Author Spotlight - Excerpt from "Undercover"

Thanks so much for supporting Maria during her week in the spotlight. Leave a comment today, Saturday, and Sunday along with your email and we'll pick a random winner to win a copy of Maria's book, "Undercover." Winner will be announced on Monday here on the blog and on the DB Connections Loop. Enjoy the Excerpt!
Smiles
Moderator Steph

*****
Jenny and Alex shared the row with a talkative elderly gentleman who chattered away about business opportunities. His story of when he went to Russia and had to bribe the customs staff to be allowed to bring his money out of the country made Jenny bite her lip not to laugh.

"So, where do the two of you come from?"

Jenny answered with a friendly smile, "Oh, I come from around here. I was born in Adams, actually, but I've been moving around a little since then. Just in the state, though."

Alex said with a lot of glee, "I'm Russian."

Their new acquaintance exclaimed, "Oh," and fell silent.

During the past few years, Jenny's unwilling brain managed to learn some of her husband's language, and she understood him very well when he said, "Sorry, I couldn't resist."

She entwined her fingers with his. "It's really funny."

It was of course too much for the man to resist. "Excuse me, you two are together, aren't you?"

She nodded. This trip over the ocean was much more entertaining than she'd expected. "Yes. We've been married for five years."

Glancing towards Alex, who made the seat look tiny where he sat reading the newspaper, visibly pretending not to listen, the man whispered, "Please, I don't want to offend you, but... Is it difficult?"

"Is what difficult?"

He kept his eyes on Alex. "You know, adapting between such different cultures. Don't they have very different ways of viewing things in Russia? Are you allowed to work or do you have to stay at home? What language do you speak at home? Are you allowed to handle money?"

Neither his curiosity nor prejudice knew any limits. She wanted to formulate a killer answer, but Alex beat her to it. He smiled innocently and leaned over her, to make himself heard better as he exaggerated his accent. "Of course she stays at home, she has to take care of the children. We have seven; four boys and three girls. It would be unthinkable for her to take care of all of them, the household, tend to my needs, and work at the same time. My second wife works though. She has only been with us for three years, so she only has three children, but the fourth is on the way."

Jenny had all the trouble in the world not to laugh.

"Since both my wives are American we mostly speak English at home. I have decided it's best for the little ones. Regarding money, I give them everything they need, and they don't need any money of their own."

The man seemed about to faint. He said, "Excuse me," and fled to the restrooms. Jenny laughed so hard she had to lean on Alex, and smacked him over the arm. "You're... you're terrible."

"Me? What did I do?"

Further up in the corridor, the man talked to the flight crew, all of them sending covert glances in Jenny's direction. She wanted to wave, and folded her hands in her lap to keep them from doing something stupid. After a couple of minutes a young stewardess walked by, looked at her with open curiosity, and peeked towards Alex. Jenny smiled her friendliest smile as the girl passed them. It only took a minute until she came back. "Can I get you anything?"

Jenny shook her head. "No thank you, I'm good."

The girl's eyes darted towards Alex, who now looked like the epitome of serenity and friendliness. He encouraged her, now sounding almost American. "Go ahead and ask. The gentleman who sits here had some interesting ideas about the habits in my native country. Perhaps he has taken time to share with you..."

She looked relieved. "So, it's not true that you have ten children and several more wives, and that..."

She turned to Jenny and whispered, "That you are his slave?"

The corners of Alex's mouth twitched when he said, "Of course not. It's probably just an old man's fantasies."

Their flight attendant exclaimed, "Thank heavens. You two look so good together, and it would have been a shame."

"Look what you did. You're impossible."

He regained his poker face. "I don't know what you are talking about."

People in the row in front of them turned around to watch. They seemed amused. When the older man returned, Alex said in a tauntingly calm and slow voice, "I must apologize, what I told you earlier isn't entirely true."

The man stared, not at all looking convinced, and Jenny filled in. "The only thing he's said that's true this far is that he's Russian."

As relieved as the man looked, Alex wasn't able to leave well enough alone. His eyes sparkled with mischief. "We do have a lot of sex."

Their neighbor looked as if he would choke on his coffee, and people all around them started to laugh. Alex put his new sunglasses on and leaned back in the seat, clearly very happy with himself.

