AUTHORS – Page 40 – Jenn J McLeod – small-town storyteller

Posted on 01/02/201310/01/2016 by Jenn J McLeod — 10 Comments

Author Harvest ‘bales up’ Kate Belle

Say g’day to Kate Belle. I first discovered Kate through her ‘other’ blog AND LOVE IT! Witty, real-life revelations, slightly wicked and good fun.

And wasn’t I delighted to discover Kate will also be published later in the year with Simon & Schuster Australia. The big, wide, wonderful world of publishing just got smaller and more exciting. (Watch out for The Yearning.)

What a treat to catch up with her now on Author Harvest to celebrate Kate’s e-publishing success to date.

So, Kate, is it scones and tea or some other homemade delight you have whipped up for me today?

Take a deep breath. Nigella Lawson’s chocolate cherry trifle with homemade chocolate egg custard, fresh cherries and lashings of whipped, feathery cream, all topped with dark chocolate shavings. Pure sensual indulgence. Served with dark, brewed coffee. Sugar if you must.

(You had me at Nigella!)

At home with…

My mum says garden gnomes make a house a home! Are you loud and proud in your love of garden gnomes at home, a closet gnomer or with a strict ‘no gnomes’ policy at your place?

I love a garden gnome – as long as he’s muscular and naked!

(Harvest regulars will remember I have a ‘cheeky’ gnome with a cute tooshy! Does that count, Kate?)

What vegetable (or fruit) have you always wanted to grow at home?

Peaches. The way the juice runs down your chin….mmmmm.

If I came to your home and looked in the refrigerator, what would I find?

Lots of fresh vegies (I’m vegetarian). Always a cold bottle of champagne. Leftovers (never waste a thing.)

(From dripping peach juice to vegies and leftovers! And I expected strawberries and cream with flashbacks to Micky Rourke and Kim Basinger in ’91/2 Weeks’.)

(For those who dare admit to remembering 91/2 Weeks, do you think that refrigerator scene was sexy or sorta icky?)

If you sorted your wardrobe by colour, Kate, what colour would stand out? (Ahh, do you sort your wardrobe by colour?!)

Sorting a wardrobe??? Sorry?? Do people do that? Although I do have all my sexy stuff in one drawer.

(Mmm, yeah, I know what you mean. I have all my sexy stuff in a … Wait, I don’t have any sexy stuff.)

What are you wearing now? (Be honest!)

Honest? But I’m a writer. I thrive on exaggeration. Something satiny, swishy fabric, a g-string? (My beloved introduced me and I wear nothing else now. Sorry – maybe you didn’t need to know that…)

(Correct. I did not need to know that! Now I am having flashbacks of Micky Rourke sucking on strawberries and cream and in a g-string!)

Whose home would you like to housesit and why?

Some romantic villa in a warm climate with a fragrant garden and a view of the ocean. As long as there was someone to cook for me too, and give me massages…

(Good idea to stick to warm climates if all you wear is a g-string, Kate!)

Country curiosities…

We love a sunburnt country (slip, slop, slap and all that). What’s your ideal hat? Or are you a boots person?

I LOVE BOOTS. Long, leather ones with zips. Makes men take a girl seriously.

(Now I can visualise Micky Rourke sucking on strawberries, in a g-string, and singing Nancy Sinatra “These boot are made for walking… and that’s just what they’ll do…)

If you were a tree (or animal) what kind of tree (animal) would you be?

Probably a tigress – kinda sleek and sexy and a little bit dangerous.

Now for the big question… Why did the chicken cross the road?

Because it has a brain the size of a pea.

(Oh, that’s a little harsh!)

About you…

Your turning point: when was that point in your life that you realized that being an author was no longer going to be just a dream but a reality and a career?

September 2012 when my public service Voluntary Departure Package and my publishing contract for my novel, The Yearning, arrived on the same day. Just signed them both, grinning like a demon, and sent them back.

(Woo hoo you! That is THE best story – EVA!)

What is the hardest part of writing for you?

Guilt. Leaving my family to entertain themselves while I immerse myself in words.

If someone was to write your biography, what do you think the title should be?

‘She lied, but it was worth it.’

What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview? How would you answer that question?

Q: How do you keep looking so young?

A: Awww shucks, you silver tongued flatterer.

Fun stuff …

What does your protagonist think about you? Would he or she want to hang out with you, the author, his/her creator.

I’ll let you in on a secret – Ramon (Breaking The Rules) is my lover. He can’t keep his hands off me.

If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?

Marilyn Monroe – imagine living in THAT body for a week – oh the fun I’d have!

(Oh the fun Ramon would have!)

