Falling with Grace Under Pressure by Jody Vitek

Please join me in welcoming Jody Vitek as our guest Rose today. Jody will be drawing two lucky readers to receive an eBook of Florida Heat. Thanks, Jody!

I’d like to thank The Roses for letting this water lily pop in for a visit. I’m so excited to announce the release of my third book, Texas Two Step, by Melange Books. Texas Two Step is a follow-up to my debut release Florida Heat. You first met Chad and Chloe in Florida, but now you get to read their story. This is a stand-alone book and has nothing to do with dancing.

My journey to publication for this book wasn’t my usual trek. Generally, I write at my own pace and submit the book to my publisher when it’s finished, but this time I was looking for a little help to pick up my slow writing pace. I wanted another book released by the end of 2015, so I contacted my publisher, Nancy, to see what it would take to light the fire under my butt.

The fire quickly turned into a bonfire and the panic set in.

Nancy had an opening available for a late November 2014 release in their new Satin Romance line. She asked if she should send a contract.

Holy Smokes!

I’d never written under pressure before. Although I had some of the story written, the completed manuscript would need to be turned in by August first to be released at the slated time. Could I finish a manuscript worthy to send to the editor within the next ... how many months? I had four and a half months to finish writing the book.

Contract signed, it was time to look at how I was going to actually finish by the deadline. I took my goal word count of 60,000 and subtracted the number of words I already had written. Then I printed the next four months of our family’s calendar and crossed out days I could not write, including weekends, and counted the number of days, for two out of the four months, I planned on as writing days. I took the word count number I needed to achieve, divided by the number of days devoted to writing and I had to write a minimum of 500 words per writing day. The other two months would be devoted to editing time to polish the manuscript. I could do this! My minimum daily word count was basically two pages.

Although the story had been started and I basically knew how it was going to end, I didn’t have the ‘in-betweens’ planned out. So I brainstormed the remainder of the book and got to work on writing. The story took off and I was exceeding my daily word count by the hundreds. Having rewards, such as delicious chocolates, for meeting daily goals helps. The manuscript was completed, turned into Nancy ahead of schedule and Texas Two Step is scheduled to release on November 6.
To

Bio

Born and raised in Minnesota, Jody has remained close to home living with her husband of twenty plus years, three children and a cat named Holly. Growing up, she enjoyed reading V.C. Andrews’ the Dollanganger series, starting with Flowers in the Attic, S.E. Hinton, and Stephen King to name a few. Today her tastes run across the board in fiction and non-fiction, in all genres.

She has traveled throughout the United States, to the Bahamas and Cancun, Mexico. Between watching her son’s soccer games, maintaining one of the many scrapbook albums, gardening and being the COO of the Vitek household, she writes contemporary romances.

Contacts and Links

Website: www.jodyvitek.com

Email: info@jodyvitek.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jody-Vitek-Author/142820225824162

Twitter: @JodyVitek
Buy Links for Florida Heat:
Amazon  Melange Books  Barnes and Noble
Watch for the Florida Heat special from Oct. 25 through Nov. 1 - $3.99 at Amazon, B&N and Smashwords. 

Texas Two Step Blurb

Old family ties broken, childhood pain healed and true love revealed—one step at a time.

One phone call sends Chad Rogers back to the one place he’s been avoiding—home. Being at his mother’s side after she was shot, he faces the younger brother who tormented him during childhood and his ex-lover, Chloe Atwood. The reality of his feelings for her is stronger than ever and he confesses his love to Chloe.

Chloe Atwood is engaged to marry a family childhood friend. Chad Rogers steps back into her world, spinning it off its axis. His presence has her seeing her fiancé in a different light, leaving her to question their future life together. (Check Jody's Web site for where you can get Texas Two Step on November 6)

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Memories of a Farm Inspire a Novel by Jody Vitek

Roses and Readers, join me in welcoming Jody Vitek to our site today.