********

Book trailer link: http://youtu.be/YePFbRgPP9o

Review snippets:

"This book was riveting and just when you are sure you know what to expect, Hammarblad completely takes you by surprise with an incredible finale. Amazingly fun and enjoyable" -- Mrs. Michael, reader

"You easily connect with the characters and feel the tension of their various situations - You will be guessing at the outcome, which is very original! Well worth reading!" -- Robin Olsson, reader

Buy link: http://amzn.com/B0098TGWTW

Find me on the web:
Website: http://www.hammarblad.com
Blog: http://www.scifiromance.info
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariahammarblad
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mariahammarblad

Authors Spotlight - Maria Hammarblad talks about finding inspiration

The holidays are a time for sharing, so today I will share a secret. Well, I guess it won't be a secret any longer after revealing it here on the blog, but anyway...

I wrote the first draft of Undercover watching a Canadian TV show called Cra$h and Burn. The main character is called Jimmy Burn, and he works with insurance. When something goes wrong, he comes in to clean up the mess. He's stuck between an inner desire to do what's right for the accident victims, and management's demands that he give out as little money as humanly possible. His own past isn't exactly clean, and he also struggles with combining his sordid history with a wholesome girlfriend and her very enthusiastic family. It's a funny show. I don't think it was intended to be a comedy, but I had many laugh out loud moments when watching.

Anyway, the show also features a lot of crashed cars, and a hilarious side story about a gang of Russians making a living on a body shop and fake accidents. I do think they give Jimmy Burn some fresh gray hairs as the cars are stolen over and over again. As time goes by, they expand their insurance fraud business into accidents and start a clinic in an old strip club.

Canadian-Croatian actor Steve Basic plays the head of the Russian gang. He's one of my favorite TV and movie actors, and in this show he goes around saying, "Make it stolen" with a fake Russian accent to die for. When I first wrote Alexei in Undercover, Mr Bacic's mobster became his voice. This is years ago, and every time I look at the manuscript I still read Alexei's dialogue in that voice in my head. I don’t think there are any other similarities between the characters – they certainly don’t use the language in the same way – but the voice gets me every time.

~

Jenny cupped her hands around the warm mug. She should say something, but what? If she opened her mouth, something stupid might come out, like, "Nice weather," or, "What's the weather like in Russia?"

Alex's eyes glittered. "You have good coffee."

"Yeah, it's not bad. Mark usually makes a pot in the morning. He really likes coffee. So, what's the weather like where you come from?"

There it was, the stupid weather. Great for stalling a customer on the phone, but right now, not so much. Why couldn't she talk like a normal person instead of going from mute to babbling?

Alex chuckled, "Cold, colder, cold, really hot, and back to cold."

~


Book trailer link: http://youtu.be/YePFbRgPP9o

Review snippets:

"This book was riveting and just when you are sure you know what to expect, Hammarblad completely takes you by surprise with an incredible finale. Amazingly fun and enjoyable" -- Mrs. Michael, reader

"You easily connect with the characters and feel the tension of their various situations - You will be guessing at the outcome, which is very original! Well worth reading!" -- Robin Olsson, reader

Buy link: http://amzn.com/B0098TGWTW

Find me on the web:
Website: http://www.hammarblad.com
Blog: http://www.scifiromance.info
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariahammarblad
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mariahammarblad

Author Spotlight - Character Interview with Jenny from Undercover

Today, I’ll let my heroine, Jenny, take over the pen. She’s been slumbering in my mind ever since Undercover was published, and I think she wants to come out for some air.

Jenny, it’s good to see you here today. Reviewers say you can be a bit air-headed, but have a backbone of steel. What do you think made you such a strong woman?

Air-headed? How can I be air-headed when I’m stuck in my writer’s head? There’s no air in there, more like a vacuum… *fluffs hair* What was the question again? Oh yes, strong woman. I’d say breaking free from my first marriage. That taught me I really could stand on my own two feet and do things for myself. My friends and my job too. There’s nothing like solving a really tricky problem that seems impossible. The key is to believe in oneself. Even if you don’t believe in yourself at that very moment, pretend you do. If you can at least pretend to be on top of things, both your mind and other people will believe you.

Can you tell us something about your story?

Absolutely. I sat at work one day, pretty bored at that, and this amazing man appeared by my desk. I bet you know the type: tall, handsome, foreign… I had to figure out a way to talk to him, of course, so I made sure the guys invited me for lunch. He was interesting and charming, and as the day went by, I sort of fell for him. He seemed to like me too. Then, I discovered that he was a Russian spy. What a mess! It was really scary at times, but there’s nothing more important than family, and once you find the person you belong with you have to stick together, you know.

Do you have a favorite quote?

