February 12, 2013

GUEST POST by KAREN STIVALI

A lot of people have asked me why I opted to write a sequel to Meant To Be. The answer is simple. I wasn’t done yet. Meant To Be is the story about how Daniel and Marienne met and fell in love, but in many ways the ending is just a beginning.

When I finished writing Meant To Be I sent it off to agents and editors. It’s thought to be a huge no-no to write a sequel to a book you haven’t sold/placed yet, but I did it anyway. The characters were still talking in my head. I had so much more of their story to tell. It took them so long to finally get together that I had to watch what happened once they did.

As luck would have it, the publisher who picked up Meant To Be has a unique imprint called After Happily Ever. That line of stories is all geared to either romance or women’s fiction that explore what happens after the couple says “I do.” It was serendipity that I had already written the after happily ever story for Daniel and Marienne. They signed Holding On right away.

So many novels (women’s fiction, romance, chick lit) tell the story of how a couple gets together. Not that many go on to tell the reader what happens after they’re a couple. Personally, when I read a book and the couple is together at the end I always wonder, then what happened? I consider myself lucky to have had the chance to explore that in Holding On.

I’m very glad I wrote “the rest of the story” but even with two entire books, I’m not done writing these characters. There is a short story in the Foreign Affairs anthology that is a prequel to Meant To Be. That story, All I Need, shows how Daniel wound up marrying his first wife, Justine. Another short story will appear in the upcoming Turquoise Morning Press Wedding Anthology. That story, White Wedding, takes place between Meant To Be and Holding On and lets the reader watch Daniel and Marienne’s wedding story.

In addition to those shorts I’ll have a new novel out that contains these same characters. Just In Time, due out January 26, 2014 is Justine’s story (and yes, Daniel and Marienne will also play a role in it). I wouldn’t rule out a third book that’s just about Daniel and Marienne, either. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to say I’m totally done writing them. I’d miss them too much. And, if anyone is interested in more glimpses of these characters in the meantime, stay tuned to my blog. There will be a new section of free reads coming soon so expect to see letters, IM conversations and short stories that don’t appear in any of the books.

About author, Karen Stivali

Karen Stivali is a prolific writer, compulsive baker and chocoholic with a penchant for books, movies and fictional British men. When she’s not writing, she can be found cooking extravagant meals and serving them to family and friends. Prior to deciding to write full time Karen worked as a hand drawn animator, a clinical therapist, and held various food-related jobs ranging from waitress to specialty cake maker. Planning elaborate parties and fundraisers takes up what’s left of her time and sanity.

Karen has always been fascinated by the way people relate to one another so she favors books and movies that feature richly detailed characters and their relationships. In her own writing she likes to explore the dynamics between characters and has a tendency to craft romantic love stories filled with sarcasm and sexy details.

Karen has published three erotic romances with Ellora’s Cave: Marry Me (June 2012), Long-Distance Lovers (co-written with Karen Booth, March 2012) and Always You (Passionate Plume First Place Novella Winner, RWA 2012).

Karen’s women’s fiction stories, published with Turquoise Morning Press, include Meant To Be (August 2012) and its sequel Holding On (November 2012). Both full length novels are currently available in e-book and paperback. A prequel to these novels, the short story All I Need, appears in the Foreign Affairs Anthology (August 2012). Another short story, White Wedding, which takes place between Meant To Be and Holding On, will be in an anthology due out in June 2013.

Also coming in 2013 Karen will have two contemporary romances releasing from Samhain Publishing.The first of these, THEN, AGAIN is due out on May 23, 2013. LEAVE THE LIGHTS ON will be out in November/December 2013. A new erotic romance novella will release from Ellora’s Cave in Spring 2013 and JUST IN TIME, a follow-up to Meant To Be and Holding On that will focus on Justine, will release from Turquoise Morning in January 2014.

**Contact Karen! Karen Stivali Amazon Facebook Goodreads Twitter

**Buy “Holding On!” Amazon AllRomanceEbooks Barnes & Noble Turquoise Morning Press

MicheleGormanPic

About the author, Michele Gorman: Michele Gorman is the best-selling author of Single in the City, Misfortune Cookie and The Twelve Days to Christmas. She also writes upmarket commercial fiction (historical, young adult) under the pen name Jamie Scott.

Born and raised in the US, Michele has lived in London for 15 years.

