Hoosier Dad by Elizabeth Seckman

My guest today is romance author Elizabeth Seckman.

My selection of questions is meant to give a little insight into Elizabeth’s personality as well as her writing. 

Did I achieve my goal?

Her latest book Hoosier Dad was a great read.

You can read my review here.

1              1.    What was your hardest scene to write?

            Sex scenes are always hard, no pun intended. It needs to be romantic with a bit of heat,      but it’s so easy to cross the line and make it vulgar or even worse, hilariously bad. 

            2. What makes you run screaming?

            Mean people. And snakes. And basements after dark. 

            3. You’re about to be dropped in a remote spot for a three-week survival test. Where would you go? What three tools would you take?

            Drop me at the beach with a keg of rum, matches, and a friend. It worked for Captain  Jack Sparrow. It will work for me.

            4. What behind-the-scenes tidbit in your life would probably surprise your readers the most?

            My son said people are always shocked to learn that I’m NOT very well organized. But seriously, I don’t think that’s too big a secret. My readers probably realize that I miss most deadlines and have a tendency to push release dates later over and over. 

            5. If you had the opportunity to live anywhere in the world for a year while writing a book that took place in that same setting, where would you choose? 

            The Outer Banks of North Carolina. It’s my happy place. Several of my books take place there. My way of being there vicariously. 

            6. If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

            

             Start sooner. At best, you’ll live to be 107, and you have a lot of work to do! 

            7. What does literary success look like to you?

           

               Money would be nice, but having lots of loyal readers would be better. Some of my readers have been with me since book one and feel more like friends than fans. 

           

             8. Tell us about the book you’re working on now. 

 

            I just finished “About Us.” It should be available by Valentine’s Day. The heroine, Hayden, is done with her abusive marriage. But trying to divorce an abusive guy with a       gun and a badge can be dangerous. She seeks the help of a friend, Cam, not knowing Cam has always loved her. Hayden isn’t out to further complicate her life with another relationship, but if it happens? Well, maybe it was meant to be.

More about Hoosier Dad

Sarah Andrews is one smart cookie. She’s a top-notch attorney, educated at Stanford, and freshly fired from one of the best legal firms in Indiana. As she approaches her thirtieth birthday, she decides she needs a quiet, safe place to regroup. She decides to go home to Dodd, Indiana. 

But Dodd, Indiana, is far from safe once she comes face-to-face with Richland Conrad Cooper. Rich was teen-girl kryptonite—athletic, charming…persuasive—and Sarah wasn’t immune. She fell hard, but it turned out to be nothing more than the first of her love tries and fails. 

She has learned—if a guy steals your heart, breaking his is quid pro quo.

Only when Rich is served with a custody challenge of his two daughters does Sarah call a truce. Working together, Rich can’t help but totally fall for her. She’s cold and rude, forcefully pointing out their differences and his flaws every chance she gets. But the heart wants what the heart wants, so Rich tries even harder to convince her she isn’t meant for any other guy, but him.

*******

Elizabeth spends her time daydreaming (she calls this writing) and excavating the day's necessary clothes from piles of dirty laundry. She lives in a small town on the Ohio River in West Virginia but often dreams of owning a beach house...or at least having a magically clean house. But with four boys, well five if you count their father, this may well just be fantasy.

Oh, and she goes to football games...lots and lots of football games.

So, living in a house of men...doing man things all the time...What girl wouldn't want to escape to a fantasy world of romance, true love, and clean houses?

 www.eseckman.blogspot.com

www.elizabethseckman.com

Amazon Author Page

 Keep writing Elizabeth - Your books are a real treat!

Thank you, for participating in my new venture.

*****

12 years ago I started out blogging by opening a Blog Talk Radio Program. I had a blast interviewing authors of all genres and met many wonderful folks that I still call friend. But BTRadio soon started charging for all their services. It became too expensive. So I took up regular blogging but ideas for a dedicated blog never materalized. So I'm going back to my old standby. I choose a book, read, review, and then post an interview blog with that author. It's really the most fun.

