Taste of Kiwi

The theme for this week is dancing. I’ve chosen the dancing scene from Tea For Two where my characters Hayley and Sam first meet.

Tea For Two by Shelley Munro

Aware his trio of stalkers hovered in the vicinity, waiting for an opportunity to approach, he tightened his grip on the woman and took her hand. Crazy. He should thank her for the save and leave. But he didn’t. “Would you like to dance?”

A slight frown creased her forehead. She opened her mouth, as if she might reject him.

“Please,” he said hurriedly. “You haven’t even given me a smile yet. I look upon that as a challenge.”

“Women don’t say no to you, do they?” Amusement sparkled in her beautiful blue eyes. He wondered idly what her dark hair would look like without the pins and jeweled combs that restrained it so tightly. Probably really good against his sheets.

“Not often,” he said, guiding her to the dance floor with a hand at the small of her back while battling his instincts to pounce. Too bad. He was losing the fight. Big time. “You wouldn’t want to spoil my good image. Word might get around. My reputation would suffer.”

She chuckled, the sound rich and musical, without artifice. “Your reputation seems quite healthy. I’ve seen you in the gossip magazines with a different woman on your arm each time.”

“You recognize me?” Damn, a woman he instinctively liked, and she had preconceived notions. The wrong ones, if she read the gossip mags. Damn, he hated this, although he couldn’t change the fact his mother was minor royalty and his father had more money than most people dreamed about. Their fairy-tale marriage had sparked public interest that had never waned over the years. If anything, the arrival of children brought more attention. It seemed, in this world of throwaway relationships, a lot of people craved happy endings.

“You’re a very photogenic figure, Mr. Norville.”

“Sam,” he said, taking her into his arms. “You can call me Sam.” She was about six inches shorter than him—the perfect height. Nothing worse than a sore neck from bending at an awkward angle. They moved together easily, bodies brushing in time to the music. At least she hadn’t flounced off in disgust, he thought while he navigated the crowded floor. “Are you going to tell me your name?” He offered her his best smile, infusing it with charm and sincerity, when all he really wanted to do was bite. His smile slithered into a smirk at the thought. It wouldn’t be a problem. Laving away the sting with the lash of his tongue would be half the fun.

“H-Helen,” she said.

Cute stutter. Combined with the freckles and perfume, it added up to compelling—for him at any rate—and a woman who didn’t do casual. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Yeah, right. Try telling that to his body.

“You can’t believe everything you hear or see, especially in the media,” he said, returning to their earlier conversation.

“Is that so? But the stories seem fairly consistent. There must be an element of truth.” The sparkle in her eyes gave away the fact she was teasing.

A couple bumped into them. Sam gathered her closer and moved them out of the main traffic area on the dance floor. Their legs glided together and his unruly hormones leapt to full alert. Difficult to hold back his groan of pleasure.

“You can’t let my reputation scare you off. That would be like trying a man without giving him a hearing. Innocent until proven guilty, remember?”

Helen lifted her head and her mouth stretched into a wide grin. It echoed in her blue eyes, taking her from quietly attractive to striking. Sam stared, fascinated by the difference a smile made. “Just what do you intend to do with me, Sam? We’ve only just met.”

Strange how the stutter had disappeared. He’d rather liked the small imperfection. “We can discuss our relationship over a drink.”

“A drink sounds nice.” Her full lips twitched with amusement. “But really, it’s too early to call what we have a relationship.”

He chuckled, attracting the attention of several couples near them on the dance floor. For once he didn’t care about the public scrutiny. “I respond well to a challenge. I also bite. You should take that as a warning.”

Helen grinned. “I must update my immunization shots.”

Purchase from Samhain Publishing or Amazon

To read more Snippet Saturday excerpts follow the links below:

Mari Carr
HelenKay Dimon
Shelley Munro
Vivian Arend
Taige Crenshaw
McKenna Jeffries
Ashley Ladd
TJ Michaels
Emma Petersen
Lauren Dane

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The Scarlet Woman tour continues. I’m at Literary Escapism talking about why I like paranormal romance. As usual, there is a giveaway so come over and say hello.

And a reminder of what Scarlet Woman is about:

Emily Scarlet’s husband left her for his secretary and died in a car accident—all on the same day. Now, six months later, Emily has emerged from her chrysalis of painful memories. And to prove she has what it takes to attract a man, she’s determined to experience one perfect night of passion.

Feline shape shifter, Saber Mitchell has a problem with his four boisterous younger brothers. They’re out of control. It’s too late for him, but he hopes to get his brothers mated and settled, and the ball is the place to introduce them to marriageable women.

Unbridled sex is the last thing he plans on, but one glimpse of Emily Scarlet changes his mind. Sex with her is a necessity. They dance. They make love.

