It’s All About the Book…
Please
tell us about your current or upcoming release.
Title:
Flight Risk –
book #4 in my Assignment: Romance series
Blurb: When
Aubrey Thomas, a phobic travel writer, must chose between jumping to what she considerers
certain death from a skydiving static line or sinking even deeper into debt in
the unemployment line, she scrambles to find someone-anyone!-who can help her
overcome her debilitating fear of heights. Enter John Trelawney, a charming
window washer who thinks nothing of dangling by a cable fifty stories up and
claims he can cure her. Everything about John makes Aubrey nervous... including
the way her heart kicks into overdrive whenever he's around. But, at the end of
her rope, she takes him up on his offer. Can he really help her get over her
fear of heights? Or will Aubrey find herself free falling...possibly even in
love with him?
What is this book’s genre? Romantic Comedy (Contemporary)
Is this the genre you usually write in? Yes
Are there any genre’s you haven’t written that you’d like to try? No
What inspired you to write this book?
I work in downtown Chicago. While strolling down State Street
on my lunch hour last summer, I skirted around some scaffolding and got doused
with a bit of icky, sudsy water from a window washer's bucket. Later that same
week, window washers were stationed at my building…some mighty hunky window
washers. Afraid of heights as I am, I was careful to not get too close to the
window, but still…a story was born.
How did
you pick its title? Did it come first or
did you have to write the story first?
Once I had the basic plot, the title sprang to mind and stuck. The rest of the story followed.
How did you create your characters? Did you use any real life people in their making?
John made his first appearance in False Start (book #1). While
he played a small (but important) role in that story, I didn’t share many
details about him. Aubrey’s first appearance came in Key Change (book #3). The
more I developed her character even for those brief scenes, the more I knew I
needed to somehow get her paired off with John. As I write, I need to have a
face or persona that helps me envision the characters. For John, I picked Jake
McDorman. For Aubrey, I pictured a young Tea Leoni.
Who is
your favorite character of this book and why?
It’s so hard to pick! I love that both Aubrey and John have to
step way outside of their comfort zones to get what they want which ultimately
leads them to each other.
What is
your favorite part of this book? Can you
share an excerpt from that part?
One of my favorite parts is their first encounter in a crowded
coffee shop. Aubrey is trying relate a harrowing experience with a zip line and
starts to pass out. John, standing in line behind her walks her to a chair
where he’s able to calm her in a way no one else can.
Excerpt:
The interior of
Chez Doug's started to spin.
Closing her
eyes, Aubrey leaned back against something solid.
"I
gotcha." That voice came from behind her.
With two hands gripping
her upper arms, she let herself be walked to a nearby chair where the guy
dropped to one knee right in front of her. Taking her hands in his, he said in
a low, hypnotic voice, "Look at me. Look into my eyes."
Struggling to
take a full breath, she yanked her hands from his and glared into his eyes—his
rich, caramel-colored eyes.
And after a
full minute had passed, she started to feel nothing short of fine. Absolutely
calm and fine.
Morphing her
glare into a scowl, she breathed, "How did you do that?"
At that, his
teasing smirk returned. "You're not afraid of heights."
Her defenses on
high alert, she shot back, "Oh yes I am," well aware that she sounded
like a fifth grader picking a fight on the playground.
With a quick
shake of his head and that same teasing smile, he murmured, "You're just
afraid of falling."
Her face fell
into a frown. "Oh."
The thought had
never occurred to her, but now that she thought about it, it made perfect
sense, especially after seeing her husband fall headfirst to his death not a
year before. Eager to erase that disturbing image from her mind, she pulled her
eyes back to his.
As if reading
her mind, he said, "And I can totally help you get over that."
Ah, here we go.
"Yeah,
I'll be you can," Aubrey chortled. "Excuse me. I have to go."
She attempted to stand, but he sprang up first.
"Easy does
it." Taking her clammy hand in his, John pulled her to a standing
position. "You sure you're OK?"
His concern was
starting to unravel her defenses, making it that much more difficult to keep
her scowl on.
When she
nodded, he reached into his back pocket and produced a pen. "Here. Just
gimme a second."
Watching as he
gave his pen a click, she was surprised to see him uncurl her hand and start
writing something on her open palm.
It tickled like
hell. Her scowl abandoning her, she pressed her lips together to suppress a
giggle.
But the ink
wouldn't stick. Her skin was still too damp.
Which might
explain what he did next.
Aubrey watched,
mesmerized, as he held her open palm to his mouth and blew on it.
While part of
her brain knew he was just trying to dry her skin, when he locked his eyes on
hers, the rest of her was all in for him doing more of the same on the rest of
her clammy self.
Feeling the tip
of his pen press against her skin with just enough force to leave a mark but
not inflict any pain, a delicious warmth pulsed through her.
When he was
done, he released her hand and looked right at her. "I've got to get to
work. Give me a call sometime."
What was
the hardest part of this book to write? Can you share an excerpt from that part?
