Welcome to CentreStage with a very special guest indeed! I am delighted to welcome the amazing Meredith Schorr. Now Meredith lives on the other side of the Atlantic, but yet I feel we’re great friends. We’ve been hanging out on Facebook together since forever and, earlier in the year, Meredith took it upon herself to mentor and advise me on the geographic realities of her hometown of New York City. As if that weren’t enough, she then also read the whole first draft of my manuscript for local colour and accuracy. Peeps~Meredith seriously rocks on the talent, love and generosity front. I am honoured to introduce her today!
There are two things you should know about me for the purposes of this post. The first is that I’m Jewish—not a religious Jew—I don’t go to temple, and I don’t keep a kosher diet. In fact, I can’t eat a hamburger unless it’s a cheeseburger, and I’m a sucker for shellfish-both decidedly non-kosher. Nonetheless, I was raised in a Jewish home and my family does not celebrate Christmas. We never had a Christmas tree or stockings hung by the chimney with care—probably because we were pretty certain Santa and his reindeers would skip our house regardless of whether we were naughty or nice.
One might think someone who doesn’t celebrate Christmas would opt out of watching Christmas movies in favor of something… well…something less Christmassy.
Secondly—I’m currently romantically unattached. My last relationship ended more than a year ago and, although I’ve dated a bit since then, nothing has stuck. I’m typically an optimistic and hopeful individual, but it’s become increasingly more difficult over the past few months to maintain my positive outlook and certainty that my love life will turn around.
It stands to reason that someone who is fearful that her own romantic happiness is out of reach would avoid romantic and mushy chick flicks in favor of something less sappy, for instance horror movies or legal thrillers.
Logic suggests that someone like me would avoid Christmas-themed romantic comedy movies like a criminal evades the police, yet I am addicted to them with a capital A. My favorite activity this season is curling up on my couch with my eyes glued to the Hallmark Channel’s Countdown to Christmas movie series. For those not in the know, the Hallmark Channel is a television network known for its broadcast of sappy movies. From late October through Christmas, the channel features 24/7 holiday programming, including twelve new and original Christmas movies that I cannot get enough of. As the weather outside turns frightful, the movies play on a continuous loop and I watch them with the same frequency. The flicks, usually starring former child actors like Candace Cameron Bure and Lacey Chabert (of Full House and Party of Five fame), combine timeless love stories with modern sensibilities. They are sappy yet sassy and feature a bevy of male eye candy for folks like myself who are sorely lacking it in their “real” lives. They also provide a guaranteed happily-ever-after that leaves me feeling warm and fuzzy inside.
Even though I’m acutely aware that these movies are a grand departure from reality, when the closing credits role, I find myself filled with renewed hope that there is someone out there for me and that I will meet him in time. The Christmas aspect also serves to remind me that this time of year is about more than crowded stores filled with frantic shoppers, but about counting our blessings and being happy—whether or not you have a significant other or a Christmas tree.
Awww Meredith! I am a fellow addict with you. One of my all-time faves is The Holiday: the ultimate hope movie, right? Thank you so much for sharing these thoughts, I love it. Now let’s hear it for your latest masterpiece!
What if you were approaching the end of your thirties and all of the life milestones you took for granted in your youth suddenly seemed out of reach? On the eve of her thirty-ninth birthday, Maggie Piper doesn’t look, act, or feel much different than she did at twenty-nine, but with her fortieth birthday speeding toward her like a freight train, she wonders if she should. The fear of a slowing metabolism, wrinkling of her skin, and the ticking of her biological clock leaves Maggie torn between a desire to settle down like most of her similarly aged peers and concern that all is not perfect in her existing relationship. When a spontaneous request for a temporary “break” from her live-in boyfriend results in a “break-up,” Maggie finds herself single once again and only twelve months from the big 4.0. In the profound yet bumpy year that follows, Maggie will learn, sometimes painfully, that life doesn’t always happen on a schedule, there are no deadlines in love, and age really is just a number. Meredith Schorr, best-selling author of chick lit, digs deep in her newest novel and raises the age old issue of the ‘proverbial clock’ that haunts many women, in a way that is refreshing and sassy no matter your age or relationship status.
