.png)
Today on my blog I have The Merchant of Venice Beach blog tour. On my stop there is a spotlight, excerpt, review, guest post, and giveaway.
.jpg)
Currently a Field Producer on HGTV’s
House Hunters, Celia Bonaduce's TV credits cover a lot of ground - everything
from field-producing ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to writing for many
of Nickelodeon’s animated series, including Hey, Arnold
An avid reader, entering the world of books has always been a lifelong
ambition. eKensington’s The Merchant of
Venice Beach, A Venice Beach Romance Book # 1, was published August 1st,
2013.
Stalker Links:
Guest Post:
Q: In addition to being a
writer, you are the Field Producer for HGTV’s House Hunters, which often has
you traveling. Is it difficult to find a balance between work and finding time
to write?
A: I started my journey as a novelist when my
career was – shall we say – stagnant. I was used to working on HGTV lifestyle
shows, which I loved, but then along came REALITY
TV, which was, weirdly, my same skill set.
I just did NOT want to Keep Up With The Kardashians. None of us know what the cosmos has planned,
but I was pretty sure I was not put on
this earth to find the
Bachelorette a husband or incite the Bridezillas to further mayhem. I was at a crossroads and decided I better
look into other forms of employment. I
knew novel-writing was a long shot, but so was everything else! So I wrote and wrote and wrote, and the day I
got my agent, I got a call that they wanted me to work on Extreme Makeover:
Home Edition. The day I got the call
that Kensington was going to publish my trilogy, I was offered the job on House
Hunters. So it appears I was meant to
write the books, but also to go back to quality TV.
Now that I am on House
Hunters and traveling about half of every month, balancing work and writing is
tough. This question is actually uppermost in my mind these days, since I have
a three book deal with Kensington on the Venice Beach Romance books, and only
have two and a half books written.
I need to get out of my
comfort zone and find a way to write outside of my home office – and how to
write at different times of day instead of just the morning. If I can crack that nut – write in coffee
shops, write in airports, write on the plane – then I should be in good shape. I actually have plenty of downtime on the
road. Beside the aforementioned hours in
airports, I usually finish shooting at dusk (whenever that is). After dinner and a little bit of paperwork, I pretty much
could write for a couple hours every evening.
In theory, I’m good to go. But I
use a ton of brain-power during the day and the bathtub is too hard to
resist. Perhaps the answer is to get a
hotel room with only a shower.
.jpg)
The Rollicking Bun—Home of the Epic
Scone—is the center of Suzanna Wolf’s life. Part tea shop, part bookstore, part
home, it’s everything she’s ever wanted right on the Venice Beach boardwalk,
including partnership with her two best friends from high school, Eric and
Fernando. But with thirty-three just around the corner, suddenly Suzanna wants
something more—something strictly her own. Salsa lessons, especially with a
gorgeous instructor, seem like a good start—a harmless secret, and just maybe
the start of a fling. But before she knows it, Suzanna is learning steps she
never imagined—and dancing her way into confusion.
Excerpt:
Suzanna was in a panic.
After several futile attempts at looking for shoes on-line, it became clear she
was never going to have enough alone time to really investigate the subject
properly. All the research she did manage just brought about more questions,
not less and Suzanna had to admit that she really needed some expert help in
finding the right shoes. Now her first salsa lesson was looming, and she had
somehow not managed to find the time to go to Dante’s Dancewear. She didn’t
know exactly what she wanted, but she knew she couldn’t show up at the studio
in the wrong shoes…whatever that meant!
Slipping away from The
Bun as soon as the afternoon tea crowd had settled down, Suzanna pointed her Smart
Car towards Westwood Boulevard
“You don’t want character
shoes,” said the stone-faced skeleton behind the counter.
It’s times like these
when Suzanna remembered why she never left her comfort zone. When she was
managing The Bun or hanging out with Fernando and Eric, curve balls like this
were never hurled at her. The little self-doubts pricked at her like tiny
toothpicks, but she pulled myself together, arched an eyebrow and breathed…
“Oh?”
“A character shoe has a
leather sole. You want a suede sole for classes.”
“Oh,” she paused
emphatically. And then, because she couldn’t stand not knowing, added, “Why?”
“The suede glides on the
wood floor,” she replied, “and a suede soled shoe is lighter and easier to
dance in for long periods of time.”
It took Suzanna a moment
to let go of her character-shoes-dream, but since her character-shoes-dream was
only about a week old, she found she could easily replace it with the new, more
dance-centric suede-sole dance-shoes dream. Because, make no mistake, she
planned on dancing for long periods of time!
She asked the skeleton to
show her some suede-soled dance shoes that would lend themselves to sensuous
salsa.
“What color?” She asked.
Red? Too showy. White?
Too virginal.
“Black!” Suzanna said.
“You don’t want black.”
Suzanna left Dante’s
Dancewear a little more unsteady and a lot less sure of herself than when she
entered, but she had to congratulate herself. She had bought her dance
shoes.
They were beige.
Apparently in the dance
world, one referred to “shoes” in the singular. You bought a “shoe” and somehow
your other foot magically got shod. According to the skeleton, one did not want
a shoe that stood out. One wanted a shoe that blended in. Suzanna argued that
the whole point of dance lessons was that she was damn SICK of fitting
in. The skeleton replied that she wanted her form and herself to stand
out – not her feet.
“Beige hides footwork
mistakes,” she said.
So Suzanna bought beige.
Suzanna clicked off the
alarm in her Smart Car and hid her clandestine purchase in what was passing for
a trunk in the vehicle that was passing for a car. Suzanna wondered briefly if
the hot dance instructor would be impressed with her wise choice of a beige
shoe. She looked down at her iPhone calendar – she’d find out in less than 4
hours.
Review:
I enjoyed this book. It was a quick and easy read I finished
in an afternoon. The characters are great. I loved the friendship between them
all but I did enjoy it more when the foursome became a trio. I wasn’t to found
of Carla for some reason. I just couldn’t connect to her. My favorite character
is Fernando he reminded me so much of my friend from school. I could see myself
hanging out with him and Suzanna. I loved the shop they owned. I would love to
own one myself. The location is perfect right on the boardwalk.
If you’re looking for a quick and fun read I recommend this
book. 3/5 Bloody Fangs
Book Links:
Thank you for stopping by my blog today. I would also like to Thank Celia for letting me review your book and Thank Jaidis for letting me participate in this tour. Don't forget to enter the giveaway.
~Sabrina
Thanks for the very interesting guest Post...
ReplyDeleteand for posting your review. Sounds like a book I'd enjoy, too. :)