Today’s
guest is J. Alex Blane. He’s doing a
virtual book tour with Write Now Literary for his debut romantic suspense novel
Where We Left off.
Bio:
J.
Alex Blane, is one of our newest and most promising author whose novel Where We Left Off debuted his first
break in the literary world of Christian fiction romantic suspense. A
Multi-Media developer by trade; “J. Alex Blane is a talented man whose
creativity is exceptional!” – Katrina Coleman (Amazon).
An alumni of
Wilmington University receiving both his graduate and undergraduate degree,
since he could remember, it had always been his dream to write a novel. After
nearly eight years of deciding to put a single ballpoint pen to a piece of paper
he finally placed the last period at the end of the very last sentence. With
that he introduced readers all across the country to Where We Left Off, a story that has evolved into something to this
day he will say he never expected and in some cases transcending the definition
of its genre. To date, Alex has sold over 17,000 copies and has been recently
awarded Northern Delaware’s most Happening Author.
J.
Alex Blane currently lives with his wife and his two children in Bear Delaware
where they share a small home just right for him to sneak off into a little
corner and write more of what he loves and those who have already began asking,
yes, the second and third installment of the series.
Welcome, J. Alex. Please tell us about
your debut release.
Where
We Left Off is a very
unconventional story of what seemed to be an unlikely relationship that
developed between two people that couldn’t have been more opposite. Mason, a
young, handsome and successful real estate developer wasn’t the type of man to
settle down and definitely not the type to become vulnerable to feeling
anything for anyone. Like most instances, all it takes is that one person, with
that one look to change the course of
everything. For Mason that was Sydney McCail. As smart as she was beautiful,
she was nothing like the women he’d entertainment himself with. She held fast
to her morals, and her Christian upbringing and despite Masons disregard for
them, he found himself falling for her with each passing day. He would never
tell her he loved her …but he felt something. It’s not long until what’s seemingly
too good to be true becomes too good to last and it all came at the introduction
of Sydney’s father. Secrets, fear, faith and forgiveness shapes the rest of
this story in a way that will have you leaping from one page to the other
caught in moments of laugher, tears, anger, sadness and warm and fuzzy feeling
inside. Where We Left Off will not be
what you expect.
What inspired you to write this book?
This is
probably the easiest answer to give. My novel, Where We Left Off, is inspired by a true story. While remaining
fiction the story was inspired by life; my life to be more accurate. I’m often
moved to write through experiences; when I love, when I don’t, when I hurt,
when I’m happy and when I’m most sad. The moving finger that writes move to the
pulse of your heartbeat flowing through ink from the pen that is so tightly
held between your figures as if hoping your tears won’t replace the ink as the
words form. In short, the best stories come from those that you’ve experienced
full of emotion and authenticity. For me Where
We Left Off is one of those stories.
Chapter 17 Excerpt from Where We Left Off:
It
was almost as if their conversation from the night before had never ended. They
talked and laughed as people who walked in for lunch came and went. She was so
eloquently animated when she spoke that it caused him to smile more at her
gestures and facial expressions than her actual words. It seemed like once she
started she didn’t stop. For him, that was a good thing. The more she spoke the
fewer questions he had to think of to keep the conversation going. There were
moments when their hands exchanged touches of innocent flirtation, and when
there was silence their eyes spoke more than words ever could. He was as lost
in her gaze as she was in his.
The
waitress made her rounds clearing and collecting her tips from every table
around them before she finally reached theirs. “How is everything?”
Sipping the last bit of orange juice from his
glass, but never breaking his eyes away from Sydney, “Perfect,” he answered.
“Everything was perfect.”
She
removed the empty plates and glasses and left the check sitting on the edge of
the table. “I’ll take that when you’re ready,” she said, walking towards the
kitchen.
They
were far from being ready. Even though they had eaten and the plates had been
cleared from the table, neither of them wanted to leave just yet.
“So
I’ve been meaning to ask you what made you leave me on hold for so long last
night?”
“Maybe because you called me at two,
o’clock in the morning,” she laughed. “I actually just wanted to see if you
were going to hang up or not.”
“Twenty
minutes though?” he reiterated.
