Favorite Vacation Spots

Readers, please help me welcome author Joselyn Vaughn to the blog.  Joselyn is telling us about her favorite vacation spot.  I think I'd like to visit myself.

Every summer, we visit my in-laws on a little lake in northern Minnesota. It’s about the most relaxing vacation we can have with three little kids. They have grandma and grandpa to spoil them and a lake to burn up their energy. Grandma is a wonderful cook, so we have delicious food which is a happy escape from my less-than-stellar from-a-box creations. This year we even had a tea party with little bunny cups and finger sandwiches. The girls loved it.

 

My husband and I got to go golfing twice. I haven’t been on a golf course that much since I was seven months pregnant with the twins. We did a bit of shopping – mostly garage sales, but I scored a ton of girls’ clothes and a free monster truck (my son was delighted.).

 

The only problem was that my in-laws got me addicted to a show called Murdoch Mysteries. It’s a CSI-type show set in 1890’s Toronto. There’s a love interest. The main character is cute. What’s not to like? They get the show on Netflix DVDs. The problem: we only have Netflix streaming and Murdoch Mysteries isn’t available. How am I going to find out what happens to Murdoch and Crabtree and all my new friends?

 

 

Oh, Joselyn what a predicament.  Maybe they'll put it on DVD, and you can buy it.  Now, let's look at an excerpt from Joselyn's latest Climbing Heartbreak Hill.

 

Excerpt:

Tara tapped her foot while Ryan settled in the tank and

others lined up behind her for their chance to dunk him. A dollar

for three throws at the target. Tara reached for her purse, then

changed her mind. She bent and picked up Ryan’s coat. After a

quick search of the pockets, she found his wallet. Unfortunately, it

was devoid of cash. She flipped it closed, then opened it again to

peek behind the credit cards. Ah‑ha! An emergency twenty. She

kept cash hidden to use only for an emergency, too. She slid the bill

out of the pocket and crushed it in her fist. If she didn’t let off some

of this anger and disappointment, it would be an emergency.

She tossed the crumpled bill at the attendant and stepped up

to the line.

 

“How many throws?”

 

“All of them,” Tara said, holding her hand out for the

marred softball. She rubbed her fingers over the crusty leather and

stared at Ryan. A golden opportunity lost. She wound up and

chucked the ball. It went high and wide of the target. Someone

behind her made a remark about throwing like a girl. Ryan gave

her a thumbs‑up. If he thought that was a good throw, he had another

thing coming. He should think twice about encouraging her. She

needed a couple throws to get warmed up. She grabbed the next

ball and wrapped her fingers around the seams.

 

“You should take the job,” she muttered as she let this one

fly. It dinged the corner of the target, but not hard enough to

trigger the release. The ball ricocheted off the tank, and Ryan

almost dunked himself when he flinched.

 

He might have said “what was that?” but Tara screwed up

her mouth and reached for another ball. She had been through

enough this week with the stress of tax season, Chuck’s demands,

and Ryan’s stupid, stupid obstinacy. “Lead me on, did you?” She

whipped the ball at the target. She missed again, this time nailing

the acrylic glass surround with a vicious thunk.

 

“Somebody’s got some anger issues,” the man behind her

said under his breath.

 

Tara snatched another ball and whirled around on her heels.

She shoved the ball under his nose. “Unless you want this ball

blocking your next sneeze, you’ll keep your comments to yourself.”

 

The man stepped back a full yard and put his hands up to

protect his ability to shoot germs from his nose.

 

“Thank you.” Tara pursed her lips and turned back to the

tank. She tightened her focus on the red bulls‑eye. This time Ryan

was hers. She whipped the ball with a caveman‑like growl.

 

 

Oh, he's in trouble now!  You can pick up your copy at any of the following locations.

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Heartbreak-Hill-ebook/dp/B00CX20YLI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369156247&sr=8-1&keywords=climbing+heartbreak+Hill

 

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/climbing-heartbreak-hill-joselyn-vaughn/1115383380?ean=2940016558783

 

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/318504

 

Astraea Press: http://astraeapress.com/#!/~/product/category=662245&id=23861577

 

Thanks for everything, Joselyn.  come back soon to see us.

