realized how unfair that would have
been. Life was easier for a man who wasn’t all that attractive than it was for
a woman. Theoretically.
Their lives were as different as
their looks. Juliet was married and trying to get pregnant, a project that was
taking much longer than expected. When she wasn’t
working at that she logged in part-time hours at Mountain Escape Books or met
with her book club or hosted parties where all her friends had to buy candles
or face goop. She was an awful cook, a good dancer, and an avid romance reader.
And her social calendar was always full.
Jonathan’s,
on the other hand had a lot of open space, and he was stuck in non-swinging
single limbo. He couldn’t dance, but he could fix leaky pipes
and install dimmer switches, something both his sis and his brother-in-law
appreciated. Unlike Juliet, he read real fiction like action adventure or
sci-fi/fantasy, and the monthly fundraiser book sales gave him an opportunity
to try out new authors.
He’d
just scored big, finding a first edition of The
Kingdom of Zoon when Juliet, who was prowling the romance section a couple
of bookshelves over, let out a squeal.
Hildy Johnson, who owned Johnson’s
Drugs along with her husband Nils, was standing next to her and already had
several books in her basket, but she eyed Juliet’s
find with envy. “Oh,Vanessa Valentine. I haven’t
read that one.”
The woman was married and probably in
her fifties. Why was she reading romance novels?
“I’ll
loan it to you when I’m done,”
Juliet promised.
Rita Reyes, who had worked in the bar
at Zelda’s, entered the room. She said a quick
hi to Jonathan, then moved to join Juliet and HIldy in their treasure hunt. “I
hope you haven’t taken all the good books.”
“We saved you a few,”
Juliet assured her. “When’s
Zelda’s going to open again?”
“Charley says by June.”
“I hope so,”
said Juliet. “I miss those huckleberry martinis.”
“And I miss working there,”
Rita said. “I’ll
be so glad when we’re up and running again.”
A fire in December had forced the
restaurant to close; it was nowin the process of being rebuilt. It was a
popular place in town for both families and singles looking to mix and match.
Jonathan hadn’t gone there much.
Rita pointed to the book in Juliet’s
hand. “I love that one. James Noble is the
perfect man.”
The perfect man, huh? A character
made up by a woman? Oh, brother.
“Look! Here’s
Surrender,”
Rita said, pulling a paperback off a shelf. “I
love this book.”
A war novel in the romance section?
Jonathan edged closer and sneaked a peek. He saw no scene of carnage on the
cover, no white flag being raised, only a woman in a low cut dress and some
muscle bound guy in tights and a shirt he forgot to button doing a back bend
over the kind of fancy bed no man would want to sleep in. Looking at the way
the guy was holding her made Jonathan’s back hurt.
“Oh, my gosh, yes,”
agreed Juliet. “There’s
a hero to die for. I love the scene where he throws himself in front of her and
gets stabbed.”
“And how often does that happen in
real life?” Jonathan scoffed under his breath.
The women looked at him as if he’d
uttered blasphemy.
Juliet raised a delicate eyebrow at
him. “Probably as often as a giant bubble
floats to Earth and gives magical powers to the first fool who touches it.”
Rita snickered and Jonathan, properly
chastized and feeling like he’d stuck his face in a firepit, moved
to a safer corner of the room and perused the home improvement section.
Turning his back to Juliet and her
fellow romance junkies didn’t shield his ears from their
conversation.
“Men,”
Rita said disgustedly. “Maybe if they read a few romance
novels they’d learn something.”
“Nils could stand to learn a few
things,” said Hildy. “Especially
in the bedroom,” she added in a conspiratorial
whisper that carried across the small, now quiet –
since everyone was eavesdropping – room.
Balding, scrawny Nils and Brunhilda
Hildy in the bedroom together. That was T.M.I. to the max.
“Oh, they all think they’re
such good lovers,” Rita scoffed. Rita was divorced.
Obviously, her man hadn’t measured up. “If
I found a man who could make love like the heroes in those books, I’d
take him to bed in a heartbeat.”
“If a man really wanted to be a good
lover he should read these books,” Hildy continued in her stage
whisper.
Rita nodded. “That
would guarantee he’d get lucky.”
The women finished their selections
and went to pay for their books and two gray-haired men and a teenage boy
stampeded to the romance section.
7)
Tell us
about a new author you’ve recently discovered.
Jill Marie Landis. She’s not a new
writer, but she’s new to me. I love her inspirational romances. And she’s got a
fun e-book series going that’s set in Hawaii.
8)
Name two
romances you’ve read more than once
Jane
Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” and Georgette Heyer’s “The Masqueraders.” Good
stuff!
9)
Tell us
about your first car
It
was a Volkswagen van and I burned up the engine because I never put oil in it.
I wondered what that little red light meant.
10)
Where can
we find you?
Besides
in the local chocolate shop? Come visit me on Facebook where we’re growing a
fun Like page (Sheila Roberts, author), and please do stop by my website. (http://www.sheilasplace.com) We’ve got a
great contest going in April. Check it out. Maybe you’ll win my chick poker
give away.
What She Wants
by Sheila Roberts
BLURB:
What do women want?
Jonathan Templar and his poker buddies can't figure it out.
Take Jonathan, for instance. He's been in love with Lissa Castle since they
were kids but, geek that he is, she's never seen him as her Mr. Perfect. He has
one last shot—their high school reunion. Kyle Long is equally discouraged. The
pretty receptionist at his office keeps passing him over for other guys who may
be taller but are definitely not superior. And Adam Edwards might be the most
successful of Jonathan's friends, but he isn't having any success on the home
front. His wife's kicked him out.
When Jonathan stumbles on a romance novel at the Icicle
Falls library sale, he knows he's found the love expert he's been
seeking—Vanessa Valentine, top-selling romance author. At first his buddies
laugh at him for reading romance novels, but soon they, too, realize that these
stories are the world's best textbooks on love. Poker night becomes book club
night…and when all is read and done, they're going to be the kind of men women
want!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt may be found here:
AUTHOR Bio and
Links:
Sheila Roberts lives on a lake in the Pacific Northwest. She’s happily
married and has three children. She’s been writing since 1989, but she did lots
of things before settling in to her writing career, including owning a singing
telegram company and playing in a band. Her band days are over, but she still
enjoys writing songs. When she’s not speaking to women’s groups or at
conferences or hanging out with her girlfriends she can be found writing about
those things near and dear to women’s hearts: family, friends, and chocolate.
Sheila will be awarding a print
copy of What She Wants (US/Canada only) to 10 randomly drawn commenters during
the tour. A Grand Prize of a $25 eHarlequin coupon plus a finished copy of What
She Wants (US/Canada only) will be awarded to a randomly drawn commenter during
the tour.
Rafflecopter code:
Follow the tour and
comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour
dates can be found here:
Comments??
Just wanted to stop by and say thank you for having me. Looking forward to meeting your friends here!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun story, I can't wait to read it.
ReplyDeleteKit3247(at)aol(dot)com
Cant wait to read this one!
ReplyDelete-Amber
GoodBlinknPark(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
Hoping people will enjoy reading this one as much as I enjoyed writing it!
ReplyDelete