Please welcome AAMBookclub Author Tanya Harris
to Conversations today. Tanya is here to talk about her new release, Supposedly Broken. So, check out the cover, blurb and excerpt, and get to know Tanya by checking out her interview too!
Lisa ~
_____________________________________________
Supposedly Broken
The Turner cousins were damaged by tragic childhood experiences that no amount of time or therapy could erase. Zakia would always remember the feel of her stepfather’s breath against her skin, Marisa would remember the images of her mother’s bruised face that seemed to never heal and Randi will forever hear the sound of her parent’s rejection. These embedded memories of pain became the foundation of the protective barriers that framed their adult lives. It’s not until an unexpected death occurs that they realize that those barriers that were built to protect them from pain, also shielded them from happiness. As you get to know them, you will sympathize and empathize with their pain, ignite your anger at its source and fall in love with the end results.
Excerpt from Supposedly Broken
“Hey, Sweetie . . . Kyle.” They are both crazy if they think I’m leaving. Kyla needs to stop tripping. She knows that if I leave now, she’s going to call me right back tonight, crying and begging me to take her back. Been there, done that and not doing it again. I’m just going to sit right here on her steps and finish eating my grapes.
“Keep your hands off of my sister, Marcus!”
“What? Was that supposed to scare me, Kyle? I’m supposed to be scared of you?”
“You don’t have to be scared, but you better not touch her!”
“Kyle, wait. This wasn’t a good idea. Let’s just go.”
What did I say? She doesn’t want me to go.
“You better listen to your sister, Kyle.”
“No, you better listen to me!”
“Or wha—” I KNOW this fool didn’t just sucker punch me.
“The next time you want to fight, pick a man, punk!”
Oh, I got your punk.
“The next time you want to call somebody a punk, make sure he’s not holding a gun.” Uh-huh. He ain’t got nothing to say now. “Yeah . . . big brother ain’t so big now.”
“MARCUS . . . What are you doing?”
Kyla’s scared. Good. Maybe she’ll stop putting other people in our business.
“What was it that I ‘better’ do, Big Brother?”
“You think that gun scares me?”
“SHUT UP, KYLE! Let him go, Marcus!”
“You don’t have to be scared, but you better not hit me again.”
“PLEASE, let him go. Kyle, go home!”
“I’m not leaving you here!”
“Then I guess you’re not leaving.”
“MARCUS, WAIT!”
Interview with Tanya Harris
Why do you write?
I write because I love to do it. It’s where my passion lies. The ability to write is a seed planted in me by God that I’m obligated to cultivate it and help it grow.
At what age did you discover this passion?
I wrote my first two page short story at age 9 as the result of a fourth grade writing assignment.
If writing is your passion, what prevented you from pursuing it as a career?
Fear. Writing comes from a personal place. It’s an honest expression of the emotions I feel when I hear about, read about or otherwise become aware of certain situations. I put my heart into what I write and it’s a challenge for me to put my heart into the hands of my critic.
So now that you seemingly have conquered your fear, what can we expect to see from you in the future?
Currently, I am working on my second novel and I’ve begun an outline for a screenplay. My third or fourth novel will be a book of poetry. . . Basically, I want to create anything that can be produced as a result of my pen hitting the pad.
What inspires you to write?
I’m inspired by people, music, art, nature . . . pretty much anything that can tell me a story.
Where is your favorite place to write?
I love to write in any place where I can plug in my ear buds and get lost into my music.
Is Supposedly Broken a standalone novel or is it a part of a series?
I haven’t decided yet.
Tanya Harris is a native of Memphis, Tennessee who currently resides in Snellville, Georgia. She has spent years writing poems and short stories for personal enjoyment and as a therapeutic means of ending her day. She has a positive outlook on life and believes that life happens to us but we choose how we react to it. It is this belief that gave birth to Supposedly Broken and allowed it to take on a life of its own. Tanya is confident that her writing talent is a gift from God and that within this talent lies an opportunity for ministry. Her goal as an Author is to provide a creative means of entertainment that will have a positive impact on the lives of her readers. The satisfaction felt from knowing that organized words on a page can influence the thoughts and/or actions of others is immeasurable. She loves writing period whether it is poetry, short stories, novels, etc. She has emotional ties to her work not because she can relate to the experiences expressed, but because of the emotions she hears from those who can.
Author Contact Info:
Email: authortanya@gmail.com
Twitter: @AuthorTanya
Facebook: authortanya.harris
https://about.me/TanyaHarris
Please join me in welcoming multi-published author Lynn Cahoon to Conversations today! Lynn is here to talk about her new Crimson Romance novel, The Bull Rider's Keeper. So be sure and check out the blurb, cover and excerpt below!
