Today I'm pleased to have Alicia Dean visiting with us, author of CUPID'S BEAU. Isn't that a great title! The perfect thing to read for Valentine's Day! Let's start by asking Alicia a few questions.
Alicia, what would you say is the best thing you’ve learned about writing and/or
the publishing business?
To never give up. And that writers are a wonderful,
supportive, friendly group of people. I cherish the friendships I’ve made along
the way.
I agree 100 percent! To remind myself of that I have a magnet on my fridge that quotes Winston Churchill, "Never, never, never give up." So what are the kinds of things that might make you want to give up? What do you struggle with when you write?
Getting to the point in my stories where the writing flows.
It takes a while, and a lot of frustration.
Here's the clincher, perhaps a writer's greatest dilemma how do you balance the demands of your everyday life and
your writing life?
The best I can. It’s not easy, but I grab all the writing
time I can and do my best to be productive in that time.
Do you have a job outside of writing? What is it and how
does it mesh with your writing?
Yes, I am a legal assistant at a family law firm. I don’t
know that it really meshes with my writing yet, but I have gathered a lot of
material for future books. People going through divorces can do some bizarre
and interesting things.
I bet! So, where do you live? And better yet, where would you love to live?
I live in Edmond, Oklahoma. I lived in Kansas City for three
years, and I would love to live there again. I would also love to live
somewhere beautiful and cold, like Montana.
I was born in Kansas City! We're practically sisters! Share with us a little about your family. Married? Kids?
Pets?
Divorced for seventeen years. I have three grown kids, two
girls and a boy, who I am very close to. One of my favorite things to do is
hang out with my kids cooking and watching television shows and movies.
Sounds great! Now, just for fun, when trick-or-treating as a kid, was there any kind of candy
that you didn’t like to get?
Those black and orange wrapped peanut butter chewy things.
Ugg! I think that is universal! What CD is in your CD player right now?
Elvis, Prince from Another Planet
Name your favorite children's story.
The Little Match Girl
Oh, dude! That's a sad one! What one thing (modern convenience) could you not live
without?
Can I have two?
Sure. Why not? I'm in a generous mood.
Cell phone and computer.
No blow dryer? Well, to each their own. I'd rather be out of touch and look good. ( ; Now, what are your three favorite smells?
Coffee, fireside candle, rain
Ooooh! Now those are good ones! It's funny how so many people say coffee. It's even one of my favorite smells and I'm not a coffee drinker!
Let's find out a little bit about Alicia's Valentine's Day romance, CUPID'S BEAU.
Blurb:
Ivy
Pierce is a Cupid who prides herself on doing her job well. Except when it
comes to a certain human male, Grant Crawford. Although she doesn’t understand
why, each time she’s supposed to shoot her arrow into his heart, her stomach
hurts, her chest hurts, and she feels….sad. Cupids are never sad.
Humans who are not looking for love only get three chances to find it. And
after Ivy sabotages Grant’s last chance, her boss, Aphrodite, sends her to
earth to right her wrong. She has until Valentine’s Day to help him find his
soul mate.
But the more she’s around him, the more she wants him for herself, even though
she knows that can never be. A Cupid and a human? Unheard of.
As V-Day draws closer, can she sacrifice her own happiness to help the man she
loves find his?
Excerpt
Chapter
1
Ivy drew the arrow back, zeroing in on the elderly
man’s chest. She had to make sure she shot him directly in the heart. She only
had once chance to fell her target.
She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Halfway through the breath, she released the string. The arrow zipped through
the air and landed dead center in the man’s heart. His eyes widened. His breath
stalled. He reached a trembling hand out to Clara, the blue-haired woman
sitting next to him.
“Herb? Herb, are you okay?” Clara frowned.
“I—I have something to say.” The cafeteria noises
in the nursing home nearly drowned out his words. “I don’t have family to speak
of. As you know, I lost one child, and my son who’s left, well, he doesn’t have
much time for me. I’ve spent the last five years feeling sorry for myself.
Waiting for death.”
Clara pursed her lips. “Now, Herb. That’s no way
to think. You have plenty to live for.”
