Lynn will give a digital copy of the book featured on your stop as a prize. She will also be doing a Grand Prize, all seven books, at the end of the tour, winner will be selected from all of the commenters throughout the tour. Rafflecopter link is at the bottom. Good luck!
Journey to Publication by Lynn Tyler
Like most authors out there, my journey to publication was a long one. Unlike many authors, I didn’t have the dream of being an author. My high school guidance councillor had pretty much drilled into my head that I needed to have a reasonable career plan.
The well-meaning lady gave me career aptitude test after career aptitude test and was stymied when the results always came back different. One said I should be a professional landscaper, which I shot down with the simple phrase, “I run screaming from bees.”
The next test suggested that I should pursue a career as a vet. Again, my mortal fear of animals with teeth pretty much discounted that career path.
One test even came back saying I should think about a career as an Actuarial Scientist. Besides the fact that I didn’t even know what that was, (I do know, because one of my best friend’s actually did become an Actuarial Scientist), the second I found out that I needed to have three different math credits to get into the program, that idea went down the toilet. Numbers and I do not have a good history of getting along.
She sat me down, shaking her head sadly, and asked me what I liked to do. Well, I said slowly, I wrote for the community newspaper, edited the layout for the high school newspaper, worked on the yearbook and I was fabulous at improv. Oh, and I was getting straight A’s in my English classes.
Looking me straight in the eye and sighed. The following September, I found myself studying Recreation and Leisure Studies, with a major in Therapeutic Recreation and a concentration in gerontology (old people).
So how did I go from knowing that s.o.b. really meant “short of breath” and calling someone a BRAT is not a description of their character but assigning them to a diet of bananas, rice, applesauce and toast to erotic romance writer?
The answer is simple enough: I had an intense, burning need to write. I wrote all the time but no one was ever, EVER allowed to read my work. Until one day, I discovered an online forum where I could post my work anonymously and get feedback from readers.
The feedback was consistent. People enjoyed reading my stories and started e-mailing me, asking me to write more. One reader, a successful erotic romance author in her own right, suggested a polish up a particular manuscript and submit it to an online publisher.
But it went no farther than that. Until I confessed to two of my best friends that I was thinking of actually taking the plunge. When they didn’t laugh, and encouraged me to give it a go, my decision was made for me. If I didn’t at least try to get my book published, I would regret it forever.
I sent my manuscript on its merry way and got…a rejection. And then another rejection. And then another one. And then another one until I finally found a home for my first book Be With Us.
The rest, as the clichéd saying goes, is history. I’ve had seven books published since then, with another set to release next week. It hasn’t been easy. There have been more rejections, more revise and resubmits than I care to mention, but each gives me a chance to learn, to hone my craft.
To finish off, I’d like to say thank you for the opportunity to be here today and leave you with an excerpt of today’s featured book, Hat Trick. And remember, leaving a comment gives you a chance to win a digital copy of Hat Trick and enters you in the grand prize draw to win a digital copy of all books featured in the blog tour!
Hat Trick
Toronto Maple Leaf captain Nathan Vaughan and his wife have been looking for a third for years, but Nathan’s intense possessiveness has prevented them from having the ménage experience they both dream of. When rookie Jeremy Reiner joins the team, they both think they may have found the man for them.
Jeremy has never questioned his sexuality before. He has always desired women, and when Nathan and Rachel invite him to their bed, he quickly takes them up on their offer. Much to his dismay, and confusion, Jeremy finds himself falling in love with both Rachel and Nathan.
The lovemaking is explosive, but is it enough to keep the three of them together when conflicting emotions, rumors, and genuine fears threaten to tear them apart?
“I hear Reiner is still staying with you and your wife. How’s that going?”
Nathan took another mouthful of water, swallowing it this time. It wouldn’t do to spit on his boss’s shoes, after all. “It’s great, actually. He’s a good kid, and I appreciate the company when Rachel is out for work.”
It wasn’t a lie either. Jeremy was a lot of fun to have around. He had a tendency to leave the room if a television show was getting too suspenseful, which Nathan found absolutely adorable. He played video games with his whole body. He was playful, affectionate, and sensual. A knuckle tap or a high five was never enough with Jeremy. He had to bump you with his hip or sling an arm around your shoulders. Nathan had even had those long fingers stroke absently over the back of his hand while they’d just sat and talked in front of the television late one night after Rachel had gone to bed. He didn’t think Jeremy had even noticed how he was touching him. He’d never mentioned it, not wanting Jeremy to stop the caress or be embarrassed about it.
Rachel enjoyed having him around, too. Jeremy had taken Rachel out on the town a few times. Once Jeremy had sat through a shopping trip where he’d allowed Rachel to pick out his entire wardrobe. Another time, Jeremy had taken her out for Chinese when Nathan had had a meeting with his agent and couldn’t make it back in time for dinner. He really was the whole package, and Nathan had the uncomfortable feeling he could very well be falling in love with the younger man.
