First, I’d like to thank Beverly for having me
today! I appreciate the time to blog with your readers.
Second, I’ve decided to post about where my writing
ideas come from. I get asked that question a lot and it’s not really a big
mystery. At times, something as simple
as a name or possible book title can trigger the base idea for a new book. My contemporary royal series, Royals of
Countavia, was born from the name: Weeping Willow. I once lived in a house that had a beautiful
weeping willow tree in the backyard and I always wanted to include it in a
book. However, this time, the tree name
led to the first line of ONE ROYAL SUMMER but it was dealing with a fictional newspaper
headline mocking my heroine, an anti-monarchist who loses a campaign to depose
the King of Countavia.
The line that led to a paragraph, that started a
series:
WEEPING WILLOW WALLOWS WITHOUT WIN
Willow Forbes cringed at the headline as
the finalization of last night's political loss sank in. She had failed to
depose the king. What was she thinking believing a twenty-eight-year-old
commoner could take on the long-established monarchy of Countavia? The kingdom
was one of the oldest in all of Europe.From there my Weeping Willow turned into a heroine who found herself in a few awkward, sometimes even comical, scenarios with the hunky H.R.H. Prince Jaxon Baine, Duke of Summerton. And of course a dangerous past had to worm its way into my book. I just love romances that mix it up with a bit of suspense.
So, my ideas can come from anywhere – a name, a title, a single sentence or even just a desire to write a book about a specific something. And those ideas strike at any time. This is why I ALWAYS carry pen and paper with me. I have files of scrap notes :) I never know when one of those ideas can turn into a book.
We all have a creative spark within us, and
it doesn’t have to be writing-related. What spark leads to your creativity?
Thanks for letting me share!
ONE
ROYAL SUMMER
By
J.C. Makk
ISBN: 978-1-942346-01-2
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Royal-Summer-Royals-Countavia-ebook/dp/B01C3Q1K7U
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/One-Royal-Summer-Royals-Countavia-ebook/dp/B01C3Q1K7U
Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/One-Royal-Summer-Royals-Countavia-ebook/dp/B01C3Q1K7U
BN: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-royal-summer-jc-makk/1123469500?ean=2940157971311
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/one-royal-summer
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/one-royal-summer/id1088160954?
All princes are toads...
Anti-monarchist Willow Forbes is determined to revise her strategy after failing to depose the king responsible for her father's death. But when she retreats to a seaside cottage and mistakes the dashing Jaxon Baine for the local handyman, the sexy royal puts a serious kink in Willow's political and personal plans.
Until you kiss the right one...
Jaxon Baine, Duke of Summerton, has spent a grueling political term fighting to preserve the monarchy. Now he's looking forward to a peaceful season at Summerton Castle, the one place his painful past can be forgotten. But when the castle's cottage is rented to the beguiling Willow Forbes—Royal Enemy Number One—Jaxon's summer heats up.
Can two hearts from opposite sides of life find love?
Or will the dangers and secrets of the past destroy them both?
Excerpt:
Willow headed toward the library. As she passed a hardware store, the scent of sandalwood mixed with sage surprised her nose.
It couldn’t be.
She stopped and
turned to peer into the store’s front window. Her hat squashed against the
surface, and the rim of her sunglasses pressed, almost to the point of pain,
into the bridge of her nose. But she didn’t have a choice in her actions.At the counter, just beyond the door, stood her nameless hunk.
Her heart pounded.
He held a can of
paint in front of him, its thin metal handle secured in his large, strong hand.
Something the store clerk said made him laugh. His sexy, very manly, very
kissable lips, edged upward, revealed his brilliant white teeth.
The man seemed so
at home, so relaxed. He was nothing like the tightly wound politicians she
worked with on a daily basis. Mr. Sandalwood was your average Joe who did not
bear the weight of a kingdom on his shoulders. With him, she could forgo the
state dinners, the fundraisers, and the king’s garden parties.
Her gaze lingered
at the window.
He reminded her of
those alabaster statues in museums, the ones with the lean, muscled abs, the
carved from stone high cheeks, and the well-endowed privates that no fig leaf
ever managed to properly conceal.
