INTERVIEW
and GIVEAWAY
Anything For Love
by Darry
Fraser
Anything For Love is currently on tour with Goddess Fish Promotions. The tour stops here today for my interview with the author
and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.
Description
Tilla is the managing director of a temping staff agency who finds
herself enmeshed in Kent Taylor’s business world, which includes an IT
takeover. When she decides to work in his office as one of his temporary staff
members they clash, so she keeps her identity to herself. When they both decide
to take a break from their crazy business lives, they have no clue it’s at the
same place, in the same house and at the same time, on the isolated north west
coast of rugged Australis Island
She tells herself she can’t bear to be near him one moment longer ...
until they find a way to be together. But when he has to suddenly leave their
hideaway and doesn’t give her a backward glance, she realises she shouldn’t
have done just anything for love.
Excerpt
Her dream was a loud
one. There was stumbling and cursing, unlike any of her dreams before, but she
was reluctant to come awake ... too tired.
She tossed and moaned her protest, but when she heard the crash of a
dozen bottles of wine she bolted upright, wide awake, heart hammering and her
throat suddenly constricted.
She clutched the
bed-clothes to her chin, gulped in great breaths of air. Tried to shake herself
fully awake.
The cursing and
snarling continued, the bottles crashing and clanging on the slate floor.
Terror struck her
very soul.
There was a drunk in
her little haven.
Oh no, oh no ...
She couldn’t see a
thing—it was pitch outside, no moon. She leapt out of the bed dragging the
sheet with her and groping in the dark for her clothes. Where were her
clothes—? Oh God—in the bathroom ... how’d she possibly defend herself ... ?
Another curse and
then another. “What the bloody hell—?”
Stopped her frantic
panic, covered her mouth with one hand. She knew that voice. It was
unmistakable. Tilla shook herself. It couldn’t be. She must still be asleep …
It just couldn’t be. Her heart pounded.
“Who the bloody hell
put that there?” the gravelly voice boomed.
She tried to distil
the solid block of fear which weighed on her chest like a sack of potatoes.
There was no
mistaking that voice. No mistaking it at all.
Featured Review
Last thing Tilla
Cormack needed one week before going on vacation was a crisis and that is
exactly what her biggest client had just created for her. Owning a temp help
agency takes a lot of human interaction and interpersonal skills. Her temps
were recognized as the best to be had, only Taylor Industries was sending them
back in tears and rejected. Tilla is on her last nerve as she leaves her office
to pay a visit to Kent Taylor and give him a "piece of her mind".
Tilla's introduction
to Kent Taylor is one of my favorite highlights in this book. The scene as the
elevator goes up, down, jerks up again and finally spits Tilla on Taylor's
floor missing her shoe is delightful. As human interactions go, this scene
where Tilla and Kent Taylor meet is delightful. It sets the stage for a comedy
of errors that leads this couple to a multitude of interactions worthy of
Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.
Fate continues to
play tricks with our couple throwing them together in some rather unusual
circumstances. The chemistry they both feel for each other finally wins and a
love affair begins with all the passion worthy of these spirited characters.
Misunderstandings continue to plaque our couple and tempers flare. All of this
just adds to the plotline and keeps the reader on the edge of their seats.
Darry Fraser's
writing style is both easy going and delightfully descriptive. I found this
book extremely entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable. I will be looking forward
to reading more books by this author.
Interview With the
Author
Welcome fellow
Aussie, Darry Fraser. Thanks for joining me today to discuss your book, Anything For Love.
Thank you for having me!
For what age group
do you recommend your book?
I think it’s good for late 20s to late 30s. It’s the sort of read which
might appeal to those who are career driven, but who know there’s another life
out there and they hope they can find someone to share it with.
What sparked the
idea for this book?
Anything For Love came about because of something that happened while I was working in an
industry which hosted travelers into very isolated places. One of those
isolated places was an island very much resembling Australis Island which I
created for my stories.
At one point an unfortunate travelling couple happened to be placed with
another couple in what they’d been sold as their own private space for three
days. Needless to say the agents who made the booking were a little red-faced
and things were quickly sorted.
I began to think about two single people who might have been thrust into
the same situation, how it might reasonably have come about and what might
reasonably be expected to happen!
The story was called "An Isolated Incident" for a very long
time; it was changed last minute to its current title.
So, which comes
first? The character's story or the idea for the novel?
That a hard one! Sometimes I get characters first and they bring their
own story. I even get a name before I get anything else. Other times I have a
story idea – not even an idea, just a sentence or two, or a subconscious nudge
which compels me to take it further.
I always ask for overnight assistance: I go to sleep asking for more
information and generally within three days I have an outline, my main
characters, my timeline … the secondary characters pop up out of the blue when
they’re needed. Mostly I don’t even know they’re there. I know you’ve heard of
authors saying things much like that, but it is a fact – we get surprises.
That's incredible. What
was the hardest part to write in this book?
I wondered how I was going to have her maintain Tilla's dignity back in
their office. She wanted to, of course she did, but was she going to be able
to? I hate things which read contrived – if they read that way, generally they
are, so whilst I know I’ve made up this story and given my characters some
interesting twists and turns, to me it still has to read as if it really might work
in real life.
