Wendy Lou Jones - Author
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I need a hero! - A Roman hero.

25/8/2014

1 Comment

 
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Today I would like to welcome the talented author, Caroline Storer, to my blog and she has a mind to take us back quite a bit, to the age of the Roman Empire in fact. Caroline?

Firstly, thank you Wendy for having me on your Blog to talk about heroes.  I thought I would tell you about how I chose the hero for my debut book – “The Roman”.  

I’ve always been fascinated by Roman history, which has been with me since childhood when we learnt all about the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.  Watching films such as Quo Vardis, Spartacus, The Ten Commandments and Ben Hur as a teenager cemented that love of all things “Roman”.  In recent years the mini-series Rome and Spartacus re-ignited that love. 

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But if I have to pick one film that made an impact, then it would have to be Gladiator; or more specifically General Maximus Decimus Meridius – a.k.a Russell Crowe in Gladiator.  I’ve watched this film about 10 times now and I’m still bowled over by his gorgeousness! 

Confession time: Maximus made me pregnant! Okay, so it was my husband, with a cold, doing the whole 'commander of the armies of the north' speech, but we called our youngest Maximus until he came out. Anyway, I digress. Please continue, Caroline. ;-)

...He is the typical alpha male Roman hero IMHO.  And it was Russell Crowe’s magnificent performance in that film that inspired my hero Marsallas in my debut book “The Roman”.  When I was writing Marsallas’s story I had a picture of Russell Crowe taped to the side of my monitor.  A quick glance every now and again was all I needed to get back into Marsallas’s skin and write his story.  A tortured hero – lovely!

Hear, hear! So tell them about your story, Caroline. I findus I am in the moodus. ;-)

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The Roman finds the famous charioteer, Aulus Epidius Marsallas wanting revenge against Justina Philipus - the only woman he’s ever loved, but who’d betrayed him by becoming his uncle’s mistress. 

Forced to meet Marsallas for the first time in six years, Justina is shocked at the changes she sees in him.  Gone is the carefree youth she once loved, now replaced by a hard muscular stranger.  But there is no denying the attraction that still flows between them, and when his uncle dies, Marsallas offers sculptress Justina a challenge – a bronze statue of himself, and his four horse chariot, to be displayed at the Circus Maximus.  Justina knows that this commission is just what she needs to make a name for herself, and give her the freedom she covets, so she accepts Marsallas’s challenge.  However, Justina is unprepared when Marsallas states one further condition – she must become his mistress.  But Justina has a secret, she’s still a virgin, she just hasn’t told Marsallas yet…


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It's a great story. I know; I've already read it. :-) So how did you come to writing, Caroline? Are you a historian by day?

No. I live on the beautiful (if slightly windy) island of Anglesey in North Wales.  (Anglesey, you may recall was recently the home of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – William and Kate.  I did invite them over for tea, but unfortunately they were too busy!)  I’m happily married to my own Alpha Hero, Colin, and have one step-son and grandson.  By day I’m an Environmental Health Officer for the local Council.  My work can be quite challenging to say the least, and no one day is the same.  I find escaping into a good book (either reading or writing one) a great way of relaxing once I’ve finished work.  I am a voracious reader of anything “romantic” and have been since I “borrowed” one of my grans Mills and Boons when I was around 13!

Brilliant! Well you can find Caroline's wonderful book with the links below...

On Amazon.com - http://ow.ly/tPGTX 
On Amazon.co.uk -
http://ow.ly/tPHfJ
On Barnes and Noble -
http://ow.ly/tPHvY
On Kobo -
http://ow.ly/tPI1N
GooglePlay
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Caroline_Storer_The_Roman_HarperImpulse_Historical?id=aR-hAgAAQBAJ
iTunes-https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/roman-harperimpulse-historical/id804712321?mt=11

...And find the woman herself here:

On her blog - http://carolinestorer.blogspot.co.uk/
Facebook = https://www.facebook.com/caroline.storer.50?ref=tn_tnmn
Twitter = https://twitter.com/CarolineStorer6

Thank you so much for coming on, Caroline and good luck.

Thanks again, Wendy, for having me.  It’s been a blast!  Caroline x

1 Comment

I need a hero! - Buffy.

18/8/2014

2 Comments

 
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Today I would like to welcome the author, Jill Knapp, to my blog to tell us about her hero. Take it away, Jill.

