Down Under with Angelina Rose - The Eyes of Love (Book Tour & Giveaway)

Welcome to BK Walker Books Etc. I'm so happy you could join me today at St Ives, a suburb of Sydney, in N.S.W., Australia. I've always wanted to go to Australia, so, thank you so much!

BK: Looking out the nearest window, describe the scene you see.

I live in the mountains … when I look to my right I overlook a Reserve, so I see trees, trees, and trees … in fact they're Eucalyptus trees but they don't have any koalas in them. Koalas do eat the leaves of the Eucalyptus but only specific ones … in fact only 100 out of the 800 species of Eucalyptus. I get to deal with snakes... although not today; they hibernate in the cooler weather.

BK: Tell us about your office. Is it a mess like mine, or is everything in its place?

It's really not my office, I "borrow" it from my husband. It's half and half… messy in some spots, organised in others. It depends on what I'm working on as to how much mess I have around me.

BK: What is a must-have, such as coffee or a favorite pen, that you need to write?

I do enjoy coffee to sip on while I'm writing. Sometimes though I prefer water with a splash of lemon.

I must admit I like my 2 dogs to sit nearby… and I'm lucky because they like to keep their eyes on me.

BK: Do you like to write in silence, or do you need music or background noise?

Silence just does not work for me. I love to keep up-to-date with the happenings in the world, and I love hearing people's opinions, so I have talk back radio on constantly. Without it, it's too quite and I then don't stay focused on my writing: my mind starts to wonder what is happening out there! I don't think radio announcers would want to be known as background noise, but that's what they are for me.

BK: Tell us a bit about your hero/heroine, and their development.

Sally is the heroine in "The Eyes of Love." In High School Sally experienced constant bullying from a gang of girls led by Stephanie who was dating Colin, the school hunk. In every way the gang stole Sally's confidence. No-one picked up on how she was being bullied, and due to the successful use of force and coercion to abuse and intimidate her, she mentioned none of it to one person, not even her mother.

When Sally completed High School, she left Mill Creek Crossing, studied and became an Attorney. Her best friend at college took her in hand, encouraged her, helped her with caring for herself, showed her how to dress and make herself look attractive. She started to blossom although she remained quite. She dated Richard and married him after just 6 months … she felt so grateful someone loved her, someone thought she was worth loving! Richard's love helped with Sally's healing… sadly Richard was killed leaving her with a young son, David, to care for alone.

Returning to Mill Creek Crossing to attend the 15 Year High School Reunion showed Sally how far she had come. No-one recognised her, she was beautiful and now quite sure of herself. After all, she had to argue for her clients in the courtroom, it was now time for her to argue for herself.

After dealing with Stephanie (the school bully) at the Reunion, it was obvious the "ugly duckling" had become the "beautiful swan" in so many ways. Now she could have and do whatever she set her mind to...

BK: As a writer myself, I'm always curious how other writers get through stumble blocks. When you find a story not flowing, or a character trying to fight you, how do you correct it?

I'm OK once I have the ideas I want to roll with. If I can't come up with anything, when I hit a stumble block, I've learned to close the door and walk away from writing for the day or days, if necessary. Often times I garden and work away the blockage to the flow of the story, by not even thinking about the story or the characters - this works for me. Often my answers come when I'm not consciously thinking about the story or the blockage.

So, it's a change of scenery plus letting all my thoughts about the story go… to concentrate on digging weeds, planting and pruning, or whatever else that needs doing in the garden. Whatever "problem" I have to deal with, I find going outdoors and becoming the gardener is what does the trick for me.

BK: Using the letters of your first name as an acronym, describe your book...

A Adorable main characters are Sally, a widow, and Colin, a divorcee. Colin met up again with Sally when she came back to Mill Creek Crossing for the 15 Year High School Reunion. He was staggered to find beautiful Sally who was

N no longer the "nerd" she claimed she was at High School. Colin was really impressed (putting it mildly), after starting a relationship with Sally to find he could cause her to feel "fireworks" when he was near her. His reaction after kissing Sally …

G "Gosh! Nice to know I can cause fireworks. Wow!" His wife had betrayed him with his best friend, so he was feeling some loss of confidence with how women would feel about him. This is an

E encouraging and inspiring romantic novella showing the "ugly duckling" can become the "beautiful swan" and conquer everything in her path.

L Love at first sight … maybe! There are

I intriguing twists and turns...

N Naughty but nice. It is really

A a sweet love story...

BK: How did your writing journey begin?

As a young girl I constantly made up short stories and poetry about my mother's neighbours and friends. They weren't always impressed though… they didn't always approve of my opinions of them or how I thought they looked!

