WMS: Release Blitz: Between You and I by Beth D. Carter

Out Now! - Between You and I 

by Beth D. Carter (@bethdcarter)

Thank you so much for having me here today!  I’ve often had people ask why do I write erotica romance? Do I really have to use those words? Well, yes. Yes, I do. And I’ve had it all.  The raised eyebrows, the nose in the air, even the rolled eyes. Everything that screams disapproval.  All because I say I write erotica romance.  People can’t seem to get past the ‘erotica’ part of that statement.

But I can’t NOT write.  I might explode if I’m not at my laptop trying to find a synonym for the words ‘gazed into his eyes’.  And why erotica romance?  Because it’s real. The sex is graphic because the love is intense.  My stories are not about people like the Cleavers, or the Brady Bunch.  My stories are about people with problems…about an ex-soldier fighting PTSD, women kidnapped for a human trafficking ring, a man who was inappropriately touched as a child, a woman who has survived alone in a wasteland for years.  These characters are raw.  Their emotions are encased in ice.  These people are helpless, hopeless…until love finds them.

In my latest book, Between You and I, the heroine, Madeline, is scared about feeling again after the man she loves walks away from her.  She hides behind a plethora of interesting friends, keeping herself busy so she’s not lonely.  Or at least, she tries to convince herself she isn’t lonely.  When she meets Hunter, who is a little younger than her, she suddenly is confronted by the prospect of the numbness she’s wound herself in melting away. 

I’m not sure what other writers do, but I often use my writing as a way of dealing with my issues.  It’s very cathartic.  I’m very proud to have written about a woman who has gone through the same emotional turmoil I went through.  I hope Madeline’s story helps others who might be struggling with the same type of uncertainties. 

What inspired you to write Between You and I? 

This book was inspired by my own battle with endometriosis.  I was diagnosed in my twenties and suffered with pain, depression, and insomnia for over twenty years. It’s still a medical condition most people don’t know anything about.  I finally made the decision to have a hysterectomy last year and while lying in the hospital bed, I came up with Madeline.  For a few years I’d been toying with the idea of a book, but it was that moment, right after surgery, that Madeline became a real person to me. 

Tell us about the heroine, Madeline, in Between You and I:

Externally, she’s tough.  She covers up her pain with a “no worries” attitude.  But internally, she’s lonely.  She wishes for someone to hold her and take care of her for a moment.  In that respect, she’s a personification of what I went through.  Writing, for me, is a very cathartic way of dealing with issues. 

Was there as specific part of the story that you absolutely loved writing as well as not enjoyed writing?

I loved finding her balance with the hero, Hunter.  He’s younger than her so having her get past her mental block on that was fun exploring.  My least favorite part in writing this story was figuring out the ending.  The one that the book ended up with was my second ending.  It was hard figuring out the believable way to write their happy ever after.

Please tell a little about Between You and I without giving too much of a spoiler away.

This book was inspired by my own battle with endometriosis.  For a few years I’d been toying with the idea of a book about a heroine who had it, but it was the moment right after my hysterectomy surgery, that Madeline became a real person to me.  The hero, Hunter, had to be a right balance of understanding, hunky, and confused, otherwise, he’s too one dimensional.  I think I hit that balance, and I consider this book one of my best.

Do you plan all your characters out before you start a story or do they develop as you write?

Mostly my characters develop as I write them, but in this case, Madeline was planned out extensively, mainly because a lot of her is me.  I used my own struggle with endometriosis as her emotional platform to find love with a younger man. 

What is your favorite line in Between You and I?  Why?

“Tell me, right now, what’s standing between you and I that makes you scared of that word,” he demanded. “Why are you so afraid of love?”

I love that line!  It was the first line I thought of when I began to think of Madeline’s story and it’s where I got the title.  I know it’s not grammatically correct but it sounds more dramatic than “between you and me”. 