For my hero I picked a fictional character who has always been my number 1 hero, going on 15 years now. And that hero is Buffy, The Vampire Slayer. Yes, I know you want to laugh, but those of you who watched the show are probably nodding your heads and thinking, “Okay, I get it.” So when I saw the topic of these blog posts, I just had to write about her.

*Warning if you plan on watching the show, this post will spoil everything*

So what does make a good hero? When I look back at everything Buffy did, the answer is clear. All of the greatest heroes I have ever read about, or seen on television have all had it in common. Strength, courage, sacrifice, and the ability to get the tough job done when no one else can.
    There are 3 specific moments in this show that stand out for me, proving what an amazing hero this woman is, but I’m just going to tell you about one of them for now.
     In the season 2 finale, Buffy has to kill her boyfriend in order to save the world. Of course at this point, her boyfriend has been turned evil (his soul has been removed).


Ouch!

Throughout most of the season she toils with this predicament. How could you possibly kill the person you love more than anyone else in the world? During the last few moments of the episode, her and Angel (her boyfriend) fight. He knocks her down repeatedly, taunting her that she’s all alone. Her mother has turned her back on her, her friends are in the hospital, badly wounded after an attack that was meant for Buffy, and she has no one. You think it’s over for her. She’s cornered. No weapons, bruised all over, near tears. She closes her eyes, and you think she’s accepting it all, her inevitably death by the hand of her lover.
    He twists the sword around in his hand, looks right at her and says-
“Now that's everything, huh? No weapons... No friends...No hope. Take all that away... and what's left?”
    She remains still, silent, eyes closed.
    He lunges his sword to her, and she catches it in her hands. She opens her eyes, and answers his question with one word, “Me”.


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I think this is such a pivotal moment with a lot of metaphor for women. When you think you have nothing, when you feel like you’re being attacking or you’re all alone in the world… you still have yourself. She smacks the sword into his face, grabs hers from the ground, and wins the fight. When it’s over, Angel is killed, and Buffy’s life will never be the same. She has to live with this overwhelming guilt and devastation of losing the one person who meant more to her than anything in the world. And she lost him by her own hand. But she had to do it. If she hadn’t, he would have destroyed the world.
     She had the strength to fight him, the courage to stand up for what she knew was right, she sacrificed her one true love to save the world, and she did it because no one else in the world could. She is the very definition of a hero.

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And there was me thinking Buffy was going to be a light option! I stand corrected, Jill. I'll have to have another watch; haven't seen her over here since the 90s. Thank you. Do you write characters as powerful as Buffy yourself? Tell us about your writing and what you've been getting up to.

I'm a writer for The Huffington Post, and The High Tea Cast. Before writing my first novel, I earned a Master's Degree in Psychology and taught at the college level for nearly 3 years. Previously self published under the name Chase, What Happens To Men When They Move To Manhattan? is my debut novel, and the first in the New Adult series.

Psychology, huh? No wonder you can break Buffy down and analyse her so well. Shall we take a little look at your lovely new book?

Sure.

Life in the city gives 23 year old Amalia Hastings a ride she is not expecting. As she tries to find her way on the little island that never sleeps, she discovers she has a harder time navigating through life then she does the streets of Greenwich Village! She thought she had everything she wanted - a new apartment in Manhattan, a first-rate education at NYU, a group of trusted friends and Nicholas, a boyfriend who she once believed was her soul-mate. But somehow, it isn't enough.

Stumbling through her relationships, Amalia encounters Michael. An attractive classmate who quickly moves from being one of her close friends, to an inconsistent friend-with-benefits. After all, the only thing consistent about New York is its beauty. Amalia is essentially torn between two men, and Michael is torn between two women. Her best friend Cassandra is being strung along by her "boyfriend", Bryce, and even her friend Olivia is having a secret relationship!

After getting terribly lost searching for love in all the wrong places, Amalia finds herself asking - what happens to men when they move to Manhattan?!

I think we need answers! Thanks for coming over to enlighten us about Buffy, Jill. You can find Jill's fabulous new novel in all good online retailers now, available for download now...

