Wendy Lou Jones - Author
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Bringing home the boys...and girls.

27/10/2014

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 With the end of the war in Afghanistan for Britain, I thought I would share with you one aspect of my journey into publishing. The Songbird and the Soldier was my first book ever published and its evolution was chance... or was it?
     I did in fact do a LOT of research and had some experience of writing to soldiers on the other side of the world, but Songbird  was the first time I’d tried using pictures instead of just my imagination to help me. I had a picture in my mind about the look of the main characters involved, but it was a revelation to me how hard it was to find a real person who fitted the bill.
     Finding a woman to be Sam Litton wasn’t too hard. My husband and I had always talked of who would play my stories if they ever got made into film. He has a thing for Keira Knightly, so that was settled right away. I also had in mind, for the charming Corporal Dean Fletcher, the edgy looking Jonathan Rhys Myers, and I have a picture taped into my notebook of him from The Tudors. Not very appropriate, but  the clothing was not so important.
     Then there was Sgt. Andy Garrington, who was NOT named after my husband. Actually he was, but he wasn't based on him. My hubby had once before asked me to put him in one of my books and I cast an Andy as a bit part, who was a total cad. This time he was specific; he wanted to be a good guy and preferably the lead. As for a picture? I scrolled through countless hours of hot men on the internet (a hardship we romance authors have to bear) and finally came across the picture I wanted. As simple as that, or so it would seem, but a year and a half later, after having been finished, self-published, republished under HarperImpulse, and out there in the big wide world, I met a writer who found my guy for me and what do you know??? He used to be a soldier! His name is Raoul Bova and he is an Italian actor, who served his country in the army years before. Fitting, right?


If you would like to take this journey with them, Songbird is available through all e-retailors and you can find all its buy links right here: http://www.harperimpulseromance.com/books/the-songbird-and-the-soldier

And for more on my journey and researching this book, go to: http://www.harperimpulseromance.com/flying-home/
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Give me strength - I'm going to need it.

20/10/2014

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The other day, my hubby and I were walking down through the village when he stopped me and pointed out that our very own village hall was now the proud owner of a shiny new  community defib.  For those of you who don't know, defibrillator is a medical emergency device that you use to shock someone if their heart suddenly fails. You've probably seen them on medical dramas and such. The old 'charging', 'stand back' and kerchung type thing. Well they make simplified ones for community use too, that talk you through what to do, and make all the decisions for you. They can be a saviour if someone has a heart attack in the sticks and the ambulance can't get there for 10 to 15 mins. My husband had read about it in the local paper: Community defib at village hall. Great, I thought.    ... I THOUGHT!    (Oh, you didn't see a rant coming?)

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BUT... When we went to investigate, it was round the side of the hall in a safe box, with a keypad lock on it. There was no number to call, no hint to the lock code and, I guess, a very secure defib, all shiny and new sitting inside. Well, I suppose we won't have to worry about vandals, but what if your aunt comes to visit and suddenly drops down to the floor, seemingly dead? What are you going to do? Are you going to run to the village hall and tap in random codes, hoping to get luck, to see if you crack it before the ambulance arrives? Because other than that, it's no b****y use to anyone! My husband and I are doctors even and we have no access to it. Who does? That's what I'd like to know. If only 3 or 4 people in the village know the code and you don't t know them, or they're out, or no-one knows who has the codes, it's going to remain nice and shiny and unused forever. No-one will steal or vandalise it, but it's as good as useless. A waste of money.

So if anyone is coming to my village in the future, I recommend you pack your crowbar to give us a fighting chance. Rant over. ;-)




Like to party? Hop along the Hump Day Blog Hop on Julie Valerie’s Book Blog. Click here to return to the Hump Day Blog Hop.

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I need a hero! - Eve is waiting to be rescued.

13/10/2014

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Today on my blog, I have the lovely Eve Devon come to talk about what she looks for in a hero. What do you say, Eve?

For me…it’s all in the rescue…
   If you’re anything like me, then you like your heroes strong, courageous under fire, understanding of self-sacrifice and motivated by the challenge of a metaphorical or actual rescue mission. They can be un-sung or have jobs that put them in the traditional hero role but between you and me—I also love a little (okay, a lot) sexy, confident, and laid-back! They kind of fall harder when they don’t even see it coming, don’t you think?!
   But along with all this deliciousness, we do actually need the heroine (who I also like to be strong and courageous under fire etc.) to be able to relate to our hero, right?  That’s why it’s imperative for the hero to also be fabulously human, with flaws and imperfections just like the rest of us.
Because then it’s all in the rescue…!
   Meet the hero, aka knight-in-shining-armour, from The Love List: Ethan Love.


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Don't mind if I do. He can come on here  any day! Just a moment... Aaaah!  Okay.

He walked onto my page with all of the above qualities. And he’s very sexy, confident and laid-back. But don’t mistake that laid-back approach to be right at his core because inside he’s all: I am not the person who needs rescuing—I am the person that does the rescuing!
   Except, for a disaster relief worker haunted by his last deployment…he kind of needs *holds forefinger and thumb scant millimetres apart* a tiny bit of rescuing.


Yeah…rescuing Ethan Love from his insomnia and deeper secrets is going to have to be one of those “You’ll be so busy rescuing me, you won’t notice me rescuing you” jobs.

That’s where the heroine, aka workaholic Nora King, comes in. She’s all: I do not need rescuing! But despite her determination to prove she’s professional and completely in-control at all times, Ethan has seen enough in his work to recognise this. Because for a workaholic trying desperately to keep the gigantic knot of grief over losing her father deep, deep (did I mention deep) down inside her so that she can keep the beloved family business going, it’s obvious to Ethan she needs someone to bounce her out of her self-imposed suspended state of animation and help her come to terms with her loss.


