Join me in welcoming Author Carlene Love Flores. One of Evernight Publishing rising stars. I got her to answer a few of my questions. So grab your coffee and join me as we get to know a little about this gifted wordsmith Carlene Love Flores.
Do
you do anything to get you into the zone to write? Absolutely!
Darkening the room is a must. This often includes building a blanket hut big
enough to fit me and my laptop ;)
Which authors inspire your writing? I don’t write paranormal but my favorite
author is Sherrilyn Kenyon. I fell in
love with the way she writes tragedy and redemption right away.
What
is your favorite book, character and why? This might be shocking…haha…favorite book is
by Sherrilyn Kenyon—Seize the Night from her Dark-Hunter series, also the first
romance novel I ever read. Everyone
hates Valerius Magnus until Tabitha humanizes him. I like how the characters teach as about
assumptions and how they’re not usually any good. J
Do
you prefer to write erotic or sweet?
Hmm, maybe somewhere in between.
I’m too dark to be sweet but not quite at the level of my beloved erotic
writer friends. Now I’m thinking of
chocolate chips, semi-sweet, semi-dark.
They’re both tasty, right? How
about we say I prefer to write “yummy”. J
Which
famous person, living or dead, are you drawn to?
Oooo, I’d have to say Martin L. Gore. He’s the main songwriter for Depeche
Mode. They’re known for music that’s
darker but if you ask Martin, he’ll say he feels his songs are filled with
hope. I love that.
Where
do you see yourself in five years?
Oh
boy, I’ll be the mom of a sixteen year old at that point. Who in the heck knows what my world will be
like then! Advice anyone?
Finish
this sentence: I know I’ve made it when:
I touch at least one person with a
story.
What
advice would you give aspiring writers?
Learn your craft but don’t get caught up and overwhelmed in the
technicalities. Write a story from your
heart. Absolutely write from your
heart. Fall in love with your
characters, let them love the wrong way, fall apart if they have to. Then be
there for them when they need re-building.
And join your local writers group!
What
do you see yourself writing in the future?
More edgy, intimate love stories.
If
you could have one superpower what would it be and why?
People might not believe one would need a
superpower for this, but let me tell you, taming and understanding my curly
hair would be pretty awesome.
What
time of the day are you at your best to write?
I’m a huge early to bed girl but my favorite time to write is the dead
of night. Go figure. J
And
now for something completely different…
What
do you look at first with an attractive man or woman, face, body or smile?
Hmm, well normally I’d say smile and eyes but
ever since Survivor started featuring long-haired contestants a few years back,
(Remember Matt who was stuck on Redemption Island the entire season??) I’m now
fascinated by that wavy haired, “not sure if you’re a surfer, tarzan, country
boy” type. And it must not be just me because every
season now, they have a new version of Matt.
J Yay!
Explain
your perfect day.
The neighborhood cat
stops by for an early morning treat on the front porch. She’s a great day-starter. And then the best ending, singing my kiddo to
sleep each night. All the stuff in
between is what I make of it. J
What
is the most decadent desert you can’t say no to?
Let’s just get one thing straight up front,
I’m generally saying yes to anything labeled dessert. I mean, I would literally drive cross country
for a not-quite-thawed-chocolate-chip-cookie from the Carl’s Jr.
drive-thru.
Do
you have a favorite holiday what is it and what makes it special to you?
I love Christmas for all the normal reasons
people love Christmas but also because it brings us out of our houses at night
to see all the magic the lights bring.
What
key words describe you best? Beachy.
Silly. Loving. Lucky.
I loved getting to know a little bit about you. Thanks so much for sharing with everyone. Now for the special surprise I mentioned.
Carlene is giving away her e-book A Sidewalk Flower
To enter to win just answer this in the
comment section: What would you drive cross country for?
Carlene will announce the
winner Sunday night, 1/27.
Blurb:
In
Sidewalk Flower, a jaded young woman
sets out on an intense road trip home to deal with her past when she is asked
to allow a relative stranger to tag along.
But,
she’s seen too many good guys succumb to the harsh realities of her supposed
privileged life in the music business and intends on keeping her distance.