There were plenty
of trees with plenty of leaves on the grounds at Copely Cottage. What she would
give to measure up just one of them against her sexy handyman’s crotch. It
would have to be the largest leaf, of course, if judging a man by the size of
his hands with their long, strong fingers, held truth.
Her pulse raced.
The man paid cash
for his paint and then turned toward the door. The last guy she dated who
hadn’t used a credit card to pay for a purchase was her high-school prom date.
Her current peers were kings of plastic.
He was coming her
way.
Her cheeks warmed.Her feet refused to budge.
She wanted to bolt.
Really she did.
Her eyes continued
to ogle.
Oh. My. God.
She swore she was drooling.
Still her feet
refused to move.
Damn wedges. If she had worn flats, she was certain, she
would have hightailed it to the library ten minutes ago. Yes,
Wills. That’s it. She was standing in the middle of a quaint little
town, glued to a hardware shop window, trying to decide if a large leaf would
or would not cover a strange man’s privates, all because she chose to wear
wedges over flats.The hunk stepped onto the sidewalk.
Willow looked down.
Tugging her hat’s brim over her covered eyes she begged the powers that be to
let her go unnoticed.
“Miss Forbes?”
The gods obviously
hadn’t forgotten how she never liked reading their myths back in school. She
turned around. “Oh, hello.”
“What brings you to
town?” Mr. Sandalwood asked.Her eyes drifted to his crotch. “Um...the library.” He would definitely take a large leaf.
The man stooped,
came into her shadowed view under her ridiculously large hat. “Is something
wrong?”
“No.” Make that an
extra-large leaf. Extra, extra large.
“The library is two
buildings down,” he said.
“I know.”
“And you were
gazing through the window of a hardware store because...?”
Saying she was
sizing up his crotch, somehow did not sound right. “Window shopping.”“I see.” He straightened, returned to his full height of at least six-foot-two. The man towered over her, despite her not being short. “Has something else malfunctioned at the cottage?”
“No.” She shook her
head.
“Funny thing, when
my sister talks about shopping, she never mentions browsing a hardware store.
Is it a new trend?”
He was toying with
her. And apparently enjoyed doing so. She crossed her arms over her chest.
Hunk’s gaze fell to
her breasts. “You changed your top.”
“I did.” Oh, great,
now she had him thinking of her bare boobs. That incident was going to be as
bad as the photo of her with those damn tears rolling down her cheeks. It was
going to stay with her forever.
He lifted his
mirrored sunglasses and stared at her with those gorgeous gray eyes. “I have a
few minutes before I have to get back to the castle. Let me show you to the
library.”“I have a map.”
“And still you ended up at the hardware store.”
He dropped his sunglasses back down over his eyes. “Come.” He offered her his arm, moving the paint can to his other hand.
She turned halfway around and accepted, slipping her fingers into the crook by his elbow. His arm was solid, pure muscle.
The scent of his
cologne enveloped her now, stirred her nose but didn’t clog her sinuses like
Sefton’s cheap aftershave.
“Are you looking
for something specific in the library?”
“I am. I was hoping
to view the archives and scan some micro film of newspaper clippings.”
“I see. Summerton
Castle has an extensive collection of past news articles. If you can’t find
what you’re looking for in the library, let me know and I’ll arrange for you to
have access to the castle’s collection.”She could get used to a man like this.
Author Bio:
National bestselling author Angelique Armae/J. C. Makk is a native New Yorker who loves all things royal, can trace her Irish roots back to the Scottish Highlands, is half Italian, and is owned by a long-haired Tuxedo feline. She spends most days writing, unless her cat deems otherwise.
Ms. Armae is represented by Holly Root of the Waxman Leavell Literary Agency
Website: http://www.jcmakk.com
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/bSGTPD
The Royals of Countavia series:
ONE ROYAL SUMMER (Book 1)
HIS ROYAL REDEMPTION (A standalone novella featured in Royals and Rogues)
HER ROYAL BODYGUARD (Book 2, Coming June, 2016)
Looks wonderful! all the best!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting the blog, Melissa!
DeleteWhat a fun excerpt and love the cover. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Vicki. I loved writing this story.
Delete