Guest Post
Did you have a minor character who insisted on playing a larger role in the story? If so, please tell us about it. And if not, please tell me how you get the characters in your head to behave.
First I want to thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity and for giving my Cinderella Romances Promo tour a spot on your blog.
This is a great question. There is always a minor character that inserts themselves into the meat of a story, and the amazing thing is I’m never sure at the beginning who the character will be. Like in Betting on Cinderella, it turned out to be the pit boss, Peters. In Any Fin For Love, it was Dougah, the hero’s best friend. In Ambush in the Everglades, it was the hero’s cousin, Jimmy.
Now this is going to sound weird, but when I write, I see movies running in my head. No kidding. Like a feature-length film in full color. For the most part, I just sit back and watch and try to write or type as fast as I can to keep up. I’m lucky in that my mother forced me to take shorthand when I was in high school. It’s like writing phonetically and about ten times faster than longhand. So when my movie has sped up a bit and I’m having trouble keeping up, I just slip into my shorthand. I’ve been lucky and gotten so used to using it that I can type straight from shorthand just like typing from written words. I am unlucky in that I cannot see the movie in my head and type too. The OCD section in my brain wants to stop and correct as I go, and if I stop, I lose that perfect fabulous phrase that just popped into my head. The movie clicks along so fast that if the phrase slips, it is usually gone forever. ☹ Plus I risk the movie stopping too which does happen on occasion. The important trick I learned with my movie story is that I make sure I get partway into a scene before I hit pause for the day. This makes it far easier for the movie to restart the following day. 😊
Modern-day Cinderella stories that provide unlimited opportunities to retell the classic fairy tale, happily with returning characters to share in these adventures.
Once upon a time, in Jupiter Island, Florida . . .
Billionaire developer, Rhett Buchanan, is forced to inspect a shipment of priceless trees and meets the girl of his dreams instead. A bit jaded where women are concerned—since most are gold diggers—Rhett falls head over heels for the Jupiter Island socialite who only wants him, not his money. Except she isn't the glamorous socialite she appears to be.
She's the gardener . . .
Once upon a time in Biloxi, Mississippi . . .
Garrett Tucker inherits his grandfather's casino empire and steps into the reclusive billionaire's shoes as the new "Prince of Vegas." Discovering embezzlement in his newly purchased casino in Biloxi, Garrett goes in undercover. His prime suspect? The new finance supervisor . . . a feisty brunette who stole his heart at first sight.
Andi Ryan moves to Biloxi to care for her godmother. Taking a job as finance supervisor for the renovated Bayou Princess casino, she discovers someone is skimming from the till. Andi starts her own investigation, worried she will be blamed for the theft when the handsome new owner discovers her godmother likes to gamble.
Industrial espionage is afoot at the Bayou Princess, and Garrett and Andi are soon forced to work as a team to prove her innocence and save the casino before it’s too late.
This swoonworthy modern-day fairy tale joins the other stories in the Cinderella Romances series. Each provides a new opportunity to retell the classic fairy tale, happily with returning characters to share in these adventures.
Once upon a time in Cedar Key, Florida . . .
Golf resort developer Aidan Cross is at loose ends. Something feels missing from his life, but that something isn't women. He has too many women chasing him now. To confuse things even more, his yacht breaks down off-shore of his next project site in Florida, and Aidan falls for his only competition in the small town—a woman who wants nothing to do with him or his rakish charm.
Casey Stuart is stuck living in Cypress Key, unwilling to abandon her uncle or the golf course they manage together. She doesn't quite trust the stranger Aidan who shows up in town looking for work, and she vows to steer clear of him and the danger their intense chemistry provokes. Aidan’s stay is temporary, and falling for him promises only heartbreak.
But Casey needs Aidan’s help when she discovers Cypress Key’s mayor is making underhanded business deals, and she ends up on the wrong side of the powerful crook. Aidan steps in to rescue her, but secrets from his past threaten to bogey their new-found affair.
This swoonworthy modern-day fairy tale joins the other Cinderella stories in the series. Each provides a new opportunity to retell the classic fairy tale, happily with returning characters to share in these adventures.
Excerpt
from Book One: Cinderella Busted
“Do you buy a lot of plants here?” Buchanan suddenly asked.
Her head snapped up from examining a bent gray frond. She swallowed. “Buy?”
“You must be one of the nursery’s best customers as well as you know the stock and know your way around here.” He gave her that slow, sexy smile again. “Are you buying landscaping for business or pleasure?”
Oh good grief! He thinks I’m a customer.
But why wouldn’t he? Today, she was dressed like one. Surely, he could tell from their conversation she worked here at the nursery.
Or not.
He waited for a response. So that was why he had asked her to help him! She grinned. She couldn’t help it. She felt like Cinderella masquerading as a princess at the ball. Maybe she could just avoid answering his question altogether.
She guided him to the end of the aisle, made the turn to the fifth row of trees, and aimed their steps toward a cluster of Monterrey pines.
Buchanan put a hand out to stop her. “I hope you’ll let me take you to dinner to thank you for helping me, Lily.”
Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband and an opinionated Nanday conure named Sassy who made a cameo appearance in No Angels for Christmas.
Visit Petie's web site online at http://www.petiemccarty.com or her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/petie.mccarty.
Giveaway
The author will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.
Thank you so much for featuring Petie McCarty and her series today.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. Sounds like a good read.
ReplyDeleteYou’re so sweet! Thanks!
DeleteThis looks like a fantastic read. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou’re welcome. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteI really like the cover and think the book looks interesting.
ReplyDeleteI love my covers! Trident Graphics does a fabulous job!
DeleteThank you, Momma Says To Read, for hosting Cinderella series tour. I greatly appreciate it!
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