Category: Uncategorized

Feeling naughty? Make sure to enter the Goodreads giveaway for The Conduct Series #2: Bad Behavior. There’s less than a week left to enter, and this time the cuffs come off!

I’m very excited to reveal the video trailer for Bad Behavior! Thanks to Micha Stone from Omnific Publishing and my Aunt Nancy for their help in creating this baby.

Syrah and Chardonnay exhibited some really good behavior by hosting me for an interview on their blog Chick Lit & Wine. I had a lot of fun with those two!

It’s Meet an Author Monday Blog Hop, hosted by Lisa Sanchez. The hop’s a great way for authors to network and for readers to identify new authors.

Last night I attended the touring production of Les Miserables, a story about a parolee who desperately tries to overcome his past to become a good man. Hmm, wonder why I loved it so much? 😉 Don’t forget to enter the Goodreads giveaway for Bad Behavior, a story about my favorite parolee Grant Madsen.

Today it’s my pleasure to feature the wonderful novel Hidden Threat by Sherri Hayes! Sherri and I met on a website where we posted our stories, and it was so fun to discover we both lived in central Ohio. Since then we’ve become friends.

Here’s my 4 star review of Hidden Threat from Goodreads:

I loved this book!

Hidden Threat by Sherri Hayes reminded me why I like the romantic suspense genre so much. Sherri created a compelling story about two singles meeting in unexpected circumstances, both drawn to each other but trying to deny their feelings to avoid an ill-advised office romance.

Cali Stanton is a physician returning from Africa to help out her father, the owner of a pharmaceutical company who has to take leave from his position due to an accident. She reluctantly agrees to take over in his absence though she’d rather continue her healing work for Doctors Without Borders.

Matthew Anderson is the head of security for Stanton Enterprises. He and his brother have been called in to sniff out a saboteur hijacking pharmaceutical shipments. The “hidden threat” is the very reason Cali’s father needs someone he trusts to take his place. Matthew is loyal and determined to neutralize the threat, though when he first meets Cali he’s hit by feelings that are anything but neutral.

How can he fall for the boss’ daughter? Matthew is full of integrity, but the attraction he feels for Cali makes it difficult for him to remain professional. Cali’s just as attracted to the blue-eyed hunk, though she’s quite confused by his hot/cold behavior toward her. Meanwhile, the threats to Cali’s safety intensify, and Matthew will have to call on all of his skills to try to keep her safe.

The angst about killed me in this story! (In a good way.) Sherri Hayes did an awesome job writing unresolved sexual tension.

“A deep blush crossed Cali’s skin, and Matthew almost lost it. This woman was driving him crazy. He wanted to touch her, to crush her to his body, and kiss her to within an inch of her life. Instead of doing any of those things though, he took a step back toward the elevators.” (p. 124).

Arghhh! Kiss her, Matthew. Do it.

I liked when they were watching a football game with another couple, trying to hide their amorous feelings for each other, and Cali was studying Matthew. It’s evident she loves him on the inside too:

“She found she was more mesmerized by watching Matthew than the game. That really shouldn’t have surprised her though. Matthew was captivating. He was brilliant and disciplined. His sense of humor was quick when he came out from behind the mask he wore. And he was sweet, warm, and loving.”

I want my own Matthew. *pouts*

Sherri’s writing style is clean and concise. Hidden Threat is a wonderful debut novel!

And now onto my interview of Author Sherri Hayes.

Jennifer Lane (JL): Thanks for visiting the blog, Sherri, and Happy Birthday! I loved Hidden Threat. How did you come up with the idea for the story?

Sherri Hayes (SH): The idea actually stemmed from a story that had been rattling around in my brain since I was about 14. Back then Cali’s character was a queen and Matthew, a commoner who fell in love with her. Obviously, the story changed quite a bit as it developed over the years and then into what is now Hidden Threat.

JL: Wow, I didn’t know about Cali originally being a queen in your mind. As Lady Gaga sings, Don’t be a drag, just be a queen. You are evil with the sexual tension in this novel. 😉 What strategies did you use to develop such maddening tension?

SH: I always love good angst as long as there is a pay off in the end. Plus, I’ve never been one to like stories much where the two characters jump into bed without knowing each other. I felt the sexual tension in Hidden Threat really fit the mood of the story. It helped keep Cali and Matthew on their toes, plus gave the reader something to look forward to once they got together. As far as the development, that’s simple. Everytime the mystery part of the storyline started to pick up, I threw in some more sexual tension, a tease if you will. That way the relationship moved right along with the mystery.

JL: And you sure teased me, baby. How has publishing your first novel affected your life?

