Showing posts with label @jpstevens79. Show all posts
Showing posts with label @jpstevens79. Show all posts

May 29, 2015

Do Authors Play Favorites?

Hmmm… I mused… do authors play favorites? Do they have favorites among their own characters and is this impacted by the number of books they have written and their personal hero type preference? To answer these questions, I enlisted the help of five, fabulous writer friends…

Cherie Nicholls, author of 11 books, recently released Windborn on May 7th, but she thinks Laney from her first book Leashed by a Wolf is still her favorite. Her favorite hero type is strong and protective, the kind of male who becomes unstoppable when they meet the right female. Sounds a lot like Heath, the hero in Leashed by a Wolf.

The author of around 80 books and short stories, Raven McAllan admits she always favors her current hero and heroine. She confesses a soft spot for Athol in the Dommissimma series just because he was so much fun to write and Molly Simpkins from A Most Unusual Mistress because it inspired the Miss Simpkins series. She writes hot characters – strong heroes and feisty heroines, her favorite type.

Alannah Harte modelled Rafe from The Best Part of Breaking Up, her first solo book, after a good friend she liked, but didn’t return her feelings. They remained friends and now Rafe has a special place in her heart.

The author of 54 books and counting, Doris O’Connor falls in love with each of her heroes as she writes them. If she had to pick an all-time favorite couple it would be Sven and Sylvia from her first book The Housewife and the Filmstar. She loves strong, possessive, dominant alphas and tortured bad boys… these types are often featured in her stories.

Jessica Stevens is the author of 2 books with her second book Behind the Makeup just released May 5th. She told me she always falls for her main characters although Alana and Nick are especially special since they were part of her first solo publication.

There’s something about a ‘first’ of anything… A first kiss, a first love, and, apparently, a first book. Many of the authors I interviewed noted characters from their first books were still their favorites. It also appears favorite character types influence the characters written.

I’m no different from the rest. Gabe from my first book Dream Hunter, a strong, protective man who confidently knows what he wants, is my favorite, hands down.

I’m sure you’d find many of your favorite authors have a special place in their heart for their first characters and incorporate their favorite character types in their books.
Readers, do you have favorites? Let me know in the comments. Thanks!

Bios

Cherie Nicholls is an author of Paranormal Romance. By day she is an IT Manager and by night she whips up worlds where alpha men find their mates and people are always more than human.

Cherie was born and lives in London, UK and is a daughter, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, aunt-in-law, great-aunt, and godmother in an ever growing family. She has a passion for shifter stories, most any sport and thimbles...don’t ask.  


Raven McAllan lives in Scotland, along with her husband and their two cats—their children having flown the nest—surrounded by beautiful scenery, which inspires a lot of the settings in her books.

She is used to sharing her life with the occasional deer, red squirrel, and lost tourist, to say nothing of the scourge of Scotland—the midge.

Her very understanding, and long-suffering DH, is used to his questions unanswered, the dust bunnies greeting him as he walks through the door, and rescuing burned offerings from the Aga. (And passing her a glass of wine as she types furiously.)

Alannah Harte grew up in the south of Ireland beside the sea. She still calls this beautiful part of the world home. Her background is in education. She loves drama and debating and has been successful in both. Her writing played second fiddle to these activities for a decade but in 2010 she took up the typewriter again.


Glutton for punishment would be a good description for Doris O’Connor... at least that's what she hears on an almost daily basis when people find out that she has a brood of nine children, ranging from adult to toddler and lives happily in a far too small house, cluttered with children, pets, dust bunnies, and one very understanding and supportive husband. Domestic goddess she is not.

There is always something better to do after all, like working on the latest manuscript and trying not to scare the locals even more than usual by talking out loud to the voices in her head. Her characters tend to be pretty insistent to get their stories told, and you will find Doris burning the midnight oil on a regular basis. Only time to get any peace and quiet and besides, sleep is for wimps.

She likes to spin sensual, sassy, and sexy tales involving alpha heroes to die for, and heroines who give as good as they get. From contemporary to paranormal, BDSM to F/F, and Ménage, haunting love stories are guaranteed.