A lot happens to Aubrey within the first 24 hours after
meeting John. She’s on a tight deadline to get over her debilitating fear of
heights and find a “plus one” for a wedding she’s standing up in. As a result,
she quickly finds herself torn between Malcolm, a handsome, well-off accounting
executive whom she has already asked to the wedding and a really hot nobody (John) who offered to help her
get over her fear of heights. The hardest part was making it all feel genuine
and plausible. Here’s a little snippet:
"How are you on boats?" John
asked as they walked along the embankment.
"I'll have you know I've cruised
down the Amazon, Yangtze, and Congo Rivers. I even rode on a fishing trawler in
the North Atlantic with a bunch of tourists on a marine biology expedition.
During a squall, too."
John stopped and turned to her.
"Would you please stop doing that?"
"What?"
"Listing your credentials. I
already know you're brave. You're the one who seems to have a hard time
believing it."
All she could do was stand there and
wonder how it was that this guy who she had met a little more than twenty-four
hours before just told her, in essence, the exact same thing her childhood BFF
told her over too many margaritas.
Pulling herself up, she drew in a
breath and replied, "I'm fine on boats, why?"
By way of an answer, he waved in the
direction of a school-bus-yellow boat docked along the river embankment and
said, "The quickest way to get where we're going."
After purchasing a pair of tickets,
John handed her one. "Ladies first."
Aubrey made her way to the stairs and
started climbing to the upper deck. When John had caught up and slipped into
the seat facing her, he teased, "This isn't too high?
Aubrey was busy coming up with a
smarmy comeback when she saw him suddenly grab his phone from his back pocket.
Leaning forward with his elbows on his thighs, he frowned at it, studying what
she assumed was a text he had just received and then started texting back as if
his life depended on it.
As he did, her eyes riveted on his
hair, the style of which looked like a grown-out version of a bad five-dollar
cut. And it was a complete mess.
Overcome with the urge to sink her
fingers into it, she was surprised when he looked up.
"Problem?"
"No," she croaked.
Forcing
herself to swallow, she turned her attention to the high-rises flanking the
embankment as the water taxi bobbed west. Just before ducking under the
Michigan Avenue Bridge, it stopped to take on more passengers. Soon they were
surrounded by a group of badly behaved kids and their oblivious parents.
The boat revved its engine and began
edging west under the bridge. With Malcolm's high-rise soaring over them to her
left, she wondered what he was doing at that very minute.
Probably working out or maybe reading
some poetry or helping an elderly neighbor with their grocery shopping.
It never occurred to her that he might
be doing something mundane like cleaning his toilet, flossing his teeth, or
taking out his garbage.
She was busy trying to picture herself
standing on the other side of Malcolm's window, watching water taxis ferry
passengers under the Michigan Avenue bridge, when she heard a voice ask,
"So what happened?"
It wasn't until she felt something
nudge her foot that she realized it was John.
"I'm sorry. What?"
He was sitting with his legs
stretched out on either side of hers with his arms, his chiseled, tanned,
mouth-watering arms, folded across his chest.
Down girl.
“Have you always been afraid of heights?”
Did you
have any special rhythm or quirks while writing this?
This was the first book I didn’t completely plot out first. I
let this one guide me which was both terrifying and really fun!
Is this a stand-alone book or is it part of a series? If so, we want to hear about it and what’s next in the series. If not a series, what comes next to be released?
It is book #4 in my series, but
enough detail is provided to make it a standalone. Feedback so far is that the
story seems richer
story if you’ve read books 1 – 3 first.
***
Flight Risk
An Assignment: Romance Novel, Book 4
Barbara Valentin
Romantic
Comedy / Chick Lit
Gemma
Halliday Publishing / 233 pages
When Aubrey Thomas, a phobic travel writer, must choose between jumping
to what she considerers certain death from a skydiving static line or sinking
even deeper into debt in the unemployment line, she scrambles to find
someone—anyone!—who can help her overcome her debilitating fear of heights.
Enter John Trelawney, a charming window washer who thinks nothing of dangling
by a cable fifty stories up and claims he can cure her. Everything about John
makes Aubrey nervous... including the way her heart kicks into overdrive
whenever he's around. But, at the end of her rope, she takes him up on his
offer. Can he really help her get over her fear of heights? Or will Aubrey find
herself free falling...possibly even in love with him?
About our
Author:
Author of the bestselling Assignment: Romance series, Barbara was named
"Indie Star of 2015" by Publishers Weekly when her first book, False
Start, earned a coveted starred review. A member of Romance Writers of America,
she looks forward to the day when her to-do list includes "Send Oprah a
thank you note" and "Accept Godiva's request to be a
taste-tester."
Website: http://www.barbaravalentin.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Platespinner/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SpinningInBurbs
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Barbara-Valentin/e/B00OPWO5NM/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1469732686&sr=1-2-ent
***
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Thanks for featuring my latest release!
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