This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays. –Douglas Adams
Calling all writers and readers. I feature new books and reviews on Thursdays. Each post will include a contest where you power up your lie-dar to separate fact from fiction and win fabulous prizes! (Well, prizes anyway…)
Last week Mary Rosenblum challenged readers to spot her lie. Do you think Mary:
- Had a walk on part as an extra in the ‘Night of the Living Dead’ movie.
- Trained a rat to play basketball.
- Raised fainting goats.
Mary confesses, “My high school English teacher got the walk on part in the ‘Living Dead‘ movie when they shot part of it in Pittsburgh. And I did raise dairy goats, but they didn’t faint even when I scared the heck out of them. I actually talked my Behavioral psych prof in college into letting me avoid the rat bar-press experiment we were supposed to do since I didn’t want to shock my poor rat. I told him that I’d train it to play basketball…pick up a ping pong ball and drop it into a hoop. He told me that I could do that if I wanted, but if I couldn’t do it by the end of the six week course, I’d get an F. I used cookie crumbs as treats, a clicker, and glued a little tab on the ball. He’d grab it, run to a dixie-cup ‘hoop’ taped to a test tube stand and slam dunk it. Was WAY fun, I got the A, and the prof was actually not amused. He needed more of sense of humor for sure!”
Congratulations to Amanda Capper, the winner of the autographed copy of Mary’s new book, Self-Publishing Success, A Handbook for New Writers.
Lynette Rees
My guest today is Lynette Rees, author of several romance novels including Beneath a Sicilian Sun, her smoking hot new contemporary romance from Taliesin Publishing. Lynnette has stopped by today from her home in South Wales to answer questions about her life and her writing, and to try to stump you with our Lie-dar contest.
1959 Ford Anglia
1. What was your first car? Well I don’t actually drive but the first car that made an impression on me was an old one we kept in the garden. It became a sort of play house for us kids. The front seats were removed, no idea why, but you could sit in the back. I remember sometimes even eating meals in there. Our Border Collie, Jess, also joined us too. It was better than a Wendy House. What fun we had! The car in question was an old Ford Anglia.
2. Star Wars, Star Trek, or Firefly? Star Trek, but the older version with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. I have fond memories of watching it as a child. That phrase, “Beam me up Scottie!’” used to fascinate me…and I always wanted to try that!
Antonio Cupo
3. Who would you most like to sit next to on an airplane? Well it would be nice if it were someone handsome like Antonio Cupo. He’s a real fine actor and musician too. I love him in ‘Bomb Girls’. We’d have plenty to talk about. I’d really like that as I have a thing about Italian men [well he’s probably classed as Canadian but both parents are Italian.] That’s why I wrote about a Sicilian in my latest novel, ‘Beneath a Sicilian Sun’. I could have all the fun of a romance in my mind with an Italian man but without the guilt!
4. Best guilty pleasure ever? Getting into a nice clean bed with fresh sheets and eating pizza with a nice South African…not man but chilled white wine lol…
5. Who would play you in the movie? That’s a good question! Well when I was younger maybe someone like Elizabeth Taylor if she were in her teens at the time. She was the only actress that I’ve ever been compared to looks-wise and that was only for the eyes. Though hers were violet and mine are green, so I don’t quite get that! Mind you, there was a similarity with her raucous sense of humour and mine. I can give as good as I get and be like one of the lads on occasions and at other times be very feminine. I also have a beauty spot on one of my cheeks like she did but it’s on the opposite side of the face.
6. Are the names of the characters in your novels important? Oh yes, most definitely. I think they can help to bring the character to life. A character name in one of my novels was, Lawrence Black. He was a villain and the name suited him as he really was a dark character capable of extreme violence. In ‘Beneath a Sicilian Sun’ another name I feel hits the mark is, ‘Polly Montgomery’. She’s Joanne’s editor at the magazine she works for as a journalist. I wanted a name that sounded a little unusual that made her stand out. No idea how that name popped into my mind, but it seemed to suit the character.
7. What is the single biggest challenge of creating the settings in your novels? I like to go to those places in my mind, I can’t write about what I don’t visualise. So often I go online and look at images of countries, houses, particular settings, etc. I research and read about those countries and places. Immersing myself in what I read and see. Sometimes I create a picture board. I’ve even taken photographs for some novels, visiting the actual scenes and snapping certain areas of interest with my camera for that particular book. I also take copious notes, etc. It all helps me to visualise the scenes that come to me like a movie in my mind when it’s time to write the book.
8. What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever heard? Just do it! As the Nike ad says. So often would-be writers worry too much about getting their technique right that they are scared to write anything at all. If I had a pound for every time someone said to me, “I’d like to write a book…” Or “I’ve got a great idea for a book…” Yet, I speak to that person again a few months or even years down the line and I ask them about the book they intended to write and they claim not to have had the time or some other excuse. If you really want to write a book, you will. Nothing will stop you. But you have to get something down first even if it’s rubbish. No one can fix a blank page!
LIE-DAR CONTEST!
