Special Guest Wendy Ely

Alexis: Hi Wendy. Welcome to Happily Ever After Thoughts. Thank you so much for coming. You’ve had quite a bit of success with e-publishers. Can you tell us what you like about e-publishing?
Wendy: I think the biggest things I like about e-publishers is how fast the production of the e-book goes. I can sign a contract and then have the book released in about six months.

Alexis: That is nice. I know the wait with print books can sometimes be over a year. How many books have you published so far and what are their titles?

Wendy: I have 4 so far with Lyrical Press. The titles for those are: Jesse’s Brother, Confessions, Cross the Line, and Midnight Secrets. I have 1 coming out from Captiva Press titled New Year’s Resolution.


Alexis: So your latest one is Midnight Secrets. Can you tell us what that is about?

Wendy: Midnight Secrets is the second book in The Desert Secret Series. Each book reads as a stand-alone so nobody should worry if they haven’t read them in order. In Midnight Secrets, Allison Montgomery is a single mom trying to keep her kids while trying to fulfill a dream of hers to open a bakery. Even though Miguel seems like her hero from the start, she fights off the temptation to rush into his arms.

Alexis: What are your favorite character traits of Allison and Miguel?

Wendy: Allison was a great character to write. She is so outspoken and passionate about what she believes in. She is tough on the outside but really has a kind heart which Miguel sees from the start. Miguel believes in the good of the world even though he has gone through some rough spots in life. When many people would lose that insight, Miguel didn’t. He stayed strong.

Alexis: I like Miguel already ;-) What kind of research did you have to do for this novel?

Wendy: Someone poisons the food in Allison’s bakery. Since I didn’t want to have a common poison, I had to do a lot of research on poisons and the reactions they had on the body. It was fascinating research which gave me the opportunity to interview new people on the subject.

Alexis: What a great way to do research. So why did you decide to start writing romance novels?

Wendy: I love the happily-ever-after that comes at the end of each one. I believe everyone has a happy ending out there and romance novels serve as a reminder to my belief.

Alexis: I agree with you. I believe there is a happy ending out there for everyone as well. I imagine writing novels based on your own belief in true love is fun. What do you find the most challenging about writing romance? Most rewarding?

Wendy: The most challenging is keeping the story lines and love scenes unique. It is so easy to repeat certain elements that you’ve already done, especially when you only write one or two subgenres. The most rewarding is going on the adventure each story takes me. I’m a pantser when it comes to writing, so when I start a new novel I never know how it is going to turn out.

Alexis: I know that feeling. It’s so exciting to see what happens in your own book. Do you have any other romance novels in the works?

Wendy: I always have several in the works. I’m about halfway done with Jesse’s Girl, the sequel to Jesse’s Brother. I’m also writing the third book in The Desert Secret Series and a contemporary romance about a ballet dancer.

Alexis: Good, so we will have plenty to look forward to from you. Thank you so much for visiting Happily Ever After Thoughts. We like talking about romance novels especially with the people who write them :-)

Wendy: Thanks so much for having me here, Alexis! It has been fun and I’d love to answer any questions from visitors :-)

Alexis: Oh yes, that’s right. One lucky commenter will win a copy of Midnight Secrets, so be sure to chat with Wendy. Here's an excerpt from Wendy's Midnight Secrets.

Excerpt:
She wasn’t like Christine, but that didn’t mean she would accept what he’d done. But how long would he be able to keep it from her? Each time they were together, he felt the words linger on the tip of his tongue, ready to slip out at any moment.



As he drove down Allison’s street, a nervousness settled over him. All the lights were off in the house. She always left her light on, but not tonight. He hoped she hadn’t fallen asleep. Even though he felt like a teenager again, sneaking in her house at night, he understood the issues she was facing tonight. Her mom was sick and no sitter. He’d do what he had to in order to see her.


As soon as he pulled into the driveway and flipped off the headlights, the front door opened. He climbed out, set the alarm on his car and hoped the beep didn’t wake anyone inside. She smiled at him as he ran across the yard and up the steps. His lips planted against hers. As far as he was concerned, he’d been away from her long enough.


She held the door open for him as she put her finger to her lips and said, “Shh.”


He nodded as he walked in and followed her down the hall. He peeked into a poster-covered bedroom and smiled at the sleeping teenager. “Hannah?” he whispered. Usually the doors were shut, preventing any sort of view of the kids.


She smiled back at him and stopped outside another room. “Kyle.” She pointed to her sleeping son.


She moved further down the hall, shut another bedroom door before stepping into her room. Done in creamy tones, the effect was very girly, but he liked it. It somehow fit Allison. She seemed nervous as she folded her hands in front of her and looked at him with wide eyes. “You can sit down,” she whispered, motioning toward the bed.


Miguel sprawled out on the bed and reached for her. “Come here.”