Actually, I do. Dalai Lama once said, “Be kind whenever possible. It’s always possible.” I like that one.

It’s Christmas time. How do you feel about the holiday season?

I love it. Love, love, love it. I think Christmas decorations are magical. I mean, imagine Christmas morning. The lights never shine brighter, tinsel never glitters as much, and the colors are never as full and bright as on Christmas morning.

Anything else you want to share?

Only one thing. Se-quel. Can someone please tell my writer to stop procrastinating and playing with imaginary space ships? She made such a big mess of my life she really needs to straighten it all up, she’s just too easily distracted to get anything done. From what I hear, my daughter wants a book too. She claims she’ll be kidnapped and locked in a box on some boat by people wanting to sell her as a slave. I think she’s just talking, but it might happen. If it does, I hope Alex and I taught her to take care of herself. You can’t imagine the worries of being a fictitious mom!

Book trailer link: http://youtu.be/YePFbRgPP9o

Review snippets:

"This book was riveting and just when you are sure you know what to expect, Hammarblad completely takes you by surprise with an incredible finale. Amazingly fun and enjoyable" -- Mrs. Michael, reader

"You easily connect with the characters and feel the tension of their various situations - You will be guessing at the outcome, which is very original! Well worth reading!" -- Robin Olsson, reader

Buy link: http://amzn.com/B0098TGWTW

Find me on the web:
Website: http://www.hammarblad.com
Blog: http://www.scifiromance.info
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariahammarblad
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mariahammarblad

Author Spotlight - Merry Christmas from Maria Hammarblad - Christmas in Sweden

Merry Christmas! I am honored to be here on the Desert Breeze Publishing blog on Christmas Day. Regardless of what you celebrate this holiday season, I hope it finds you well.

I’ve always been especially fond of this time a year. For a few days, life slows down to a pleasant pace and most people make an extra effort to be nice. Even those who normally steal parking spots from old ladies make an effort to behave and be kind. Imagine if we could keep this spirit all around the year!

I’m Swedish originally, and our Christmas habits are just different enough from the American to confuse me. Like… We celebrate Christmas Eve, handing the presents out late in the afternoon. No stockings, just presents. We have Santa nowadays, but when my mom was a little girl, back in the 1940’s, her family still adhered to an older Scandinavian tradition with a goat bringing presents. Many homes still have a symbolic straw goat we call “julbock” and many of our Christmas cards are decorated with a santa-like little man accompanied by a goat. One of these santas – well, we call them “tomte” -- were thought to live secretly on each farm in the countryside, helping the farmer care for crops and animals. Better stay on his good side, or he might not help!

Most homes put the tree up December 23rd, and we keep all decorations up until January 13th. On that day we have a ceremony called “Julgransplundring” – plundering the tree. It’s a festivity mostly for the kids, with lots of candy and games.

Even though I’ve been in the US since late 2008, I’m still in the Swedish rhythm. Early December my husband fidgets because we don’t have any Christmas stuff up. I’ll say, “But… It’s so early.” A couple of days into January each year, he says we have to do something, because everyone else already took all the lights down. I’ll be like, “C’mon, it’s just the third. They can sit for another couple of weeks.” Back home I’d happily leave them up until February, but I wouldn’t dream of putting them up before Christmas. When I look around I see he’s right; we’ll be the only ones with lights and glitter, and people in passing cars stare.

This difference in rhythm shines through in my writing. My novel Undercover starts just after Christmas, when the main character Jenny returns to work after a well-deserved break. Observant readers will note I claim she took a vacation between Christmas and New Year’s, and when she returns, all decorations in the office are still up. No one moves a finger to take them down. I didn’t even consider people here might find it odd.

Book trailer link: http://youtu.be/YePFbRgPP9o

Review snippets:

"This book was riveting and just when you are sure you know what to expect, Hammarblad completely takes you by surprise with an incredible finale. Amazingly fun and enjoyable" -- Mrs. Michael, reader

"You easily connect with the characters and feel the tension of their various situations - You will be guessing at the outcome, which is very original! Well worth reading!" -- Robin Olsson, reader

Buy link: http://amzn.com/B0098TGWTW

Find me on the web:
Website: http://www.hammarblad.com
Blog: http://www.scifiromance.info
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariahammarblad
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mariahammarblad

Author Spotlight - Q&A with Maria Hammarblad

STEPH: I don't know much about “Undercover.” What's it about?