So look for another author next Monday, and every Monday after that, except when the WEP post is due. I will then post for them.

If you want to be part of my 'interview fun' let me know. I'd love to read your latest!

LOST & FOUND: BROKEN HEART

As Guilie Castrillo-Oriard tells us:

Love... Even the word sounds like a sigh. But is it a sigh of contentment—or of regret? If you've found it, the world shines in colors vivid. If you've lost it, life fades into grays and shadows. There's nothing quite as intense as falling in love. Or as the feeling of loss when it ends.

And today is the day to post your love story or a fictional flash in honor of Love – Lost or Found!

Your hosts are Guilie – Arlee – Alex – Denise – Elizabeth & Me!

Join us!

      BROKEN HEART

Beautiful painting. As always your work is meticulous. Your subject...the girl. Who is she?

Elizabeth Fisher.

Your girl?

No.

Can you introduce us?

Can't; she's dead.

When did she die?

Two days ago, the same day I finished the painting. Now her parents want it for her funeral.

So young, such a shame. What killed her?

A broken heart.

Don't be so melodramatic. Truly, what killed her?

I told you, she died of a broken heart.

How?

Years ago, her fiancé, Jake, went off to war. She waited, kept her eye on the horizon for his return, but instead, she received a telegram.

The message of death?

No, the telegram claimed - he was missing behind enemy lines, presumed dead.

And?

Lizzy was certain he was alive. . She knew he would come home. Never doubted. Even hired detectives to find him after the war ended.

But she was wrong?

No. She was right. He'd survived.

I don't understand. She must’ve been over the moon. Oh, I see. He came back injured – a different man?

No, he came back a healthy man. Well, mostly. He was concussed and suffered memory loss. A young woman and her family rescued him; they hid him and healed him. After the war ended, he had nowhere to return to so he stayed with them. He fell in love.

Cruel turn of events for Lizzy.

Even more so when he finally regained his memory and came home. He walked in the front door with his wife and two kids in tow.

What did he say to Lizzy?

He didn't recognize her. He remembered his family home, his mom and pop, but nothing about the war or his engagement to Lizzy. I was finishing this painting when he’d arrived. Lizzy ran to him. Her happiness brimming at his return. He looked at her with confusion. Asked if she was his sister.

What did she do?

She wilted, like a dying flower. But for Jake, she smiled – told him she was a friend of the family. Said, "Welcome home, Jake. Congratulations on your marriage and lovely family." Then she walked out the front door.

Where'd she go?

To her parents' home. She died in her sleep that night.

A broken heart.

376 Words

Yolanda Renee © 2016

Read more fascinating love stories here!

LOST & FOUND - JEWEL

I hope you've all had a wonderful holiday and are excited to start the New Year! To begin my blogging year I wrote a new piece of flash fiction. Enjoy!

© Alan Ayers

JEWEL

I love her. She loved him. Now she's grieving and blames me. I've waited a lifetime for her, but she'll never forgive me.

Why?

I loaned her husband my plane.

He was a pilot; he shouldn't have taken off in that weather.

Agreed, but I've seen the accusation in her eyes.

How long have you known her?

Since time began.

A romantic, are we?

I'm so glad you're amused.

Sorry, I've never seen you so serious. So what's the story?

I met her ten years ago.

Ah, the girl who got away.

I knew her brother, but the first time I saw her was across a crowded room.

Cliché.

Quit laughing, it's true. Perfection in a maroon blouse. It draped across perfectly shaped breasts like liquid silk. Luscious. Hair the color of the sun through honey, thick and long, softly curled and down to her waist. Her eyes were the color of a spring forest that brightened when she smiled. Her smile warmed me, taunted me, tempted me, and thrilled me.

Our eyes met, and all evidence of a twelve-hour workday was gone, she was my life force, and I hadn't even met her yet. Her brother had told me a little about her, but he'd also warned me - hands off.

Did you keep your hands off?