SH: Well I am a lot busier now. lol. There always seems to be something to do whether it is writing for my blog, posting on my Facebook or Twitter accounts, working on my next novel, or preparing for book signings. There is never a night anymore where I can say, hm, I have nothing to do.

JL: I know your family has faced some painful times lately with the death of your father. How are you and your family doing?

SH: Yes, we have. My family and I are adjusting. Dad was sick for a long time and all of our lives, in various ways, revolved around that. Now there is space where there wasn’t before. It’s only been a little over a week, so we are all still getting used to it. I’ve mostly been helping my mom transition by making phone calls, helping her deliver and mail death certificates. There’s a lot of work to do and many people to contact that you don’t think about before someone dies.

JL: Please tell us about your upcoming series, starting with Slave.

SH: Slave will be the first novel in my Finding Anna series. It is the story of Stephan, a young Dominant, and Brianna, a slave he purchases. He has never wanted a slave, but when he finds out Brianna is most likely being held against her will, he feels compelled to rescue her. The only way to do that is to buy her from her Master.

Once he has her in his home, however, he realizes he has no idea what to do with her. She is broken and barely does anything beyond breathing without permission. He decides to help her in the only way he knows how, through the lifestyle that helped him find balance and control after his parents death.

The series will follow these two as Brianna not only finds herself again, but also finds there is more to life and love than what the outside world can understand.

Slave will be available for pre-order on June 30th, 2011 through my publisher’s website www.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/publishinghouse/

JL: I feel lucky I live near a fellow author like you. How do you enjoy living in Ohio?

SH: I love living in Ohio. There is a small town feel, people are friendly, and you still have many of the big city conveniences a short drive away.

Thank you, Sherri! Now go check out Hidden Threat.

I’m intrigued by all things military, especially Men in Uniform. When I heard fellow Omnific author Jessica McQuinn wrote about a hunky Navy SEAL, I knew I wanted to read the story pronto!

Here’s my review of Indivisible from Goodreads:

Are you participating in “Romantic Suspense” or “Men in Uniform” reading challenges in 2011? If so, have I got the book for you!

Indivisible is Jessica McQuinn’s second novel, featuring a young married couple facing the danger and forced separation of life in the military.

Charlotte “Charlie” Cooper (I love that name) is finishing her college degree and savoring the last moments of togetherness with her Navy SEAL husband Gideon before he leaves for six months on assignment. They’ve only been married one year and she’s feeling scared and bereft about his departure.

Gideon is a muscled bo-hunk whose heart is almost as big as his biceps. I loved when he knows he’s made a mistake with Charlie and goes about his bumbling yet charming way of trying to apologize. He’s smarter than he looks!

Gideon had me giggling several times, like when he was at a briefing for the mission and Charlie was sending him naughty text messages. He bounces his knee so hard he knocks the table, spilling coffee and drawing his superior’s negative attention. Later in the story:

“He sat with the phone to his ear listening to the horrible Muzak crap. ‘Like a Virgin’ was never meant to be instrumental. Despite his annoyance, he found himself tapping his fingers to the song, which irritated him even more. Then he started singing along, trying to comfort himself.” (p. 258)

I can totally picture the humorous scene of a Navy SEAL humming a Madonna song.

I enjoyed learning about Gideon and Charlie’s unconventional engagement via flashbacks throughout the first section of the novel. I also liked the complexity of Gideon’s family. Jessica McQuinn did a wonderful job creating vivid and layered characters for the Cooper family and their partners. What I liked most of all was the plot. The summary on the book jacket describes an “ordeal” Charlie endures during Gideon’s absence. I was expecting one thing but was quite surprised by what actually happened.

I’m intrigued by the military and I’d prefer more chapters devoted to Gideon’s adventures, but I realize the focus of the novel is more on the family drama at home.

I definitely recommend this novel as a sweet and realistic love story. You will cheer for Charlie and Gideon to remain “Indivisible!”
 
And now it’s my pleasure to host Jessica McQuinn for an interview!
 
Jennifer Lane (JL): Welcome to the blog, Jessica. How did you get started writing?

Jessica McQuinn (JM): Thanks so much for asking me to be here.

I know that it is the common answer, but I really have been writing all my life. When I was in high school, I would write stories for creative writing that already set the tone for my writing now. There was always that plot twist or that moment that the reader would go…”Wait?” And then have to go back and read to see what they missed the first time. I love that.

I have always kept a journal and probably have hundreds of plots and half stories in it, but it wasn’t until I found a writing community a few years ago that I really started to think that this was something that I could do. (Though to be honest, if someone were to ask me what I do I would still say I’m a Stay-at-home mom.) Now those journals have plots and storylines that I’m hoping will one day see the light of day.

