Today I am delighted to have author Aleah Barley on my blog today, talking about--->
Scents, Set Ups, and Surprises
Third stop in the tour. I’m starting to feel some momentum. I take a deep breath, glancing around the narrow Las Vegas alley. My ab-tastic cover is plastered on one of the nearby walls. Evidence that my publicist has been here, even if she’s still afraid to show her face after the debacles at my first two stops.
“This is it!” I tell the crowd of women who’ve decided to join me on the tour. Is it just me, or has the audience gotten bigger? I see a couple of fingers flying across smart phone touchscreens. I guess people have been getting the word out on Facebook and Twitter.
I take a deep breath. The alley smells like success. It smells like—I cough, trying to hold my nose. Better not to think about what it smells like. It might be the setting for one of my book’s first turning points, but it’s still a Las Vegas alleyway. No wonder smell-o-vision never took off. If they got it working properly, CSI’s ratings would plummet.
I power on. “This is the alley where—”
“The alley where Luke and Glory have their first kiss!” A tall woman shouts from the back. She’s wearing a filmy purple dress and clutching a Kindle. “It’s so romantic!”
Okay, so the book’s been out for a few days. I guess a couple of people have read it. I flush happily at the thought. I live in a teeny-tiny Detroit apartment full of Ikea furniture and a cat who’s intent on world domination. Every dollar I earn is going straight into the ‘buy Aleah a little house’ fund. Just like Glory—the West Virginia wild child who stars in Leaving Las Vegas—I want to be part of a bigger community.
“They only kiss because they’re running from gun-wielding bad guys,” someone else shouts back.
“It’s still freaking hot!”
Okay, I take a step forward and clear my throat. Time to start the book-talk before a fight breaks out. I’ve got a whole lecture planned out for this stop. It’s about keeping momentum going and balancing romance with suspense. It’s great. It’s got slides.
Beeeep! A car horn blasts through the man made canyon. Readers scatter as a classic Mustang rumbles into the narrow space. The car parks and two familiar figures clamber out.
Glory Allen and Luke Morrison. The couple at the center of my new book. Glory’s wearing jeans that skim her thighs and a boat necked t-shirt that advertises the diner she owns back in West Virginia. Luke’s looking mind-blowingly sexy in a suit tailored to his lean, muscular, body. His vintage watch is clasped to his wrist. He takes her hand as they walk towards me.
I cross my arms in front of my chest. “Are you guys really following me around?”
“We were going to ask the same thing about you,” Luke said.
“Yeah.” Glory’s mouth twitches up into an impish grin. Her eyes are glowing and her lips are bruised. Like she’s just been thoroughly kissed. “Was that you pounding on the wall back at the motel? Because that’s so not cool. I was in the middle of—“
Luke’s free hand wraps around his fiancé’s mouth, pulling her tight against him. “A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell.”
Glory pulls free with a laugh. “Good thing I’m not a gentleman. I’m a rip-roaring, holler living, small-town saving good time girl.”
“My good time girl.”
“Right.” She smiles up at him, and the love between them is so intense it practically glows. Clearly these two have come a long way since the last time they were in this alley. The readers are all gathering around them now, asking for autographs. I’ll never get to talk about momentum. Keeping things moving forward.
Why can’t characters ever do what they’re told? As a writer, do you like when your characters come up with surprises? As a reader, do you like a book that keeps you guessing?
What happened at the first two stops? Go to my website to check out the rest of the tour!
Or jump straight to the action by checking out Leaving Las Vegas available now!
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Las-Vegas-Entangled-Ignite-ebook/dp/B00FO8GVGA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1382280602&sr=1-1
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/leaving-las-vegas-aleah-barley/1117054073?ean=9781622660841
And don’t forget to follow me at:
My website: http://aleahbarley.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aleahrbarley
or Twitter: @aleahbarley
BLURB ~
When West Virginia wild-child Glory Allen gets caught in the middle of a kidnapping attempt, she has to decide if rescuing the sexy Luke Tanner is worth risking her life. Especially after the high and mighty casino magnate just accused her of cheating in his casino.
Her decision to help, causes Luke to step into her hometown to develop a community that doesn’t need improvement—a community Glory’s gambling earnings were meant to save—and Glory can’t help but question her judgment, because the chemistry between them is about to explode, and it has nothing to do with the Vegas thugs hot on their trail.
