Today I'm excited to welcome Randa Flannery to One Book Shy as she tours with Goddess Fish Promotions to celebrate her fun new book: Love The One You're Witch. Keep reading to learn more about the story along with some of the behind-the-scenes details from Randa. Be sure to stay with us to find out what she's planning on giving away to a lucky reader! Take it away Randa......
Thank you so much for having me on One Book Shy today. I had been
kind of stressing about what to write a guest post about lately when
a friend pointed out that people probably didn’t really want to
know about me, but wanted some interesting facts about the book. Most
of the questions people have asked since the release of Love the One
You’re Witch have been about Ana, the sassy heroine. While I
absolutely love Ana, I felt kind of bad that Lucas was being left
out. So I thought, for the interesting facts about Love the One
You’re Witch, I would focus on the hero, vampire hottie, Lucas the
Lucious.
Fact 1: Lucas was not the original male lead for this book. (gasp!)
In the earlier drafts, I had a much different character for Ana, and
a different sort of story entirely. He was much more mysterious and
all Alpha. His pursuit of Ana was more aggressive. His name was Ben.
Ben, however, didn’t have a good chemistry with Ana. Don’t get me
wrong, he was awesome. But they just didn’t mesh well. Ana would
never put up with the more macho and silent but contemplative type,
and he found her too flaky and annoying. Their dialogue seemed
forced. It just wasn’t working. So Ben had to go. Don’t worry, I
saved him for another story where he will be more appreciated.
Enter Lucas. Alpha? Yes. But not in the
in-your-face-things-must-be-done-my-way-on-my-time sort of way. Ana
can not be dictated to effectively. You do NOT want to be on the end
of her revenge stick. Lucas is strong and capable, but not
overbearing. He appreciates Ana’s snark, and while he doesn’t
chase after her and insist she submit to him, he is no push over,
either. He was the perfect match for the wacky witch.
Fact 2: Lucas was inspired by my husband. He looks nothing like him,
sounds nothing like him, doesn’t even have the same accent or
profession. But he uses a lot of the same cheesy lines!
Fact 3: Lucas is used to poke fun at romance novels and movies in
general. When he uses those lines we’ve all read or heard a million
times from romcoms and novels, Ana just laughs. Why? Because they’re
ridiculous! Things like that don’t work in real life! My husband
and I laugh because apparently if you whisper a line, it’s
automatically sexier...but it’s not. It’s creepy. No woman is
going to melt at your feet with that! So Lucas tries so hard to be
the kind of romantic hero women love from books and movies, but they
really belong in comedies...like this one.
Fact 4: Lucas has a snippet from his own point of view that has not
been published...but may end up on the website sometime soon. Keep a
look out for it at randaflannery.com!
Thanks again for having me and I hope you enjoyed the behind the
scenes look at Lucas from Love the One You’re Witch! - Randa
Randa
Flannery has an a degree in English and writes a variety of romantic
fiction, including suspense, comedy, and urban fantasy. Randa is a
member of the Romance Writers of America and lives as an expat with
her husband and children in FuYang, China.
Website: www.Randaflannery.com
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/randaflannery
~~~~~
Thank you so much for sharing with us Randa. I appreciate you chatting with us and have to admit that now I'm also looking forward to "meeting" Ben!
AUTHOR: Randa Flannery
INFO: Paperback, Fiction, 131 pages
PUBLISHED: Icasm Press, 2015
GENRE: Paranormal Romance
ABOUT: Sassy and snarky witch Anastasia Gregor does not work with vampires. Unfortunately, she forgot to tell her boss that. Now she's up to her neck (pun intended) in the night walkers as she attempts to help one family fix their love lives.
EXCERPT: “Can you fix it?” She said it with a touch of desperation and I wondered how long this had been going on.
“I can
if it’s a spell,” I offered. “How long has she been like this?”
“I’ve
loved him forever!” the young vamp declared as she and Lucas
finally made it to the couch. “And I will love him forever, no
matter what you try to do to us!”
“It’s
been about a month,” Lucas answered, frustration edging that smooth
voice while she ran fingers through his hair. “She was fine one
day, chatting and joking, completely normal. The next, she couldn’t
keep her hands off of me.”