A born and bred New Yorker, Meredith Schorr discovered her passion for writing when she began to enjoy drafting work-related emails way more than she was probably supposed to. After trying her hand penning children’s stories and blogging her personal experiences, Meredith found her calling writing chick lit and contemporary women’s fiction. She secures much inspiration from her day job as a hard-working trademark paralegal and her still single (but looking) status. Meredith is also the co-founder of BookBuzz, a live author/reader event held annually. She is a loyal New York Yankees fan and an avid runner. How Do You Know? is her fourth novel. To learn more, visit her at www.meredithschorr.com.
CONTACTS
Website: www.meredithschorr.com
Twitter: @meredithschorr
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MeredithSchorrAuthor
Buy Meredith’s Books:
Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Barnes & Noble | iTunes
It’s my great pleasure to welcome to CentreStage today the lovely Anneli Purchase all the way from Vancouver. Anneli is introducing her novel, Julia’s Violinist. And between you and me, I can thoroughly recommend it! So give it up for Annli and Julia…
The losers in a war are always deemed to have been wrong, evil aggressors, not worthy of a sympathetic ear. My mother was on the losing side during WWII. She told me many stories of her life in Saaz, now a part of the Czech Republic. She lost her home, her husband, and her way of life in the aftermath of war. Hearing the stories as a child, I didn’t realize the enormity of the losses she suffered nor how widespread the atrocities were. Much later it became clear to me that these injustices were experienced by thousands of others like her, many of whom were not so fortunate, losing not only their homes, but also their families and their own lives. I wanted to tell a story that could easily have happened to any of my mother’s fellow Sudetenlanders, a story of love, courage, and survival under the direst of circumstances.
When people of differing cultures are at war, they are capable of committing the most inhumane atrocities. This story does not attempt to take sides, to say that one was more vicious than the other. While there are many stories telling of the misdeeds of the German government and of Germans in general, this tells the story from the other side. I have tried to write it without prejudice.
***
When the war ended, I thought things would get better I was wrong. The worst was yet to come. The Czechs took our homes away and expelled us from our homeland. We survived those terrible years after the war, one day at a time.
Now, twenty years later—a letter from Michael. He wants me to come to Canada. Ah, Michael, my love. It’s too late. I’m married again. Too late… isn’t it?
***
Anneli Purchase lives on Vancouver Island on the west coast of Canada, where she writes novels and articles, and works as a freelance copy-editor. Anneli writes about people and their relationships and dilemmas. Often the settings are in unusual locations. Julia’s Violinist is her third novel. You can find out more about Anneli Purchase by following these links:
http://www.anneli.purchase.com
http://ow.ly/EXRVh (amazon.com)
http://ow.ly/EXS9Y(amazon.uk.com)
Blogs: http://wordsfromanneli.wordpress.com
http://annelisplace.wordpress.com
Posted in CentreStage
Tagged Anneli Purchase, CentreStage, Julia's Violinist, World War 2
You all know how much I love the Christmas season. And so do my kids. I’m turning them into regular anti-Grinches! Last weekend, we made a Gingerbread house together. And before you think I’m some kind of domestic goddess (which, of course, I am–just not all of the time!), I confess: we bought a build-your-own-kit. I suppose we could have made the lot from scratch, but I deemed it safer to have some sturdy ingredients. Nonetheless, huge amounts of fun were had by all. We’re planning to demolish the house on Christmas Eve… if we can convince ourselves to tear it down!
All the right pieces… all present and correct. Ready for the build!
Assembling the base. Tooth picks are a critical accessory here, or so we discovered.
Putting the roof on. See all that white squishy stuff? That’s royal icing. Never made that before; it was a real education. It’s ready to use when it’s got the consistency of wet cement, and it dries just as hard. Tastes better though!
Ooops! Nearly forgot the chimney!
Ta-da! One gingerbread house, all done and dusted. Literally and liberally dusted… with lots and lots of icing sugar. That part wasn’t in the instructions, but we like to improvise. We’re very proud of our little gingerbread house!
Welcome to CentreStage! Today, I’m welcoming the fabulously talented Elke Feuer as she celebrates the pre-order release of Deadly Race, a romantic suspense. Elke brings with her today the blurb, some information about herself and a stunning excerpt. Sit back, relax, and enjoy. 🙂
Race car driver Remy Borden likes fast things: bikes, cars, and men. Her plans to become the first woman from the Cayman Islands to race internationally gets sidetracked when she’s injured and pulled from the final race because of a fiery confrontation with another driver.
