I got tagged in the Next Big Thing blog hop by Mary J. Mccoy-Dressel! So this is my Next Big Thing blog, featuring my April release with Champagne Book Group.
1)
What is the working title of your novel?
Rumor Has It
2)
Where did the idea for the novel come from?
I was listening to a song, actually. I live in a very small town where everyone
knows your name, backstory, and projected future. Whether their opinion on any of these things
are correct or not has little bearing on what everyone ‘knows’ so rumors tend
to make the world go round. Just
thinking back to some of the more interesting things I’ve heard about myself—most
stranger than any fiction I could concoct—I found the premise for this fun
erotic romantic story.
3)
What genre does your novel fall under?
Contemporary Erotic Romance
4)
Which actors would you choose to play your characters
in a movie rendition?
Well, it’s sort of got a romcom feel, so Sandra
Bullock and Ryan Reynolds would be awesome.
I adore Ryan’s chest. *purrs*
5)
What is the one sentence synopsis of your novel?
An Elvis Impersonator, a single mother/former
showgirl, The World’s Longest long game, and one precocious child…Rumor Has It things are getting
interesting.
6)
Will your novel be self-published or represented by an
agency?
Rumor Has It
will be out in April from Champagne Book Group.
7)
How long did it take to write the first draft of your
manuscript?
Oh, two days?
It’s a shorter story. Edits took
longer than writing it.
8)
What other novels would you compare this book to within
your genre?
Um…I don’t know.
I’ve not really tried to compare my work to others.
9)
Who or what inspired you to write this novel?
I have a friend who asked if I wrote a book about
him. So, this one is very, very loosely
my response. Lol! He also lives in this small town and the
rumormills have run him through their storytelling before so I figured he would
see the humor there.
10) What
else about your novel might pique the reader’s interest?
Elvis? Check.
Showgirl? Check. Small town?
Check. Hot romance? Check. Um, besides that, it’s full of snark and
humor…
Blurb:
Elvis left the building
a long time ago…
Liz knows that there are
some things you just can’t live down. Marrying an Elvis impersonator was one of
her biggest mistakes yet when he comes rolling back into town, needing a place
to couch surf, she can’t say no to the father of her child.
And someone else took
his place…
Jeremy has been engaged
in the world’s longest long game. For thirteen years he has loved Liz and her
daughter but never made a move, waiting for the right moment. When her
ex-husband shows up out of the blue, he realizes it is time to put up or shut
up.
But now that Elvis is
back, the rumors are flying.
Jeremy makes his move,
leaving Liz in a tailspin. Elvis comes back, the man she has always secretly
loved is making moves…but why now? The sparks fly and the gossips mouths are
running…but will Liz find the love she has been waiting for or will the small
town gossips destroy her like they did so long ago?
I tag and nominate the following bloggers as The Next Big Thing:
Excerpt:
Liz made
some dumb mistakes in her life...marrying an Elvis impersonator in Vegas, for
instance. That shit they tell you about
stuff staying in Vegas? Lies. Just sayin’.
The
Elvis was a guy she knew since high
school. Vernon decided he was going to be a professional poker player, moved to
Vegas and became an Elvis after he was there but still…
No one lived
down being the small town girl who married Elvis. Not where Liz lived.
Small
town Ohio is good for one thing. Gossip.
Slamming
her car into park, Liz glared at the man outside her window. “This better be
good.”
“You
know I am good, baby. We had a few years solid of good and—”
Glaring
at her ex-husband, Vernon, the Elvis impersonator, Liz let her lips turn up in
a smile which said nothing about being happy and a whole lot about being
threatening. “For starters, I spent about four thousand dollars to stop having
good times about a decade ago, Vernon. Call me baby again and I am gonna shove
my foot up your ass sideways.”
Clearing
his throat, he tried another route. “A child needs her father and I came back
to—”
“You can
stop that line of bullshit right there. Don’t tell me after seven years of
running around doing everything to avoid child support, and anything else
considered parental, you are having a sudden wash of caring for your child. How
about you try again, sans bullshit?”
“Lizzie,
you don’t know how hard my life has been and—”
“Vernon,
if this is why you called me, I am driving away and leaving you and your bag
right here at the Greyhound station and you can just plop your ass on the next
bus outta here. I don’t want to hear about your life.”
As if
someone flicked a switch, his inner asshole shone through his plaintive
expression. Angrily, he jabbed a finger at her. “You never did understand me. You
always were judgy and superior and did everything just perfect, didn’t you?”
At this,
she laughed but the laugh held as little humor as her earlier smile. “Apparently
not. I married you.”
Silence
fell as they glared at each other. Liz couldn’t be sure what he thought but her
brain whirred with possibilities, all of which ended with his demise. Cutting
his black heart out with a spork gained high marks in the pro column. He sighed,
shoving one hand through his Elvis-thick hair. “I need a place to stay. Just
for a week or two. Until I can get on my feet.”
She
snorted. “I have known you thirty-four years, Vern. You have yet to get on your
feet. What is going to change in the next two weeks?”
“I don’t
want to fight, Lizzie.”
“Elizabeth,”
Liz corrected, but she weakened. “If I let you stay with us for a couple weeks,
you can only sleep above the garage, not in my house. You are not confusing
Sara with your bullshit.”
“Baby,
if you want me in the garage after a couple days of having me around the house,
I will gladly stay there. You are looking good, by the way.” His smile practically
leered.
Rolling her
eyes, she tilted down her sunglasses so she could give him a quick once over. “I
can’t say the same. The years have not been kind. And quit calling me baby.”
Snagging
his bag, he moved to her passenger side and slid in the car. “Whatever makes
you happy, Lizzie.”
“We
aren’t doing what makes me happy. If we were, I would be driving away from the
bus station and you would be still standing there.”
He
laughed. “I always loved your sense of humor.”
Slamming
the car back into gear, she ignored him. Shit.
This was not how I planned to spend spring break.