Thank you, Brenda and fellow Roses, for having me here today. It’s great to be back to share my latest release, Rescue Me, a contemporary romance set in Minnesota.

The idea of this book came from wonderful childhood memories of visiting my great aunt and uncle, my second cousins and their grandparents. Grandma and grandpa, as my brother and I called them, lived on the farm in a small separate home a few steps from the old farm house. They had cows and chickens, and if memory serves me correctly, pigs too, and farmed acres of land.

Farmland is being eaten up by new housing developments throughout the state and it saddens me because where else will we get our crops. But, most children don’t know what a farm smells or looks like other than what they see in pictures. My great aunt still owns some of the farm, and I have taken my children to see where I spent some of my time as a youth. Unfortunately, the barn and farm house have been condemned for safety reasons, but they enjoyed seeing it all. They were a bit envious that I got to experience the farm and they didn’t.

At the Minnesota Zoo, visitors can experience and learn more about farming and farm life, but it’s not the same as living it. Okay, so I didn’t truly live a farmer’s life but more so than my kids ever will. There’s nothing better than smelling the pungent odor of manure or hay bales in the hay loft. So maybe there are other, better smells than those but they always remind me of my childhood and bring a smile to my face.

Do you have a childhood smell or memory that makes you smile? Leave a comment, with your email, for a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift card.

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At this time, Rescue Me is only available through the publisher, Melange Books, LLC. Look for it later at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other sites.

You can find Jody on Facebook: Jody Vitek Author, on Twitter: @JodyVitek and you can email her at: info@jodyvitek.com

Bio:

Born and raised in Minnesota, Jody remains close to home, living with her husband of more than twenty years as well as three children and a cat named Holly. Growing up, she enjoyed reading V.C. Andrews' Dollanganger series, S.E. Hinton and Stephen King to name a few.

She’s traveled throughout the United States, to the Bahamas and Cancun, Mexico. Between watching soccer games, scrapbooking and being the COO of the Vitek household, she writes contemporary romances.

Excerpt:

Sunday morning Catherine strolled to the barn. Opening the red wooden door, the strong smell of fresh hay engulfed her. Her senses came to life. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. The memory of children’s laughter played in her mind. Eyes opened to see the rope hanging from the rafters where they would swing and drop into the hay piles.

Eyes down now, shuffling along the floor, she remembered the trap door that led into the stalls below. The well-worn iron ring was cold to the touch. She lifted the heavy door by the ring, letting it fall back with a thud on to the wood floor. Peering through the opening to the cement floor below, she missed the sounds of cows, pigs and chickens. Nothing but emptiness now.

Despite the silence, she heard something. And it wasn’t her imagination.

Mewing from the haystacks. At the edge of the stacks, straining to hear for a sense of what direction to look, she climbed and moved to the left. There they were—a litter of kittens. She guessed them to be at least four weeks old. Mama cat wasn’t around, probably out hunting for food. Catherine wouldn’t intrude on the small family; however, she would periodically check on them.

Outside, she hopped down over the wood retaining wall where the slope was, as the barn was built into a hill. Although there were no cows, the aroma of manure was present when she strolled through the lower level of the barn. Her hand ran along the round metal gates of the cow stalls. This would’ve been the horses’ new home. Saddened by the thought, she exited the barn.

She hustled up the slight incline, approached the swing and yanked the heavy ropes to test them. A little weight on the seat and a tight grip on the side ropes, in case the seat failed, she kicked out and set the swing in motion.

The old school bus parked by the shed caught her attention. She and the foster kids had played school in the thing for hours on end and take turns being the bus driver. Catherine smiled at the memory. They all loved pretending to drive and pull the lever to open the door, which would make the Stop sign pop out from the side.

Guest Jody Vitek Shares Halloween Memories

Jody Vitek

I would like to thank Laura and all the Roses here at The Roses of Prose blog for hosting me today. And of all days, Halloween. Are you superstitious? Do you attend any costume parties? Do you go out with your child(ren), stay home to hand out candy or avoid the entire night of events?

