Coleen Kwan

Another short short. This one's 112 words.




Mum used to say ‘Train your man before you marry him’. I always felt sorry for Dad, but as I face last night’s dirty dishes, I’m beginning to think she has a point. Jake promised he’d get to them, but he’s bone idle. He’s never even mentioned marriage once. I fume as I do his chores. I don’t have to put up with him. I could do better.

“Hey, babe.” Jake strolls in, towel around his waist. “Seen my jeans?”

I grab his jeans from the floor, ready to hurl them, but feel something hard and square in the pocket. A box. A diamond ring. Jake smiles nervously. I burst into tears.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

~ Grab your current read

~ Open to a random page

~ Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

~ BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

~ Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This teaser comes from "Red: My Uncensored Like in Rock" by Sammy Hagar. Sammy Hagar rose to fame in the 70s with the band Montrose before becoming Van Halen's frontman (after David Lee Roth left). In his autobiography he details his childhood with great candour:

"We never owned a house, and we were always leaving my dad because he was a terrible alcoholic, who beat up my mom. When my dad would come home drunk, we'd sneak out of the house in the middle of the night and go sleep in the orange groves."


Page 5, Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock by Sammy Hagar

I was tagged by my writing friend Jennifer Brassel for this blog hop. Jen is a history buff whose reincarnation story The Curse will be released later this year. Thanks Jen!

As you can guess, this blog hop is all about an author's writing process. Here are the questions and my answers:

Question 1: What am I working on?
Answer: I have just finished the first draft of a category-length contemporary romance, and I'm letting the manuscript marinade a bit before embarking on the second draft.

Question 2: How does my work differ from others of its genre?
Answer: Hmm, that's a question I don't dwell on much. My work is constantly evolving, but I like to think I write emotional, character-driven romances.

Question 3: Why do I write what I do?
Answer: Because that's what I like to read, and those are the story ideas that pop into my head. Seems I don't have much control over that.

Question 4: How does your writing process work?
Answer: I don't follow any hard and fast rules. I tend to plan out my book with short chapter summaries outlining the major plot points. Then I write a fast first draft which inevitably throws up lots of plot holes and deviations which need to be resolved in the second draft. The third draft is more to do with polishing and copy-editing.

My latest release:

Bittersweet Rescue

She rescued him, and saved herself.

When Ellie Sherwood rescues her boss from drowning, she never anticipates the consequences. For three years she’s existed in an emotional limbo after a catastrophic family tragedy, but now she’s awake and ready to seize life with both hands. And that includes the sexy boss she’s been secretly infatuated with for some time.

Drake Crawford is about to achieve his lifelong goal when a car accident plays havoc with his life. Not only is his plan for revenge delayed, but his once demure personal assistant is now shockingly, irresistibly forward. Drake is against office affairs, and Ellie is vital to his success, but he can’t get her out of his mind, and besides, he does owe her...

His solution—a two-week break with Ellie at his wilderness hideout. They’ll indulge in a scorching, private affair, and when it’s over they’ll return to their normal lives. But as Drake discovers more about Ellie, he realises her quiet exterior hides a backbone of steel. When she asks him to walk away from his ultimate goal, he knows it’s time to let her go.

This week is Read an EBook Week, an annual international celebration of ebooks, and Smashwords is celebrating the week by offering hundreds (possibly thousands) of titles at reduced prices (25% to 100% off).

BITTERSWEET RESCUE is on sale at half-price for only $1.50 for this week only. Go here and be sure to use the coupon code REW50 at check-out.