Blurb:

A broken engagement left Madeline Shawl feeling like a shattered woman.  When she meets Hunter Caligari, he seems to be the perfect man for some friends-with-benefits action.  But when the easy affair turns into something more, it threatens her comfortable grief.

The passion of the younger man nearly infects her until Hunter tries to articulate it with the three words she refuses to hear. When she pushes him away, wounding his heart, she finds her own broken all over again.

Still, Madeline struggles to leave the past and accept that when Hunter said, "I love you," he wasn't just speaking for himself.

Buy links:

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2bhm4Uz

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2bxr7lG  

All Romance Ebooks: http://bit.ly/2btJIxq

Evernight Publishing: http://www.evernightpublishing.com/between-you-and-i-by-beth-d-carter

Excerpt:

“Where do you live?” she asked once they reached her sedan.

“Off Silverado,” he said. “The Mustang Apartments.”

Madeline nodded and a few minutes later she was driving out of the parking garage, easing into traffic to head toward his home. The entire time she was acutely aware of his presence in her car, the warmth that his body generated inside the small confines. Or maybe she was simply hot and bothered.

All too soon she pulled in front of the gate that sealed off his apartment complex, and then slipped into an empty slot designated for future residents. She put the car in park and turned off the engine. For a moment neither one moved. She simply sat there, with her hands on the steering wheel, her heart pounding, and every nerve ending standing at attention. Waiting. Anticipating. He shifted and she felt his gaze on her, so slowly she turned.  The overhead parking lights illuminated his face through the front window, highlighting his chiseled good looks. Suddenly the small confines of her car seemed hot. A bit overwhelming.

“I had a great time,” Hunter murmured.

Madeline wet her dry lips with her tongue. His head moved fractionally closer.

“Me…” She had to clear her throat from the huskiness coming through. “Me too.”

He smiled and their gazes met. Locked. She had this sense of free falling, just plunging head first into an unknown abyss. Had she ever felt like this with Kevin? With him everything had been easy. Simplistic. Nothing like what she was feeling now, with Hunter. He brought his hand up to cup her cheek, and she leaned into it, absorbing his heat. His eyelids narrowed a bit and his attention shifted to her mouth. All sorts of delicious tingles spread through her body because she knew he was going to kiss her. God! She wanted to kiss him back so much it was an ache deep in her gut. His head descended and her eyes fluttered shut just as the first touch of his mouth on hers brushed her lips. So gentle, like the dewy wisp of butterfly wings, and she wondered if he had kissed her at all.

~ * ~

Author Bio:

I like writing about the very ordinary girl thrust into extraordinary circumstances, so my heroines will probably never be lawyers, doctors or corporate highrollers.  I try to write characters who aren't cookie cutters and push myself to write complicated situations that I have no idea how to resolve, forcing me to think outside the box.  I love writing characters who are real, complex and full of flaws, heroes and heroines who find redemption through love.

I’ve been pretty fortunate in life to experience some amazing things.  I’ve lived in France, travelled throughout Europe, Australia and New Zealand.  I am a mom to an amazing little boy.  I’ve walked a red carpet event and visited the USS Voyager. I hate washing dishes but I love cooking. I hate washing clothes but I love wearing them. Writing my bio is difficult because I never know what to say so I hope you like this one.  My favorite color is red but I look best in black (it’s slimming).  I hate people who don't pick up their dog's crap in public places, people who don’t use turn signals, and I really hate people who are rude and condescending. I especially hate discrimination in all and every form.  And although I love holding a book in my hand, I absolutely adore my ereader, whom I’ve named Ruby.  I love to hear from readers so I’ve made it really easy to find me on the web.

https://twitter.com/BethDCarter
https://www.facebook.com/bethdcarterauthor

www.bethdcarter.com

http://bethdcarter.blogspot.com/

Amazon author page:

http://www.amazon.com/BethD.Carter/e/B00EOTD1T0/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1385417145&sr=8-1

Release blitz hosted by Writer Marketing Services.