“I do now. Clara, I love you. I don’t know how
much time I have left, but I want to spend it with you as my wife.”
Clara’s lip trembled, and tears surfaced in her
pale blue eyes. “Oh, Herb. I love you too.”
Ivy sighed. So beautiful. There was nothing like
bringing two people together. Especially in February. Valentine’s Day was less
than two weeks away, and a Cupid’s work was never done this time of year.
“Nice,” Meg said, looking over Ivy’s shoulder
through the hole in the cloud. “That’s so sweet that they found love at this
time in their lives.”
“It’s never too late, you know.”
Ivy leaned back into the fluffy cloud. Taking a
list from her robe, she perused the names. “I have ten more to go. Today. It’s
a good thing I like what I do. I’ll be worn out by nightfall.”
Meg unrolled her scroll. “Uh oh.”
“What?” Ivy rose to a sitting position.
“Guess who’s next on my list?”
“Who?”
“Grant Crawford.”
A sharp sting pierced Ivy’s chest. But not the
kind experienced when a Cupid’s gold-tipped arrow found its target. This one
hurt in a bad way. “Grant Crawford?” she said, trying to be nonchalant.
“Yeah. And this is his last chance. That first
time, the woman left him.” Meg shook her head. “So sad. Then, you were supposed to shoot him and
missed. Weird. You hadn’t missed in years.”
“Huh, yeah.” Ivy shifted uncomfortably. “Total
accident. That’s what it was. Did not
mean to miss.”
“Well, luckily, I never miss. Mr. Grant Crawford
is about to find his Mrs. Right. And live happily ever after. Come on, wanna
watch?”
No, I don’t
want to watch…no way. “Sure.” Ivy forced a smile.
This would serve her right. Having to watch.
She’d blown the man’s second chance for love. Humans who weren’t seeking
love—and Grant Crawford definitely wasn’t, he was about as anti-love as a
person could get—only had three chances. Ivy didn’t know what was wrong with
her, but the thought of Grant finding love made her feel…yucky. Sad. Bummed.
Cupids did not feel bummed. They were the happiest creatures in the universe.
She should be pleased that such a handsome man would find love. After all, with
his dark hair that curled in little ringlets on the back of his neck, his
strong jaw, his beautiful white-toothed smile that showed a dimple in his right
cheek, his eyes the color of a gooey chocolate brownie, he should definitely be
mated to a woman who appreciated his attributes.
So, why did thinking about it make her feel like
a black cloud had rained on her soul?
“There he is,” Meg whispered.
Ivy moved to Meg’s side. Sure enough. There he
was. So handsome. He was at his restaurant—where he was most of the
time—standing at a table where a red-haired beauty smiled up at him.
“She’s perfect for him.” Meg’s golden brown eyes
and short golden curls danced with excitement. She lifted the bow in her left
hand and drew back the arrow with her right.
Without thinking—or, later, she would tell
herself she hadn’t been thinking—Ivy lifted her own bow. As Meg released an
arrow, Ivy did the same, deflecting Meg’s arrow just before it landed in Grant
Crawford’s broad, muscled chest. Both arrows tumbled harmlessly to the floor.
“Ivy! What on cloud? You totally made me miss.”
Tears welled in Meg’s eyes. “Now, poor Grant Crawford will never find love.
He’ll go through the rest of his life, alone, sad, miserable. All because of
you!”
Ivy squeezed her eyes shut. She should feel as
awful as Meg did. Instead, she felt a little bit awful and a lot relieved. Why
did it bother her so much to think of Grant with the red-haired woman—or any
woman, for that matter—in his arms, by his side, kissing those full, firm lips…
“How can you live with yourself?”
“Wel-l-l, we don’t really ‘live’ I mean, we’re
supernatural beings, who exist in the clouds, but we don’t really—”
“Ugh. It’s an expression. Sometimes you are so
annoying. I’m telling Aphrodite!” Meg jumped to her feet. “You’ve had it now!”
She stormed away, her feet kicking up little puffs of cloud.
“Saints and sinners,” Ivy muttered. She was most
definitely in for it now.
Please be sure to say hi to Alicia below and pick up a copy of CUPID'S BEAU buy clicking here.
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