Welcome W. Lynn Chantale

Welcome W. Lynn, and tell us a little about yourself.

Hi Liz. Thank you so much for inviting me to your blog today. Let’s see a little about myself. I married my high school sweetheart and we’ve been together for the last twenty years. We have three children, the oldest of which has just graduated high school. (Yay!) I have a mad affinity for milk chocolate, preferably Dove’s chocolate truffles or the caramel filled squares. (I’ll also take Godiva) Oh, I also play bass guitar.

What do you like the most and the least about writing?

What I like most about writing is the ability to create and be anything I want to be. If going to school wasn’t so expensive I’d be a professional student, but as a writer I get to experience being a spy, a model, a fashion designer or anything else I can imagine.

The thing I like least about writing, hmmm. I used to say the editing process. Now it would be the waiting. I HATE waiting.

What are three things you cannot do without?

I cannot do without my laptop, my phone, or a book.

How long have you been a writer?

I’d have to say all my life. There’s something fascinating about staring at a blank page or computer screen and needing to create something new and fantastic.

Give us a peek into your latest published work?

My latest work, ‘Seducing His Wife,’ doesn’t have a release date yet. The unofficial blurb is Sheridan Sinclair just wants to get through one night without reliving the terrible accident that led to her miscarriage. Yet she longs for the arms of the man who she believes betrayed her. Matthew Sinclair has always loved his wife, but when she refuses to speak to him after her accident he’s left to wonder what went wrong. When a stolen kiss ignites their forgotten passion, he’ll use their love as a means to get her home and in his bed again. Will a husband’s plan of seduction be enough to heal a wife’s broken heart? 



Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

One would be second chances are possible. I’m a strong believer in love covering all. At least love and a lot of prayer have worked in my own marriage. The second would be family is everything, especially when you have a strong, loving and supportive family.

What’s next on the writing horizon for you?

That’s a really good question. I’m working on a couple of erotic romances. One of which is on an editor’s desk. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.  I also have a couple of inspirations I need to tweak before I submit. 

How do you come up with the titles?

Sometimes this is the easiest thing for me to do. I try to capture the essence of the manuscript in four words or less, then make the title sexy and catchy.

Thanks for dropping by, W. Lynn! Please come back and let us know when your book is released. It sounds scrumptious!

Liz

“Good Girl” AJ NUEST Breaks The Rules!

BREAKING THE RULES…

On the whole, I would describe myself as a rule abider. I don’t function well living on the edge. In fact, going anywhere near the edge sorta makes me ill. I like everything organized and neatly placed where it belongs (explains my obsession with nesting bowls). I thrive inside a schedule, happily checking things off the list as I go about my day (clarifies my fascination with pretty much any office supply store).

However, I recently discovered an area where I LIVE to break the rules. Not consistently, and usually not without reason, but when I write I sometimes purposely break those rules our editors always tell us to avoid. Shhh… It’s naughty, I know. I can’t help myself. I sneak in a passive sentence here, or maybe use too many adverbs there, fully aware the sentence structure is technically wrong. But I like it that way. And sometimes a passive sentence conveys a story element an active sentence never could. And sometimes, I do it to just push the envelope – to see how much I can get away with before I’m busted. Shhh… don’t tell…

Here’s the thing. Of the last two novels I read, both of them brilliant, and both of them fantasy, the authors balled up the rules and tossed them out the window. One author switched perspectives mid-paragraph, sometimes even mid-sentence, and I could’ve cared less. (Here’s where my CPs are propping their hands on their hips and screaming, “WHAT!?”). But I got so involved in the story, the transitions became seamless. If I wasn’t a writer, I never would have noticed his technique. The second author jumped back and forth in and out of hindsight language. Evidently it’s a big no-no for your main character to “tell” the story, because this takes the reader in and out of the action. This author had his hero detailing the story of his youth to a Chronicler, and I LOVED the way the story unfolded. Even when the action screeched to a halt and I was jolted back to the present. All this did was make me turn the pages faster!

I’m wondering if the fantasy genre is more lenient with rule-breakers. Maybe the very nature of a “fantasy” implies writing styles outside the norm. Either way, I learned a lot from these authors. Most importantly, I wanna be one. How awesome would it be if my writing was so unique, my story so powerful, I could break the rules and get away with it. How totally fantastic if my characterizations and plot line were so stellar, I could disregard a major writing directive and then get handed an award (yes, one of the authors mentioned above won the 2007 Quill Award). Hmmm…I know I’ve got a fantasy in here somewhere. Oh, yep, there it is…

So tell me, what writing rules do you live to break?     

Jezebel’s Wish Blurb:

Haunted by nightmares, tormented by guilt, Jezebel came to Redemption Ranch to escape the past—except now she’s stuck in the middle of nowhere with no redemption in sight. When her mother pushes her into riding lessons with local veterinarian Matthias Saunders, Jezebel balks. Sure, the doctor is gorgeous, but he’s completely obnoxious and knows how to push every one of her buttons.

Only her deep connection with The Reverend, a gentle stallion who guards her darkest secrets, has her agreeing to spend any more time with Dr. Saunders. Caring for the stallion is the first bright spot in her life in months, and if being around the horse means she has to deal with Matthias Saunders, then so be it. Surely a city girl like her can handle one country vet—even one with disturbing blue eyes. Can’t she?

Jezebel’s Wish Excerpt:

Jezzy stopped. “I thought I was having a riding lesson.”

“You are.” He nodded toward the empty paddock. “Go in.”

“Go in?” Jezzy propped a hand on her hip. “You sure you know what you’re doing? Because it was my understanding that an actual horse is needed for a riding lesson.”

“Don’t you think it would be wise at this juncture to leave the understanding up to the professionals?”

Jezzy rolled her eyes. “You’re making this way too easy. Professionals? Please. Don’t get me started.”

“Why not? Getting you started is exactly what I’m here for.”

Jezzy’s jaw dropped. She didn’t quite know how to interpret that remark.

He held out the rope. “Now go in. And take this lead line with you.” Steely blue determination glinted in his eyes. There was no way he was going to give in.

Jezzy snatched the lead line from his hand and stormed through the gate, then turned when he closed it behind her.

He put a foot on the bottom railing and rested against the gate, facing the horizon. “Take the chair to the center of the paddock and sit down.”

“And just exactly how is that supposed to teach me to ride?”

He cocked an eyebrow. “You want out of the deal?”

Jezzy’s fist clenched tight around the lead line. What she wanted was to march back to the fence and smack his face.

Jezebel’s Wish Buy Link:

 

The Wild Rose Press

http://tinyurl.com/446f7r3

Amazon.com

http://tinyurl.com/3b89ogb

AJ Nuest lives in northwest Indiana with her loving husband and two beautiful children. She is the author of two contemporary romance novels.

Visit her on the web at:

http://ajbooks.blogspot.com

http://www.twitter.com/ajnuest

Email:  ajnuest@yahoo.com

Facebook: Tattered Pages