Yes, I honored my promise to him. God, what a struggle. I was drawn to her. I attended every social function she did. I visited her brother more often. Jewel was my reason for getting up each day. I loved her, needed her, and wanted her like I've never wanted another. To be honest, my sex life was and is thrilling. Each woman I bed, I do so with her in mind. She's my aphrodisiac, my fantasy, my muse. It isn't enough. I want more. I want it all! I always have.

But she met Paul.

Does she know how you feel?

No, I've always just been a friend. Someone she could count on. The jokester with a heart of gold.

Are you giving up?

Never!

344 / words

Yolanda Renee © 2016

*****

Speaking of love 

today I'm helping Arlee Bird and Guilie Castillo-Oriard introduce a bloghop just 

in time for Valentine's Day!

Called

Lost & Found: Valentine's Edition

Love can be a many splendored thing, a reason for murder if unrequited or for some, a lifelong desire. Love can be all you want, always on your mind, or crazy – as some love songs claim, but in February, a new blog hop is happening.

Lost & Found: Valentine Edition

February 1, 2016

As Arlee askes, do you remember that special feeling of love found? And who hasn't experienced the emotional experience of love lost? Some of you might have even lost a love only to find that person later for another go around.

         Tell your story about love lost or found in our special Valentine's blogfest. Your post can be a short fiction, an essay, poetry, or even a song--let your imagination run free. Any genre is fair game, be it romance, historical fiction, memoir, or even science fiction. After all there are no limitations when it comes to love.

Lost & Found: Valentine Edition is brought to you by Arlee Bird and Guilie Castillo-Oriard, and strong armed into joining them are Elizabeth Seckman,  Yolanda Renée,  Denise Covey. and  Alex J Cavanaugh.

So, don't be left out on 

FEBRUARY 1, 2016

Sign up to participate by adding your 
link to the list below.

*****
Also in February 
the WEP is back
Our first challenge is all about the 
VALENTINE!
More information to follow soon!

DEFYING REASON

Please welcome Elizabeth Seckman, author of Defying Reason. Today she's sharing part of her writing journey with us.

 

UNIQUE RESEARCH

 

There is always something in a book that needs researched that a reference book or Google search just doesn't quite cover.

In the first book of the Coulter men series (Past Due), I needed to know if the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was turned off during its move inland. None of the articles written on the subject mentioned whether or not it glowed, so I called people who lived on the island to get the answer. Which was no, it didn't glow.

For book two in the Coulter men series (Healing Summer), I wanted to know where a traveler could get lunch in one of the tiny half-horse Montana towns. While we vacationed in the region, I would ask cashiers and clerks, and on more than one occasion, someone offered to whip up some food.

For book three in the Coulter men series (Fate Intended), I needed some dirty words translated into Russian, so I hired a translator.

And for the fourth book in the Coulter men series (Defying Reason), I needed to know the rules on phone calls in and out of jail. Fortunately, a single shout out on Facebook had my inbox filled with real life prison contact stories.

For me, one of the funnest parts of writing the story is the unique research required by each one.

The Blurb:

Jo Leigh Harper comes from a long line of trouble-making, white trash stock.

Tanner Coulter comes from a longer line of wealth-creating, blue blood stock.

Jo graduated college top of her class, moving toward a future full of possibilities.

Tanner dropped out of college, trading a law degree for drinking games and one night stands.

A family crisis throws the rich party boy and the poor genius girl together. The attraction is immediate, though neither one is a heart-in-the-sand-drawing believer in true love. But as the summer sun heats up along the shores of the Outer Banks, so does the connection between them. Maybe, just maybe, they can win at love by defying reason.

 

Author Bio:

Elizabeth is a multi-published author of books for people who are believers in happily-ever- after, true love, and stories with a bit of fun and twists with their plots. The mother of four young men, she tackles laundry daily and is the keeper of the kitchen. She lives along the shores of the Ohio River in West Virginia, but dreams daily of the beach. 
 

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What avenues have you pursued for your research?

Please share your Unique Research story.