MARIA: Undercover is a contemporary romance. It’s about Jenny Moore, whose life is pretty safe and a little boring. She dreams about adventure and being swept off her feet, and when this actually happens she gets more excitement than she ever wanted. If I may quote my friend Patty Froese, it’s about “dangerous men and the women who hold them back from the edge.”

STEPH: How long did it take you to write?

MARIA: I always have problems with that question because I tend to write in little bursts of energy… The first draft came together fairly quickly, a matter of weeks, but since then I’ve re-written it a number of times. It took either a few weeks or a couple of years, depending on point of view.

STEPH: How much research did you have to do?

MARIA: Quite a lot, actually. The book takes place in several countries, and I’ve been to most of them, but not to Russia and not to Mexico. When I looked at photos and talked to people who have visited these places, I realized my mental images were completely wrong. It’s a novel sprung out of my imagination, but I still wanted to get as much right as I can.

STEPH: How does the cover reflect the story within?

MARIA: I think the cover artist did an amazing job conveying the feeling of the book, and I love this cover. It makes me think of spy movies and classic thrillers. My hero is a soldier -- and spy -- who has performed some horrific deeds. Love transforms him, and once he tries to fit into a normal way of life, he constantly has to put himself in harm’s way to protect those close to him. In my mind, that’s just what he does on the cover.

STEPH: Jenny is the heroine. What are her strengths? Weakness?

MARIA: Jenny is a romantic and naïve dreamer, and she’s so infatuated with the hero common sense goes right out the window. All of a sudden she puts up with things that would normally send her screaming and running in the other direction. Luckily, when put to the test, she also has a backbone of steel. When she sets out to do something, she’ll do it, and she’s strong enough to sort of the strangest situations, saving the day for both herself and him.

STEPH: What does Alexei find appealing about her?

MARIA: She’s kind, caring, and teaches him to appreciate the little things in life. He didn’t know how unhappy he was until he met her. He tries to explain the phenomenon to her in the book: "My life had been a black and white movie on a tiny little screen, and now it was full color IMAX with Dolby surround."

STEPH: What is the theme of the novel?

MARIA: Love conquers all. Definitely. They have to go through some horrible ordeals to stay together, but as long as they have each other, they’re okay.

STEPH: As a writer, where do you draw inspiration from?

MARIA: Everything. My head is quite a bizarre place, and my mind is always asking, “What if.” I can look at the vacuum cleaner and think, “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if this thing could fly?” I sometimes see interesting people on my way to work or going to the store, and by the time I get home I have a complete story ready about them. It doesn’t even stop when I sleep. I often wake up in the middle of the night with a story burning on my eyelids.

STEPH: Do you have an ebook reader? If so, which one?

MARIA: I do. I have a Kindle Touch and I really like that it can read aloud. It took a while to get used to the voice, I thought it sounded kinda snarky at first, but now I just think it’s practical. I also love that it works in sunshine.

STEPH: Fun question: Do you put a star or an angel on the top of your Christmas tree?

MARIA: We have a silvery star. I bought it for my first apartment in Sweden and it’s been with me for well over twenty years. I bet it didn’t expect to end up in Florida. ☺


Book trailer link: http://youtu.be/YePFbRgPP9o

Review snippets:

"This book was riveting and just when you are sure you know what to expect, Hammarblad completely takes you by surprise with an incredible finale. Amazingly fun and enjoyable" -- Mrs. Michael, reader

"You easily connect with the characters and feel the tension of their various situations - You will be guessing at the outcome, which is very original! Well worth reading!" -- Robin Olsson, reader

Buy link: http://amzn.com/B0098TGWTW

Find me on the web:
Website: http://www.hammarblad.com
Blog: http://www.scifiromance.info
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariahammarblad
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mariahammarblad

Author Spotlight - Excerpt from "Invitiation to a Wedding"

Thank you so much for supporting Michelle's week in the spotlight. Michelle has written a short Christmas story, that she will post on her website as a PDF that readers can download.

The title is "One Small Child," and takes place just before Christmas at the end of Year One in the Tabor Heights Series. There's a nice blank gap between the last story of Year One, which ends in November, and when Year Two starts in early January.

The links for Michelle's website are at the bottom of the page.
Enjoy the Excerpt!
Smiles
Moderator Steph

**********

"Are you two fighting about something?" Drake asked.

"We'd have to be talking to fight." Dinah lifted the cutting board and scraped the celery off it into the bowl. "She hasn't come by, hasn't called, since I got home."

"Maybe she didn't know when you got home, and she's been waiting for you to call?"
"She has a point, dear," Mrs. Ashcroft said.