When
she picks up Lucky, the southern gentleman cousin of her selfish best friend,
she has absolutely no idea of how to accept a perfectly good person with good
intentions. Home has never looked so
good, or felt so far away.
Excerpt:
Her two insistent hands
pressed against the back of his neck like she was forcing him to do this. It was cute.
Yeah, she was dead wrong. He’d
wanted to kiss her since he’d first seen her, hopping down out of that girly
silver Jeep. But he knew better. Earning something you wanted took more than a
few hours. And if he’d gathered anything
from her hot and cold responses so far, it was that Jaxon’s vague but
deliberate warning that he take good care of her hadn’t been just puffed up,
ego talk.
This girl was in trouble.
He should have stepped away for both their sakes. He knew he didn’t deserve this kind of kiss,
not yet. But California was glued to him
on full speed and didn’t appear to have a pause, let alone a rewind
button. On second thought, he’d let her
get this out of her system and then they’d start over.
Her hand
had to be killing her, so he managed to pull it down and keep it tucked at her
side. But the other one was petting
those hairs at the back of his neck, leaving him seconds away from coming
undone. If he clenched his jaw any
tighter, those painful yet ticklish sensations shooting throughout his upper
body would without a doubt get him into trouble down below. Heck, if he squeezed her in his arms like he
wanted to, she’d feel how aroused he’d let himself get. He worked his jaw to ease away from the pain,
wishing he could let go entirely and enjoy her touch. Yep, their fresh start
was gonna have to wait until she was done proving her point. Cute girl though.
* * *
His lips
were soft and salty like he’d worked up a sweat at some point during the
day. Crap, again she cursed his damn
tempting bloodline. This would only
complicate their pending trip even more.
So naturally, when he smartly pulled her one hand away, she found a sweet
spot of baby hairs with the other and went for more. Her rules—that was the only way to play with
the boys and stay safe.
Lucky’s
hands eventually cupped the sides of her face, which was fine because she had
made her point.
“Are we
okay?” he asked.
Well, hell
if she knew. “Yes,” she said. They could figure the truth out later. There would be an endless amount of open road
ahead of them come Sunday to think.
Tonight was desperate Friday.
“We’re good.” But she hesitated
because he looked for a moment like he may have regretted things. When he
coughed and cleared his throat, she was sure of it.
“Come on,
Miss ‘We’re Good’,” he said, as he urged her the rest of the way to the back
door. “I’d like to keep that promise I
made Jaxon. You could go a little easier
on me from here on out.”
The inside
of her mouth remained warm from their kiss as she swallowed a cool breath of
air. The contrasting temperatures left
her with a chill and a memory—the taste of the last kiss she’d had. Cigarettes and beer. No hand holding. No talking.
No first, second or third date.
As badly as her sour heart warned her to throw Lucky in with that lot,
she just couldn’t do it. He’d already
taken more care of her than any other guy she’d known.
“You
shouldn’t take things so personally.” At
his wince, she splintered and added, “I know you didn’t sign up for this; I’ll
try to be…better.” No promises though.
“Okay.” He hesitated, and shifted on the steps. “Ready to go inside?”
“No, you
should go in though. I need to be
alone.” A tingle traveled around her
wounded hand and she made the mistake of squeezing it into a fist.
Lucky
dipped his head then and ran his hand up along the back of his neck, rubbing it
in his obvious confusion. “Trista. I’m
kind of at a loss here. You’re obviously
in pain. Just come inside and let me
help you.”
She tried
to warn him, hoping he’d listen. “Lucky,
you’re a nice guy. Okay, I get it. You want to help, but I didn’t ask for that
and you have no idea what you’d be signing up for anyway. Assholes can barely handle my world; a good
guy like you doesn’t stand a chance.
Jaxon had no right doing this.”
“Hmmm.” He scratched at his sideburn. “You don’t know what I can and can’t
handle.” He looked down but she had
caught his every word.
Contact Links (website, blog, Twitter, Facebook):
Twitter: @cloveflores
Facebook: Carlene Love
Flores
Book buy links:
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