Now Glory is stuck helping Luke figure out who set him up and what to do about their own burning attraction…before Glory’s hometown, and her life, are lost for good.
EXCERPT ~
“You’re cheating.”
Glory Allen was keenly aware of the long pause that followed that statement. Ice collided with glass, creating a tinkling noise, the only sound in the cheap Las Vegas motel room. The neon lights from the Strip a half mile away streamed through the window, making the stacks of neatly piled hundred-dollar bills gleam blue and red. Not the neat ceramic chips used at the fancy casinos on the Strip, but real money. Cash. And surrounding the table sat serious poker players. Big men with square jaws and bulges under their arms.
Normally, Glory wouldn’t give a rat’s rump what anyone thought about her.
Normally, she wasn’t playing poker for high stakes in a private game well off the Strip.
In Beaux, West Virginia, cheating at poker could get a girl’s behind beat black and blue. Here in Las Vegas, she figured they’d just shoot her. Two to the head and a quick burial in the nearest patch of desert.
Under the table, she curled her free hand into a fist, fingernails digging into her palms. The pain helped her to concentrate, kept her expression still. She forced herself to keep looking straight ahead, staring into the eyes of the man who’d accused her.
Luke. That was his name. The man with the green eyes who’d almost made her forget what she was doing when he’d undone the top few buttons of his shirt halfway through the night, displaying a chest that was lean but still muscular. He wasn’t her type. A little too clean-cut. But confident, with backbone to spare.
Confidence was drop-dead sexy in a man.
And yet it didn’t matter how sexy Mr. Fancy Pants was, not when so much money sat on the table. Five-card draw. Jokers wild. Real, old-fashioned poker. And over two hundred thousand dollars, stacked at her elbow. But she needed more. She had to keep playing.
More importantly, he had to keep playing. Had to keep upping the ante until she’d won enough to get out and go home.
“You got proof?” she challenged him. When he shook his head, she said, “Losing is no excuse for bad manners.”
He clenched his jaw tight. The face of his watch knocked against the table. His emerald eyes flashed, changing his expression from one of contempt to something a little more testy. Not good.
She felt about as safe as a red wriggler dangling in front of a hungry trout.
The other players leaned forward. The man on her left drummed his fingers against the table. Mr. Grant, a Los Angeles film producer who liked to adjust his tie when he thought he was about to win. His hand was at his throat now, undoing his crisp Windsor knot. His lips turned up in a thin, dangerous smile. “Let’s keep the game rolling. If you’re still in.”
Luke’s gaze swept around the table, confirming that the others wanted to continue the play. “I’m in.” His gaze stopped on Glory. “What about you?” His green eyes narrowed. Thin lines radiated out from the corner of his eyes, the small imperfections making him somehow more real. Human.
“I’m not going to fold,” she said. She couldn’t leave now, not when she had a game to win. A bus to catch. A town to save.
BIO ~
Aleah Barley is an author of funny (she hopes) contemporary romances. After recently moving to Detroit, she discovered that the rumors are true: it is a post-apocalyptic wasteland full of abandoned buildings, zombies, and hipster coffee shops that don’t open before nine in the morning. It’s also a great place to live.
Really.
Promise.
She spends her days working hard to make the world a better place and her nights writing about kick-ass women who live life to the fullest and the men who love them.
She’ll do anything for a box of chocolates. Or ice cream. Seriously. Try her.
Really.
Promise.
She spends her days working hard to make the world a better place and her nights writing about kick-ass women who live life to the fullest and the men who love them.
She’ll do anything for a box of chocolates. Or ice cream. Seriously. Try her.
You can find Aleah at:
You can find LEAVING LAS VEGAS at:
GIVEAWAY ~
Good morning, Aleah! So happy to have you on. I've got to say, this has got to be one of the most original posts I've ever had from an author. I really enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteAwesome post Ladies - LOVE IT!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Aleah did a fantastic job. I've had so many wonderful, creative authors on my blog and it's always fun to see what they come up with.
DeleteGreat post. Very entertaining! Your heroine sounds like about half the women in my family. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I love that last line. "A town to save." What's that all about? She's a real tease, isn't she? ;)
DeleteOh, and thanks for stopping in, Brenna! :)
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