Amazon.com-  http://www.amazon.com/What-Happens-When-They-Manhattan/dp/0008104999/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407765428&sr=8-1&keywords=Jill+Knapp

Amazon.co.uk-  http://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Happens-When-They-Manhattan-ebook/dp/B00KKC43BA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1407765558&sr=1-1&keywords=jill+knapp


Barnes and Noble- http://www.nook.com/gb/ebooks/what-happens-to-men-when-they-move-to-manhattan-by-jill-knapp/9780007594672

...And you can contact her here:

GoodReads- https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7263734.Jill_Knapp

Twitter- @JL_Knapp

FB- https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jill-Knapp/1488935691330000?ref=hl



2 Comments

I need a hero! - What makes a good hero?

11/8/2014

0 Comments

 
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The lovely author, Hannah Emery, joins me today to discuss what makes a great hero, so here she is with her thoughts on the matter:

Get me!

Wickham versus Darcy (or Hugh versus Colin); Mr Big versus Aidan; Rhett Butler versus Ashley Wilkes. It’s always a tough call: if it wasn’t, then life, books and films would be pretty tedious.

So which heroes are really the best ones? The ones who have a little more swagger, who are more bold, more flash, more selfish? Or the ones who wait in the background kindly and patiently, perhaps slightly misunderstood?

Being a hero isn’t just about looks, because we all know that attraction runs deeper than skin. But then it doesn’t always seem to be about kindness either. It sometimes looks like it might be something to do with a certain kind of shining confidence that sometimes spills over into arrogance. But although that’s attractive for some, it’s only a good thing for so long. Arrogance definitely has a shelf life.

I think the best heroes, regardless of what they ooze (charisma, sophistication, crisp pound notes, sheer belief in themselves) are the ones who understand their heroines the most.

Take Mr Big and Aiden for example. It’s not just about Mr Big’s tendency to pour Carrie huge goblets of expensive red wine and turn up in a private car when she’s least expecting it that makes me (and her) love him (although it is a lot about that). It’s about something subtle that tells me he gets her more than Aidan, who is arguably a nicer person. That’s not to say he understands everything Carrie says, or never lets her down: sometimes quite the contrary. But he knows exactly who she is, and that makes him the one she can’t ever forget. Rhett Butler is the same. He gets Scarlett O’Hara more than she gets herself, right from the very beginning. He knows what she needs (to be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how) and is eventually prepared to give it to her.


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Being a hero is not only about being nice. If that were true, then things would be simple and the nice people in the world would all be married to one another, and the not-so-nice ones would stay single. But the earth doesn’t turn like that, and if it did then we wouldn’t be so eternally compelled to join characters in the ridiculously complicated quest for working out who the right man for them is.

My heroes are the people who know what I need and accept what I want. They are the people who get me: my husband, my family and my friends. And also Mr Big, because although the goblets of wine and the grand gestures aren’t everything, they’re pretty good to watch.

So is this how you like to write them too? Stories about that special connection? What kind of things make your life happy?

I have written stories for as long as I can remember. I love writing about how fragile the present is and how so much of it depends on chance events that took place years ago. I studied English at the University of Chester, and I now work in a college where I mentor degree students.
The most important things in my life are my family, my friends, books, baking on a Saturday afternoon, getting glammed up to go out for champagne and dinner and having cosy weekends away.
I live in Blackpool with my husband and our little girl.

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So tell us about your latest book, Hannah, Secrets in the Shadows, a  must-read for fans of Kate Morton.

In 1920s Blackpool, eleven year old Rose wanders away from her parents and has a unique gift bestowed upon her. This gift will leave a haunting legacy, seeping down through the generations…
   Decades later, Louisa has a vision of her mother walking into the sea. This isn’t the first time it happens and it won’t be the last, but what she sees isn’t always what she wants. The rest of her life is spent trying to change the future that haunts her.
   In present day Blackpool, Grace is going to be married someday. She knows this because she’s seen it; a vision of a white dress, daisies embroidered on the sleeves, the groom by her side, vowing to love her forever. Except the man in her premonition doesn’t belong to her - he belongs to her twin sister, Elsie.
   Haunted by what they know and what they are afraid to find out, all three women must make a choice: in the face of certain destiny should you chase the outcome that’s “meant to be”, or throw away fate and choose your own future?


It sounds fascinating. Secrets in the Shadows is available now, so why not grab yourself a copy and decide for yourself what was meant to be.

www.harperimpulseromance.com/books/secrets-in-the-shadows



0 Comments

The Anatomy of a Romantic Hero.