For Ethan, Nora is the perfect “rescue mission” distraction. But will he get to deploy his laid-back sexy charm to divide and conquer Nora’s wall of defence, all in the name of rescuing her from herself? Or will Nora’s ability to knock him breathless and steel beneath his own protective layers distract him from his rescue mission and have him giving up a few secrets of his own?
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Falling in love is just not on Nora King’s To Do List…
   Neither is accidentally super-gluing her shoe to her hand right before the biggest presentation of her life! With all the hard work she’d put into securing the family business after her father’s death, Nora has no choice but to accept help from a knight in shining armour.
   Disaster relief worker, Ethan Love, is still haunted by his last deployment, and desperate for distraction. He’s in town to ask Nora for a major favour, and swooping in to save her presentation is a sure way to get her on side.
   As Ethan sticks around and helps Nora through her grief, her barriers tumble down…but will she dare to swap her To Do lists for a How to Fall in Love list?

The Love List is available now on all good retailers. Multi-buy link: http://www.harperimpulseromance.com/books/the-love-list
Thank you for coming on here today, Eve, and you can contact Eve at the following places: www.evedevon.com , www.twitter.com/evedevon , www.facebook.com/evedevonauthor and www.goodreads.com/author/show/7066976.Eve_Devon .
And if you would like a quick glimpse of the lovely book itself, I've left you a couple of tasters below. Enjoy...

God, he was tired. The insomnia was getting really bad. But he’d deal with it. No need to make it complicated. No need to dwell.
Angling his head toward the door he went with the job he hoped he would still have after the report was submitted, rather than the job title stamped on his passport. ‘I work for a charity that organises disaster relief. I go to whichever disaster zone I’m deployed to and help provide shelter, water, food, etc.’
Silence.
He wished he could see her reaction. He was willing to bet she was standing on the other side of the door with a sexy little ‘v’ etched into her un-Botoxed forehead, her tempting mouth dropping open slightly in shock.
‘And you’ve come back recently?’ she asked.
‘Via a quick stopover to see my brother, yes.’
‘Where is it you’ve been?
Ethan blew out a breath. ‘Northern Italy.’
‘Where the earthquake was?’
‘Yeah.’ Ethan deliberately kept his eyes open to stop the memories flashing before his eyes.


Even with the business-as-usual façade she wore, he could see the struggle she was trying to survive underneath. How she couldn’t quite hide the fact that grief had stripped her bare and she didn’t know what to do about it. He’d seen that same hollowed-out shocked look on people’s faces when their worlds had exploded and they’d been left to try and rebuild what they could.
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I need a hero! - Incy turns to the dark side.

6/10/2014

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  With me today is the  author, Incy Black and I think she's going to try to tempt me over to the dark side of heroes. Oh, she can try!    Welcome, Incy. Do your worst...

Thank you, Wendy, for graciously agreeing to host me today. I was grateful—until I received your specs, at which point, *PANIC ATTACK*

Wendy said she wanted a post about ‘Heroes’.  Smiling…well, grimacing, I withdrew.  To the corner of an unlit room. Much whimpering and nausea-inducing rocking ensued.

Sure, heroes are expected to have flaws, but I wasn’t convinced Wendy was ready for the uncivilized. You see, I write dark heroes. The alpha bastard type. Rough, tough, hard. Arrogant, super-bossy, selectively deaf (if they don’t want to hear it, they ignore it).


I thought that was all men. ;-)

You might be right! But these guys don’t cuddle, they crush-hug. Kissing’s less an exploratory advance and more a shocking surprise plunder. Everything about them is harsh--their behavior, their souls, their past, and their present. In their defense, the world in which they live is dark…tunnel dark. Special Agents (British Intelligence), especially those tasked with all things ‘plausibly deniable’ don’t live in the light, they daren’t. Not when a chance beam of illumination (enter the heroine) might force them to confront the type of men, deep down, they would rather be…if only they knew it.

I'm listening...


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Take Jack Ballentyne, the hero in Hard to Forget, as an example. Though a law enforcer, he’s a rampant rule-breaker. He’s courageous (reckless), sensitive (as a rock), refined (you should hear his language), polite (that would be a no). He loves, but it chokes him to admit it. He protects, fiercely, but the experience is more akin to full on possession. But he’s redeemable (kind of), and that’s what makes him heroic. His potential to be a better man. His willingness (though he furiously denies it) to change.

Darth Vader had a soft side: he loved Padme. Don't think I'd want to kiss him, though. Although...  then again...  Anakin... :-)

You're just going to have to trust me on this, Wendy. :-)

HARD TO FORGET can best be summed up with two quotes:

He didn’t want her forgiveness. What the hell would he do with it?  Jack Ballentyne

Protective Custody? What’s that a euphemism for, exactly?   Lowry Fisk.

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See, what you've done now? I'm already reading her name as 'Frisk'. What are you doing to me? ;-) I think we should take a look at Incy's latest cover, shouldn't we?

Oh my! What big guns he has. :-)

Full details…blurb, buy links, even a free sample (Chapter 1) can be found here.

And a little birdy tells me it's actually out TODAY!  Hurrah!







And you are heartily welcome to connect with me, Incy Black, at the following places:

https://twitter.com/incyblack
https://www.facebook.com/incy.black

Thank you, Incy, for joining me today and thanks to @MattiasFahlberg for letting me use his art work with the sexy Darth up the top. I'm afraid I haven't quite been converted to the dark side. I still like myself a tortured good guy really, but I may just have to buy this book. :-)


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

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