One thing is clear—a single night isn’t enough. Saber must have her for his mate, but Emily isn’t so easy to convince…or trust.

It’s time for my guest column at The Raven Happy Hour blog. Today, I’m exploring wormholes—what are they and do they really exist?

Tea For Two is up for the 5 Heart Sweetheart Award for 2009 at The Romance Studio. Vote here for my book or one of the other worthy titles nominated for the award.

Wild Child is out today! Do your bit for charity and purchase a copy of Wild Child or one of the other books in the 28 Days of Heart series. All proceeds go to the American Heart Association.

And speaking of health, I’m on a diet. I decided it was time to take action after I noticed my clothes were much tighter. It was all that Christmas food that did me in! I’ve been dieting for a week, and it hasn’t been too bad so far. Do you have any diet tips for me?

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Where do you find love? It’s a question I asked here on my blog not long ago, producing some interesting answers. Today the Tea For Two Tour continues at Love Romance Passion and I’m talking about romance and meeting places. I’m also doing a giveaway so don’t forget to come and say hello.

Random thought – I must have more wrinkles than I thought because the bus driver stopped at the old folk’s home to let me off the bus, instead of continuing to the stop just a bit farther down the road. (which is closer to my house) He was trying to be nice, but I think I should be insulted. What do you think? LOL I think everyone is picking on me this year, that’s what I think.

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A book is a sum of things—characters, setting and description, dialogue, pace and plot. It’s the combination of all of these elements, done in the right way that makes a book exciting and sought after by readers.

It takes a lot of work to get a book to a standard that’s saleable. My first drafts are like white boxes. People inhabit the white box—my characters that is, but they’re quiet and in shock from the lack of scenery. It’s all white in there, after all.

During the first stages, my characters are a bit superficial and half the time they have no idea what they’re doing, what their purpose is in the box. It’s almost like the first run through of a play where the cast are strangers and feeling their way into their parts.

It’s during the second and third run through that I add the color and turn my white box into a real world, complete with real people. Adding setting and description is a skill I’ve fought to learn—it certainly doesn’t come naturally.

Not so long ago, it was normal to read very flowery descriptions in books. These days descriptions in fiction are briefer and spare at times.

Here’s a paragraph from Powder and Patch by Georgette Heyer.

The Apparition wore a coat of the palest apricot cloth, with a flowered vest of fine brocade, and startling white small-clothes. Red-heeled shoes were on his feet, and his stockings were adorned by sprawling golden clocks. He carried an amber-clouded can and a jeweled snuff-box, while ever and anon he raised a cobwebby handkerchief to his aristocratic nose. He minced down the street towards the market-place, followed by the awestricken glances of an amazed population.

That’s a lot of description for one person, although I have to say I’d love to see him in person. You probably won’t find this amount of description in a modern romance, not focused on one person. We’re more likely to add it in more sparingly in bits and pieces.

This snippet is taken from Dark Lover by JR Ward.

When she was finished with the Twinkie, she flipped open her phone, hit speed dial, and put in an order for beef with broccoli. As she walked along, she looked at the familiar, grim landmarks. Along this stretch of Trade Street, there were only bars, strip clubs, and the occasional tattoo parlor. The Chinese food place and the Tex-Mex buffet were the only two restaurants. The rest of the buildings, which had been used as offices in the twenties, when downtown had been thriving, were vacant. She knew every crack in the sidewalk; she could time the traffic lights. And the patois of sounds drifting out of open doors and windows offered no surprises either.

With this paragraph, we get a little characterization along with a feel for the neighborhood. We learn that although the district is run down, the place is home for our heroine.

In another book, that shall remain nameless, the description of a room sounded like a shopping list. It mentioned an antique rug, hardwood floors, a Victorian sofa and the color of the brocade, a coffee table and the type of wood, the silver tea service on top, two Victorian chairs, a gas fireplace, silver-framed photo frames, the photos inside them, the mantelpiece, a cherry and glass counter and quite a few other things.

The actual story wasn’t too bad, but this description, done list style, made me roll my eyes. I’ve edited the list quite a bit. The descriptions took up over half a page.

What I try to do is show the character experiencing the setting, give sensory details. I show them walking across a thick carpet and wondering if their shoes are going to get lost in the pile or holding out their hands to catch snowflakes, feeling the cold and dampness or tasting it melt on their tongue. They might notice the cars buried in snow or hear the chains on the tires as they fight for purchase. I try to involve the character’s senses of sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing to make the description come alive.