JL: How’d you get interested in the military?

JM: Well, I’ve always had a thing for a man in uniform. In high school I dated a Marine, and had posters of half dressed military men up in my room. My husband was actually in the Navy when we got engaged. I even emabarrassingly said out loud while watching Top Gun that I wanted to marry Tom Cruise. That’s since changed for more reasons than I can count, but my affinity for a man in uniform hasn’t.

Add to my teenage crushes the fact that for the past 15 years, we have lived and worked in the military community and I have developed a deep respect for what they do for our country and the sacrifices that their loved ones make. I think that we sometimes forget that all of those men and women serving their country voluntarily are leaving someone at home whose life will be changed forever if they don’t come home. That’s what makes what they do all the more amazing.

And, let’s be honest, for a hero…there’s nothing better than a big strong guy who is willing to sacrifice everything to protect not only those they love, but total strangers as well.

JL: What are you reading now?

JM: My girlfriends and I have finally formed an official book club after years of just talking about what we are reading. We started with Indivisible (hahaha!) and for March are reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen so we can all go see the movie together (probably one of my all time favorite books). But at our last meet up we made our list for the rest of the year, and we simply went around the table and asked everyone what their favorite book of all time was, so our list is very eclectic and ranges from Nicholas Sparks to Maeve Binchey to Eric Clapton’s biography.

For my own personal “to read” list, I can’t wait for the end of the month when JR Ward’s Lover Unleashed is released. I do love my big bad vamps!

JL: How did cowriting Passion Fish compare to the solo writing of Indivisible?

JM: Indivisible was a different experience from Passion Fish. One thing that I really loved about collaborating with Alison Oburia was that we kept each other on task. We made deadlines and were always quick to let the other one know when they were late. And having someone to bounce ideas off of who knew where the story was supposed to end up was a great advantage too. With Indivisible, it was all up to me. I had a few critique partners, but they weren’t as invested as when it was a co-writer.

The other thing that was very different was the editing process. With Passion Fish, if Alison and I’d had to do the editing updates the book never would have gotten done! We tried to edit the first chapter together, but it took us so long just to do the first chapter that we had to agree to completely turn it over to our wonderful editor. When I started the editing process with Indivisible, it was a shock to my ego to open up a document and see all the RED staring back at me. I didn’t like that at all! There was no getting out of it this time! (I have to say this though, I had fabulous editors who made the story so much better than what I gave to them, and I’m I love them to death.)

Finally, the hardest thing about going solo is that succeed or fail, this one was all me. With Passion Fish I could blame Alison (just kidding, Alison!!), but Indivisible is all me. So, if someone doesn’t like it, I have to take full responsibility. That thought keeps me awake at night!

JL: It seemed like sibling relationships figured in prominently in Indivisible. Do you have siblings? If yes, did your relationships with them inspire any of the story?

JM: Funny enough, I actually have 10 brothers and sisters, but was raised as an only child! It’s like a riddle…I have 5 step brothers and sisters from my stepdad who lived with their mom and three from my stepmom who lived with my dad. In addition I have a half sister from my dad’s first marriage who lived with her mom, and finally one actual brother, who suffers from a severe mental illness and has been institutionalized for most of his life. Talk about a modern family!!

My husband, who I’ve been with for 23 years, however, has a younger brother and a younger sister so I’ve learned a lot about the dynamics from watching him with his siblings. There’s a little bit of his relationship with his younger brother in Indivisible. I think that it’s always hard for the younger sibling when the older sibling leads the way by being successful.

JL: Since you have a husband and young children, I figured you might like to cook? Do you have a specialty dish? Or if not, a favorite restaurant?

JM: Our life is so busy between wrestling, basketball, soccer, baseball…I could go on and on that I rarely get a chance to cook and our meals are often from a drive-thru or whatever I can heat up in the microwave (which my daughter thinks is actually cooking!). When I do get a night to cook, one of our family favorites is a baked ravioli that I stole from Rachel Ray. It’s like lasagna but less work! The ravioli already has the cheese so you just mix it with my homemade sauce and top with a little bit of cheese and easy peasy!

JL: Who’s your celebrity crush? 🙂

JM: I’m pretty sure that this is no surprise to most people…I have a HUGE crush on Kellan Lutz. He actually was the inspiration for Gideon in Indivisible, and who I picture when I write him. (Quick plug for my blog today – Who do you picture when you are reading – http://jessicamcquinn.com/). I have a signed and framed picture of him in his Calvins over my desk for when I need a little inspiration…

Thanks, so much for asking me to do this Jen. I’m glad you liked Gideon and Charlie’s story! And, Congrats on the release of Bad Behavior! I love your McSalior (with my Navy affinity it was pretty much a given!).

