Hi lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Patrice Locke and her new book, “Exit Signs”! For other stops on her Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.
Be sure to make it to the end of this
post to enter to win a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card! Also, come back daily to interact with
Patrice and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous
giveaway!
Exit Signs
by Patrice
Locke
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GENRE: Romantic Comedy
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BLURB:
Tracy Price has
a documentary-style life until rockstar Jesse Elliot rewrites her script and
takes the wheel to drive her crazy.
In her quest to
find a writer missing since the 1930's, Tracy thinks she has discovered exactly
how to handle her new relationship. But she may be listening to the wrong
voice.
Then Tracy and
Jesse find out they've both been keeping some big secrets, and the truth may
ruin everything.
Will sharing
the missing writer's story open both their hearts?
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EXCERPT TWO:
Jesse
lunged toward me. It was too late. I had already launched. He reached out but
didn’t connect. Instead, I broke the trajectory of my upper body by grabbing
him at chest level and sliding down. He was pushed backward into the table,
which stabilized our ungainly host-parasite tableau. He softened my landing so
that physically I was fine, but my pride was ready for intensive care.
Heaped
at his feet, like a demented penitent, I hugged his knees, my face pressed flat
into his thighs. I might as well stay down. What’s worse? To stand up and face
you, or remain here, nestled between your legs? What do you think? Then, the
finishing touch: I erupted into nervous, snorting laughter. He guessed there
was no serious injury.
“It’s
nice to see you, too. You are okay, aren’t you? Can you stand?” He reached for
my arms to unwrap them from his legs and help me up. I jammed my eyelids
together to conjure up a do-over, but no such luck.
I
would have to deal with it.
He
held my elbows in his hands. “I guess we were both in a hurry to see each
other.”
I
do appreciate your attempt to lighten the mood, but you are standing SO close.
I can feel your body heat. Or is that mine? By the way, you smell tart and
fresh, like a lime.
I
stared at his shoulder. My dignity meter was stuck on empty.
“Enthusiastic
greeting. Thanks for that.” He was blatantly amused.
“It
was nothing.” I stepped backward to regain a semblance of independence. Don’t
mock me. But, you did go to all the trouble to bring your hair. And your eyes.
I might forgive you for witnessing my disgrace. That hair.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUEST POST:
The Voice, Literary Style. Why not?
By Accident of Birth, I’ve Written a Book by a Woman
I wish there
was a show called, “The Voice, Literary Version: What’s Your Genre?” -- that popular game show where you read a
few lines of your unpublished novel and four award-winning authors judge you on
the spot and offer to coach you if they like your ‘voice’.
Can I just wait
until one of the experts turns a chair around and smiles encouragement? Because I have no idea what to call the book
I’ve been working on for the past two years.
I do have a
published collection of 91,000 words about a woman investigating a 75-year-old
literary mystery while she cyber-stalks a musician who is the world's
best-known, least-known semi-rock star. It's not a romance. It's not a mystery. It's a comedy. And I shouldn't be afraid to call it that.
It’s called “Exit Signs,” and it was published in September by Soul Mate.
Is it bragging
to say it's funny? Doesn’t somebody else
have to say that first? Probably. It's
hard to claim humor as your genre -- because what if someone doesn't think it's
funny? I have to face it... if someone doesn't
think it's funny, they're not going to like it anyway. (Logically, then, doesn't that mean they
don't like me? How can I bear that?
Doesn't everyone have to think it's funny – and think I’m charming? Perhaps I could be satisfied with only a 99 percent
approval rating on Amazon. But, no, I'd
worry about that one percent and I'd read their comments over and over. I’d be like a tongue worrying an aching
tooth.)
Just wait
before you judge me. I’m NOT overly
sensitive, though I would toss and turn if there was a pea under my
mattress. I would stay up wondering who
broke into my house and put a pea under my mattress. And exactly what they meant by it. That would definitely keep me awake. Also, should I change my locks?
I digress. The question is: Should I announce that my
second novel is funny? It's tempting to
call it something else and count on someone else to mention the humor. That's really not fair. People don't write cowboy stories and wait
for someone to point out all the horses and cows before they admit that they
have written a western.
So far, my new
word child is called Ghostsitter, kind of like a babysitter, but for
otherworldly creatures that may or may not exist. I’m in the market for a
title, though I understand anything with ghost in the name is a likely best
seller.
Title isn’t the
only problem. I have the added burden of sex -- I don't mean I’ve written an
erotic novel, but I did write a book by a woman – I had to by accident of my
birth. And, woman writer plus humor plus
a man/woman relationship -- bingo. You
don't have to say it out loud; I can hear the cold dismissal in your
silence. You think I've written CHICK
LIT. The only thing worse is ROMANCE –
and there’s some of that in there too. I
resent that dismissal! I know, who do I think I am being proud of my
word-child? But I am. Resolutely.
Proud.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
As a
journalist, Patrice Locke wrote a lot of stories with unhappy and even tragic
endings. Facts are facts, and a writer doesn't mess with facts.
But fiction is
another world. Patrice began writing novels, where she could control the
endings and make them as happy as she wants. The best thing about fiction, she
says, is having time to think before her characters speak, so they can say the
things most of us only come up with after the perfect moment has passed.
She loves to
write, read, and watch romantic comedies where life always turns out the way it
should. Her only obsessive relationships are with semicolons and Oxford commas.
Though she
doesn't like to brag, Patrice is an award-winning artist. She won a gold and
diamond watch when she was 13 for decorating a turkey drumstick bone to look
like Batman. Alas, that was her last recognition in the fine arts.
Patrice lives
in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the blue sky is brilliant, the air is thin,
and the vistas are breathtaking. She is none of those things, which is one
reason she enjoys living among them.
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CONNECT WITH PATRICE:
Website:
Email:
bypatricelocke@gmail.com
Facebook:
Twitter:
Goodreads Author Page:
Amazon Author Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble:
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Patrice will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes
and Noble Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the
tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and
Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions. Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not
Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are
solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the tour and thanks for the chance to win :)
ReplyDeleteSounds really good! I cannot wait to see what they find...and what happens between them!
ReplyDeleteThanks for having me😀
ReplyDeleteSounds like an excellent book - thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteWhat books are you looking to read in 2017? Thanks for the giveaway. I hope that I win. Bernie W BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)com
ReplyDelete