Lisa ~
__________________________________________
THE BULL RIDER'S KEEPER
Jesse Sullivan isn’t afraid of any thing, any man, or any bull. But when he decides to take a chance and carve out a life outside his rodeo career, he’s feeling like he’s walking on shaky ground. In typical Jesse style, he jumps at a chance to purchase Main Street Gallery, a Boise tradition in the art world.
Taylor DeMarco has two goals for the next year. Getting the gallery on sound financial ground to prove to her parents that she can keep her grandfather's legacy alive is the first one. Moving out of the house and into her own condo by the Boise river, is the second. When she finds her folks are selling the gallery to Jesse, she vows to stop the sale, no hands barred.
When sparks fly between Jesse and Taylor, family gets in the way of reason, and they have to decide what is more important, their desires or keeping Main Street Gallery open and successful.
Excerpt from THE BULL RIDER'S KEEPER
Time waits for no man, and as usual, Jesse was late. Peeking in the doorway of the class that was supposed to start any minute, he breathed a sigh of relief. Professor DeMarco wasn’t there. He crossed to the next door that led to her office, knocked quickly, then burst in. “Professor DeMarco, I need to leave early today …” He stopped two steps into the room, glancing at the open door for the name plate. Right office, wrong woman. Instead of the elegant art instructor, a very curvy Venus stood in a black bra and lacy black panties, holding a privacy sheet out from her body like she didn’t quite know what to do with it.
Her eyes widened as she realized he was in the room. “Get out of here!” she shrieked. Then, realizing she still held the sheet at arm’s length, she grabbed it and pressed it against her body.
Jesse could have told her it was a lost cause. What he’d seen couldn’t be unseen and she would be haunting his dreams for a while. Instead, he cast his glance regretfully downward and turned around. “Sorry, I guess I should have waited in the hall.”
He was closing the door behind him when he heard her response.
“Neanderthal.”
When she entered the classroom a few minutes later as that week’s live model, he saw her gaze stop at his easel for a second. Then she did something that never happened when Jesse met a beautiful woman. She ignored him.
He glanced at his watch: ten to four. He’d promised to be at the airport no later than an hour before his plane left at six. Yet he still sat in front of his easel.
Focusing on the study he’d been working on for the entire class period, he sighed, knowing he’d missed something. The model today was exquisite, a woman who could have been not only Miss Idaho, but also Miss Freaking Universe. Her blond hair fell straight, ending in the middle of a tan, well-defined back. The girl’s body showed a healthy addiction to working out.
He knew the curves that were covered by the privacy sheet, and Jesse felt his body reacting to the view. Not the most professional of reactions for an artist, especially if he wanted to be taken seriously in the art industry someday. He shifted on the stool, his attention falling on her hands. Strong hands that gripped the cloth keeping her covered. The fabric draped around her as if she’d just woken from a night of wild sex. She sat like a goddess in front of the drawing class. Long, slender fingers displayed her nails painted in that weird clear and white thing girls did. He focused on his canvas and, using his pencil, gently added a shadow to the back of the hand.
He tuned into his artist’s eye, noticing the play of light off her straight hair, the gentle curve of her shoulder. Her long, regal neck. Glancing back at his sketchpad, he knew the only things he’d managed to capture from the vitality of this woman were the hands. He’d nailed the hands. A smile curved on his lips as he looked back up at the goddess in front of him to discover her staring back at him.
Heat coursed across the room, his desire hot, his feelings similar to what he often felt when he locked eyes with a gorgeous woman from across a crowded bar. But this, this felt different. His smile faded as hers gently grew. Did she know what he’d been thinking? Hell, he wanted her to know. He wanted to feel those lips against his own, uncover the body only hinted at in the crowded art room. He wanted to possess her. He felt like a teenaged boy looking at his first girlie magazine. No, this was more than youthful attraction. Their gazes locked, and he started to rise from his stool, wanting to introduce himself. To get her name, for God’s sake.
A beeping from his watch broke his focus, and he dropped his gaze for a second. When he looked back, she’d turned her head away, the moment lost.
Jesse sighed and opened his case, putting away supplies. Time to go back into the real world. Time to become Jesse Sullivan, Champion Bull Rider and Professional Bull-Shitter. Eight seconds riding a bull and hours of interviews with reporters wondering why he would risk his life day after day. Wondering who Jesse Sullivan really was underneath that cowboy hat.
Lynn Cahoon’s a multi-published author. An Idaho native, her stories focus around the depth and experience of small town life and love. Lynn’s published in Chicken Soup anthologies, explored controversial stories for the confessional magazines, short stories in Women’s World, and contemporary romantic fiction. Currently, she’s living in a small historic town on the banks of the Mississippi river where her imagination tends to wander. She lives with her husband and four fur babies. Find her at www.lynncahoon.wordpress.com
This site participates in the Amazon Affiliate Program where the site owner receives payment/credit for books sold by clicking through to Amazon. Clicking on the slideshow or carousel will bring you directly to Amazon.