Excerpt
(Chapter One) – 418 words – rated PG
“So, tell me,”
Charlie directed the question her way once she’d made her promise
to Gemma, the glint in his eye seemingly payback for her smugness at
his own telling off, “why doesn’t your boyfriend ever attend
these family get-togethers?”
“Roger marches
to the beat of his own drum,” she answered easily with a shrug.
“Sometimes he comes along, other times he doesn’t. We don’t
need to live in each other’s pockets.”
After a couple of
years of doing the whole on-and-off/casual relationship thing, she
was used to it. Besides, Roger didn’t pressure her to attend events
with him, either. Which was a good thing, because his snobby parents
couldn’t stand her, and vice versa.
Sara felt as
though things were pretty equal in that way.
“I couldn’t
imagine him in a low-key restaurant like this, to be honest,” Jeff
chimed in, chuckling. He stuck his nose in the air and assumed a
haughty tone as he looked down at his menu, “Sara, darling, I don’t
see a single main here over twenty-five dollars. Outrageous! We’re
truly dining with the commoners tonight.”
Balling up a
purple paper napkin, she threw it at her friend, even while she
smothered her own giggles. “Stop it,” she chastened, “he’s
not that bad.”
Gemma snorted.
Sara levelled her with a glare, but all Gemma did was raise her glass
of water to her twitching lips and sip primly. “Sorry,” she said,
sounding anything but apologetic, “but that impression was spot
on.”
“You both
suck,” Sara sighed, shaking her head.
“Sounds like
you could do with a real man in your life,” Charlie was having far
too much fun at her expense, and it ruffled her feathers the wrong
way.
It was one thing
for her friends –who also worked with Roger in the hospital– to
playfully tease Sara about him, but altogether different for this
random English wanker to do so.
“I hope you’re
not suggesting you’re a viable option,” she sassed back, “because
I don’t think you fall into that category either.”
Okay, so it was a
bit flat and ridiculous as far as comebacks went, but he scowled back
at her, so she took it as a win, nonetheless.
“Don’t
flatter yourself, love.”
“Aww,
diddums, did I hurt your feelings?”
They were
interrupted by their names being snapped on either side of them. He
was cowed by his mother’s frown, while Sara sighed and apologised
to Gemma.
This really was
going to be much more difficult than she’d initially thought.
Prices (in
USD):
Print:
$9.99
E-Book:
$2.99 (and enrolled in Kindle Unlimited)
Length: 240
Pages
Guest Post
Once Upon A
Daydream
One of my
favourite Author Interview questions to ask people is ‘If you could
cast the movie version of one of your books, who would you cast as
your protagonists?’
I love this
question because it gives you a sneak-peek into how authors see their
characters.
But also, it’s
kind of the dream, isn’t it? That one day some Hollywood hotshot is
going to come across our novels -the stories we’ve poured love,
sweat, and tears into- and want to turn it into a movie. Well, it’s
one of my recurring daydreams, anyway.
It’s not even
about the fame or the money, no matter how awesome both would be.
Instead, I get all giddy thinking about seeing my imagination brought
to life.
When I wrote Book
1 of the Jukebox Collection, titled Handle With Care, I
wrote it purely for my own enjoyment. I probably broke a hundred
rules along the way. I channelled every bit of my geeky inner fangirl
and created a hero (Everett) based on all of my favourite parts of my
current favourite actors. I had a clear vision for who I saw him as.
But, if I were to
cast him, I actually don’t know where I’d start. There’s a LOT
of Colin O’Donoghue’s Killian Jones (from Once Upon A Time) in
him, and a good splash of Tom Hiddleston…and, okay, a substantial
nod to Tom Ellis, too. And, in Book 2, titled You Can’t Hurry
Love, we get hints of Brett Goldstein’s Roy Kent (from Ted
Lasso) in both Everett and Charlie.
I clearly have a
type. Cheeky, British, generally dark haired and bearded/stubbled.
Yes please. I’ll take two!
(Though I will
say that, physically, I see Charlie as more Chris Hemsworth-y, just
to shake things up a bit.)
For my heroines,
I imagine home-grown Aussie talent. For Sara, I vividly see Nathalie
Kelley. For Gemma? Emilie de Ravin would be my go-to. Yeah, another
Once Upon A Time alum. If you’ve read Handle With Care, I
don’t think that will surprise you. I have zero regrets.
But, all that
aside, I do love the freedom that reading gives us over movies. Every
reader will see my characters in their own unique ways, and I find
that fascinating. So, even though the likelihood of my daydreams
coming true is slim to none, I find that I don’t actually mind so
much. My imagination is still being brought to life, and that’s
mind-blowing.
So I’ll just
stick with the writing for now…and the daydreaming.
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