So in real life, you suck it up, don’t you? You don’t run around being
like a princess, you get on with it. Put on a brave face. Do your job. Burst
into tears at home. It was hard to keep her on track.
How do you hope this
book affects its readers?
I hope they laugh at the funny bits – and there are some funny bits –
feel her exhaustion and his bewilderment, live her indecision and understand
her. Most of all I hope readers identify with the last few days in the cabin
just after Kent left.
How long did it take
you to write this book?
Wow! This story had many incarnations over quite a few years. At first it
was written when satellite phones or mobile (cell) phones were not around, so
changing those bits and making it work was an interesting task.
All in all, I’d say about ten years - mainly because when I started and
finished it I had no idea where to submit it. In fact, I was probably just
writing for me. And by the time I did submit it, I had five others in similar
states of completion waiting for a home.
What is your writing
routine?
Because of other things I need to be doing (like my day job…) I write at
nights between 8pm and midnight. Saturday is also mostly a "work" day
for me so I write late Saturday afternoon and Sundays. I guard my Sundays … but
there’s never enough time for everything.
How did you get your
book published?
I’m very lucky. One of the previously mentioned five books came to the
notice of my current publisher in a very serendipitous way, or so I think.
I’m the owner of a local print/business support shop. In 2013, Nicola of Steam eReads came by my shop looking for
assistance to produce 200 booklets to promote her publishing company at a Romance Writers of Australia
conference.
I said I was a member of RWA, that I had been published before, showed
her a book of short stories I had produced. She offered to read my longest (now
published) novel, Money For Blood, and voila! She offered to publish it. Steam ereads has so for contracted five
of my novels.
That's fantastic,
Darry. What advice do you have for someone who would like to become a published
writer?
Keep writing. Learn from your peers. Take the criticism and the critiques
and above all, learn. Enter competitions when you can, join groups to help and
learn, learn, learn …
The groups you join will have expert tips on how to become published; one
thing will work for one author but not the other. Build relationships, build
your social media profile, get yourself marketed but above all else, have a
good product.
Great advice. What
do you like to do when you're not writing?
I work a lot, but I have a dog who needs exercise and lots of loving.
He’s a rescue dog from the little town I live in, he’s an Australian kelpie,
black as black can be and his name is Hamish.
I love reading, I cook, I love my friends.
What does your
family think of your writing?
I don’t believe any one of them has read anything I’ve done … well, my
mum has. She thinks I could be doing something other than romantic fiction.
Enough said.
Please tell us a bit
about your childhood.
Australian, more country than city, though I spent a lot of time in
Melbourne growing up and hated it.
Did you like reading
when you were a child?
I was a voracious reader of all things adventure and horsey. I was hoping
my life would be adventurous and horsey, but alas not. I get to write about it
though. But not about horses. The only thing I know about horses is that
they’re magnificent creatures and quite mysterious to me
When did you first
realize you wanted to be a writer?
There’s never been a time in my life when I haven’t been a writer.
Great answer! Did
your childhood experiences influence your writing?
Yes – I just wanted to escape. No dire problems, just the sort of kid I
was.
Which writers have
influenced you the most?
I don’t know if any have in a conscious way. I think I maintain my own
voice, my own idiosyncrasies. I love seeing blocks of dialogue when I read
others’ work because that’s what I love to do, too. I do check how much
narrative is currently acceptable in popular fiction, how much character
description – that sort of thing, but not any one particular author has
influenced me.
Do you hear from
your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
Can’t say I’ve heard from a lot yet…
Hopefully this blog
tour will change that! What can we look forward to from you in the future?
More fun stories. More HEAs and HFNs, those which will have a touch of
reality to them. I love a little bit of the esoteric, too, but only where it
fits with characters well grounded in reality. There’s not a lot of that in
these last few titles, but it might sneak in now and again.
Thank you for taking
the time to stop by today, Darry. Best of luck with your future projects.
And thank you, too. I’ve enjoyed the opportunity and look forward to
hearing from some of your readers.
From the Author
I believed that because I could put words on a page in a grammatically
acceptable way and tell a reasonable story that I was "an author". Technically,
I suppose I was, but the apprenticeship as a ‘writer' – to labour the
difference - is a long and hard road.
One day, I had what I still call a little "thing" – I saw my late
grandfather in his World War One trench gear talking to "me" at my desk and
suddenly the words flowed and so did the short story which was published within
two weeks in an Australian national women’s magazine.
So I revisited all my short stories and my novel-length stories and found
success again with four short stories and then two short novels in 2001/2.
Alas, life got in the way once more. I kept writing, but in the dark so
to speak. I used it as a means of escape, as a retreat and I was able to create
my own HEA or HFN.
Then life took another turn and I figured that I had nothing to lose. I
dusted off quite a number of manuscripts and began to whip them into shape. At
a serendipitous meeting with my current publisher, Nicola at Steam eRreads, she
agreed to read my current work at the time. It was a 67,000 word unedited
novel, which she accepted. It was published in June 2013 – