Five Facts about Hard Hats and Doormats

by

Laura Chapman

1. I wrote the first 50,000 words of the first draft during National Novel Writing Month 2010.

NaNoWriMo is an annual writing competition that happens every November. While I’d heard about the contest before, I didn’t decide to participate until sometime on the evening of Nov. 1. This story had been brewing in my mind for a couple of years before I started the first draft, but I still had to quickly hash out an outline.

I reached the 50,000-word deadline just under the wire at 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 30. My Internet wouldn't properly connect to the website, and I had to send the manuscript to a friend who uploaded it for verification on my behalf. I sat on the phone with her while she went through the steps. Once she gave me the confirmation that everything went through, I simultaneously fist-pumped the air and cried. I've successfully participated in NaNoWriMo every year since, but that was the most emotional I ever got.

2. I wrote more than half of the first-draft in notebooks on airplanes and transcribed them into my computer in airport terminals between flights.

At the time, I traveled seven to twelve days a month and I had to sneak in writing whenever I could. My job – a corporate journalist who wrote employee publications for industrial customers – provided me with lots of reporter notebooks and pens, which I kept handy for note taking if inspiration ever struck while I was out and about.

3. Excluding the Lexi Burke and her family, all of the characters' last names in this book are the cities and work sites I traveled to for work at that time.

I’m not even sure why I decided to do this, but once the idea popped in my head, I was sold. Jason Beaumont, Lexi's love interest, has his last name, because Beaumont, Texas, was one of the most complicated places I visited for work. I had some of my best employee encounters there and some of my worst. While I tended to cry on almost every trip (usually on the last day or two, because I was exhausted, hungry and dirty), it was the only location where someone was so mean to me, I sat in my car and cried for five minutes. I also had a couple of my best interviews in that town.  

I figured it was a fitting name for a man who might force my character to go through a roller coaster of feelings, because of the wide range of emotions I experienced.

4. I named Lexi's smartphone after my company-issued GPS device.

Harriet and Harriet 2 (the first one passed away from old age in San Antonio, Texas), accompanied me on every trip I took during my four years of professionally traveling.

5. The restaurant Lexi and a co-worker go to for dinner in New Orleans’ French Quarter is based on a place I ate at in fall 2009.

The story goes that the Napoleon House Bar & Café was offered up to Napoleon as a place of refuge, but he never made it. Now, they serve amazing Cajun fare. I ate the shrimp remoulade stuffed avocado and my dining partner had a poor boy. We were both equally satisfied with our orders.

Introducing...

Hard Hats and Doormats

Lexi Burke has always been a stickler for following rules and procedures. As a human resources manager for a leading Gulf Coast chemical company, it’s her job to make sure everyone else falls in line, too.

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But after losing out on a big promotion–-because her boss sees her as too much of a yes-woman––Lexi adopts a new policy of following her heart instead of the fine print. And her heart knows what it wants: Jason Beaumont, a workplace crush who is off limits based on her previous protocol.

While navigating a new romance and interoffice politics, Lexi must find the confidence to stand on her own or face a lifetime of following someone else’s orders.

Laura Chapman

Laura Chapman found a way to mix her love of romance and humor as a women’s fiction author and blogger. Her debut novel, Hard Hats and Doormats, was released in December with Marching Ink.

A graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Laura studied journalism, English and history. She spent several years traveling the country as a writer/photographer, and currently works in communications.

Born and raised in Nebraska – in a city, not on a farm – she is a devoted fan of football, British period drama, writing in bars and her cats, Jane and Bingley.

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Excerpt from Hard Hats and Doormats Alexis Burke @theLexiBurke Can a person refer to employees as Jackass 1 & 2 in an official report? Asking for a friend. #HRProblems #ThisIsMyLife The universe keeps telling jokes and I’m the punch line. #IHaveProof Okay, seriously. When did this become my life? Can I get a mulligan? #ObscureGolfAnalogyForLife In kindergarten Sunday school, Lexi Burke imagined Hell as a fire-ridden, hate-filled pit below Earth’s surface. On a mighty throne of blackened steel and skulls, Satan preyed on the souls of the damned for eternity. Twenty years later, she discovered a new version of Hell. It was a windowless conference room on an oil platform off the coast of God-only-knew-where Texas in the middle of May. The devil took form in two men, both middle-aged and madder than a hornets nest. Despite the sweat building on her neck, she shivered. When did babysitting old guys become my job? How mad do hornets get, and what does their nest have to do with it? Where did I come up with that analogy? Solving those mysteries had to wait. Casting a glance at the figures gathered around the badly chipped table, she considered the situation at hand. The two men, their union reps, and a team of local managers were going yet another round in their verbal sparring without a semblance of resolution. The representatives wanted the men to go back to work. The managers wanted to give them pink slips. As the HR manager assigned – albeit at last-minute – to the investigation, she wanted to keep everyone from killing each other. Not an easy task, considering the two men under investigation already gave murder their best shot.