 

 

Elizabeth: Welcome to Elaine's blog readers! My name is Elizabeth Lane, and my assistant is my cousin Nikki Lane. Elaine told my story in her novel Return Engagement, and...

Nikki: Hold on a minute! You're not the only one whose story Elaine told. She talked about me in The Best Selling Toy Of The Season.

Elizabeth: I know that, Nikki. I was about to say so when you interrupted me.

Nikki: Oh.

Elizabeth: We have a nice surprise for you, readers. Today I'm interviewing Joselyn Vaughn.

Nikki: Who's that?

Elizabeth: Oh, she's an author.

Nikki: Yeah? Where is she?

Elizabeth: Um, she's right behind you.

Nikki: Oh, hey, Joselyn.

Joselyn: Hey, Nikki. Elizabeth, it's so nice to meet you! I've never talked to an A list Hollywood actress. For that matter, you're the first actress of any kind that I ever met.

Nikki: See, readers? It's always like that! She gets all the attention because she's an actress.

Elizabeth: (giggling) Nikki, you're so funny. I offered to put you in one of my movies, and you turned me down flat. Now, be quiet and let me talk to Joselyn.
Joselyn, could you tell us a little bit about yourself?


Joselyn: I'd love to, Elizabeth. I’m a stay at home mom to three kids with two and a half in diapers. We are in the midst of potty training the twins; my son is catching on, my daughter is not. When not busy with the kids, I like to sleep. Occasionally I’m not busy with them during waking hours, then I like to go thrift store shopping or running. Once someone told me I looked like I was running really fast. I told them I was fleeing.

Nikki: Fleeing? That is so funny! That's how I feel sometimes with my kids. Michael and Teddy are a handful to say the least.

Elizabeth: Go on Joselyn. What else?

Joselyn: Before being a stay at home mom, I was a librarian at our local library and got to order books for the collection. Spending other people’s money on books you will get to use is an awesome perk.

Nikki: On the average, how long does it take you to write a book?

Joselyn: CEOs Don’t Cry and Courting Sparks each took about a year from rough draft to a version I felt comfortable sending out. My last work in progress took over a year and a half, probably because I was pregnant while writing it and didn’t have the energy to work on it. I wish I could write faster, but I can’t seem to find more hours for the day. I wish there was an iPhone app for that. Maybe the iPad will have something.

Elizabeth: That's so funny!

Nikki: Yeah, but I know what she means. Think, Elizabeth! She has twins to look after as well as her other child. She needs 25 hours a day at least!

Elizabeth: Do heroes and heroines always have to be good looking, Joselyn? Why or why not?

Joselyn: Not at all. No one is ever going to agree on who is good looking and who is not. A lot of my friends think Johnny Depp is hot and I think he looks like he could bathe more often. Of course, they may not agree with me that Hugh Jackman should be the lifetime winner of People’s Sexiest Man Alive Award. To me, it’s more important that the hero or heroine be attractive to each other and have qualities that the reader can identify with and care about.

Nikki: Well said! Still though, my hunky Tommy is every woman's dream man.

Elizabeth: He isn't mine. Richard is my dream man.

Nikki: I don't like blondes, and Richard is blonde.

Elizabeth: Joselyn, you are a hundred percent correct. Every woman has her own criteria to define sexy. Which author would you most like to meet and why?

Joselyn: I would love to meet Jane Austen, but I’m not really into séances, so for a living author, I think would be cool to chat with Julia Quinn. I love her characters and their dialogue. They crack me up. I’ve heard she’s as much fun in person.

Nikki: I went to a seance one time and...

Elizabeth: Hush, Nikki. She doesn't have all day to chat with us. Joselyn, what are you most passionate about outside of writing?

Joselyn: Probably my family. Outside of writing, they are what I’m busy with most and while they exhaust me in every way possible, I find it very hard to give up time with them. My twins are old enough to really communicate what they are thinking and it’s fun to see their thought processes. My son recently told me he couldn’t play with the pee in his potty because “it was decoration” – their label for anything they aren’t allowed to play with.