BTS Tours: S. Evan Townsend

Title:  Book of Death

Author: S. Evan Townsend

Publisher: World Castle Publishing

Length: 266 pages

Sub-Genres: Vampires, Paranormal Entities

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BLURB:

They live among us. We know they are there. No government can control them; no authority can stop them. Some are evil. Some are good. All are powerful. They inhabit our myths and fairy tales. But what if they were real, the witches, wizards, and fairy godmothers? What if they were called "adepts" and were organized into guilds for mutual protection and benefit? And what if some of them discovered a power that other adepts could not match.

During the turbulent 1960s, when American adept Peter Branton agrees to go to Transylvania for the CIA, he suspects it's not about ball bearings as he was told. What he finds is a plot that could kill millions of people and plunge the world into eternal tyranny and bloodshed. Branton doesn't know it, but he's about to face the adept guilds' worst nightmare: practicing necromancers with a taste for human blood.

~ * ~

EXCERPT :

I'd never seen this type of meta before. At least I assumed that's what it was, as the wooden man inexorably walked toward me with a creak of moving wood, like tree branches in a heavy wind. It was raising its arms for another blow so I stepped back and shot an airbolt at it. I heard wood crack, but that didn't stop it. It swung again and its wooden fist pounded into my face, knocking me down and back on the sidewalk. Somewhere I heard screams and yells. A guy sitting on the sidewalk, his back to a storefront, muttered, "Wow, bad trip, man."

The Indian was bending over, its face expressionless except for the painted-on peace sign as it seemed to prepare for another attack. I shot fire at it, assuming old dry wood would ignite easily, and it did: the hippie dress went up in flames, and now the monster was a burning mass, still attacking me. It smacked me again with a flaming arm and I suffered from both the impact and the burns. Nearly screaming, I scrambled away on hands and knees. I don't think I'd ever been that scared. Still it came, oblivious to the fact it was on fire.

A motorcycle cop I hadn't noticed jumped off his bike, pulled his service revolver, and shot it into the Indian with six cracks of bullets being fired. It had no effect other than sending burning splinters of wood flying. The cop suddenly looked frightened, and was gripping his billy club but taking no further action.

People were screaming loudly now. I looked around, looking for an escape. If I could teleport away I might escape, but I could see no clear place to teleport to. Briefly I wondered what happened to Ernestine and if she were safe. I didn't sense the presence of another adept, but I didn't really have the ability to be quiet enough to do so. I just hoped she was okay.

The burning Indian smacked me again, hard, in the chest and I felt as if my feet left the ground as I was knocked into a car's side. I heard and felt sheet metal crumple and knew I'd hit the car hard. My vision was going gray. But I realized my shirt was on fire and that kept me from passing out; if I passed out I was probably dead. I pulled water from the air to douse the fire, but this took time and the Indian was on me again, even though it was moving very slowly.

I wondered if I'd survive until the wooden Indian had been consumed by the flames. It hit me again, knocking me to the sidewalk. There was an unpleasant smell and I realized my hair was burning. I used my bare hand to pat out the flames. This gave the Indian time to hit me again, hard. It almost felt as if I flew through the air and was slapped painfully to the sidewalk, the Indian still lumbering toward me.

In desperation I shot another airbolt at it. It must have been on the verge of falling apart because that hit blew it into flaming pieces that scattered over the street and also hit me, burning my skin or singeing my clothes. But it was no longer attacking.

~ * ~

BUY LINKS:

Buy Links: http://www.amazon.com/Book-Death-S-Evan-Townsend/dp/1938961269/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346773559&sr=1-6&keywords=S.+Evan+Townsend (paperback/Kindle)

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/book-of-death-s-evan-townsend/1112902272?ean=2940015688412 (Nook)

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/236215 (eBooks)

https://www.createspace.com/3985568 (paperback)

BTS Tours: Sascha Illyvich

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Playing 20 Questions with Beverly Preston

Today I am joined by the lovely Beverly Preston!