Five Facts for Gabby Angel of God: Guardian and Messenger

Gregory J. Sandora 

1. The first three heartbeats of the story are true. Seventeen years ago, when my son Canon was five years old, our family spent a weekend in Bar Harbor, Maine. The part about Bo lying on a picnic table looking over at his son is similar to what happened to me. Like Bo, I saw an angel staring back at me. Unlike the story, she didn't stay around to spend a couple of weeks on an exciting, unrequited love adventure with me. 

2. The angel in the story, Gabby (short for Gabriella) is so divinely beautiful that Bo worries that she may attract too much attention when he and Gabby enter a hell-hole bar to save a young girl held against her will, in fact, my daughter and wife are the models for Gabby.

3. The book only required four or five edits. I have an amazing editor that helped with the process of getting the book ready to publish.  

4. Friends read my stories and try to find things they recognize, and my family gives me the inspiration. 

5. My first two books Jack Canon's American Destiny: He's All In! and Jack Canon's Women of the House: Love, Lust and Loyalty is my answer to the fifty shades phenom. They are packed full of sexy scenes with powerful women.  I enjoy writing about the inner workings of the government, the plotting, romantic entanglements and corruption at the highest levels. Jack Canon is a hero that becomes president to fight the immorality of super-wealth damaging the United States. 

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Introducing...

Gabby Angel of God: Guardian and Messenger

A Supernatural Romance Thriller

Gabby, Angel of God is a Supernatural Romance Thriller that feels like falling in love again! 

The story starts out with a young widower, Bo, raising two small children – in the time it takes for three heartbeats his life will change!

Ride along as stunningly beautiful Gabby, takes this human man on the no-holds barred adventure of a lifetime! 

If you've ever lost a loved one this story is for you! 

A story of Peace, Love, Hope, Charity, and the strength of Faith, you'll love Gabby, Angel of God. Gabby, is not only gorgeous, she’s powerful, and able to take on forces that would make powerful armies turn and run for their lives.

About Gregory J. Sandora's  in his own words...

'I graduated with a business degree; owning and operating an Award Winning Franchise Fitness Center. Currently, I'm a professional manager and living in Florida with my beautiful wife and children, and following my passion.

Some of my other projects include a children’s book called Sammy the Sea Turtle.'

Five Facts about Renegades

by
S.A. Mason

1. Renegades was actually inspired by the television show Firefly. The short-lived show was much different than other science fiction shows; it really broadened my traditional notions of science fiction and helped me think outside of the box to just combine the things I was interested in. I had always heard the advice to write the book you’d want to read, and Firefly really helped me do that. I wouldn’t call Renegades fanfiction because it takes place in a whole different universe with new characters, but the Firefly inspiration is definitely noticeable, if you’ve seen the show. (If you haven’t seen it, you should watch it immediately.)

2. I spent almost four months doing world creation and developing the characters before I even made an outline. I wanted to know every detail of the world and people I would be writing about. Once the outline was done, I wrote 1,000-1,500 words a day and finished the first draft in two months. Renegades wasn’t published until almost a year after that because I couldn’t stop editing.

3. I had originally named the protagonist Elena, but as I was doing my character development, I read the 50 Shades of Grey series, and one of the characters was named Elena, so I changed her name to Elora. Not only did I not like Elena’s character in 50 Shades of Grey, but since that series was so popular, I didn’t want any kind of association with it. In the end, I’m glad I went with Elora. It’s not a very common name, but still pronounceable, which was what I aimed for with all the character’s names.

4. Nigel is my least favorite character. I find him to be very needy, annoying, and immature. But I think his character is necessary for the book to unfold how I wanted it to. His skill set is obviously necessary, but for him to stick with Elora through everything, I felt like he had to be in love with her. His level of dedication had to be more than friendship.

5. I decided to forgo the traditional publishing route and self-publish Renegades mostly because I’m impatient. Querying agents and securing a publisher can take years, and I wanted my book available as soon as possible (and my mom wouldn’t quit asking me when she could read it). The actual writing, editing, and publishing part of self-publishing wasn’t as hard and time-consuming as I thought it would be. Marketing, on the other hand, takes up more time than expected.

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Introducing...

RENEGADES

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Elora Pertin spent her life trying to please her father, an esteemed General for the Empire.

When he convinced her to leave her quiet life as a scientist to advance a secret project for the Emperor, she had no idea what she was getting into. The seemingly innocent projects she engineered were actually being used to develop a genocidal weapon. After uncovering the Emperor’s plot, Elora had no choice but to act.

