Dana will be awarding five prizes, one randomly chosen commenter at each tour stop will win a prize. All are promo items displaying a different Dana Littlejohn design: 2- t-shirts (size XL), 1 coffee mug, 1 ink pen (black ink) and 1 baseball style hat .
To Have and To Hold
by Dana Littlejohn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Christian and
Andrea Cooper had made many plans on what they would do when their children
were finally out of the house. Now that they were gone their plans had hit a
snag. Christian had the chance to start his own company and promised to put
their plans in motion as soon as it was off the ground. Andrea agreed to those
terms, but she had no idea how lonely and neglected she would feel while she
waited. On a trip to the city in search of something to do she ran into Raymond
Reyes, her first love. Reminiscing with Ray brought back a flood of emotions
that she found difficult to ignore. Did she make the right decision by marrying
Christian after all? Could Ray convince her that this was their second chance
and they were meant to be together?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INTERVIEW
1. What or
who inspired you to start writing? I have always wanted to write. I can’t
remember a time that I didn’t. I was that little kid who said when they grow up
they want to be a writer.
2. How did
you come up with ideas for your books? Anything can spark an idea for me. A
conversation, publisher prompts even a picture.
3. As far
as your writing goes, what are your future plans? I want one of
my novels to become a movie. That is a goal I am working toward that now.
4. If you
could be one of the characters from any of your books, who would it be and why? I would love to be Kelley Kingsley! She has her
own business, lots of money and she does whatever she wants. As long as it is
within the confines of the law, that’s all that matters to her. LOL
5.When did you first decide to
submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big
step? For weeks I was telling my husband about the details of all the
stories I had in my head. It amazed him that I could keep all the people,
places and details separate and together at the same time. One day he came home
with 3 notebooks and said to write it all down. This was in 2004, before
computers were in everyone’s home.
Once I had one completed, he said, “now that it’s out of your head find someone
who wants to publish it.” So I did. J
6. What is
the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing) When I first
started out an already established author said for me to read the genres I’m
trying to write so I know what is being accepted, then push the envelope.
Notice the voice of the authors I like and then “find my voice and stay true to
it”. That is the same advice I pass to new authors.
7. Do you
outline your books or just start writing? Yes, I do an outline making sure to
put the highlights I want to add to the story. Even though the highlights make
it to the story the characters hardly ever follow the outline that I make.
8.Do you have any hobbies and
does the knowledge you've gained from these carry over into your characters or
the plot of your books? Yes. I like to crochet, dance and cook exotic foods. A lot of my
characters like those things as well.
9. Do you
have an all time favorite book? Actually yeah, To Love Again, Bertrice
Small. I love it. I swear I read it several times a year just to clear my head
of my own stories.
10.
Have you started your next project? If so, can you
share a little bit about your book? I am usually writing 2 sometimes 3
books at a time. Right now I am putting finishing touches on a full length
novel contemporary romance I call Tri-Romance and my first non-romance. It’s a
murder mystery I call Brighton Beach Murders.
11.
What is your favorite reality show? I like Dancing
with the Stars and America’s Got Talent.
12.
Who is your favorite actor and actress? Sean Connery
is still number one in my book, but I really like Nicolas Cage, too.
13.
Can you tell us a little about the black moment in
your book? After being by her husband several times, Andrea fell victim to her
desires.
14.
If you were a casting director for the film
version of your book, who would play your lead roles? I knew the
answer to this as soon as I typed “the end”. LOL Antonio Banderes would play
Raymond Reyes, Terence Howard would be Christian and Gabrielle Union would be
Andrea.
15.
Anything else you might want to add? Thanks for
having me. I invite all your followers to friend me on Facebook, follow me on
Twitter. I always do random contests. Keep up with my website for new releases
and free reads.
Dana
EXCERPT
“No, no, I was
early. You look lovely, Andrea. That color really suits you.”
His words
warmed her. “Thank you. Have you ordered?”
He shook his
head and called for a waitress. After lunch they stayed a while longer to
discuss the book.
“Oh, by the
way, I talked to LaTonya and she said it was okay. I can be in your book club,”
he said between sips of iced tea.
“That’s good.
It should be fun.”
“I agree, and
I get to spend more time with you.”
“This is not
about me and you, Ray. I’m married. We can only be friends,” she told him
firmly.
“I know that.
I heard you married not too long after I left.”
“It was long
enough.”
“Did you miss
me when I left?”
“Miss you?
You’re not serious, are you?”
“Yes, I’m
serious. I heard it wasn’t even a year before you and that guy from the track
team got together.”
“It wasn’t
like that.”
“Well, what
was it like?”
He continued
to push the conversation and the more he pushed the angrier she became.
“Okay, you
want to talk about this? Fine! Let’s get it out in the open. When you left you
broke my heart, Ray. I cried for over a year wondering what I did that was so
wrong that you would do something like that to me.”
“Andrea, I—”
“No, you want
me to talk about it so now you listen!”
She watched
him look over the booth they sat in and then to his left and right.
“I’m sorry,
please continue,” he said in a soft voice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Author bio:
Dana Littlejohn was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, but has
called Indianapolis, IN her home for over ten years. She works a nine to five
at a nearby doctor's office while she pursues her dream of writing.
Her writing to-do list grows daily. Stop by Dana's website to see what
she's doing next . It's a ride you will not soon forget!
Facebook @ liljohndana
Twitter @ authordanalittlejohn
Don't forget to leave a comment!
Dana will be awarding five prizes, one randomly chosen commenter at each tour stop will win a prize. All are promo items displaying a different Dana Littlejohn design: 2- t-shirts (size XL), 1 coffee mug, 1 ink pen (black ink) and 1 baseball style hat .
6 comments:
Thank you for hosting Dana today
Welcome to my blog. I hope you have a great tour.
This sounds like a book to put on my 'to be read' list. I'm sure we've ALL wanted to tell one certain someone what we really thought about their selfish actions.
C. L. Kraemer
Dragons Among Us
RoguePhoenixPress
Hi. Your book sounds interesting. Good luck with your blog tour.
Rosemary
Hi, Dana! I have trouble with my characters following my outline too--and I write really detailed plots. LOL! That just makes the process interesting.
Hope you are enjoying your blog tour and your book does well!
Dana,
I enjoyed your excerpt and would love to know how both the h/h respond to each other.
You've caught my interest!
Good luck on your blog tour.
Christy McKee
http://christymckeewriter.blogspot.com
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