Here’s a paragraph taken from Tea For Two by Shelley Munro

“I see a line of dots.” Hayley Williams peered solemnly into her customer’s white china teacup. Outside her colorful curtain-partitioned area of the tea tent, children shrieked with excitement as they lined up for the Ferris wheel and merry-go-round. Her assistant chatted to one of the ladies in charge of the tea, extolling the high points of a reading by Madam Deveraux. Somewhere in the distance, a toddler howled and a brass band played “Rock Around the Clock”. Closer, touts shouted spasmodically about the exciting things available at their stalls. The clatter of china and the muted gossip of the ladies in the makeshift café added to the cacophony of fairground sounds.

For me this is actually quite a long description, but I hope it plops you right in the middle of a fairground.

When it comes to describing characters, I’m typically very brief because as a reader, I like to imagine myself as the heroine. If there’s too much description I think it gets in the way of my imagination. Just a brief hair color, eyes, build etc is all I need. You might think differently.

How much description do you like to read in your books? Do you like lots of description or a bare minimum? Do you like detailed description of characters? And writers: what approach do you use when it comes to description? Do you have a white box like me or is your world colorful from the start?

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The Tea For Two tour continues today with a stop at Smexy Books where I’m talking about names and the weird thing I encountered with my heroine’s name after Tea For Two came out at Samhain Publishing. As usual, I’m doing a giveaway, and you won’t have a chance of winning if you don’t visit!

I’m also visiting Alternative-Read.com. I’m discussing tea leaf reading here, an age-old method of fortune telling. Hayley, my heroine in Tea For Two reads tea cups. There’s a giveaway here too.

Scroll down to the next post because Karen Erickson is visiting me today and talking about her new release.

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My Tea For Two tour continues today with two stops.

The first stop is at I Do Not Want to Wait, I Want The Book Now where I’m talking about scandal. Tiger Woods, anyone?

The second stop is at Alternative-Read.com. I’m discussing tea leaf reading here, an age-old method of fortune telling. Hayley, my heroine in Tea For Two reads tea cups. EDITED: My apologies. I have the date wrong for this one. I’m here on the 13th Jan.

As always, I’m doing a give away at each stop. I’d love to see you there.

And finally, I’m doing a guest spot at The Rainbow Studio blog, The Romance Studio. I’m discussing weddings and Naughtiest Nuptials.

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Today I kick off my Tea For Two book tour at Book Junkie. I’m talking about books and keeping track. There’s a giveaway, so come on over and say hello.

My monthly column at The Raven Happy Hour is also live today. Do you know what to do if you see a UFO or come face-to-face with an alien? No? Then you should come over and take notes because you never know!

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The other day when hubby and I visited his mother we ended up talking about gyms. Hubby and I said we were going to the gym.

My MIL immediately said, “You must go together. My neighbor went to the gym to get fit and lose weight. She met someone and now her marriage has broken up. You MUST go to the gym together.”

After a startled silence hubby and I both grinned at each other and burst out laughing. The gym we were talking about is in our spare bedroom. Heck, I could go naked to our gym and no one would notice! And about the comment – I’m still deciding whether to be insulted or not.

My MIL’s comment made me think about where people met their partners.

Emily Scarlet met Saber Mitchell at the Middlemarch Single’s Ball – Scarlet Woman.

Anna Tietjens met Sebastian Brady at the airport when their plane was delayed – Wanderlust.

Hayley Williams met Sam Norville at her girlfriend’s work function – Tea For Two

Joanna McGregor met Louie Lithgow during a holiday in Fiji – Soldier of Fortune.

Rafi Mura met Roberto Azam when they were kids in Melbourne, attending the same school – Fallen Idol.

I met my husband in a bank. I was a bank teller, and he was a customer. I’m not sure where I’d look for a partner if I was in need of one. Maybe the gym!

Where did you meet your partner? If you were looking for a partner, where would you search first?

In Soldier of Fortune tour news, I’m doing a guest spot at Love Romance Passion today and talking about contemporary romance. I’m also doing a giveaway.

Tracy at Bootstrap Marketing has been very busy organizing book tours for me. I’m trying something new with my promo and taking some of my backlist books on tour.

See my sidebar for full details of the upcoming tours for Tea For Two and Fancy Free.

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This week’s theme is the black moment. My excerpt is from Tea For Two, the moment where the hero suspects the heroine of selling him out to the tabloids to make some quick money.

TEA FOR TWO by Shelley Munro

“Cripes,” Suzie said in vast understatement.

Hayley opened her mouth and shut it again, her teeth meeting in an audible clack. Her face peered up at her from the newspaper—the front page, no less.

“That’s not a recent photo,” Suzie said.

“I know.” Hayley started to read the article, horror growing with each word she scanned. “I didn’t do this. Sam’s going to think I talked to the reporter.”

Suzie placed a comforting arm around her shoulders, hugging her in silent commiseration. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” Someone had talked to a reporter, but Hayley didn’t think for a moment it was Suzie.