"Gretchen left messages for her." Dinah shrugged and reached for the tomato and concentrated on coring it before slicing. Drake knew it didn't take that much effort to take out the area where the stem attached. Something bothered his sister.

Still, he couldn't help snapping at her. "You left it up to Gretchen to tell Stacy you were home? Mom, what's wrong with this picture?"

"Gretchen has been very helpful. She's been helping even before the girls came home." Mrs. Ashcroft handed him the divided glass dish to hold the olives and artichokes. "All the things I would have asked Stacy to help with, Gretchen already thought of and took care of them."

"You wouldn't have had to ask Stacy, either. If she knew what was going on." He grunted as he got the second jar open and dug in with two fingers to scoop out a piece of artichoke heart. He grinned when his mother slapped his shoulder -- after he had the piece in his mouth.

"Something is bothering her," Dinah said, plopping the pieces of tomato onto the top of the salad. "She hasn't come by, hasn't called. She hasn't emailed, either."

"Did you email her? Call her? Stop by her house?" Drake sighed when his sister just shook her head and wouldn't look at him. "Di, you're the one with the open schedule. Stacy has to work. You know she'll drop everything for you, but you have to let her know you're here, first."

"She obviously knows I'm home, because she brought that present by."

"We did send her an invitation to the party," Mrs. Ashcroft offered.

"Stacy shouldn't need an invitation. She's just about family." He settled down on a stool pulled up at the counter. What was wrong with his mother and sister that they didn't seem to realize something was very wrong? Or was something wrong with him, that he thought Stacy was being hurt?

"True," his mother said. "Did she say anything was going on, the last time you two talked, Dinah?"

"We haven't really talked..." Dinah slid the salad bowl into the refrigerator. She barely met Drake's eyes before turning to their mother. "I got a Christmas card from her. That's about all the contact we've had for the last year or two."

"How come? What'd you do to make her angry?" Drake asked.

"What makes you think I did anything?" She glared at him and turned to walk out the door.

"Because Stacy is like a duck -- most of the time it rolls right off. Takes a lot to get her angry," he said, catching her arm to stop her.

"I wouldn't know. She just stopped writing."

"Did you ask her what was wrong?"

"If you're so concerned about Stacy, how come you don't write to her? How come you have to find out how she is by asking me?"

"Dinah!" their mother scolded. She stepped over, somewhat blocking her in, so Dinah had to step around her to get out of the kitchen. "Why did Stacy stop writing? What did she say in her last email?"

"I can't remember... exactly." Dinah wouldn't meet her eyes now.



FIND MICHELLE AT:

www.Mlevigne.com
www.Tabor-Heights-Today.blogspot.com
www.MichelleLevigne.blogspot.com

buy:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-383/Tabor-Heights-Year-Two-cln-/Detail.bok

Author Spotlight - Michelle Levigne - Teasers vs Spoilers

Don't you hate it when someone does a book review, and they basically give you the whole plot of the story? They tell you the names of all the characters, the history between the hero/heroine and their nemeses, the "black moment," and the names of all their children from the epilogue.

What's the use of reading the book, when you already know how it's going to end, and you know the most important points in the journey to get there?
Some may argue that romance guarantees a happy ending, so you know how it's going to end, so what does it matter if someone tells you all the gory or glory details?
It's the JOURNEY that matters in romance -- and yes, in a lot of other genres, too. And I hate it when the whole journey is revealed.

When my Dad was alive, I hated watching movies with him, because at some point he would turn to me or Mom or someone else in the room and say, "So, what's going to happen next?" He wanted to know -- which is fine, but don't ruin it for the rest of us when you find out, okay? And he would ask when he knew it was a movie we hadn't seen before, or a new episode of a TV show.

That's what we call spoilers, and it doesn't "make things better" when someone posts in all-caps SPOILER ALERT and then spaces down ten or twenty lines to create a blank space before discussing a movie they just saw or a book they just read. Because try as you might to not read it, you'll end up reading it. And then all the fun of "the first time" goes out of the movie or book or whatever.

So, that being said ... why in the world did I go ahead and talk about events in other books in the year-long correspondence between Stacy and Drake in "Invitation to a Wedding"?

To tease you and tempt you and make you wonder how a problem was going to be resolved -- or even more irritating, how the heck that situation got started in the first place.

Because Stacy only mentions the aftermath of something, or an odd event, and because she's on the outside, or she's living in her "now," there's no way for her to give away important details that will ruin it for the reader.

At least, that's the plan!