(I’m almost afraid to ask the next question…)

If I said to you, “Just entertain me for five minutes, I’m not going to talk,” what would you do?

Tell you funny stories about my fur-babies, Bear the Wonderdog (Border Collie x Samoyd) and Belle the Greyhound.

(OMG! A dog story! Well, that’s just paw-fect!)

What food would you be?

Refer morning tea.

What was the best thing before sliced bread?

Certain parts of the male anatomy – Hey! I’m talking about eyes – boy, you guys have dirty minds!

(Hah! So says, Miss Pure Sensual Indulgence dessert with the sexy clothes drawer, g-string fetish and “kinda sleek, sexy and a little bit dangerous disposition”. And let’s not forget about Ramon!)

Name 5 uses for a stapler that has not staple pins.

If you can’t eat it, wear it or kiss it, it’s useless. Chuck the damned thing out.

(LOL – Best answer yet!)

How weird are you? Rate yourself on a scale of 1 (not) to 10 (very).

Let’s say 10. That way you might be pleasantly surprised when you meet me.

(I’m sure I will be and I hope I do one day soon. What a year you are having. All the best and thanks for joining Author Harvest.)

Find out more about Kate Belle and her books

Website: www.ecstasyfiles.com
Twitter: @ecstasyfiles
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/KateBelle.x

Kate’s books – blurbs

Breaking the Rules

The first in a series of erotic novellas, featuring different women whose lives are changed by Ramon Mendez, a handsome, charismatic lover…
Grace is a beautiful woman in complete control of her world. A long time ago she chose a career over children and marriage, and has never regretted it.
Then Ramon Mendez walks into her office.
Ramon is about to commence his PhD, a work on erotic literature, and from the outset there is something about him that makes Grace’s blood run hot. Aware of the need to maintain her professional reputation, she rejects his subtle advances, but he persists. And during their intimate supervision sessions, her defences start to crumble. Ramon’s ‘work’ is about to expose desires within Grace she never knew existed…

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Rules-Random-Romance-ebook/dp/B00ANG3YLS/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_1
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/breaking-the-rules/id587669259?mt=11

Bloom

The second in a series of erotic novellas, each featuring different women whose lives are changed by Ramon Mendez, a handsome, charismatic lover of women…
Thirty-six-year-old Emma’s life looks perfect. She loves her straight-laced husband Gary, who has given her three beautiful children and a secure life. But something is missing. Gary hardly notices her anymore and she feels frumpy and invisible.
Her friend, Lisa, talks her into joining a social boot camp class. Emma immediately recognises their instructor as the gorgeous runner she sees each evening while walking her dog in the park. He introduces himself as Ramon Mendez. In spite of herself Emma is besotted.
Before long her mind is filled with guilty fantasies of him. One evening, when things at home have become too much to bear, she bumps into him alone in the park. An opportunity presents itself and no one need ever know. Ramon promises and delivers everything that’s missing from her marriage – passion, romance and excitement – but Emma must discover if they are the things she really wants.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Bloom-Random-Romance-ebook/dp/B00ANG3YKY/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_1
iBooks: http://itunes.apple.com/au/book/bloom/id587669283?mt=11

The Yearning – Coming in April/May 2013 from Simon & Schuster Australia

It’s 1978 in a country town and a dreamy fifteen year old girl’s world is turned upside down by the arrival of the substitute English teacher. Solomon Andrews is beautiful, inspiring and she wants him like nothing else she’s wanted in her short life.

Charismatic and unconventional, Solomon easily wins the hearts and minds of his third form English class. He notices the attention of one girl, his new neighbour, who has taken to watching him from her upstairs window. He assumes it a harmless teenage crush, until the erotic love notes begin to arrive.

Solomon knows he must resist, but her sensual words stir him. He has longings of his own, although they have nothing to do with love, or so he believes. One afternoon, as he stands reading her latest offering in his driveway, she turns up unannounced. They must make a decision and its consequences will haunt them until they meet again twenty five years later.

Posted on 22/01/201331/12/2014 by Jenn J McLeod — 12 Comments

Author Harvest ‘bales up’ Tony Park~adventurer extraordinaire

You don’t get much blokey than my token Author Harvest bloke – a leopard loving, rhino revering, Tony Park

So Tony, tell me, is it scones and tea or some other homemade delight you have whipped up for me today?

Beer and biltong (dried beef or game meat. An acquired taste, but addictive once you’ve fallen)

(Ahh, gee, thanks, you shouldn’t have. I’ll have to pass and take your word for it! New Years resolution to lose weight, you know … )

At home…

My mum says garden gnomes make a house a home! Are you loud and proud in your love of garden gnomes at home, a closet gnomer or with a strict ‘no gnomes’ policy at your place?

