Eve, talks about some firsts…

So The Waiting Game turns one year old today and as it was my debut book it got me thinking about all the firsts I experienced with its publication.

This year has flown by, but I can still remember the flutter in my heart when I first saw ‘copyright by’ and the copyright symbol next to my name. 

And seeing my cover for the first time? I can admit that it took me a while to realize Big Ben was in the background—I was distracted by something in the foreground. Abs can say so much, don’t you think?!

Then there was seeing my book appear on all the bookseller sites that I usually purchased books from. Typing in my name and having my book pop up to buy—yep, total rush!

But as I raise my glass in celebration of The Waiting Game being out a year, the absolute icing on the cake was the first time a reader took the time to contact me and tell me how much they enjoyed my book. 

I think that’s why all the firsts surrounding the release of your debut book are so special. The fact that people are prepared to take a chance on a new voice and without any pre-judging dive right in for an adventure, well, it’s the greatest of compliments. It is also why writers write—to share a story.

If you’ve been looking for the next adventure to dive right into, then consider the wait over! Here are all the details you need to immerse yourself in The Waiting Game:

Blurb:

Five years ago a madman stalked her. Kidnapped her. Tattooed her.

When security expert Cameron Dexter—the man Brooke Bennett once loved—appears unexpectedly at her door with terrifying news, the former musician discovers she can no longer hide from her past. After five years, her vicious kidnapper is out of prison and on the hunt—for Brooke.

Now he’s returned to complete his art.

Cam failed to protect Brooke once before. Now he’d rather die than let her be captured. With her life at stake, Cam vows to keep her hidden and safe. Brooke, however, is done with running. Unlike Cam, she wants to stand and fight. Emotions both old and new roil between them, but addressing their heated past must wait. Together they set a trap in London to catch a killer. But they soon discover the enemy wears many faces...

And waiting is no longer an option.

Buy links:

Amazon Barnes and Noble iTunes KOBO

About Eve Devon... 
Growing up in locations like Botswana and Venezuela gave me quite the taste for adventure and my love for romances began when my mother shoved one into my hands in a desperate attempt to keep me quiet during TV coverage of the Wimbledon tennis finals! When I wasn’t consuming books by the bucketload, I could be found pretending to be a damsel in distress or running around solving mysteries and writing down my adventures. As a teenager, I wrote countless episodes of TV detective dramas so the hero and heroine would end up together every week. As an adult, I worked in a library to conveniently continue consuming books by the bucketload, until realising I was destined to write contemporary romance and romantic suspense myself. I live in leafy Surrey in the UK, a book-devouring, slightly melodramatic, romance-writing sassy heroine with my very own sexy hero husband! 

Where you can find Eve:

 WEBSITE TWITTER FACEBOOK 

HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY EVE!!!

Today on PRETTY FEET I'm welcoming the fab Sue Fortin whose next book, Closing In comes out on May 15th. And we also have a GIVEAWAY competition!

About Sue...

Published by Harper Collins' romance line, Harper Impulse, Sue Fortin writes women's fiction; contemporary, suspense and time-slip. All with romance and a touch of mystery.

Lover of cake, Dragonflies and France. Hater of calories, maths and snakes. Sue was born in Hertfordshire but had a nomadic childhood, moving often with her family, before eventually settling in West Sussex.

Sue is married with four children, all of whom patiently give her time to write but, when not behind the keyboard, she likes to spend her time with them, enjoying both the coast and the South Downs, between which they are nestled.

And Sue's book...

Closing In

For fans of Emily Barr & Rosamund Lupton...

Helen has had to leave everything she’s ever known behind; her home, her family, even her own name.

Now, returning to the UK as Ellen Newman, she moves to a small coastal village, working as a nanny for Donovan, a criminal psychologist. Attractive, caring and protective, this single father and his sweet daughter are a world away from Ellen’s brutal past. She thinks she’s escaped. She thinks she’s safe.

But Ellen can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong.

Strange incidents begin to plague her new family, and their house of calm is about to become one of suspicion and fear. Who can be trusted? Who is the target? Who is closing in?

Where to buy Sue's book...Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com
GooglePlay
iTunes
Kobo 

And now for the shoes...
And Sue has chosen shoes for each of her characters... 

And the shoe story...

They say you can tell a lot about a person by their shoes, so I thought I would introduce the characters of ‘Closing In’ by their footwear.

Ellen – All Stars, a trainer type of shoe because it suits her job, ie. looking after Izzy and it’s also symbolic, because she is running from her past.

Donovan – Understated, calm and pragmatic.

Amanda – Glamorous mother, always immaculate and doesn’t do messy.

Izzy – DM’s for kicking about it. Fun and funky, just right for an 8 year old.

Carla – professional and no fuss attitude, slightly starchy but a highly competent PA.