I
nodded. “Yes, well, have you seen yourself? I think that may be the
normal reaction for teenagers when confronted with...” I waved a
hand at him. I stopped mid-gesture when I realized the silence around
me was now more of a shock reaction than the discomfort of having the
errant vamp pawing at her man. “Sorry, just trying to lighten
things up,” I mumbled. This is why I didn’t like vampires. No
sense of humor. Well, the trying to kill me thing was also a put-off.
That in mind, I got back to business and refused to drool over Lucas
any more. Or at least, I’d try.
Randa is generously giving away a $25 Giftcard to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble to one lucky winner. Enter below and GOOD LUCK!
~~~~~ Disclaimer: All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own. I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links. I may receive books in order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one. Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThank you for having me as one of your hosts!
Deletethanks so much for having me on today and spotlighting lucas and ana's story. i'm glad i got to share a bit about lucas here. i love that undead hottie. i'm happy to hang out and answer any questions anyone might have!
ReplyDeleteRanda thank you so much for hanging out here at One Book Shy today. I've enjoyed it and am looking forward to more! Good luck on the tour and with the upcoming stories.
DeleteDo you love or hate rollercoasters?
ReplyDeletehate them. i can't imagine paying for the privilege of being shaken around until my butt and hips are sore, having my stomach tossed into my throat, and fearing for my life. i bowed to peer pressure to ride some when i was a teen, but i've, thankfully, outgrown that stage these days! my oldest two kids, however, seem to enjoy them. i think perhaps they aren't really mine...
DeleteMai you have the BEST questions!!
DeleteThanks for the extra facts about Lucas. It's interesting that he wasn't intended as the original male lead, but he sounds like he and Ana fit together better.
ReplyDeletei'm not sure if you can say that i took him out of the story or if it's more accurate that i took ana out and put her into a new one. the book changed quite a bit from start to finish, so it's kind of hard to say. she and lucas are definitely a much better fit, though. i love them together.
DeleteI'm fascinated by the idea of an agency of paranormal investigators. I love Ana's snarky sense of humor. Mainly because it's much like my own.i look forward to more books in this series.
ReplyDeletehi, stella! thanks for stopping by. and i can definitely see you as ana in a film version!
DeleteSounds like a good read.
ReplyDeletethanks, rita. glad you stopped by!
DeleteEnjoyed the post, sounds like a terrific book, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletethanks, eva, for stopping by and for the comment! good luck in the drawing.
DeleteWhat's something unique about living in China?
ReplyDeletelol. everything about living in china has been a rather unique experience! it's so different from what i'm used to in the states. i'd say the strangest to me, though, would be the toilets and the difference in what they consider rude and acceptable. the toilets are usually porcelain holes in the ground that you have to squat over (public toilets, at least, thank goodness, so i can just wait until i get home!).
Deleteoh, and the traffic. that's a big one. when i visit the states a couple times a year, i have to remind myself that i have to follow traffic laws again. then i come back and have to remind myself not to.
DeleteSounds fantastic! I enjoyed the guest post!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping in Betty. I really enjoyed her post too.
Deletethanks, betty! lucas deserved some love, i thought!
DeleteGood guest post and good excerpt - this sounds like a fun book. Thanks for the giveaway
ReplyDeleteGlad you stopped by Maria! I think this is going to be a fun series of books too.
Deletethanks, maria, for stopping by and for the comment! i loved lucas and wanted to throw a little love his way. he and ana were a great couple and it was fun writing their story. good luck with the giveaway!
Deletesorry, thought i posted a reply! if it posts twice, that just means it's extra special.
Deletethanks, maria! i love sharing some about lucas. he and ana are great together. good luck with the giveaway!
Great post, sounds like a book I'll enjoy. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletehi, victoria. thanks for stopping by and giving lucas some love!
DeleteA great excerpt thank you.
ReplyDeletethank you, mary. i really loved these early scenes in the book. to be honest, i wrote the first few chapters before i made the outline and just let them lead me and set the tone. they actually directed the rest of the story since i wrote them completely "blind".
Delete