My wife, Nicola, and I live in a two bedroom flat in Sydney for six months of the year, so no room for gnomes there – our flat is full of carved wooden giraffes, rhinos, elephants and other African creatures. In Africa we’re on the road a lot of the time, but also recently bought a holiday house in a game reserve. We have a leopard that loiters out the back of our house so a gnome wouldn’t last a night.

(I knew I was going to love this Harvest!)

What vegetable (or fruit) have you always wanted to grow at home?

I don’t eat enough of either, but I do like tomatoes fresh off the vine. (They do grow on vines, right?).

(Yes, Tony! Can’t believe this man knows the mating ritual of the rhino but not how a tomato grows.)

If I came to your home and looked in the refrigerator, what would I find?

In the flat in Sydney, not much. In the house in South Africa enough beer, wine and red meat to feed an army – our nearest supermarket is 40km away.

(Ha! Beer and wine – hold the meat – and you are talking my language!)

If you sorted your wardrobe by colour, what colour would stand out? (Ahh, do you sort your wardrobe by colour?!)

Green. We do wear a lot of safari clothes in Africa, not so much to blend into the bush, although you don’t want to be wearing bright red around an angry buffalo, (Oh, right, yes or course. Why didn’t I think of that?) but because it hides the dust. (Hmm, yes, hiding the dust would be my number one reason for not wearing red.)

What are you wearing now? (Be honest!)

Running shorts, T-shirt and runners. I’m in Sydney now and have just been for a run to the beach. This is the best thing about being back home in Sydney – the beach that is, not the running.

Whose home would you like to housesit and why?

Wilbur Smith’s so I could know how the other half lives.

(Nine books, Mr Park! You must be getting into the swing of things by now. PS. You have THE best covers–stunning.)

Country curiosities…

We love a sunburnt country (slip, slop, slap and all that). What’s your ideal hat? Or are you a boots person?

I’m usually a green baseball cap person in Africa, but I also have the camouflage bush hat I wore when I served with the Army in Afghanistan back in 2002. It reminds me of how good it is to be home.

If you were a tree (or animal) what kind of tree (animal) would you be?

I identify strongly with the white rhino – pudgy, skinny legs, poor eyesight, but likeable and generally placid. Tree-wise my favourite is the African Leadwood which, like me, grows very tall.

(Hmmm — pudgy, skinny legs, poor eyesight, but likeable and generally placid!)

Now for the big question… Why did the chicken cross the road?

Because my resident leopard was after him.

About you…

Your turning point: when was that point in your life that you realized that being an author was no longer going to be just a dream but a reality and a career?

I was in Afghanistan with the army, in 2002, when I got an email from Pan Macmillan telling me my first book, Far Horizon, was going to be published. All I’d wanted to do with my life for as long as I could remember was write books and at that moment I knew I’d not only fulfilled a dream, but that this was all I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

(That’s a wonderful call story.)

What is the hardest part of writing for you?

I don’t find writing hard at all. I hate getting to the end of a book and saying goodbye to it. I also agonise when I submit it to the publishers and wait to hear back.

If someone was to write your biography, what do you think the title should be?

I like my life.

What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview? How would you answer that question?

Question: Are the sex scenes in your book based on real life experiences?

Answer: I wish.

(Well, having just read a particular scene in African Dawn I don’t think I will look at motor bikes in quite the same way again. I also now feel incredibly old … and inflexible!)

Fun stuff …

What does your protagonist think about you? Would he or she want to hang out with you, the author, his/her creator.

I don’t have a favourite of all the protagonists in all nine of my novels, but I like to think we would all get on famously over a couple of beers or red wines. They might even see a little bit of me in them, except for Sonja Kurtz, from The Delta, who is hot.

If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?

Robert Mugabe, tyrannical president of Zimbabwe. I’d hand over power to the opposition (who won it rightfully at the last election), resign from office and hand myself in to the international criminal court and plead for mercy for all of the crimes I committed in my more than 30 years of misrule. Hopefully I’d be locked away for the rest of my life.

(Beautifully put.)

I am almost too terrified to ask…. If I said to you, “Just entertain me for five minutes, I’m not going to talk,” what would you do?

Sing you some Elvis. I do like to sing and I love Karaoke, but the problem is I’m not good at it. You would not be entertained, unless you had ear plugs (my moves are sensational).

(Sensational moves with “pudgy, skinny legs”. You’re eyesight is obviously worse than you thought. I’m guessing I won’t be getting ‘All Shook Up’ any time soon.)

