Meet Casey Lowe, my hero in the works. He hails from my latest story entitled "Party For Two", a super-spicy romance I'm targeting at Harlequin Blaze.
Casey Lowe is a 34-year-old attorney in California with an eye on making partner. He wants Danielle Hampton, but only for a fling, because he doesn’t do relationships. And definitely not with his boss’s daughter. He’d made that mistake once and he doesn’t plan on doing it again, but he needs Dani’s help to land a client. This takes them to Palm Springs and some pretty steamy moments. Dani has a way of tying him in knots, making him want things he shouldn’t want, especially when sooner or later everyone he cares about leaves him. But for now, Casey is enjoying the fun. And lawyer turned pregnancy model, Dani, is a whole lot of fun!
Photo of Lionel Clerc borrowed from http://sight-management.com/gallery/model/1473-lionel-clerc
For a while, I've wanted to target Harlequin's Blaze line. I don't know what stopped me. Perhaps the time wasn't right, or maybe it was the friend who told me Blaze was looking for dark stories a while back. Whatever prevented me from trying seemed to have passed when I heard about the #BlazeBlitz submission call just a few days before the closing date in March this year. I knew it was time to finally focus my attention on this line. Blaze seems to have changed once again. Where they were looking for dark stories, they now seem to have left such tales behind and are publishing lighter stuff. The type of fun stories I write and love to read.
So, with a pounding heart, and shaking hand I submitted my chapter and synopsis and received a revise and resubmit. I'm pretty thrilled that the editor liked my writing style and my voice. I feel like I'm halfway there if they like my style and voice.
This morning I hit the submit button over at Submittable. Now the wait begins again. Strangely, I'm not nervous this time. I feel like what's the point of making myself sick? They will either like my story or they won't. They'll either ask to see more or they won't.
Whatever happens, I know I can give myself a pat on the back for trying. That sounds like a nothing pat on the back, but when you factor in my internal conflict of fear of rejection and my awful character trait of not even trying if I suspect I might fail, I think I do deserve that lovely pat on my back as I say to myself: Well done, Monique. You've tried.
My other news is that The Wild Rose Press offered me a contract for my story which will be part of their new Candy Heart series. I'm so thrilled about this! I totally enjoyed telling Riley and Sam's story and can't wait to see it on the virtual shelves next year.
It's been a while, and I say this all of the time, but I'll be seeing more of you as I put extra effort into regularly updating my blog.
As always...
Love & hugs
Monique
Image used thanks to FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Casey Lowe is a 34-year-old attorney in California with an eye on making partner. He wants Danielle Hampton, but only for a fling, because he doesn’t do relationships. And definitely not with his boss’s daughter. He’d made that mistake once and he doesn’t plan on doing it again, but he needs Dani’s help to land a client. This takes them to Palm Springs and some pretty steamy moments. Dani has a way of tying him in knots, making him want things he shouldn’t want, especially when sooner or later everyone he cares about leaves him. But for now, Casey is enjoying the fun. And lawyer turned pregnancy model, Dani, is a whole lot of fun!