INTERVIEW

Describe yourself in five words: Happy, clumsy, determined, curious, forgetful

Salty or sweet? Sweet (though salted caramel is an inspired combination)

Why do you write in the Chick Lit genre? It started with a dare. I read my first chick lit book, a New York Times Bestseller, and absolutely hated it – terrible story, terrible writing. My old agent had just rejected the book I’d spent a year finishing (I wrote literary fiction at that time) and I was on a rant. My then-boyfriend challenged me to write chick lit if I thought I could do better. So I outlined what became Single in the City, my debut with Penguin. I realized that I loved writing in the genre and have never looked back (though I do still also write upmarket commercial fiction under the pen name Jamie Scott).

Hard/paperbacks or eBooks? A year ago I would have said paperbacks all the way! But I bought a kindle so that I could see the layout of my books before publishing them, and I’ve grown fond of it. I still prefer paperbacks but eReaders are very convenient, and appeal to my impulse buying habit 🙂

Who or what inspires you? Nearly everything inspires me. I see small wonders every day, and they all get filed away in my imagination. For example, the other day I got off the Tube at St Pauls, and just ahead of me was a man carrying a fruit picker (one of those long poles with the little basket on the end). In Central London! I’m still imagining a peach orchard tucked away behind the City’s buildings. It may become a short story one day.

Take us through what a day/night is like for you? I’m an early riser (something my boyfriend has had to adapt to – when we met, he liked to sleep in. Now, he says, he sleeps like a farmer). I get up and check emails, etc with a sweet cup of coffee till 8.30 or so. Then I’ll either go for a jog (we live at the edge of one of the Royal parks) or get straight into writing. I write till lunchtime and then usually do marketing/admin in the afternoon. This involves answering interviews, talking to bloggers, reviewers and other writers, brainstorming cover designs, preparing for paperback printing, organizing future marketing campaigns, paying my bills, cleaning my flat, calling my parents, family, friends, etc. I generally publish 2 or 3 books a year, so my days are always split between writing in the mornings and everything else in the afternoons.

You have a pseudonym. How is writing under the name Jamie Scott different? Jamie Scott writes upmarket commercial fiction. As I mentioned, I began as a literary fiction writer, so it’s my original writing style. That style tends to be a bit more gentle and atmospheric than my chick lit style, which is fast and funny.

For example, the most recent Jamie Scott book, Little Sacrifices is about a Northern family who moves to Savannah, Georgia in the late 1940s, hoping against hope that they’ll be welcomed. But they’re Yankees and worse, they’re civil rights advocates almost a decade too early. The story is narrated by the daughter, May, as she looks back on her life. So it’s an easygoing voice, evoking storytelling by a wise old woman while rocking on a wide veranda with a sweating glass of lemonade.

What is your favorite word? Tickle, though I am partial to all onomatopoeic words.

If you could meet other author, who would it be and why? John Irving, because I think he writes some of the best fiction out there. Plus, his stories are always a bit weird and I’d like to know if the man is weird too.

What has been your greatest achievement this far in your career? Gosh, I don’t know if I can choose one thing, because everything that happens is the result of the events that came before. The biggest thrill I had was when my agent called to tell me that Penguin had bid on my debut. I was at work and literally squealed in our large, open-plan office.

What is the best advice you’ve been given? That there’s no harm in trying. My parents never said “You can’t”. They always said “Why can’t you?”

Can you tell us about any of your upcoming projects? Sure! Bella Summer Takes a Chance publishes on 12^th February and I’m very excited (and nervous) about that. It’s about 5 women all taking chances in their lives, and it’s my first book after the Single in the City series (hence the nerves). I can’t wait to find out if readers like it!

I’ve also just started writing The Reinvention of Lucy Winters, which is my most ambitious book to date. It’s a Cinderella story about Lucy who, through hypnosis, awakens a new woman, no longer a pushover. Unfortunately she’s stuck in her old life, and it’s one that no longer fits. Her newfound spirit puts her on a collision course with everyone she knows, challenging the very identity that she’s so carefully built. It’s set in the world of investment banking (which was my background before writing), so it will be extra-challenging to put readers comfortably in that complex and terrible world.

Thanks so much Isabella, for having me on your blog!

Bella Summer Takes a Chance 8.1 **Contact Michele!