As a writer, Lynette has not only written about fantasies, she’s lived a few of them too. But only one of the following statements is true. Do you think Lynette:
- Met the actor Oliver Reed at a friend’s wedding party when he offered to buy her a drink and show her his tattoo. (By the way, the tattoo was somewhere that should be kept out of sight when in public!)
- Was chosen to carry the Olympic Torch before the London Olympics in recognition of her wartime nursing service
- Delivered her grandchild when her daughter went into early labor and they were waiting for the ambulance to arrive.
Please add your guess to your comment below, and you will be entered to win a digital (eBook) copy of Lynette’s new contemporary romance, Beneath a Sicilian Sun.
She wrapped her large beach towel around herself and came above deck to find Dante had already changed into a pair of white swimming trunks. She held her breath when she saw his tanned, trim body. He had a smattering of black hair on his chest and looked very muscular. His chest was broad, and she longed to run her fingers over its contours and lay her head on it. She inhaled, exhaled, and tried to keep her composure.
“Come on, Joanne,” he teased.“Drop the towel.” His chocolate brown eyes glinted devilishly.
She let her towel fall to the floor and watched as his eyes widened with desire.
“Mamma Mia. Why do you fear showing your body to me? You are beautiful…and that gold chain around your stomach, it makes you look very sexy…”
No one had ever called her sexy before, ever. Her mouth dry, she licked her lips.
“I haven’t let a man see me in a bikini for years, Dante. I’m not as slim as I used to be.”
“No, no, Joanne. To me you look fabulous. I love your curves. They suit you. A man needs somewhere comfortable to land.” He laughed, making her laugh too, and it helped to ease her heightened nerves. He pecked her on the cheek and then, much to her astonishment, he turned, walked to the side of the boat, climbed on the edge, and dived into the water, sending up a huge splash of sea spray.
She stood and peered overboard but couldn’t see him for a few seconds; her heart thudded. Where had he gone? Then there was a splash as he emerged and wiped the water out of his eyes, laughing and bobbing up and down in the water.
“Come on in here, join me please, Joanne,” he urged. She hadn’t been expecting this at all.
Gingerly she sat on the side of the boat. “Will you help me into the water?” She bit her lip.
“Of course, amore mio. Jump to me, I will catch you.”
She closed her eyes and with blind faith threw herself into his arms. For a moment the combined weight made them dip under water and she began to panic a little. Then they were fully submerged, and eventually returned to the surface, bobbing up and down. There was a small ladder at the side of the boat she could cling to if she wanted to and that reassured her somehow. Who could fail to feel safe with Dante around?
“But…but…where are we?” she spluttered.
“Joanne, we are only just off the coastline of Sicily. Over there are the Aeolian Islands.” He pointed and she made out some dark shapes in the distance. “We shall have a little swim here, rest later, and eat too. Then I am going to sail the boat over to one of them. It’s called Lipari and it’s the largest island, it’s volcanic. The food there is out of this world.”
“You are full of surprises, Dante.”
“I know.” He smiled and drew her close to him, stroked her face, and then pressed his lips down on hers, stealing her breath away as his tongue danced with hers. “Like that you mean?” he asked, drawing away.
She nodded. “Yes.”
“And like this?” He wrapped his arms around her and untied her bikini top. She gasped at his cheek and watched as he spun it around his head and tossed it aboard the boat.
“What did you do that for?” She blinked several times.
“Because you have a beauty, Joanne, that needs to be admired.” He cupped a breast in his hand and lowered his head to suckle. She groaned as a tingle of desire coursed around her body. “Please do not worry, there is no one to see us here like this.”
He pushed her up against the boat; the water was so clear, so aquamarine and warmer than she thought, though that might have been because he had switched on her button of desire. There were some fish swimming down below in among the fronds and rocks. She gazed in awe.
“Yes, this is a good place to catch fish, Joanne. I have been scuba diving here. You should join me sometime.”
She laughed. “I think this is as much of the ocean I can stand, Dante. I’m not a strong swimmer.”
He ran a wet finger along her cheek. “Ah, you are frightened, I can see that, but you need not be when you are with me. I can teach you about so many things.”
She shivered; without a doubt, there were many things Dante Alphonso could teach her, not least of all love-making. He was her tutor and she was about to become a very willing student…
Author Site URL: www.lynetterees.com
Blog: nettiesramblings.blogspot.co.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LynEvans8
Facebook: facebook.com/lynettereesauthor
E-mail: crafty_writer@yahoo.com
***Would you like to be a guest on Thursday Lie-dar? I’d love to feature you and your work here! (interview, contest, book review, guest post) For information, send email to barbtaub@gmail.com***
Barb Taub 
This is too much fun! Brilliant!
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Yes isn’t it! Thanks very much Barb for inviting me here! 🙂
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Phew! Smoking hot is right. Sounds like a great story.
Hmm, I think Lynette may have truly delivered her grandchild.
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Thanks, Kassandra. Things get a little steamy later in the story 🙂
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I think Lynette is one sexy mama and used her charms on a sexy man – Oliver Reed!
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Maybe maybe not Heather lol
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Fantastic interview. Loved the excerpt especially the names of the characters.
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Thanks, Jianne 🙂
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