??? – a pair of Kickers that have seen better days. You will have to read the book to find out who they belong to!

Where to find Sue...

On her blog  Twitter : suefortin1 Facebook : Sue Fortin Books

GIVEAWAY Competition...
For a chance to win a copy of Sue's ebook, United States of Love, just leave a comment telling Sue what kind of person you think would wear those mystery Kickers... Please include your twitter handle for contact. 


Competition ends on 28th May at 9am UK time.
Minimum age for entry is 18.

Thanks for coming on PRETTY FEET today Sue! It's great to meet your characters, and I love that a mystery writer has left us with a mystery to solve... And good luck with the Giveaway everyone!

Today on PRETTY FEET I'm welcoming wedding expert Samantha Birch whose wonderful book The High Street Bride's Guide is Harper Impulse's first non fiction release. 

About Samantha...

So far I’m the author of one book: The High-Street Bride’s Guide. I’ve written about dresses, bridesmaids and cake toppers for Brides and You & Your Wedding, and regularly contribute to the likes of GLAMOUR and Love Baking – often while eating cake in my pyjamas. I live with my husband in a chaotically untidy flat in Letchworth, which I pretend is an artfully unkempt writer’s loft in St. Albans.


And her book...

The High Street Bride's Guide

Brides-to-be, this one’s for you!

You can say your vows in a catwalk gown so beautiful it reduces your mum to tears (and not because she paid for it).

You can style a reception so stunning your guests won’t believe you didn’t hire an A-list planner.

And you can sprinkle the day with personal touches that make everyone feel like you gave them special attention before they even got there. Without spending a house deposit on it. Honest.

Samantha Birch has written for GLAMOUR, Brides, You & Your Wedding and Cosmopolitan Bride. She knows a thing or two about planning a wedding on a budget, how much you can expect to pay for everything and where to go to get it for less. And she’s put it all down here.

Where to buy The High Street Bride's Guide...
Buy link

And now for Samantha's fabulous shoes...

And Samantha's very special shoe story...

“Shall we get a taxi?” I asked the cute boy in the rakish suit as we put my friend into a cab and waved goodbye. “These shoes are killing me.”

The red, sparkly open-toed sandals with the little bow on the front were part of my costume for the play the cute boy and I were doing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We were both heading back to the same place—the flat that the cast was renting for the duration—so it made sense for us to grab a cab together.

“No,” he replied uncomfortably, “I’d rather walk.” Ah, that was pretty clear then. My turn to shift uncomfortably. But then he put his hand out: “I’ll carry your shoes.”

Two minutes later and my Dorothy sandals were nestled safely in his costume bag, while I clomp-clomped along a dark Edinburgh street in his size nine brogues. He was in just his socks.

“What’re you gonna do after this?” he asked me as we sauntered along in the glow of the streetlights. It was the summer after third year—we’d both just finished degrees at different unis back in York, but had only met here, in Edinburgh, two days before.

I explained I was moving down south, so I could be closer to London—I couldn’t decide whether to write or act so I’d got a job at a magazine, but I’d also applied to audition for a kind of circus version of Peter Pan, so who knew?

“Acting?” he mused, hoisting the bag with my shoes in it higher on his shoulder. He thought for a second, then looked right at me and smiled that so cute one-side-of-his-mouth smile as he tried to be suave: “A girl after my own heart.”

Six years on, I was standing in a hotel corridor in a familiar pair of glittery red shoes—a little older, a little dustier, but still the same sparkly Dorothy heels I was wearing the night the cute boy had walked me home. 

I fidgeted, pointed the toes together—and a couple of friendly faces barrelled in through a side door, threw whispered apologies for their unpunctuality and disappeared into the distance.

I curled and uncurled my pinkies as the first few bars of Hoppípolla by Sigur Rós started up beyond the bar, in the ballroom.

And then I took a deep breath, and put one twinkly foot in front of the other. And I went right through the bar, right through the double doors, past a sea of wide-eyed faces and up to the table at the other end of the ballroom, in front of the stage. And I grabbed the cute boy’s hands and squeezed.

Less than an hour later, with our new rings on and confetti still in our hair, our photographer guided us outside and took our picture. After all the smoochy romantic ones and the look-into-each-other’s-eyes ones the cute husband suddenly lifted me off my feet. And my sparkly red shoes slipped out from under my wedding dress. And they looked a little something like this…

Don't you just love that picture? Thanks so much for coming on today Samantha!

FLASH GIVEAWAY TO CELEBRATE 1000 views!

And the winner of an ebook copy of Sam's The HIGH STREET BRIDE'S GUIDE is Kirsty Fox! Well done Kirsty! Sam will be in touch to send you your prize!


Thank you!


Where to find Samantha...
Twitter @SamBirchWriter (Sam)
Twitter @HighStreetBride (wedding advice)