“No, I mean I’m sorry it’s happened.”

“Sam isn’t going to be happy. Are there other photos?”

“There are photos of the two of you together, but the accompanying story is speculation.” Suzie read some of the article and frowned. “This one is worse.” She hesitated. “Do you think your sister would do something like this?”

Hayley thought about the desperation on Abbey’s face, the determination, and slowly nodded. “She wasn’t very happy with me at our last meeting. She knows I read tea leaves. Abbey attended the fair at Greensbarrow and she and her friends wanted their tea leaves read.”

“Oh.”

“Oh, indeed. She demanded money again, and when I refused, she stomped off, saying I’d be sorry. I don’t understand why she hates me so much.”

“She’s jealous,” Suzie said.

“But why? Our parents were always so strict with me. I was the one who disappointed them and sneaked about with my boyfriend all the time. I was the one who managed to get pregnant.”

“Abbey needs to be the center of attention.”

Hayley snorted, her anger starting to grow. “So she does that by putting me in the papers? Yeah, that will really work well for her.”

“Sam’s gonna be angry.”

Hayley sucked in a deep breath, acknowledging the truth of Suzie’s words. Oh, yeah. And given his personal history with the tabloids, he’d put the blame squarely on her shoulders. “I’d better ring him.” Her hand trembled when she reached for the phone.

The intercom rang before she had a chance to dial.

“I’ll get it,” Suzie said.

Hayley dialed while listening to a reporter’s voice crackle through the intercom. Suzie told the man to piss off just as someone picked up the phone.

“Yes!” The impatient tone made her hesitate. “Is anyone there?”

“Sam, it’s me. Hayley.”

“You have a nerve,” he said in a low growl. “Did they pay you well?”

It hit Hayley then. Abbey had done it for both the money and to punish her for not handing over her precious savings. “I didn’t sell the story to the press and have nothing to do with the story.”

“Yeah, well, you would say that. Facts look pretty clear to me. Don’t bother coming for the next conference.”

“But I—”

“Trust means everything to me, Hayley. You lied to me about your name. You sold me out to the press. How the hell do you expect me to trust you again?”

“But—”

The soft click of the phone told Hayley he’d hung up without allowing her to explain. Not that she would have told him about Abbey’s gambling problems. She hung up, her shoulders slumping in despair. “He doesn’t believe me.” Her thick voice was loaded with tears.

“I’ll tell him the truth,” Suzie said, her chin jerking up in combative mode.

“No. I have to fix this myself. And if he won’t listen to me, he’s not worth fighting for.”

Check out my website to read a blurb or another excerpt. Available in ebook or print formats.

To read more excerpts in the Snippet Saturday trail follow the links below:

Vivian Arend
Ashley Ladd
Jaci Burton
Juliana Stone
TJ Michaels
Shelley Munro
Taige Crenshaw
Eliza Gayle
McKenna Jeffries
Savannah Foley
Elisabeth Naughton
Moira Rogers

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It’s time for the annual Raven Scavenger Hunt. Click on the icon below to get to the offical Scavenger Hunt Page.

You might win one of the following prizes:

Autographed book Dragons Prefer Blondes by Candace Havens
E-book from N.J. Walters’ backlist (winner’s choice)
E-book from Bianca D’Arc’s backlist (winner’s choice)
E-book from Candice Gilmer’s currently available backlist (winner’s choice)
Belong to the Night by Cynthia Eden (print paranormal romance anthology)
Tea for Two by Shelley Munro (print)
November ebook from Cobblestone – THE DEMON NEXT DOOR: ALI by Kate Austin
Forbidden: The Sacrifice (eBook copy) by Samantha Sommersby
Autographed print book from Shiloh Walker’s Backlist
E-book Divinity Warriors 1: Lilith Enraptured by Michelle M. Pillow
Mayan Secrets by Ciar Cullen (print US or Canada), ebook otherwise
E-book of Obsession (romantic suspense) by Sharon Cullen
Selkie Island by Jorrie Spencer
Autographed copy of Tempting Turquoise (print) by Amy Ruttan
Autographed copy of Hard Candy by Amanda Young
Adrienne (print) by D. Renee Bagby
Heart of the Volcano, ebook by Imogen Howson
E-book copy of Private Property by Leah Braemel
Furry, Fluffy & Wild (ebook anthology) by Nina Pierce
Venus In Blue Jeans (print) by Meg Benjamin
E-book copy of Lay Me Down in pfd format by Taige Crenshaw
The Forbidden Chamber (ebook) by Ella Drake
The Ghost Exterminator: A Love Story (ebook) by Vivi Andrews
Angelic Avenger (ebook) by Kaye Chambers

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