Like most children, I lived for Halloween and the hordes of candy I would collect. I loved dressing up in costumes my mother would create. The one costume I seemed to wear more often than not was a witch’s costume. My mother would rat my long blonde hair to give me the scraggly appearance we all imagined witches had. (I’ve grown up and have a different opinion about witches.) I hated coming home at the end of the evening to brush out the tangled mess on top of my head. Many tears were shed as the brush worked its way through my hair.

My father would take us out trick-or-treating while my mother stayed home to pass the candy out in her Native American maiden costume that she made. If memory serves me correctly, my father would drive us most of the time because there would be snow on the ground. And lots of it! Nowadays, my Halloweens are spent going out with my own children around the neighborhood, but minus the car and snow. Sure, we’ve had snow a few times, but nothing like when I was a kid.

And of course there’s always the scary movies to watch. Do you like a thriller, like the well-known Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho? Do you like suspense, like Jaws? Or are you a horror fan, like The Exorcist. To me they all go into one category – scare the pants off me. I have a love hate relationship with movies of this nature.

You won’t find the holiday of Halloween in my book Florida Heat, but you will find just a touch of suspense. The hero and heroine can’t have the perfect relationship now, can they? In my current work in progress there is no scare factor, but I take my hero and heroine on a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

Do you have a favorite childhood costume or story about Halloween? What are your plans for the evening? Leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win a small gift.

 

Maggie Carlisle thought she left her ex-husband’s drug life behind in Texas. Left with a physical scar, she struggles to shed the emotional pain and falls in love with Trent Randall. But, Kevin Shaw, a man from her past, looks for revenge through Maggie. Emotional blackmail forces her to choose between true love with Trent or a life based on lies and deception with Kevin.

Trent Randall, a boarding and breeding ranch owner and offshore powerboat driver, loses focus of his racing when Maggie enters his life. Trent contemplates whether Maggie’s worth the danger after he is involved in a racing accident. Trent can’t help but let his heart lead the way when he finds out Maggie’s in trouble.

 

EXCERPT: Austin General Hospital would be short a nurse today. Maggie Nash went to bed last night with more than a fever, thanks to her best friend Chloe Atwood who had been kind enough to share her flu germs. She opened one eye then the other. Red glowing numbers pierced the darkness like a black cat’s eyes in a dark back alley.

Heavy lined drapes over a room darkening shade covered the windows, keeping any light from streaming in. Her eyes adjusted, and she strained to see the clock—two-seventeen in the afternoon. Her husband Mike would be working at the hospital pharmacy for another three hours. She wondered how he was holding up since she disturbed his sleep on and off all night. He had asked if he could do anything for her. But when you’re sick with the flu, there’s not much anyone can do that would help.

Legs stretched and bent, along with her arms, as though she were Frankenstein coming to life. Her stomach ached, and her side muscles strained when she sat upright. On the edge of the bed, she slid her feet into slippers, put on her robe and walked out of the room into the peace and quiet of her home.

A thick arm grabbed her around the waist. She screamed and wiggled in the crushing embrace. A leather-gloved hand cupped tightly over her mouth. Her screams silenced. She continued to twist in the intruder’s arms. A hand spread from the bottom of her breast to the top of her hip.

Her captor’s cupped hand on her face forced her back into his chest. A thick blunt object pushed in at the middle of her back. She gasped and her back arched. A gun?

 

Born and raised in Minnesota, Jody has remained close to home living with her husband of twenty plus years, three children and a cat named Holly. Growing up, she enjoyed reading V.C. Andrews' the Dollanganger series, starting with Flowers in the Attic, S.E. Hinton, and Stephen King to name a few.

She has traveled throughout the United States, to the Bahamas and Cancun, Mexico. Between watching soccer games, scrapbooking and being the COO of the Vitek household, she writes contemporary romances.