She slowly walked over to him as he kicked off his shoes. With her hand in his, she sat by him on the bed. He pulled her down until her lips met his again, his heart pounding in his chest. He had to tell her the secret so they could move forward. The thought of telling her twirled around in his mind as he tried to focus on her tongue pressing against his.


Pulling away from him, she slid up to the pillows and under the covers. Her mouth formed into a sexy smile as she patted the bed next to her. He loved the itty bitty shorts she wore and the tight t-shirt hugging her curves. Even though the shape of her body made her a little uncomfortable, he had never seen a sexier woman in his life and if it took every day to convince her of that attraction, it would be worth it to him.


But first the secret.


He moved to her side, but leaned up on his elbow so he could look in her eyes. If she told him to go away, he would honor that request, even though it would be less painful if she ripped his heart out. Taking a strand of her hair and looping it around his finger, he said, “Allison.”


“Yes.” Her gaze moved down to his lips, letting him know she was ready for another night of hot passionate lovemaking.


“I have something to tell you.” His heart pounded. His hands trembled. His heart prepared itself to break.

For a chance to win this book, be sure to leave a comment.  Thank you for stopping by Happily Ever After Thoughts :-)

Alexis

Guest: Wendy Ely, Win a Free Book!

This week my guest is Wendy Ely. Her second book CONFESSIONS has just become available. One lucky commenter will win a downloadable copy of her book! Welcome Wendy.

Alexis suggested I talk about how I came up with the plot for my novel but honestly, I can’t remember where I got the idea for CONFESSIONS. I’ve racked my brain since the date was set for her blog and the closest I’ve come was this: My mom came from a family of 9. My maternal grandmother kept the two boys and got rid of the 7 girls. My mother had been sold at age four. That premise with the other details swirled together and now we have CONFESSIONS.

What I do remember clearly is an incident that happened to me while writing CONFESSIONS. I had been in a relationship with a guy and we were getting ready to take the next step~ move in together. One morning, after staying the night with me, he got up for work as usual. He woke me long enough to kiss me goodbye. The man left. He went to work (he’d been a store manager) put the keys in the safe, went home to pack his things, and left town with no word to anybody. I was in the middle of CONFESSIONS at the time and had already written the big emotional scene between Chelsea and Jordan. When my boyfriend left, I was so upset; I had a million questions whirling through my head. After my two week depression, I took all my anger and rewrote some of the scenes. All of my feelings were fused into those pages. It’s crazy to know I experienced something I had already written about, but his disappearance turned out to be a blessing in more ways than one.

The conclusion to my story is: He ended up emailing me three months later and asked if I’d move to Boston with him. I told him to go to… well, it wasn’t a nice word. What about the conclusion to Jordan and Chelsea’s story? Well, you’ll have to see for yourself but I’ll share the scene I’ve talked about in this blog.

Scene from CONFESSIONS:

His presence seemed to be intruding on the living room. Earlier, he had been so welcome here, now it seemed he’d become a stranger in her sacred space. She wanted him to leave so she could curl up and cry alone until she reached her state of denial.
“What are we going to do now?” She didn’t want to be having this conversation. She wanted him to walk out the door so she wouldn’t have to feel anymore. Feel the loss of her child, feel the love for him, or feel the sadness of what she’d done.
“Damn it all to hell.” His voice boomed through the room.
“Jordan, I’m sorry,” she whispered, tears streaked down her face.
“Stop saying you’re sorry! I’m tired of hearing it. If you hadn’t sold our baby we wouldn’t be here right now. We’d be home. We’d be happy. We would be a family.” His strong voice flung out as if a bomb had gone off.
“Are you ever going to forgive me?” She shrank farther into the chair.
“I have every right to be angry with you, Chelsea. Do you know what I went through when you disappeared?” He took a few steps toward her.
“No,” she said, lowering her voice. “I won’t even pretend I do.”
“I went through hell.” His fist banged into his chest.
“As if I haven’t gone through anything.” The words shot at him like bullets.
“You?” He spat. “What have you gone through? Missing your daughter? You, darling, chose this! I didn’t.” He stomped over to the window and looked outside.
She kept her legs curled up in the chair, as if it would shield her from the hurt she’d caused him. It seemed like they had come so far in mending the issues between them, now they were taking ten steps backward.
“Jordan, please.” She swiped at the tears trickling down her cheeks.
“Please what? Please forgive you? Please accept my daughter is gone? Please forget about my love for you? You might be able to, but not me!” He turned to her, his eyes blazing with fury.
She shot up from the couch. “Forget? You think I can forget you? Look at this.” She undid the zipper on her jeans to reveal the tattoo. “Remember this? I can never forget you with this branding on me! I can’t even look in the damn mirror without remembering!”
“I hope it haunts you like it did me for ten years.” His voice lowered but didn’t lose an ounce of anger. “I didn’t know what happened to you. I didn’t know if someone abducted you, or if I did something wrong to make you leave.”

***
To read more of CONFESSIONS or find out more about the author visit www.lyricalpress.com/wendy_ely