Life goes from bad to worse when the racetrack owner is killed and she’s suspect number one because his death puts her back in the race. But racing again proves difficult when Dr. Jackson Wilson insists she stop racing until she heals, making her wonder if his ‘doctor’s orders’ don’t have ulterior motives-the racetrack owner was his friend.
She and Jackson search for the truth behind the murder when accidents start happening at the racetrack, and an adoring fan gets too close. Soon the simmering attraction between her and Jackson boils over, forcing her to admit Jackson makes her think of a life beyond racing.
Elke was born and raised on Grand Cayman and lives there with her husband and two kids who keep her on her toes.
She’s a coffeeholic, checklist fanatic, and future space explorer. She has a sarcastic/quirky sense of humor and loves meeting new people. When not writing, she’s helping other writers in Cayman through her organization CayWriters.
Elke is the author of For the Love of Jazz and Deadly Bloodlines, book one in her Deadly Series. She stumbled into writing romantic suspense because of her fascination with serial killers, but writes other genres because characters keep telling her their stories and she’s a sucker for a crazy story.
MNI INTERVIEW!! Given her most fabulous location, I asked Elke what she gets up to when she’s not writing. Here’s what she said:
While I spend a lot of time either writing or helping writers where I live in the Cayman Islands through my company CayWriters, when do I take a break, I love hanging out with my kids and carving out alone time with my husband. Their jokes, cuddles, kisses and laughter keep me balanced and remind me why I work so hard.
AWWWWW! 🙂
Connect with Elke:
Website |Twitter|Facebook|Amazon |Goodreads
Contact: hotcaymanmama@yahoo.com
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://myBook.to/DeadlyRace (universal link to all Amazon sites)
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/deadly-race-elke-feuer/1120829111?ean=2940046424195
Smashswords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/497029
“I didn’t really have a relationship with her. She was someone I wanted, but she didn’t know how I felt until an hour ago.” Would she decide to kick him out of her apartment for either leading her on or being a complete ass?
She gripped the couch tightly and it collapsed beneath her hands. Her eyes narrowed to slits and her mouth twisted in anger. Here comes her emotional eruption. He braced himself.
“You put me through all of that for nothing?” She said it with so much control he wondered where she got it.
“It wasn’t nothing to me,” he reasoned.
“Wasn’t nothing? Do you know how many times I felt guilty because you had a girlfriend, or know how many nights I lay awake imagining I’d go to hell for the dirty thoughts I had about you in this apartment, inside and outside your car, even the examination table in your office?” She paced before him.
Jackson was speechless, and turned on, as he thought about everything she’d just mentioned. He remembered the night she kissed him in the car and wondered what would’ve happened if they hadn’t been interrupted, or if they’d been in a secluded area instead of outside her apartment.
“Hey!” she shouted, pulling him from his erotic thoughts of her spread out over the roof of his car.
“Stop that! You don’t get to have a fantasy in the middle of my rant. Got it?” Her index finger pointed at him.
He wanted to smile, but knew she’d probably knock his lights out if he did. “Please continue,” he said as politely and seriously as he could.
“Why couldn’t you be honest with me?” She ran a hand through her hair.
Honest about that? She couldn’t be serious? “Honest about wanting someone I hadn’t even told how I felt? I hardly knew you, Remy, and you wanted me to share something I’d kept secret for nearly two years?”
“Two years?” Her voice echoed in disbelief.
It sounded ridiculous to hear it out loud.
She must’ve thought so, too, because she laughed. It started as a light chuckle, but then escalated to full, out loud, boisterous laughter until it was so extreme she fell to the floor behind the couch.
He walked over to where she lay. “It’s not that funny,” he insisted.
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes and laughed harder.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying this at my expense.” He extended a hand to help her up, but she waved it away as another fit of laughter overtook her. “You might not believe this, but I’m incredibly shy.”
She roared louder and gestured with her hand for him to stop talking.
He couldn’t blame her for laughing. He’d been anything but shy around her. She had a knack for bringing out emotions in him that were less than passive, with her audaciousness and that unfiltered mouth of hers.