Elizabeth: LOL. Would you share your links with us?

Joselyn: I'd love to.
http://joselynvaughn.com
http://joselynvaughn.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000088818448

Nikki: Hey, Joselyn, we’d love to read an excerpt. Be sure to give us a buy link so I can order it.

Joselyn: Thanks, Nikki. Here's that link http://www.amazon.com/Joselyn-Vaughn/e/B002I28GUO/ref=sr_tc_img_2_0?qid=1283449922&sr=1-2-ent


Sandalwood and a touch of wood smoke.
The scents drifted from behind her and Daphne knew the man was sexy. She closed her eyes as she stood on the corner of the dance floor and breathed deeply. Maybe passing out candy bars for the Dollar Dance wasn’t such a bad thing. Her Magic Eight Ball could be right. For once.

She tried to adjust the neckline of her fuchsia bridesmaid dress to enhance her cleavage, but the double-sided tape holding the mermaid-style dress in place wouldn’t budge.

Sure, when you want the dress to come off, it sticks firmly in place. She sighed. She spun on her bare feet to greet the dream date behind her and stopped so abruptly her basket of candy bars tipped over, spilling chocolate at his feet.
“Noah?” she gasped.

A light blue madras shirt covered his broad shoulders. His dark hair still damp from his shower. She looked at him like she’d never seen him before.
And she saw him almost every day. He was the athletic director and she was an English teacher and the cross-country coach. She was in and out of his office with student eligibility reports and questions about the team schedule. Besides all that, they’d been friends since second grade. She’d never had this reaction to him before. What was different?

Noah bent to pick up the candy. His shirt pulled across his muscular shoulders as he reached for the scattered bars. Daphne continued to stare at him. Water droplets clung to the hair on the back of his neck and she itched to brush them away. She extended the basket for him to dump the bars.

“Fire call?” she said, trying to cover her stunned silence and hoping he didn’t notice her blushed skin.

“Yeah. Out at The Willows. Could have been really bad, but we were able to contain it. Do I still smell smoky?”

Daphne leaned closer and breathed deeply. His sandalwood cologne flooded her nose again. A touch of smoke lingered behind it. She forgot to breathe out.
This was Noah, she told herself. Not George Clooney. Get a grip.

“Your cologne covers it. How much burned?” she asked, stepping away to put some fresh air between them.

Noah shrugged. “The flames kept smoldering in this heat. Hot spots were flaring up all afternoon. Most of the trees are singed. I’m not sure they’ll come back.” He tugged at the front of his shirt as if he still felt the high temperatures.

“I can’t believe The Willows is gone. No more hidden trysts out there. Where will the teens go to make out now?”

“They’ll find some place. They always do. There’s that place by the river, but the landowner is pretty adamant about kicking them out once a month.”

She hugged the candy basket to her chest. Bittersweet memories of The Willows haunted her, now that Aaron was no longer in her life. They’d gone there to do all the things teens do in the shaded alcoves of the draping willow trees. The fire was a relief in a way, another reminder of him gone.

“Was Miranda angry I wasn’t here?” Noah asked.

She glanced at the bride twirling on the dance floor and pushed away the gloomy thoughts. Good ol’ Noah. He could always divert her depressing thoughts. “I think she’ll forgive you.” Daphne bumped him with her basket of chocolate. “Not to dash your ego, but she didn’t notice. She was so nervous before the ceremony, she peed every fifteen minutes. I’m glad I didn’t pull bathroom duty this time.”

Noah laughed, the tone soft and deep. “I don’t want to know. Anything else happen?

“If you’re asking if Max fainted, you owe me ten bucks. He turned green during the solo, but his knees never buckled.”

Elizabeth: Joselyn, it sounds wonderful. I'm going to order a copy too. I hope you and your beautiful family have a safe and merry holiday season.

Joselyn: Thanks Elizabeth. Uh, would you mind if I got your autograph?