4/8/2014

8 Comments

 
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How do I love thee? Let me count the muscles. Today I’m going to show you just how the right incentive can help you learn. Back in medical school, I fancied my anatomy demonstrator and it was the only subject I achieved Honours in, so I know a little something about this. Of course, it was my favourite subject even before then, but it certainly helped. ;-) So why not come along with me on an imaginary journey and see what we can achieve.

Find yourself a partner - some hint of perfection from the corners of your mind – now imagine. Let him stand before you and follow my lead and prepare yourself to learn some anatomy.

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Whether to start at the bottom and work leisurely up, or start at the top and slide sweetly down, it matters little. Hmmm. The top I think; let us start with the hair.
   Our romantic hero must have hair you can run your fingers through. It might be long and unkempt, offering a glimpse of that wicked, bad boy side, the wayward spirit that you know you adore, or cropped smooth and short in velvety temptation. The choice is yours.
    Now, tracing a fingertip down the length of his beautiful face. Starting at his forehead, move carefully down his chiselled nose. His nostrils flare as he breathes you in, tantalised by your touch. But don't be distracted just yet. On to his lips, those lips that promise the art of arousal, orbicularis oris: soft, pliant and warm to the touch. They have the ability to dazzle you with mischief, or sear your tender flesh with their dance. He bites playfully on your finger, revealing his perfect white teeth and teasing you with a touch of his hot, wet tongue.

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You look up into his eyes…oh, those beautiful eyes. Those eyes could so easily break your heart. They draw you in, grabbing you by the guts and whispering to your soul, ‘Give yourself to me and I will show you paradise.’

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Picture yourself like Baby in Dirty Dancing: slowly teasing; your fingers roaming around his body. Move down to his shoulders, broad and strong. Stroke your hands across them. They are muscle and brawn. Those arms could sweep you up into his grasp as easily as a newborn kitten, but he must not. He has to stand there and wait for you.

The great power houses at the top of his arms are his deltoids, smooth and warm beneath your touch. Moving down his arms on either side we come to the biceps, firm and bold. They're the ones that flex as he pulls your head towards his for that decadent kiss you know he can deliver. You shudder to feel the muscles swell beneath your fingers, but eager to learn more, you pull away and move on. Your fingers slip around the back of his arms to his triceps. Can you feel them? They are smaller than their counterparts at the front, but just as taught and firm to the touch. 


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     Moving further down, to his forearms, silky smooth ropes of sinew lead your fingers down to his warm, strong hands. His fingers can claim both dexterity and tenderness, capable of balling into a fist at a moment’s notice, to fight for your honour. They long to explore you, but he mustn't yet. You are still learning. Leave them there and walk slowly around to his back.
     Let him take off his shirt and watch as his muscles move, his skin flexing around them. Mmm. In the centre, the large diamond shaped swathe between his shoulder blades is trapezius and then latissimus dorsi hug around his ribs on either side (just where you would slip your hands, around to press yourself up against his back.) His gorgeous buttocks, beyond the seductive little dimples, are named gluteus maximi and what a firm handful they are too. Like kneeding fresh dough. But you’re not finished yet. Try to remain focussed.

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I said focussed! Slipping round to the front again, your eyes are drawn to his chest, where pectoralis major and minor wrestle for position. Let your fingers trail from his clavicles – the collar bones on either side - down over his pectoral muscles, briefly pausing to kiss them on the way if you choose. If you can still breathe now, move on, down further still to his rectus sheath (that's his stomach!). Here his rectus abdominis muscles, form into bands causing ripples in your stomach as well as in his. And now to those muscles you are all dreaming about… sliding in from either side, are his external obliques, leading your eyes down to where I must not follow, because this man is for you.
    Of course our hero is equipped to please, as you will discover for yourself as you explore what is hidden beneath the last vestiges of clothing left on him. I see your pupils are already dilating in anticipation.
     Only long, lean legs remain now, the quadriceps at the front and hamstrings at the back, giving him the height to tower over you. And as he leans down for that kiss, and you give in to temptation and whatever else he would have you do, I say only this: Beware. Our hero’s heart is a vulnerable thing. It may be damaged, or burned. He might fly into a temper, or storm off on a whim. He may hide for a while, only needing to be found, but one thing is for certain, your body may be yours, but before he is through with you, your heart will belong to him.

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    Wife, mother, lapsed doctor. Hopelessly in love with every hero I've ever written.

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