Shrugging
her shoulders, “You could have hung up,” she suggested with a sly grin.
“I
could have,” he laughed.
They
didn’t think it was a problem, so they sat at the table a little longer than
usual once it had been cleared. The check was still sitting towards the edge
and neither one of them had paid much attention to it since it had been placed
there. After noticing their waitress walk by the table a number of times,
Sydney started to feel a little uncomfortable.
“I
think we should go,” she whispered. “She’s walked past us five times.”
Noticing
the waitress staring back at them from across the diner, he laughed, “I think
you’re right. I guess we’ve outstayed our welcome. I’ll be right back” he said,
reaching into his pocket to pay the bill.
Sydney
waited at the table, completely flustered and thoroughly infatuated. Watching
him walk away, she tried her best to conceal her smile but she couldn’t. By
then, him being late was no longer a factor. She liked him; she really, really
liked him.
Although
she hadn’t taken much thought into Mason’s perception of the afternoon thus
far, the feelings seemed more than mutual.
Standing
at the register, he caught himself smiling at random thoughts, with a light
chuckle at remembered jokes as the cashier changed his twenty-dollar bill,
leaving a few singles in his hand. The way he felt was so far out of character
for him but, ironically, he liked it. He walked back to the table with a
different stride in his step, a different look in his eyes, and an overall
different approach to this woman who sat across from him. He held out his hand
to help her from her chair.
“Aren’t
you just the gentleman?”
“I
try,” he modestly agreed.
They
walked toward the door, close to holding hands but not, though strangely
wanting to.
“I’m
really glad we did this,” she said, walking through the door he held open for
her.
The
time had escaped them into early afternoon. It was warm outside with a
comforting, cool breeze. Most of the cars had left the parking lot, leaving
only a few remaining. She didn’t think any of them could be Mason’s. One was an
old Buick and the other minivan she was sure belonged to the noisy family they
had walked past on their way out.
“Where’d
you park?” Mason asked her, throwing on his jacket.
“I
took the bus,” she answered, looking over to the bus stop. “My car is parked in
my driveway until I can get it fixed, so it’s public transportation for me for
a while.”
“Wow,
you really took the bus here?”
“And
to think…I was the one on time,” she laughed. “So let’s see, are you the Buick
or the minivan?” She asked, pointing and laughing.
“First
of all I respect Buick, but I will never ever drive a minivan.” He paused.
“That’s me right there.”
He
stood at the edge of the walkway and pointed towards the side of the building,
where there was a motorcycle parked beside it. It wasn’t an actual parking
space, but he made it work. The motorcycle was big enough to accommodate his
masculine build, but small enough to fit on the side without making it
difficult to walk around. The reflection of the sunlight bouncing off of the
chrome exhaust and wheels was blinding as Mason walked towards it.
“Mason,
please tell me that’s not yours?” she asked.
He
noticed she wouldn’t walk too close to it, and when she did her steps were
tense and her hands tight. She had never been on a motorcycle, for obvious
reasons. Compared to her four-wheeled car, two wheels and less security meant
less safety.
Mason
had a sense of arrogance when climbing onto the motorcycle, one that was
attractively apparent to her. She didn’t say anything at first, watching him
straddle the bike and standing it upright.
“Well,
um, please be safe on that thing,” she urged him.
Mason
leaned forward on his helmet with a pondering and almost cunning look on his
face.
His
eyebrow slightly rose as he tilted his head her direction “What else are you
doing today?” he asked her inquisitively.
“Nothing,”
she answered apprehensively, yet indirectly inviting.
He
stood straight up with the motorcycle still beneath him and looked at her with
a daring gaze.
“Hop
on!” he suggested.
Her
eyebrows rose as if he had clearly lost his mind.
“You’re
joking, right?”
“Not
at all….hop on!” He said again, holding his helmet out towards her.