Because hopefully -- she says, with fingers and toes crossed, which makes it really hard to write and walk -- you'll have no idea whatsoever what event belongs in what upcoming book of Year Two. And yet, when you read the book someday in the future (please, you will read the other books, won't you?), when you get to the event Stacy mentioned in her email, you'll hae one of those "Oh, yeah, now I remember" moments. And you'll feel connected, included in the story, someone with an inside pass and inside knowledge.

At least, that's the plan. Please do contact me through my web site or one of my blogs, and let me know if it works, okay?

FIND MICHELLE AT:

www.Mlevigne.com
www.Tabor-Heights-Today.blogspot.com
www.MichelleLevigne.blogspot.com

buy:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-383/Tabor-Heights-Year-Two-cln-/Detail.bok

Author Spotlight - Michelle Levigne casts the characters!

This is a story where I had the germinal idea, and had to fill in all the blanks. Sometimes, I start with a character in a situation, and have the situation "come to a head," and work through it. For instance, for "The Family Way," in other books I had already talked about what a nasty man Mr. Montgomery was, and how people pitied his daughter-in-law, and I had even introduced Lisa and Todd and their on-again/off-again romance in a rough draft for a Quarry Hall novel (Blatant plug for the new Women's Fiction series, here!). So I had characters and situations already established for me, which actually gave me material to work with and a foundation to work on.
So, starting from scratch, how do you cast a story?

The germinal idea -- and I even mention the source of it within the story -- came from half an episode of "Northern Exposure." Anyone remember that show? How, you ask, could I work from half an episode? Well, I saw the first half, and never watched the second half! I think I was at a friend's house and watching TV while I waited for her to finish getting ready to go out. The story: a local celebrity was having his annual blow-out party -- gourmet food, fancy decorations, fancy plates, fancy invitations, etc. The new guy in town, the doctor, hears from everyone else what a great party it is. And of course, the doctor is invited -- but his invitation is lost. And before I turned off the TV, he was already facing the dilemma of not admitting that he didn't get an invitation to the big fancy yearly party.

So, that's where "Invitation to a Wedding" started. What happens if your childhood friend is getting married, and you're invited, but someone doesn't just lose the invitation -- they make sure you don't get the invitation?

The first question is: Why would someone do that? What kind of person is the heroine, that someone would want to keep her from going to a wedding?

Other questions I had to ask, so the story was believable -- especially when Stacy and Dinah don't get a chance to talk and fix things in the first two chapters -- dealt with why they weren't talking, compressing the timeline and circumstances to make it believable that Stacy wouldn't be included. Then I had to work on the hero -- what kind of a guy was he, that he would find out Stacy wasn't coming to the wedding, at a very late date, and be so upset that he had to do something about it?

What I came up with was: 1) Heroine is low on the social scale -- not that it matters to the hero and her childhood best friend. 2) Bride has been living in another state and lost contact with heroine. 3) Hero has been away from home for years, in the military and then seminary. 3) Bride eloped, so it isn't a wedding, but a weekend trip home for a wedding reception months later. 4) Childhood nemesis is living near the bride and pretends to be changed, so she is trusted with party details, and no one suspects when she takes over.

Compressing the time element of the story helped with the "why don't the idiots just sit down and TALK?" factor. I don't know about you, but I hate stories where the conflict could have been resolved in chapter 2 if the two main characters could have just been face-to-face for half an hour.

What I ended up with was a Cinderella story, and a year-long correspondence between the hero and heroine that gives everyone an overview of what else will be happening in Tabor Heights in Year Two.
Enjoy!

FIND MICHELLE AT:

www.Mlevigne.com
www.Tabor-Heights-Today.blogspot.com
www.MichelleLevigne.blogspot.com

buy:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-383/Tabor-Heights-Year-Two-cln-/Detail.bok

Author Spotlight - Michelle Levigne talks about bullies

In "Invitation to a Wedding," our heroine faces the ultimate nasty trick, played on her by the "mean girls" who have come back to town for the wedding celebration of her best friend from childhood.

Stacy was the housekeeper's granddaughter, and even though the Ashcrofts treated her like a member of the family, obviously the other "social elite" families in Tabor Heights didn't agree with them, because their daughters grew up trying to keep Stacy in "her place," and interfere with her friendship with Dinah Ashcroft.