Jessica Stevens was born in Northern Ireland and moved to London a few weeks after, where she grew up with her parents and siblings. As a child, she was always writing songs and poems, so it was only natural that Jessica should find her feet in writing Romance. Jessica now lives in Bedfordshire with her husband, their three children and their dog. Much of her working week is spent cooking and looking after their three small children and the family dog. At weekends, she tries to spend as much quality time with her family and can often be found roaming woods and other opened spaces, desperately trying to run off some of her boy's endless energy, much to the objection of her 'growing up way too fast' daughter.



May 18, 2015

Book Spotlight - Behind The Makeup

Congratulations, Jessica, on the release of your latest book and welcome to my blog!

Hello and thank you Maya for having me here today.  I am celebrating the release of my latest book, Behind The Makeup, so I thought I would stop by and tell you a little bit about it, see if I can wet your whistle as it were ;-)

Blurb:
Elizabeth Rhey is a world class singer on her final tour. Gareth Buchanan is her body guard with a history. When her brother is killed, her world falls apart. A police investigation means that past secrets are exposed and ghost come back to haunt.  Can they face their past to find peace in the future?

So this is the cover:


Excerpt:
As soon as he sat down, he was encased with her scent again. She smiled at him and he sensed she was nervous.
“Are you okay being here?” he asked, worried he had got this all wrong.
“Yeah of course, why do you ask?”
Gareth watched her forehead furrow as she leaned back on the bench and stared at him.
“Well, this isn’t your usual kind of hangout place, and I just suddenly thought it was a bit too… I dunno, a bit.”
“Common?” Beth interjected.
God this is going wrong. How she made him feel so small. But she was right, too. It was a very small thing to suggest. He knew her better than that.
“Not in so many words, but yes.” He held her stare, intrigued to what she would say.
Beth let out a chuckle and smiled. The humour reached her eyes and made them sparkle. Then she sat forward, rested her forearms on the table, and lent across the table towards him. “How much do you know about me?”
The question threw him a little. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, what do you know about me before I became…?” She leaned over more and finished her sentence in a whisper. “You know… famous?”
Gareth thought for a second. “Not much to be honest.”
Beth leaned back on the bench again, just as Dan approached the table offering their drinks.
“There you go, Gareth, and this must be yours?”
Gareth knew that Dan was fishing for a name. Now he cursed himself for not admitting that Beth was with him. He could tell that Dan was trying his luck with her.
“Jennifer,” Gareth said. Beth looked over the table at him, her eyes wide in question. He hoped to god she would just go with the flow. “I’ll save you the embarrassment, Dan, Jen is gay.” Both men looked over at Beth as she spluttered her J2O.
“Sorry, you don’t mind me saying, do you, Jen?” Gareth wiggled his eyebrows at her as he smiled mischievously at her.
“No not at all. I’ll remember to bring a badge next time, you know, save you the trouble,” she said to Gareth. He relaxed when he heard the playfulness in her voice.
“Right, well, I’ll leave you to it.” Dan picked up the tray[SBS1]  he used to carry the drinks over with. “Catch you later, Gareth,” he said as he walked back behind the bar.
“Laters, Dan,” Gareth called out after him, but Dan was gone too quick.
“Jen? Gay?”
If you would like to read more, you can purchase a copy from here:

Get to know me:
I live in Bedfordshire with my husband, three children and our dog. Our oldest children are nine and seven and both go to school. Our youngest is two and a half and full of energy. Too much at times if you ask me lol. Growing up I was always writing songs and poems. I actually wanted to be a singer, but that didn’t quite work out. I got into writing with a friend of mine, I joined a writing critique group and learnt a lot. A few years later here I am with my second publication. I still cant believe it to be honest. Happy is an understatement.

I love hearing comments from readers, so please leave a message and tell me what you think. Or you can find me
You can find me on:
Twitter @jpstevens79

Until next time, take care.
Jessica xXx