My mother was a widow and struggled financially so I thought I would find competitions to enter where I had to write a story with the hope of winning the prize of money, or whatever was offered. I won several writing competitions before I was a teen. One prize my mother didn't like was a puppy who I called Sparkle! I ended up having to give him away...

Writing then took a back seat as I studied at High School and University. After qualifying as a Registered Nurse I spent a long period of time in hospital recovering from serious injuries the result of a hit and run. It was then I took up writing again… I entered a couple of my short stories in a competition for the fun of it and the judges liked them. It was then I thought: 'OK, maybe I can write just like Mum'. She used to write short stories and sell them to various Women's magazines.

When I discovered self-publishing was available, I nervously submitted various books to Amazon Kindle. It was a lot of trial and error and I am still learning…

So, my journey began as a young girl who really loved watching people and who made up stories about what was different about each person. Curiosity about people has continued through my life and I find it helps with the creation of characters and story lines…

BK: Using the letters from the word, Summer, how would friends and family describe you?

S Sociable

U Understanding

M Motivated

M Mediator

E Enthusiastic

R Responsible

BK: What is the craziest thing you've ever written about, whether it got published or not?

I find I write the craziest stories when I'm tired, often at the end of the day.

During a trip to Kakadu in the Northern Territory, a state in Australia, where crocodiles abound, I was amazed to hear crocodile eggs were often taken or should I say 'stolen' from the croc nest. This must have really bothered me … after all why would anyone want to get that close to a crocodile, let alone take their eggs! I could understand if this happened in a controlled environment, for example in a Zoo, but not in the wild. After all one of the top messages people are given when they visit the waterways in the NT, they need to be crosswise and stay safe.

I started to write a story about tourists visiting the NT and stealing crocodile eggs to take home as souvenirs. I had the mother crocodile running on her two back legs, chasing after the tourists saying "give me back my babies". I then had the crocodile tracking down the tourists to their homes in the hunt for the return of their eggs, which maybe had already hatched, and were now little crocodiles.

The story started to get crazier and crazier so I stopped writing. My original view was to submit it to the NT Tourist Bureau so they could distribute it and stop people from stealing croc eggs, and becoming crocodile dinner..

The truth of the story is this … the mother crocodile would have eaten the tourists and asked questions later. If you camp too close to the waterways, crocs have been known to come out of the water and visit the campers. Unfortunately, dogs, children and adults have been taken this way because they don't take notice of the signs and almost dare these creatures to come near them. You rarely stand a chance…

So that was one of my crazy storylines. And then there were the pirates ….

BK: Tell us one thing you've done in life, that readers would be most surprised to know.

I was one of the Rocky Horribles in the "Rocky Horror Show" in Sydney. I learned jazz dancing when I was a teen, I loved it. My friend was involved in producing the Rocky Horror Show and he thought I would make a great Rocky Horrible (how should I have taken that?). It was a lot of fun.

BK: What can we expect from you in the future?

I'm currently working on my next book which has a different feel to "The Eyes of Love" and my earlier writing. It is a love story but with a lot more suspense. I love mysteries and working out who done it: I imagine this will come through more in my future writing.

This or That...

Coke or Pepsi? Pepsi

Night Owl or Early Bird? Early Bird

Fantasy or Mystery? Mystery

Pen/Paper or Computer? Computer

Pizza or Burger? Neither. A burger would have a chance if it was a veggie burger though!

Rock or Country? Rock

Chocolate or Vanilla? Vanilla

Beach or Mountains? Beach

Thank you so much for having us as one of your stops today. It has been great getting to know more about you and your book, and wish you the best of success!

About Angelina Rose:

Angelina Rose has wanted to write ever since she could hold a pencil. The first daughter of immigrant parents, Angelina had her head buried in books, lost in a world of heroes, heroines and exotic places.

It was a shocking experience that jump-started Angelina's author career.

"I awoke in the ICU... I had been unconscious for several days," Angelina says.

In 2010, Angelina had a long stint in hospital following her involvement in a motor vehicle accident: the longest time off work (as a Registered Nurse), she'd ever had in her life!

It was then she took up pen and paper and started to write again, just as she had done when she was a child. She wrote four short fiction stories for young adults, entered them in several competitions, and managed to win three first prizes!

After happily dipping her toes into writing those short fiction stories for young adults, Angelina has now authored four books in a new "Mill Creek Crossing Romance" series... contemporary romance intended for adults.