I've never had anyone play such a nasty trick on me -- try to keep me from a friend's party, or cut me out of an activity where I had every right to be there, but I've suffered other "slings and arrows" of abuse, criticism, mockery, and people telling two different stories to keep two sides apart. (Does that make any sense?) The best tactic when dealing with "social bullies," as I call them, is communication. Stacy and Dinah drifted apart and stopped communicating. The bullies never would have gotten between them if they had talked to each other.

Instead of believing someone when they say, "Jenny doesn't want to hang around with you," confront Jenny directly. I wish I had learned that lesson years ago. There are people who believe I hate them, when it turns out that a third party told me they didn't want to be around me, and then told them the same thing about me!
I dream of the day when these people who discouraged me and bruised my feelings and my dreams will want something from me ... and yes, I admit, I want to "get some back" at them.

It's not nice. It's something I'm working on. My favorite scenario, practiced many times in my imagination, is for them to come up to me at a booksigning with some friends they want to impress. They'll exclaim about how great I look, and how well my books are selling, and they're so glad for me -- and when they try to hug me, I'll pull back and say, "Sorry, I don't recognize you. Where do I know you from?"
I hope I grow to the point that I forget about the bruises, the hurt feelings, the lies people have told about me, the mockery -- so that when someone shows up, claiming to be an old friend, it's the truth when I say, "Sorry, I honestly don't recognize you. Where do we know each other from?" And when they tell me, I'll be glad to see them.

That's the biggest triumph over bullies. To lose the hurt they tried to inflict on us. To succeed despite their mockery and lies and trying to put us in what they believe is our "proper place."


FIND MICHELLE AT:

www.Mlevigne.com
www.Tabor-Heights-Today.blogspot.com
www.MichelleLevigne.blogspot.com

buy:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-383/Tabor-Heights-Year-Two-cln-/Detail.bok

Author Spotlight - Q&A with Michelle Levigne

STEPH: I don't know much about "Invitation to a Wedding." What's it about?

MICHELLE: Drake Ashcroft, ex-Marine now in seminary, comes home for the wedding reception for his sister, who eloped with his best friend from the Marines. He finds a present on the back step, left there by Stacy Belmont, granddaughter of their former housekeeper. The problem is that Stacy grew up with Drake and his sister, Dinah, and he knows the two girls promised to be each other's maid of honor -- so why isn't Stacy helping with the preparations for the party?

As Drake investigates, he learns that the some people in town haven't outgrown their childhood rivalries and petty nastiness, and the "mean girls" still have it in for Stacy. It turns into a race against time to get Stacy to the party, but he's going to do it, even if he has to kidnap her.

STEPH: How long did it take you to write?

MICHELLE: The first draft took me a month. This year, I rough drafted six of the eight novels for Year Two, giving myself a month for each one. Then, after letting it sit for five months, I went back and revised it. I had to wait until all the books were roughed so I could put together my calendar of when and where things happened in Tabor Heights, because I needed to refer to that calendar when Stacy and Drake correspond for most of the year. I was starting to panic, because the deadline was approaching for turning the book in, and I hadn't started the revisions yet! But I made it. Somehow. And I'm pleased with the story. At least, I think so ...... Still too tired to be sure it turned out right!

STEPH: How much research did you have to do?

MICHELLE: Not much. I already had the setting, a good idea of the characters, their shared history -- and lots of experience with the problems caused by lies and social maneuvering and "mean girls" trying to rule the world. The biggest chore on my list was getting all the other books written so I knew what happened when in the different storylines, so Stacy could mention some of the events -- but definitely not all of them! -- when she emailed Drake through the year.

STEPH: How does the cover reflect the story within?

MICHELLE: I think it arouses some curiosity, from the moment someone realizes it's an invitation that's been tossed into the wastebasket before it even got mailed. It's not an accurate picture, because the evil Gretchen didn't actually throw away Stacy's invitation, she just made sure it never got mailed. But as it reflects the "heart" of the story, the conflict, and the problem to overcome, it's spot-on. Jenifer and her staff always do an incredible job with the artwork.

STEPH: Stacy is the heroine. What are her strengths? Weakness?

MICHELLE: She is smart, and she is generally an upbeat, caring, kind, generous person. Right now she's going through a rough time in her life -- she just had her first Christmas without her grandmother, who raised her, and the family that treated her like she was one of their own has basically left her out in the cold because of some crises of their own that they went through over the holidays. Plus, a year of silence between her and her best childhood friend has culminated in "Retchin' Gretchen" (yes, you'll find out where the nickname came from!) acting as maid of honor, when Stacy and Dinah promised to be each other's maid of honor. Stacy doesn't want to dwell on her hurt, but it's hard. She has some pride issues, although the people who love her would argue with that. She's trying so hard to be strong and not let the "mean girls" know they hurt her, that she's hurting herself even worse.
She needs a Prince Charming.