JL: Thank you, Jessica. McSailor thanks you too. 🙂 And now on to the Meet an Author Monday Blog Hop, hosted by Lisa Sanchez!

It’s raining buckets and I just found out I have a sinus infection, ugh. Hopefully the antibiotics will kick those germs to the curb. One bright spot in my day is that I had the pleasure of Jessica Subject interviewing me on her blog Mark of the Stars today.

She’s giving away two ebook sets of The Conduct Series: With Good Behavior and Bad Behavior.

Skedaddle over there and leave a comment, and you have a good chance of winning! Those of you curious about Bad Behavior can also read an excerpt from the book–a scene between Grant and Roger.

I hope to be back soon with the video trailer for Bad Behavior, which was released yesterday.

Happy Monday!

We’re just one day away from the release of Bad Behavior, a romantic suspense novel featuring the adventures of parolees Sophie Taylor and Grant Madsen. Sophie and Grant continue to run from the mob but this time they run from their psychologist as well. 😉

To celebrate, Jessica Subject is hosting a giveaway on her blog Mark of the Stars, offering two ebook sets of The Conduct Series (With Good Behavior and Bad Behavior).

I’m very excited that Jessica gave With Good Behavior a 5 star review! I’m hoping she enjoys Bad Behavior just as much.

And now it’s time for Meet an Author Monday, hosted by Lisa Sanchez. Please join us.

First we started in Dunedin, on the southeast coast. It was the end of their summer and temps were in the 60’s for the most part. Maggie is a champion racewalker/mountain biker and I knew I was in trouble when I saw the pace she set for our first hike around town.

We went to a farmer’s market where I snapped sexy veggies pics. We also visited the historic Dunedin Railway Station. There’s Maggie!

The Dunedin Botanical Garden was another stop along the way. I kept seeing these funky orange flowers everywhere so I had to get a shot of them.

It seemed like mountains cover most of the south island! Moutains and lakes.

We then traveled to Queenstown: the Adventure Capital of the wold, home of bungy jumping. Naturally we had to watch.

This mountain was known as “Lion’s Head”. The only thing I didn’t like was the presence of “sandflies”–an evil, smaller version of mosquitos. The plentiful bites are still itching me ten days later–too bad we forgot the bugspray.

Fortunately the little creeps were drowned out when we awoke the next morning to teeming rain, springing many waterfalls to life:

After the cruise Maggie drove us 5 hours back to Dunedin, where we spent my last two days walking on the beach and hiking down to “Tunnel Beach”.

Overall it was such an incredible trip! I think the best part was the opportunity to catch up with Maggie and see what her life’s like now. What a perfect location for my adventurous, spirited friend.

I hope you enjoyed my recounting of the trip. Well worth it!

Hey Book Buddies,

I’m back from New Zealand, which was as beautiful as expected. I wasn’t in Christchurch during the earthquake but I was in the south island touring Dunedin, Wanaka, Queenstown, and Milford Sound. I’ll post about the trip later in the week once I get settled.

I returned home to wonderful news: Bad Behavior, the sequel to With Good Behavior, will be released on March 8th! This time the cuffs are coming off.

Grant Madsen’s got issues. He’s still battling his Mafia family and doing everything possible to keep his loved ones safe. With the cruising season coming to an end, he has to find another job soon or he’ll rejoin his father in prison. And he’s trying to convince his rebellious teenage nephew to stay away from their criminal relatives (you can imagine how that’s going). But worst of all, Grant’s parole officer has mandated that he attend therapy.

The only saving grace is that they’re couples sessions with his girlfriend, Sophie Taylor, a fellow parolee who’s struggling with a few issues of her own. Sophie desperately hopes her past with Grant’s brother won’t destroy her future with him. There’s a sleazy professor at work who revels in sexually harassing women in the psychology department. And her father still hates Grant.

Their psychologist has his work cut out for him.

When Grant’s ruthless father hints at a plot to get out of prison, Grant must use everything he’s learned in therapy and beyond to try to stop him. It’s a race against time — and a race to rescue Sophie from the Mafia’s clutches once again. But this time McSailor and Bonnie refuse to play victims. Can they break the ties that bind?

I’m very excited to unleash Book Two of The Conduct Series on the world.

And now it’s time for Meet an Author Monday Blog Hop, hosted by Lisa Sanchez.