Posted in CentreStage
Tagged CentreStage, Deadly Bloodlines, Elke Feuer, Romantic Suspense
It’s officially the festive season! HOORAY! And our rejuvenated advent wreath is looking fabulous. Hope you’re all doing great and singing lots of carols. I know I am, LOL! 🙂 XX
Next week marks the beginning of the Advent season, the countdown of the last four Sundays before Christmas. I grew up with the German tradition of lighting a candle on an ‘Advent wreath’ on each of these Sundays until all four candles would be lit. The lighting ceremony usually involved a darkened room, Christmas carols, hot chocolate, and biscuits, and this really ‘made’ the season for me as a child.
I’ve continued this custom here in the UK with the help of a genuine, bona-fide Advent wreath made by the good people in the Harzgebirge (a region famous for making Christmas decorations) and exported to London. I purchased that wreath some sixteen years ago in a bucket shop selling cheapie TVs (probably off the back of a lorry! Goodness knows what possessed the owner to stock Advent wreaths as well unless… they fell off the back… ah, never mind, better not ask) on the Tottenham Court Road.
I’ll never forget the day, simply because I was so delighted with my find. It was a Friday, and it was pouring with rain. I was on my way home from work, en route from Piccadilly (whence the office was based) to my shared flat in Covent Garden via Tottenham Court Road and the local supermarket. It was pouring with rain and for some reason, a display in the back of that particular store caught my eye. I couldn’t quite believe it: Advent wreaths, in a TV shop. The real thing! Complete with candles! Only in London, right?
I stormed in, expecting the treasure to be ludicrously expensive and thus out of my financial reach but oh, oh! It was only £3.00. Yes. Three pounds. THREE! Needless to say, I bought one, even though perhaps it wasn’t completely to my taste. But that didn’t matter, it was the real thing, and it would light my days.
I knew that I would be spending Christmas in London in my dismal shared flat, although not entirely alone because two friends (yes, that would be you, Karen McL and Patricia O!) were also ‘stuck’ in Blighty, and we had decided to have a jolly Christmas together, us three expats. And the wreath… well, it doubled as a Christmas tree.
Last year’s wreath in its full (and final) glory….
Since then, the wreath has come out every year to brighten the season. It moved house with me, and later my husband and kids, no less than a dozen times!
However…. Sixteen years later, I have to confess, I grew a little tired of the battered old pine cones and tacky bows. This past weekend, my hubs, the kids and I embarked on a restoration project to breathe a new lease of life into this wreath. Okay, I admit it: we tried on numerous occasions to replace it; we even placed an order with a local florist three times to get a ‘real’ wreath, but all efforts failed. So this year… we’ve made it happen on our terms. What do you think?
In the harsh day of light… the old wreath looked a bit tired and dated.
The most painful part of the operation done: gone are the bows and some of the worst cones. Stripped, bare, ready for makeover!
Ingredient 1: Flowers
Ingredient 2: New cones, apples, and snowy pine needles…
Ingredient 3: Holly. Let there be holly!
Ingredient 4: Four fat candles!
And finally: restored to new glory… the new Wells Advent Wreath!
When someone’s in distress, you give up your flight. When there’s a white-out, you have dinner and hope for the best. When it’s Christmas and you can’t get home… you hope for a miracle. And that’s the essence of Fairy Tale in New York, officially out today!
Amazing. Breathtaking. Thanks to Fairy Tale in New York, @Faroofthedark is a convert to Christmas themed books! http://ow.ly/D7SpF
Everything you could wish in a #Christmas story, five stars! @Cometbabe on Fairy Tale in New York http://ow.ly/DYoHK
A truly beautiful book, can’t recommend it highly enough! @dawnlcrooks on FAIRY TALE IN NEW YORK http://ow.ly/E34ot
“Wonderfully uplifting, just how a Christmas novella should be!” Rachel reviews FAIRY TALE IN NEW YORK @readlovelust http://ow.ly/E351k
“Magical” says @bethany_Petty in her review of Fairy Tale in New York at @chicklitcentral! http://ow.ly/E3tmI
Perfect for #Christmas, 4.5 Stars! @skydreamersimi enjoyed FAIRY TALE IN NEW YORK! http://ow.ly/E3wWz
Festive, magical, beautiful, sweet, charming, fun… 5 stars for FAIRY TALE IN NEW YORK from @SophieRTB http://ow.ly/E4rB2
Fairy Tale in New York > soul-warming, uplifting, festive! 5 Crowns from Kelly at @peruseprincess http://ow.ly/E4u5v
Fairy Tale in New York is an all-out, no-holds-barred, super-sized feel-good and good-cheer Christmas novella featuring a rock star and the girl next door. I know, that’s a lot of adjectives right there. But you see, this is my annual indulgence. I love Christmas. More specifically, I love the run-up to Christmas, the Advent season. The lights, the baking, the weather (yes, the howling gales which allow me to curl up inside with my mulled wine, and the snowy blizzards–if we get any–that draw me outside the make a snowman, I’ll take it all!), the goodwill, the cheer, the colours.
