Today’s
author spotlight shines on Melody
DeBlois. She’s here to chat about her new contemporary romance, That April
in Santa Monica, releasing on Oct 23rd.
During
her virtual book tour, Melody will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble
(winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for
a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning,
feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!
Bio:
Born in California,
award winning author, Melody DeBlois follows the sun. When she isn’t swimming
laps, she’s writing sweet and sassy romances. Her heroines are self-reliant and
smart and her heroes are kind by nature and love dogs. She lives in California
during the summer and spends winters in Arizona with her husband. She has
plotted her novels while hiking the beach or trekking across the desert. Her
most treasured possession is family.
Welcome, Melody. Please share a little bit about your current release.
Madison receives acclaim for running a talent agency for people
with disabilities, but she doesn't know how to take care of herself. When her
altruism becomes life-threatening—a matter of either develop healthy habits or
die—she joins a reality TV show that pairs her with hot, raven-haired Brandon.
He is witty, sexy, and her teacher. That makes him off limits.
After a
successful run on a soap opera, Brandon stepped away from empty fame and now
focuses on his work as TV's most noted health teacher. He has one fast
rule—never fall for a student. But when he meets Madison, their chemistry is
combustible. There's no hiding their conflict or their attraction, especially
when it's all caught on film.The book won a first-place award for Contemporary Romance at the 2017 Diamonds in the Desert Writer’s Conference. It had a different title: I’ve Grown Accustomed to Your Face.
What
inspired you to write this book?
I
was watching a health coach on reality TV and wondered what would happen if he
fell in love with a student.
Excerpt from That April in Santa Monica:
“Don’t
you feel the sun’s energy balancing and healing you?”
What
Madison felt was Brandon’s body heat radiating through her, tightening her
muscles, skimming up her spine. That kind of warmth should come with a warning—
exposure might cause side effects. Maybe she could have blamed it on chemistry
or like attracting like— called it a lethal injection. She was dying for want
of him.
She
managed to say, “I see a halo around the sun.”
“Feel
it vibrate?” he asked, turning to look at her, and his eyes turned molten-blue.
Somehow,
she didn’t think watching the sky had anything to do with it. The heat had
gathered at the sweet place between her legs— another side effect of her being
close to him. If this didn’t end up in a kiss, she didn’t think she’d be able
to bear it.
Drawing
in a long shaky breath, she said, “I do feel the vibration.” Oh, did she!
“Being
out in the middle of nature, with the birds and the sea creatures, it does
something to a person, don’t you think?”
“Amen
to Mother Earth,” she said dreamily.
“There’s
harmony in the sounds.” His breath seemed to have caught in his throat.
“Yes,
a more beautiful melody could not exist.”
“Do
you feel your eyes blur? It’s the sun cleansing you.”
Cleansing?
Try heating up as if some crazy so-and-so had switched on the gas.
She
moaned, “My eyes have become pools of marvel.” No, that wasn’t right. They were
pools of longing, no mistaking
What
exciting story are you working on next?
I
am currently writing Undercover in Venice Beach; Book 2 in the Love
is a Beach Series.
Struggling small business owner Audrey Powell
has just lost her mother. In secret, she’s returned to Venice Beach to take
over the tea house her mother made so special. She’s determined to keep Mama’s
spirit of helping others alive. But she has no one to help her run things—until
enter Liam James, the hunky poet who works miracles with food.
Liam James is a spy with British Intelligence. He sets up
surveillance in the tea house where secrets are being leaked that threaten
national security. To fit in with the clientele, he must work under the guise
of a bloke who opposes technology. Never has he allowed a woman to get in the
way of a mission until he meets Audrey. Trouble is, she isn’t who she claims to
be.
When
did you first consider yourself a writer?
All
my life I wrote stories and books, but it wasn’t until my youngest son went off
to school that I wrote a book at the dining room table and sent it off to Bantam.
It was rejected, but the note was so very kind I felt encouraged. I haven’t stopped
writing ever since.
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’ve
written full-time for three years. I am a slow writer. I begin with a draft of 50,000
words at least, which takes a month, but after that, my method is one of constant
revision. While working my way through a book, I loop back to earlier sections
to rewrite in order to remain consistent, fluid, and to maintain voice. I’m
trying to step up the process. Most writers only take a few months to finish
their books. A single chapter can take fifty rewrites before I am satisfied
enough to move on. There are times I want to toss the WIP out, but I just keep
plugging along, a turtle in a world of hares, and even when I’m in the last phase
of the copy-editing, I find a word here or there I want to change.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I
dream a book into existence, in that every night I’m writing in my sleep. And,
yes, it gets exhausting at times. Mistakes in the writing pop up in nightmare
form, startling me awake. A-ha moments happen around three in the morning—the witching
hour.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I
vacillated between wanting to be an actress and longing to write. In my early
twenties, I wrote plays for the neighborhood children. I directed sometimes as
many as sixty children, made the costumes, and choreographed the dances. The
strange part was I never had a dance lesson, and even with a name like Melody,
I couldn’t sing a note. I was playing, but my playing was profitable. We made
lots of money that we donated to local charities. It was a good time in my
life. I hadn’t yet been hit by any sort of rejection. I thought I could do
anything.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I’ve
always lived by a quote by Henry David Thoreau:
If one advances
confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life
which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.
Links:
Buy Links:
Thank
you for being a guest on my blog!
Thank
you for having me on your blog. It was a pleasure!
8 comments:
It has been great hearing about your book and although I am not the reader myself, my 2 sisters and 2 daughters are. They love hearing about the genre's they like and me helping them get to find books they will enjoy. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Robert. It's wonderful that you've introduced your daughters to reading. Your sisters must feel fortunate that you take an interest in finding them just the right book. You are a good brother and dad to enrich the girls in your family with literature.
Sounds like a great read.
Happy Friday! Thanks for sharing the great post.
Thank you Rita and Victoria! And a big thank you to Lisa for hosting me today. It has been a pleasure.
Great interview, thank you for sharing
Both this book and your next one sound interesting!
beautiful cover, i need to read this
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