Fare thee well suckers, I’m off to New Zealand for vacation! Yee-haaaahhhhh

I’ll be visiting my college roommate/swimming teammate, who’s a physician there. I’ll be blogless and internetless for over a week *feels withdrawal shakes coming* so I’ll catch up with you when I return.

Did you know there are more sheep than people in New Zealand? It’s true!

One of the places we’ll visit is Milford Sound which looks like this:

Wow, I can’t wait. When I return to the states I’ll have some more information about the upcoming release date of Bad Behavior, the second book in The Conduct Series.

Jen xx

It’s my pleasure today to interview Carol Oates, author of Shades of Atlantis! See my review here.

Jennifer Lane (JL): You live in Dublin but Shades of Atlantis takes place in Maine for the first half of the story. What made you choose Maine as the initial setting?

Carol Oates (CO): Ireland may be the land of saints and scholars but I’ve found it very difficult to fit in with the publishing industry here. The type of paranormal romance I write is available in Ireland but generally it is by authors from outside Ireland. This is even more apparent with Young Adult.

When I started writing Shades of Atlantis I knew I was writing it to submit outside Ireland and I wanted to include locations outside Ireland. There are specific reasons for every location in the book. There is rarely anything random in anything I write. Camden, Maine is south of a town called Belfast. Dublin, Ireland is another location and my home town. Dublin is also south of Belfast. Part of the story takes place in London in an area near Camden.

JL: What do you do for a day job?

CO: I work in an office that deals with people who have been refused financial help from the government. It is the person’s legal entitlement to appeal that decision and we put those people through the process. Before that I worked in welfare fraud prosecution for twelve years.

From August I will be taking two years leave to concentrate on caring for my son. Eric is autistic and requires full-time care. I want to be with him for his last year of school and as he transitions to after school life. It also means that while I’m at home I will be able to give more time to writing.

JL: I’m glad you’ll have more time with your son. How do you squeeze in writing with work and family?

CO: There is a lot of juggling involved. I am extremely lucky to come from a close family. My partner lives and works in Fermanagh while I am in Dublin with Eric until he finishes school. Places in good special needs schools are hard to come by. My dad cares for Eric while I’m at work and my partner, Rodney often takes Eric out for boys days with my dad and brothers at the weekend. This gives me a chance to catch up on writing. My brother has a secluded house in Cavan, if Eric is away for a night I go there, hide out and write. I can also be found during any coffee-break with my notebook and pen in the canteen at work.

JL: What’s it been like to live in Ireland and publish with a company in the U.S.?

CO: There are a lot of e-mails. I suppose the biggest difference between me and someone living in the US with the same publisher is timezones. I don’t find this much of a problem because Eric isn’t a good sleeper and I am a chronic insomniac so I am usually awake to speak to people when they need me.

I am asked why a US publisher quite often. I would like to be published in Ireland one day and I actually had this conversation with a man who has been involved with Irish Publishing for the last thirty years. His advice to me was to go where my largest market is. I write because I love writing but I publish because I want my work to reach more readers.

JL: I’m a huge fan of U2 (With or Without You is my favorite song!) but know very little about Ireland. What would you like folks to know about your country?

CO: I live a short walk from the school where U2 met and Croke Park where they hold their Dublin concerts. When they were doing sound checks for their last concert in Croke Park my dad complained about the noise they made during rehearsals before they were famous. So some things never change.

U2 doesn’t even scratch the surface of the talent that has come out of this country in all forms of entertainment, Van Morrison, Thin Lizzy, The Cranberries, W.B. Yeats, Bram Stoker, Christy Brown. Ireland had and still has a thriving movie industry and my dad has met some of the greats who filmed here including Liz Taylor, Richard Burton, Kim Novak. Ireland is well known for lush scenic locations as well as the grittier city ones.

We have a very rich and colourful history in Ireland with archaeological sites including The Hill of Tara that pre-date the pyramids at Giza by 600 years. In one version of the history of Stonehenge it was originally erected in Ireland and moved to England by Druids under orders from Merlin. Ireland has been invaded by the Spanish and Vikings among others, more recently we were under English Rule. The buildings and monuments of Ireland reflect influences of all these eras.

After the war of Independence, Ireland became a free state in 1922 and in 1948 became the Republic of Ireland.

I should also give a mention to one of our most famous exports, the good ole pint of Guinness. The Guinness storehouse was originally leased by Arthur Guinness in 1749 for £45 per year and began brewing porter in the 1700’s using water from the Liffey River in Dublin. It was a good thing for him that the business was a success since Arthur had 21 children.

Thank you, Carol. Please visit http://artisttrust.ie/ Carol supports the Sean Lawlor Trust.

Go and get yourself a copy of Shades of Atlantis!