I’m the anti-Grinch. Christmas rocks!
Therefore in this Fairy Tale, I really let my hair down. I wanted to bring you the ultimate Christmas book, the one with the crisis and the romance and the great ending. I’m taking you on a flight of fancy, but I can assure you, I did my research, and the key event… well, let’s just say it would be possible. Just! LOL.
However, there’s a little more in there for you too. For a start, you can amuse yourself by working out my playlist from the Chapter titles. Have fun! But there’s yet more; there’s a little bit of reflection that grounds the book. For I take my characters (Jude, the rock star in particular) down a road of giving and helping that they’d never previously have considered. It’s all about love, but in more ways than one. (And yes, that one too, although we shall keep our discrete distance this time. It is a Christmas Fairy Tale, not a hot rock romp. LOL).
So Fairy Tale in New York tells the story of a perfect Christmas in the most imperfect of circumstances. Here’s the blurb.
New York. A restaurant near Park Avenue. It’s early evening, and dusk is falling. So is the snow. Jude and Carrie are only killing time while they wait for their flight to London. They don’t know yet that their life will never be the same.
When rock star Jude gets stranded in New York with his family on Christmas Eve, he has no idea that he is setting in motion a chain of events that will turn their Christmas into the most magical one yet…
No good deed goes unpunished, or so it seems to Jude and Carrie on the morning of the twenty-fourth of December. The previous day, they gave up their London-bound flights to someone in crisis. And now, a spectacular whiteout is grounding all planes, and Jude, Carrie, and baby Maya are stuck far from home.
Tired, hungry, and just a little panicked, Jude loads his family into a cab and returns to their hotel. But there’s no room at the inn, and not even a platinum credit card will make a difference. Snow is falling heavily, and the family is facing a very bleak night indeed.
How do you celebrate Christmas with no place to stay, no food, and no presents? Join Jude, Carrie, Maya and a cast of colourful characters in this fairy tale story of Yuletide in New York.
Why, of course I’ve got to tell you it’s out today. That’s the whole point of launching a book! You can get it in e-book and paperback editions from all Amazon stores, including:
I wanted to spread some seasonal joy, so check this out!
FREE on Kindle for one week from 8 November 2014!
$0.99/£0.99 on Kindle for one week from 10 November 2014!
For the next seven days,
Spirits of Christmas is completely FREE on Kindle.
And Fallen for Rock
is only $0.99/£0.99.
How’s that for a mega launch celebration?
Wooohoo!
Wishing you a FABULOUS Christmas season,
and thanks for all your support in 2014. Rock on!
Posted in Fairy Tale in New York
Tagged Fairy Tale, Fallen For Rock, FREE on Kindle, launch, Sale on Kindle, Spirits of Christmas
Yes, you read that right. This is my first free promo EVER.
Spirits of Christmas is absolutely free on Kindle for five days only!
Go grab it here or in any other Amazon store:
Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk
Easy. Because it’s Christmas (well, getting there!) and I’m celebrating the impending launch of Fairy Tale in New York, which is available for pre-order right now but will officially release on Kindle next Monday for only $2.06 or £1.29.
Please help me spread the joy by sharing a tweet or Facebook message or posting to Google+. Thanks so much! And to make it really easy, here’s a sample message you can use:
SPIRITS OF CHRISTMAS, rock’n’roll Christmas carol by @WellsNicky #FREE on #KINDLE! http://ow.ly/DXQfW Romance, music & Xmas, go get it!
Posted in Fairy Tale in New York, Spirits of Christmas
Tagged Free, Kindle, Spirits of Christmas
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The Sophie's Encore Review Tour, 26 August until 24 September 2013
Check out 50+ stops here!
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Nicky Wells: Love & Thrills 