There was no question; she was
nervous. So nervous that when she tried to speak, even as the words formed on
the tip of her tongue she still couldn’t get them out past a stutter. Before
she could force out a word to express how she felt about getting on, he reached
out and took her hand, pulling her towards him. Once she was in front of him he
slid his helmet onto her head, leaving the visor open. The look in his eyes
said trust me. Everything inside of
her told her not to; that she couldn’t, that she would be a fool to trust him. What if I fall off? What if he goes too
fast? What if? Even all of her what
ifs had no real restraint against his charm and wit. In less than a few seconds
she found herself climbing onto the back of his motorcycle and wrapping her
arms around him, squeezing him harder than she had ever held anyone before.
She
could feel the vibration of the engine moving up her legs as he revved the
throttle. “Only around the corner…and you’ll bring me right back, right?” she yelled over the loud rumble
of the exhaust.
She felt his chest jump in a
deceptive laugh.
“Of
course” he yelled, nodding his head with little assurance.
“I don’t believe you,” she yelled out.
He shrugged his shoulders.
“Too late now!”
What exciting story are you working on
next?
I’m very
excited to be working on the second and third installment following this
series. I’m sure most will have a number of questions after reading Where We Left Off, one of which I’m sure
will revolve around Jackson (Mason’s brother) and his wife amongst a host of
other characters that make brief appearances. When I sat down to write this
novel I pictured and asked myself, how would I want to see this if it were a
movie, how could I build the suspense for this story while also creating one
for the next?
When did you first consider yourself a
writer?
I think the
first time I knew and considered myself to be a writer was in the 6th
grade. My girlfriend had broken up with me and unlike most of my friends who
would just brush it off, I was the hopeless romantic even then, and had to
write her a heartfelt letter. By then I was well past the roses are red and
violets are blue and more into “feeling your heartbeat against mine”. Long
story short she had my math teacher read it and it nearly brought her to tears
so much so until my girlfriend felt she had to, if for no other reason than for
the sake of love, get back together with me. I knew then that I loved to write
but more than that I knew that if I really put my heart into it, people would
perhaps love it to. That’s when I considered myself a writer.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s
your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find
time to write?
I wish I
could say I write full time. That would definitely take care of a lot of the
distractions making it difficult to find that quite time and space to write. Other
than writing I am a Career Development and Admissions Counselor at a University
in Delaware. Finding the time to write in between a full time job, family and
other extracurricular activities is extremely challenging. But unlike my wife
and children I am a bit of a night owl and when they all head off to sleep
that’s when my creative juices start flowing, or should I say that’s when the
voices start talking, the rooms transform in to new cities, and breeze from the
air conditioner becomes the chilling winter air of light snow or rain. I find
time to write when the time finds me.
What would you say is your interesting
writing quirk?
I would say
my interesting writing quirk is adding a poetic undertone in random places. I
love words and how when they are properly formed together than can make the
worst statement sounds so eloquent and direct and an great sentence sound even
sweeter. I began chapter 16 somewhat like this when trying to bring to the
reader’s attention the time that had passed and the evolution of Mason and Sydney’s
relationship: “As the days passed, weeks turned into the season’s end. Mason
and Sydney were no longer strangers to each other any more than water was to an
ocean. Fall blossomed their romance into winter, as snowflakes shimmered like
stars in the night sky.” Where there are places to be creatively and
descriptively poetic I tend to dip into my quirkiness.
As a child, what did you want to be
when you grew up?
I can tell
you that my mom wanted me to be an architect. I loved to draw and was a very
artistic child. I can’t really say I remember what I wanted to be. I will tell
you as I grew older I wanted to be almost everything under the son; a music
producer, a photographer, a graphic designer, a rapper. I was fortunate to find
a university that afforded me a degree in communications and interactive multi
media which encompassed nearly all of that. One that I do know is I’ve always
had an entrepreneurial spirit and anything that I really set my mind to I gave
110%. I just wanted to be someone that mattered. Someone that made a difference
and ultimately someone that helped people.
Anything additional you want to share
with the readers?
Is there
anything more I want to share with my readers …yes. I can’t say thank you
enough to every single one of you who took a chance to pick up a book by an
author that was unknown to you with a piece of work that you had no idea if it
would be good or not. Thank you for sharing your days and nights with me and
getting to know a few new people hidden within the pages of Where We Left Off. Your words mean the world to me. Thank you.