EM: Welcome to My World, Beverly. Thank you so much for stopping by to play twenty questions with me :-)

Before we begin, could you tell us a little about yourself?

Hi Elizabeth! Thanks for letting me play along.

For the past twenty-one years I’ve been a Domestic Engineer, raising four amazing kids. I consider my hubby the man of my dreams, literally! I never dreamt of being a writer until I awoke from a nightmare that my husband had died and I was in Bora Bora scattering his ashes in the lagoon. I worried for weeks that he was going to fall off the roof he was working on, but I finally realized it was simply a bad dream and my hubby wasn’t going anywhere. However, that tiny fragment of a dream haunted me for months, building into this story that wouldn’t rest. I eventually went to my daughter and told her that I was thinking of writing this book. After listening to me ramble for an hour she said, “I love it! Go for it, Momma!” I started typing the next year and didn’t stop for a year and half. Viola! No More Wasted Time!

I’m addicted to my spin bike and I love to travel.

EM: Are you ready to play 20 questions? *rubs hands together* Mwahaha!

Which do you find harder to write?

1. First person POV or Third?

First person

2. As a male or female?

Male

3. Beginning, middle or end of the story?

I’ve had love/hate relationships with all of them at one time or another. Writing the end is the most difficult part for me. It’s like breaking up with a great lover.

4. Fight scenes or smex scenes?

It’s easy to get worked up writing both! I love my sex scenes, but I have to work very hard on them.  

5. Synopsis or blurb?

The dreaded synopsis! A synopsis should come with a noose or at least a stiff Jack and coke.

As a writer, do you prefer:

6. Writing in the morning, afternoon or evening?

I write in the morning and early afternoon when my family is gone, but I keep notecards and a pen next to my bed. Some of my best ideas come to me at 2AM.

7. Writing with music, or in peace?

I like it quiet when I’m writing, but music inspires me more than anything else.  

8. Planning, or Improvising?

Improvise! I always have an idea of where my story will go, but I’m a pantser! I love the spontaneity of writing whatever comes into my mind at any given moment.

9. Juggling a few projects, or concentrating on one at a time?

One story at a time while juggling the rest of my life.

10. Sticking to one genre, or exploring many?

For right now, I’m in love with contemporary romance.

Playing 20 Questions with Myra Nour!

Today I am joined by the lovely Myra Nour!

EM: Welcome to My World. Thank you so much for stopping by to play twenty questions with me :-) Are you ready to play 20 questions? *rubs hands together*

  

Which do you find harder to write?

1. First person POV or Third? 

I have never written first person. I like being able to let readers know what the hero and heroine are feeling and thinking. You can’t do that with 1^st person narrative.

2. As a male or female? 

I prefer female, naturally that’s easier for me to write. But I also enjoy getting inside the hero’s head too.

3. Beginning, middle or end of the story? 

It would have to be the end because the wrap up to the whole story is interesting to write.

4. Fight scenes or sex scenes? 

Fight scenes? Being published with Ellora’s Cave and New Concepts Publishing, you get used to writing sex scenes. Fight scenes are made easier though with my husband’s help. He has a Black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

I didn’t know how to describe a scene where the hero disarms a warrior with a sword when he was weaponless. Simon took me to his master and they demonstrated how it could be done. That made it easy to write.

5. Synopsis or blurb? 

I HATE writing blurbs. They are more difficult than writing the book!

As a writer, do you prefer:

6. Writing in the morning, afternoon or evening? 

Afternoon.

7. Writing with music, or in peace? 

Usually I have the TV on some program. I like noise and when I need a break, I look up and watch a little television.

8. Planning, or Improvising? 

I like to plan out my stories. I daydream or night dream scenes within sections of the book.

9. Juggling a few projects, or concentrating on one at a time? 

I prefer one project at a time, but it seems I’m always working on several.

10. Sticking to one genre, or exploring many? 

I like different genres. Under romance I write paranormal, fantasy, and s/f elements. Recently I’ve expanded into writing horror.