STEPH: What does Drake find appealing about her?

MICHELLE: There's no one specific characteristic in Stacy that smacks him between the eyes. She's the perfect minister's wife -- but Drake doesn't want to use that label, because Stacy herself is important to him, not just what she can offer. She has always been there, a key part of his life, but he doesn't realize it until she's gone, until there's silence when he expects some input from her. It's a situation of, "You don't know what you've got until it's gone." As he scrambles to make things right, to bring Stacy back into the family circle where she belongs, he realizes that she's no longer an adopted kid sister to him -- she's become someone very important, and he needs to take some time to analyze just how and why she is important, and figure out what he's going to do about it. One thing he knows for certain: He's not letting Stacy slip out of his life again.

STEPH: What is the theme of the novel?

Ugh. I hate these questions! I'm thinking about the people, not what I want to say through them. In theater class and playwriting class, we were always told, "If you want to leave a message, use Western Union."

But the overall concepts being explored deal with communication, with ideas of family that extend past blood bonds, with the subtle ways we hurt the people we love without even realizing it, and maybe how we are so busy we lose things and people who are precious to us, and don't even realize it until it's nearly too late.

STEPH: As a writer, where do you draw inspiration from?

MICHELLE: Is it a cop-out to say "Everywhere and everything"?

STEPH: Yes! (grin)

MICHELLE: Inspiration comes from things that catch my attention. Like a snippet of a story or situation in a TV show or book or movie that sticks in my mind. Case in point, the half-episode of "Northern Exposure" that I mention in another entry on this blog. It presented an unhappy situation for someone, and it stuck with me, so when I was looking for story ideas, that one was waiting to be used.

Inspiration comes from things that make me angry -- issues and situations and injustices that I want resolved. Or I want to totally humiliate bullies, or bring about justice for someone who in real life will never taste justice. Things that make me say, "Wow -- cool." Even things that make me shudder and take a step back and avert my eyes -- but the image is still there, lingering at the back of my imagination, to eventually come out of hiding and say, "Use me!" when I need a painful or terrifying or unbalancing situation.

Story ideas don't come to me in one piece. I put all sorts of pieces together and trim them to fit, or melt them, or add water or whack them really hard a couple thousand times until they change enough to slide into the opening available. Some stories need major surgery before they work. Others just slide together as if they were always meant to be. Sometimes I only do two or three drafts. Other times I write and rewrite and rewrite and put it away for a year or two and bring it out and rewrite again and put it away and bring it out again and ... put it away, in the hopes that someday, I'll figure out what's not working, so I can fix it.
Writing is craft and talent and inspiration and luck and stubbornness, all mixed together.

STEPH: Do you have an ebook reader? If so, which one?

MICHELLE: I have one of the first Nooks, plus I have an iPod Touch and iPad with Nook, iBooks, and Kindle loaded on them. I like the flexibility offered by the three different programs. For instance, I have all the PDFs of my own books in iBooks, so I can show them to other people, let them read a few paragraphs if the situation presents itself, and I can also go through the PDFs to refresh myself on different people's stories. Much easier than getting into my computer and digging up the PDF. I like the instant connection of reading on the iPad -- no need to wait for the system to boot up and the menu to appear, like I do on the Nook. However, there's something simple and easy about my Nook, and I enjoy being able to sit down and read and not be able to do anything but read while I'm using it.

STEPH: Fun question: Do you put a star or an angel on the top of your Christmas tree?

MICHELLE: I don't have a Christmas tree! (waaaaaaah!)

I do have a ceramic Christmas tree my Mom made years ago, with an electric light inside it and clear plastic colored bulbs.

This year is my first year in my new place, and I've pulled out Christmas ornaments I haven't seen or used in years. I bought a spool of wide ribbon -- white with red snowflakes -- with wire reinforcing on the edges, and put a length across the wooden mantle of my fireplace, and another across the wooden frame of my living room window. Then I hung my ornaments on these ribbons. It looks pretty cool.

Maybe at the end of the holiday season, when everything is on sale, I'll go shopping for a tree topper to use next year ...

FIND MICHELLE AT:

www.Mlevigne.com
www.Tabor-Heights-Today.blogspot.com
www.MichelleLevigne.blogspot.com

buy:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-383/Tabor-Heights-Year-Two-cln-/Detail.bok