Elora finds herself fighting for her life against the Empire she once served, abandoning everything with only a handful of friends and an unlikely ally—the Emperor’s deadliest assassin. Will he prove himself true as her protector, a loyal servant of the Empire, or a romantic distraction? With the law and assassins searching the star system for them, Elora and her team are determined to accomplish their mission . . . or die trying.

Sara Atherton Mason

Sara Atherton Mason was raised in Somerville, Massachusetts, with an amazing immediate and extended family. 

She attended Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, graduating with highest honors in Chemistry. She then graduated from the Florida State University College of Law with high honors. 

She lives in the Florida with her toy poodle, Melvin, and clerks for a United States District Court Judge. She enjoys coffee, wine, sports, and science fiction television shows.

Five Facts about A Fair Exchange

This month, Monique McDonell is the first author to reveal FIVE FACTS about her latest release (she is also offering prizes. Scroll down for details). During the FIVE FACTS month we'll  be discovering facts about books that their author would rather not be known.

Over to Monique...

 
1. Just like the main character in my novel, A Fair Exchange, I was an exchange student in Massachusetts as a teenager.

2. Of all my novels this one had the longest gestation period.

3. I had lots of fun researching this book doing road trips in Australia and eating out at places in the book.

4. The character of Stacey in the book is an amalgam of a few of my friends when I live in America. (Stacey is a very American name and was not common in Australia in the 1980s and yet I had several American friends by that name – all my Australian friends were called Jennifer, Emma or Kylie).

5. Of all the male characters I’ve written Matt is my favourite so far. If I wasn’t happily married he’d be welcome on my door-step anytime!

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A Fair Exchange

Who hasn’t wondered about their first love? What happened? What went wrong? Where are they now?

What if you got a second chance?

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Amelia Armstrong is about to find out!

It's just a shame her long-lost love, Matt, has returned (looking way too good and acting way too sweet) when her life is a shambles and she has finally decided once and for all to put herself, and not whichever man is currently in her life, first.

How do you balance that desire to recapture that loving feeling with the need to finally be the best version of yourself? What if this really is the one, how do you choose when to stand your ground and when to cut your losses? Amelia takes a journey from Sydney to New York and back again trying to find the answers while negotiating with pop-divas, ex-lovers, crazy teenagers, a well-meaning cousin and the tabloids.

A Fair Exchange is a story about being a grown up when, maybe, you’d much rather be sixteen again.

 Excerpt  

It was not as if he was the first one to mention it. In the past week everyone who had entered my apartment had commented on the shiny new Vespa parked in the middle of the otherwise empty living room. In fact, each and every one of them had imaginatively said “Amelia you have a red Vespa parked in your living room!”  And they all said it in a tone that implied I might not have noticed, as if it may have magically appeared there.How could I not notice a vehicle parked in what was otherwise an empty room?What amazed me was that the Vespa was what they chose to comment on.
 Not that Nick had dumped me, after ten years, for a twenty-one year-old. Nor that he had moved out, taking basically all the furniture and leaving me with a great view over the beach and an enormous mortgage.
 No one even commented about the fact that I, in turn, had quit the fabulous job that had always meant way too much to me. No, they commented on the Vespa. What I could not understand though was why it hadn’t bothered me until right then, when Matthew Blue commented. And when he did comment, why had I collapsed into this embarrassing sea of tears? How had this happened? How had I become this sobbing pathetic figure of womanhood?  And more importantly how had I ended up thirty-six and alone? Didn’t I used to have so much potential? Everyone had said so, hadn’t they?  “Amelia Armstrong is something special.”
 I was one of those shiny young girls who took risks and dreamed big. I was one of the smart ones who knew what she wanted and went after it. I was one to watch. If I hadn’t been that kind of a girl I would never have met Matthew all those years ago. A different girl would not have found herself, on the other side of the world, at sixteen, staring into his dark and dreamy eyes. So where was that girl right now, I wanted to know? And how had a girl with so much potential gotten it so horribly wrong?

About the author – Monique McDonell:

'I am an Australian author who writes contemporary women's fiction including chick lit and romance. I live on Sydney's Northern Beaches with my husband and daughter, and despite my dog phobia, with a dog called Skip.

I have written all my life especially as a child when I loved to write short stories and poetry. At University I studied Creative Writing as part of my Communication degree. Afterwards I was busy working in public relations I didn't write for pleasure for quite a few years although I wrote many media releases, brochures and newsletters. (And I still do in my day-job!)

When I began to write again I noticed a trend - writing dark unhappy stories made me unhappy. So I made a decision to write a novel with a happy ending and I have been writing happy stories ever since.

I have been a member of the writing group The Writer’s Dozen for eight years. Our anthology Better Than Chocolate raised over $10,000 for the charity Room to Read and helped build a library in South East Asia. I am also a member of the Romance Writers of Australia.

A Fair Exchange is the fifth novel I have released in the last two years.'

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