Toeing the Line
Bits & Bytes, #2
Allyson Lindt
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Liquid Silver Books
Date of Publication: August 19, 2013
Number of pages: 159
Word Count: 51,000
Excerpt:Riley tends to fall hard and fast for the guys she dates, and it never ends with the wedding bells she expects. Tired of the heartbreak and unsure if she even knows what love is, she swears off unreliable things like dating and trying to find that elusive happily-ever-after spark. Focusing on her art seems like the perfect distraction, except she’s missing the physical side of being half a couple. Fortunately, her best friend, Zane, is happy to model for her drawings and tie her up in the bedroom, with no expectations. Just fun.
Zane’s granddad raised him with the belief that people who bring joy to the world should be protected at all costs. For Zane, his best friend Riley is one of those people, and he definitely doesn't mind when making her happy involves helping her pursue her creative dream and some sport sex with a hint of kink. They can have fun, and he can keep her from falling for the next idiot who comes along while she searches for her Prince Charming.
Regardless of her resolution, as things heat up between them, Riley finds herself falling again. She needs to decide if she’s in love with the idea of being in love, or if—despite Zane’s insistence that she deserves someone better—what she feels for him is the real thing. If she can’t learn to trust her heart and convince Zane he’s exactly what she needs, it will obliterate a lifelong friendship.
Zane stood and offered her a hand up. “Want to get out of here?”
Riley shivered when another gust of wind rushed past her. Warmer might not be a bad idea. “Dinner?”
He grinned. “I’m in.”
She let him pull her to her feet, landing closer to him than she intended to. The bite in the air stole her breath, and she let her attention linger on the heat of his grip. “You pick.”
His eyes searched her face, something mingling with the laughter and disbelief. It was darker, but not unpleasant. He didn’t let go of her. “I’m fine with whatever.”
Her thoughts fuzzed, and all she could make sense of was the fading sunlight and the stillness around them. She didn’t pull away, resting a hand on his chest instead.
His heart pounded against the palm of her hand. It was almost as though he was terrified of being so close to her.
The realization dug deep. Maybe she was reading too much into it. He still stood close. Maybe if she just brought up the one topic they’d both avoided. She forced the words out, voice soft. “About what happened while you were gone.”
“Which what?” His voice came out as a dry croak.
She licked her lips, half her attention on the tingles rising under her skin and the other half on the way his sturdy frame molded against her. “The flirting, the dirty talk.”
His gaze caught hers, and his hand rested against the small of her back, holding her tight. “Sounds familiar.”
Heat flooded her, chasing away the chill in her legs. “Was it a mistake?”
Interview Part 1:
Today, we welcome Allyson Lindt to Musings and Ramblings. Let's all give a great big Geeky welcome!
Thanks so much for having me here, and a big geeky hello back to everyone!
For this particular interview, we are going to split the questions up. This week will be writer specific questions, followed by the fun stuff and think fast next week. That way everyone can really get to know the person behind the writer. Ready for the interrogation to begin?
Erm…when you put it that way…sure, lol
Writing Specific
I’m a sprinter. Which I just made up, but it feels appropriate. I have to know a really basic framework of my story before I write, but it’s not really plotting. However, within an individual scene, I have to sketch it out before I sit down to write it. So it’s kind of like a series of plotting sprints wrapped in a bunch of pantsing.
2. When is your favorite time/place to write? Do you write structured or patchworked?
I love to write in the morning, anywhere that’s calm, isolated, and preferably without an internet connection (I have no discipline :). I tend to start any story by sketching out a couple of scenes that really stick in my head, and then going back and linking them altogether. It’s mostly structured—I have to know where things are going to write a scene, but if I can’t figure something out, I don’t mind skipping ahead and coming back later.
3. How do you deal with Writer's Block?
(see above, lol). Seriously, though. If I can’t picture a scene, if it just won’t come to me, I try not to get hung up on it. I make whatever notes come to mind, everything I’m thinking (I’ve been known to yell at my own manuscript in my notes), and the move on to something that doesn’
If I really can’t get past something, it’s usually because it’s not working with the rest of the story. Sometimes extreme cases call for an entire scene to be deleted. It’s painful, but it can help a lot of something just refuses to be written.
4. How involved are you with Social Media and self-promotion?
I’m very involved in social media. I like the distraction, I like chatting with people from all over the world. I’m not as involved with the self-promotion aspect as I used to be, I’ve tried to scale that back. I figure if I don’t want to be sold to non-stop, neither do my followers. And at the same time, most of the books I’ve purchased because of social media have been because I like the author, not because they showed me their link over and over. And someday I’d love to reach that point too.
5. What one thing do you wish someone had told you before you started writing?
That if I want to make a living at it, there’s a lot more to it than just writing. Even if I wasn’t doing so much of my own marketing, there’s the editing, the decisions, the research. When I very first started writing, I just wanted to tell the stories in my head. I’d still want to do that, even if I’d known up front all this other work would be here, but a heads-up would have been nice :)
Don't forget to tune in next week when we find out just what exactly is hiding in Allyson's refrigerator!
Giveaway:
Allyson will be awarding prizes as follows:
* Grand prize at the end of the four week tour - a Kindle paperwhite to one randomly drawn winner.
* Each week, one randomly drawn commenter will win a $10 Amazon GC
So follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning.
Book Tour Info:
Don't forget to check out the other stops on the Book Tour:
March 24th
It's Raining Books
March 25th
Musings and Ramblings
March 26th
Harlie's Books
Snarky Mom Reads... - Review
March 27th
Sharing Links and Wisdom
March 28th
Welcome to My World of Dreams
Author Bio:
To connect with the author online:
Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest | Amazon
Nice little interview Allyson ~ I always take it to heart when an author relates the difficulties and processes they endure to make their craft available to the public. Whenever I finish a book and say "I could have written that" I think back to comments such as yours and I am quickly reminded not to get too big for my britches.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing :)
ilookfamous at yahoo dot com
I do that with ideas and plots, Elise-Maria. Think "Why didn't I think of that? I could have done that." It's true, it's a challenge, but getting to connect with people I never would have met otherwise is another thing no one told me about that I absolutely adore ^_^
DeleteThanks for hosting me today!
ReplyDeleteGreat interview, I love learning more about the author.
ReplyDeleteKit3247(at)aol(dot)com
Thanks, Rita! One day, I'd love to turn the tables and interview the reader instead ;)
DeleteGreat interview! Wouldn't we all have liked a little warning that the writing part is a tiny part of the whole job.
ReplyDeleteRight there with you, Kate. I've learned so much about non-writing things in the last year.
DeleteI enjoyed the interview. This story sounds fascinating.
ReplyDeleteThanks, MomJane :) I hope you get a chance to check the book out.
Delete