What food would you be?

Kudu steak, medium rare (it’s a big African antelope, and very tasty).

(You mean it was a big African antelope. Did I mention the no meat thing yet?)

What was the best thing before sliced bread?

Kudu biltong.

(Perhaps I didn’t mention the vegetarian thing strongly enough!)

Name 5 uses for a stapler that has not staple pins.

(I can’t believe Tony didn’t answer this question. I mean, there must be a dozen or more uses for such a device while on an African safari.)

How weird are you out of ten – with 1 (not) to 10 (very).

8.5. I just bought a house in South Africa while tens of thousands of people are trying to leave. I love it there, and I love having a leopard out the back of my house. I just wish the lions would visit more often. Is that weird?

(Yes. You win!)

What a great sport. Thank you….

Leave a comment: Let’s tell Tony how a stapleless stapler might come in handy on African safari.

Tony’s website is quite something: www.tonypark.net
Blog: www.tonyparkblog.blogspot.com

Posted on 14/01/201302/12/2014 by Jenn J McLeod — 25 Comments

Author Harvest ‘bales up’ Lily Malone

I believe I may have met my match.

Lily Malone is one witty, wine-loving, lady. I am so glad I found her lurking on her blog (a blog that is littered with gold, BTW.)

Trouble is, every time I see her name I start singing Lili Marlène* over and over in my head. (For Gen X and Y – it’s an old Vera Lynn, WWII… oh, just forget it and watch the clip – or not.)

Okay, Lily, now I have that out of the way, start by telling me if it’s scones and tea or some other homemade delight you have whipped up for me today.

Hubby has previously described my attempt at muffins as “like ice-hockey pucks” and I dread to think what I might do to a scone… but I am a QUEEN of chocolate brownies. And in particular I make a white chocolate and cherry brownie (sometimes with crushed hazelnuts) that is kind of gooey and almost tea-cakey-chewy (very un-brownie like) but dang, it’s DIVINE!

(After so many Author Harvest posts I’ve learned not to be fussy, so… Plate ’em up, Lil!)

At home …

My mum says garden gnomes make a house a home! Are you loud and proud in your love of garden gnomes at home, a closet gnomer or with a strict ‘no gnomes’ policy at your place?

No gnomes here. I do have an African lady that was a wedding present. (Here’s a photo). The idea is to put your keys in the basket on her head so if you forget your keys, you can always get in the house. Oops. Do any potential burglars read Author Harvest?

(Nah. You’re safe here. Anything about the family jewels you’d like to add, though?!)

What vegetable (or fruit) have you always wanted to grow at home?

Good tomatoes. I have struggled to grow tomatoes. They generally come out looking all Bonsai. But dare I say, this year I have thrown everything into the soil and so far, they are looking fab. One is VERY close to being picked.

(Is that it? The one behind you in the profile pic above? Well, I hope you enjoy it. I hate to tell you but I have tomato bushes just pop up every season on their own so I have to make chutney!)

If I came to your home and looked in the refrigerator, what would I find?

Yikes! Right now there is a bottle of Jansz bubbles. Coopers Pale Ale. Coopers Stout. There are vegetables in the crisper which are probably the floppy side of crisp. Lots of condiments and a homemade muesli slice which, incidentally, I probably could also have shared for you with the white choc-cherry brownie I mentioned above. But the brownie is more glam, and for you Jenn, glam is the go!

(Lily, as I mentioned to Jaye Ford the other day on Facebook. As one ages, one needs to avoid making reference to anything being ‘floppy’.)

If you sorted your wardrobe by colour, what colour would stand out? (Ahh, do you sort your wardrobe by colour?!)

Definitely not a wardrobe sorter. Black would probably dominate. I’m also a bit of a purple/burgundy kind of girl. I own nothing orange and nothing green.

(Hmm? What was that you said? Burgundy? Why, yes, pour me a glass!)

What are you wearing now? (Be honest!)

It’s about 37 degrees in Adelaide today, so it’s a little blue sundress that my sister (who loves shopping and buys brilliant presents) gave me for Christmas last year (2012).

Whose home would you like to housesit and why?

Someone like Gai Waterhouse or Bart Cummings or Peter Moody. Actually, make that Peter Moody. I am a Black Caviar freak and I’d love to see memorabilia of all these amazing horses. If Peter Moody’s house looked over the paddocks and Black Caviar was out there… that would be pretty amazing. But any rural/horsey/paddocky type thing would do.

Country curiosities…

We love a sunburnt country (slip, slop, slap and all that). What’s your ideal hat? Or are you a boots person?