He often had to pause and examine his feelings lately. He was still desperately in love with his wife, probably even more in love now than when they had first gotten married, but his deepening feelings for Jeremy confused and frightened him. While he had confessed to Rachel very early on that he was sexually attracted to both men and women, he had promised to love only her, and he had meant that vow. Falling in love with someone else felt like he was betraying her. And yet, he couldn’t seem to let Jeremy go.
“Earth to Vaughan. Nathan?” Nathan blinked out of his thoughts only to see the general manager’s hand waving in front of his face.
“Yeah, sorry. What did you say?” Nathan asked.
His boss shook his head but continued. “Did your agent talk to you about the latest interview request?”
Nathan sifted through the last conversation he’d had with his agent. He vaguely recalled him mentioning that some gossip columnist wanted to interview him. Apparently she had heard that Jeremy had been living with them for the last eight weeks and wanted to quiz him on their living situation. He’d flatly refused the request as soon as his agent had brought it up. He had a nasty feeling his refusal had somehow made the situation worse. At least if he had done the interview, he could have controlled the information. There was no telling what the article might say. “Yeah, some gossip monger. Why?”
“Our PR department got wind of her latest column due out tomorrow. Apparently it accuses your wife of cheating on you with Reiner. She’s got some pictures of the two of them out and about, and she’s somehow found out he’s been staying with you. She may or may not also allude to you sharing Rachel with him.”
Nathan’s heart raced at the thought of someone staking out his house. There were a lot of kids in his neighborhood, and most of the parents wouldn’t take kindly to strangers loitering about. He should probably tell the neighborhood association to be on the lookout for strange cars and such.
He didn’t really care about the content of the article though. The columnist couldn’t be further from the truth. Rachel was no more cheating on him than he was on her. The other accusation hit a little closer to home. He wasn’t sharing his wife, exactly. It wasn’t as if she had no say in the relationship. She wanted the ménage as much as he did. It was more of an equal partnership between all three of them. Each of them wanted what they had. He wasn’t about to worry about it too much. It wasn’t like the columnist could actually prove anything. Jeremy might have a problem with the article, however. He went out of his way not to be alone with Nathan in the locker room and usually scaled way back on his physically affectionate tendencies when he was around other guys. Nathan looked at Terry with a grimace. “Thanks for telling me, boss. I’ll make sure to warn Jeremy.”
The general manager nodded and paused to watch Jeremy as he stopped to talk to the head coach about something or other. “What is going on with you and the kid, Nathan?”
He almost choked at Terry’s question. Why the hell did he think something was going on? “I’m just offering him a room to crash in, Terry. What the hell else do you think is going on?”
Terry shrugged and swiveled his eyes to Nathan’s. “There’s just something about the way you guys look at each other, that’s all. I really don’t care what’s going on, if there’s anything going on, as long as you both perform. We are prepared to stand behind both of you, no matter what this b.s.-spouting lady says. But shit can hit the fan real quick with the media. You understand?”
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Blog Tour Schedule
11/28 – Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews
11/29 – Harlie’s Book Blog
11/30 – Queen of the Night
12/3 – Melissa Kendall
12/4 – Bonnie Bliss
12/5 – Lori’s Book Blog
12/6 – Under The Covers
This sounds like a great book, I can’t wait to read it!
tiger-chick-1(at)hotmail(dot)com
I love menage. It is my absolute favorite genre. I think I’m a bit greedy 🙂
I miss hockey. At least I can get it through your book. Congrats on the release. Can’t wait to read it.
Wow sounds great Lynn!! Can’t wait to snag it up! Loved your bio also, guess it’s a good thing you didn’t become a vet, LOL!! Best wishes!
Yes, my parents had a good laugh when the test came back saying I should be a vet.
Sigh, I’ve been missing hockey for months, it’s really upsetting! I’ve definitely got to snag HAT TRICK. Kinda cool that you reference an actual team (it always kind of takes me out of the story when people use fictitious teams)–did you worry that they’d give you trouble?
To be honest, Trix, I never thought about it. I was just thinking that it’s really jarring to use a fictitious team and try to pass them off as a real team.
🙂 Love the teaser! I’ll be adding this to my TBR list for sure!
Thanks for the introduction to a new author. Hat Trick is going on my TBR list. I would love the opportunity to add it to my library.
Thank you for your post and excerpt. I love sports themed stories and would be really excited to win.
I seriously LOVED this book. Since I have so much free time since there is no hockey, I have read it several times. It gives me a little hockey fix to help keep me sane.
Thanks Becky. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
This looks like a great book!!! I need to put this higher on the TBR!!!
Thank you for being a part of the tour!
I have got to move Hat Trick up in my TBR =)
Thanks for having me here today, Harlie. I’m as broken up over the fact that there’s no sign of a season as you are. For anyone who wants to read more about Hat Trick, visit http://www.bookstrand.com/hat-trick