The "Starting Over Series" is another contemporary romance series she wrote about a subject she knows well... nurses and their love life. At a recent reunion of her graduating class, she could not help but notice how the same girls would group together and laugh, chat, and even shed some tears over their lives since graduating. Many of the girls had divorced... so Angelina thought "what if a group of the nurses came up with a plan to meet in two years and have a new love story to share?" Then the first story in the series was born.

There is always a story running around in her head. A man with thick dark hair, gray-blue eyes, with an engaging smile and a quick wit... or a girl crying over a broken relationship. She finds herself talking to these characters during her day: when she's doing dishes, or bathing babies at the hospital. These characters crop up on days at the beach or on walks through the neighborhood. This is how the stories start to grow.
Angelina's mother was an author, so Angelina grew up with a love of words and stories. If she wasn't writing a short story about something that took her fancy, her head was buried in books... reading, reading, reading, as her brother constantly told her...

When she's not spending time with her goodlooking man, or quality time with her laptop, she's working at the hospital, hanging out with her family and friends, or walking her two dogs around the neighborhood. Angelina spends as much time as she can traveling, then coming home and including some of those adventures in her stories.

Angelina really loves to hear from her readers and she invites you to connect with her on Facebook as she interacts daily with her readers there!

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Genre: Romance

Publisher: BookBaby

Release Date: April 26, 2013

Amazon

Book Description:

After a tragic loss five years ago, Sally Overby becomes an Attorney in Atlanta. She convinces herself that all she'll ever need again is her young son, David, and her life as an attorney. Until one day, Colin Dean barges back into her life and promptly blows her safe world apart, driving her crazy as only a guy she'd had a "school girl crush" on can.

Although shocked and thrilled by Colin’s attention, Sally is wary to love deeply. Only, with every loving look Colin gives her plus every sweet kiss, as the attraction between them sparks, she can’t help but wonder if she’s met the one she should be with. And although Colin didn’t realize his life was going to change so quickly, amazingly, he isn’t the least bit interested in fighting that change. Instead, he’s gearing up for a different fight altogether… the one for Sally’s heart.

Will Colin be able to convince her that's it safe to love him... and that forever isn't really out of reach?

Romantic, amusing, and deeply moving, Book 4 in the Mill Creek Crossing Romance Series, is a tale that will stay with you.

The Eyes of Love is a novella… you will be able to enjoy it in just one day!

"Well, if it isn't the handsome Colin Dean," she said fanning herself and smiling. Gracie was older than he was, but he remembered her younger sister, Eva, quite well. They'd all hung out together at parties when they were younger, and Gracie had been a fixture at Stella's for years even though she recently came into some inheritance money.

"Hey, sweetie," he said kissing her on the cheek. Women loved Colin because he made them feel good, and he was always kind. Stephanie hadn't been able to take that away from him.

"I'll never wash this cheek again," she said touching her face and smiling. "How are you, honey?" she asked with a frown.

"Hanging in there."

"I hate to see you so sad, Colin," she said sliding into the booth across from him.

"I'll be fine, Gracie."

"I know you will, but if you ever need to talk..."

"Thank you, but I don't. Not yet anyway. The divorce was finalized last week."

"I'm so sorry about Stephanie, but she was never good enough for you."

"Gracie..." he said shaking his finger at her.

"It's true. Ask anybody. That woman is trouble with a capital T. Always has been," Gracie said, refusing to mince her words. She'd despised Stephanie since she first met her.

"Glad you're always on my side, sweetie," he said rubbing her hand and laughing. "I sure wouldn't want you on my bad side!"

"Good thinking. Oh, crud, I've got a customer," she said as she slid out of the booth and headed back up to the counter.

"Dean!" he heard a voice call from behind him. It was one of his baseball buddies, Cal Erwin. "How are ya, man?"

"Good. Where've you been lately?" Colin asked as Cal dropped down into the seat.

"Well, I went out to California to visit my brother for a few months. Played in a band out there and gathered up lots of ladies along the way," he said grinning.

"Glad you had a good time."

"Where's Steph?" Cal asked.

"I have no idea. We're not married anymore," Colin said as he looked at his menu.

Cal's mouth dropped open. "What?"

"We divorced, Cal. She screwed Jazz and I walked in on them." Cal's mouth dropped open yet again.

"Dude..."

"You know, we're not sixteen anymore. You should stop saying dude," Colin said with a chuckle.

"I'm sorry, man. I had no idea."

"No biggie," he lied.

"I can't believe Jazz..."

"Look, can we not talk about it? It's kind of old news, and I'm really done discussing it," Colin said pointedly.

"Sorry. So, are you skipping the reunion then?"

"Of course not. Why would I?

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I just LOVE this cover! What do you think about it?