I love hats. The widest brim straw hat I have always blows off in the wind, which may mean my head is not big enough. (Some would argue this fact). But I really love wearing beanies in winter and I have quite a few.

If you were a tree (or animal) what kind of tree (animal) would you be?

I don’t know about tree. But I was asked what animal I’d be many, many moons ago at a Nutrimetics party of all places, and I said if I was an animal, I’d like to be an Otter. Go figure.

Now for the big question… Why did the chicken cross the road?

She saw Timothy Olyphant on the other side.

About you…

Your turning point: when was that point in your life that you realized that being an author was no longer going to be just a dream but a reality and a career?

This is very very recent for me. In fact I still don’t think I can call it a “career”. But my biggest turning point was when a scene from His Brand Of Beautiful finaled in the RWA First Kiss competition in 2012. When Kasey from RWA rang me up to tell me, I was just blown away. It was the first time anyone who I felt “knew” the romance genre and so, made a good judge, gave me an indication that what I was doing was actually any good. (Or even potentially good – it still had a heck of a long way to go at that point). But I think this was a moment where I thought, okay, if I work and work and work… maybe I can just do this.

(And you did! It’s all official today, I believe. Fantastic.)

What is the hardest part of writing for you?

Finding the time. I have two young kids and I work part-time. It isn’t exactly the ‘time’ itself that is the hard part, but it’s quality time. I have struggled a lot with feeling that my writing is selfish time, and that I should be putting those hours to cutting out and colouring in and painting pictures with the kids… I really am not that type of crafty mum. And I’m a bit of a procrastinator. But once I get stuck in, I’m fairly disciplined.

(Not “THAT type of crafty mum”! So what sort of ‘crafty’ mum are you exactly?)

If someone was to write your biography, what do you think the title should be?

Lily Malone: Glass Half Full

(Ha! Love it! I’m definitely more full bottle. What? Why are you laughing?)

What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview? How would you answer that question?

I can’t think of one! I have actually been the answer to a Hockey Club quiz night question once. Does that count?

(Was the question something to do with you puck-like muffins?)

Fun stuff …

What does your protagonist think about you? Would he or she want to hang out with you, the author, his/her creator.

Christina Clay would find my fashion sense very boring, but she would love my hats and we would drink beautiful champagne together.

If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?

Do you know? I think it might be Lady Di, or possibly if it was now, Kate Middleton. Just to see what it was like being a princess. That lifestyle is so far from mine…

If I said to you, “Just entertain me for five minutes, I’m not going to talk,” what would you do?

Pop the cork on a bottle of Moet. I have two in the pantry right now, waiting for the day my book is released! But if you twist my arm, I’ll make an exception for you! (Ouch! That was a hard twist, Jenn!)

(I BYO’d Lily. Here you go. Today is the champagne occasion. Cheers to Escape Publishing for having the good sense to see your talent.)

What food would you be?

I love making icecream cakes… I’m not much of a baker otherwise, (outside of the Brownies in Q1 above). I think I’d be something vanilla-ish, with a chocolate swirl of crushed-up Flake and Tim Tams and with a couple of fresh cherries artfully plonked on top. I like artfully plonking.

(Yes, plonking much more acceptable than flopping!)

What was the best thing before sliced bread?

Mel Gibson in Braveheart, or perhaps Brad Pitt in Troy. Or no! Definitely Russell Crowe in Gladiator.

(So, men in skirts do it for you, huh?)

Name 5 uses for a stapler that has not staple pins.

My stapler rarely has pins. The kids are forever emptying them.

How weird are you? Rate yourself on a scale of 1 (not) to 10 (very).

I don’t think I’m weird, not really. So I’d go with a 2.

Thank you Lily, and congratulations on your contract.

Folks, if you aren’t already subscribed to Lil’s blog, do. She brightens a day and makes for fun procrastination moments. www.lilymalone.wordpress.com

Here is the blurb about her debut novel – for release March 2013

His Brand Of Beautiful – Lily Malone
When marketing strategist Tate Newell first meets wine executive Christina Clay he has one goal in mind: tell Christina he wont design the new brand for Clay Wines. Tell her: Thanks but no thanks. So long, good night.

But Tate is a sucker for a damsel in distress and when a diary mix-up leaves Christina in his debt, he gets more than he bargained for.

What does a resourceful girl do when the best marketing brain in the business wont play ball? She bluffs. She cheats. And she ups the ante. But when the stakes get too high, does anybody win?

Falling in love was never part of this branding brief.
His Brand Of Beautiful will be published by Harlequin Escape in March
For more information or to contact Lily, visit www.lilymalone.wordpress.com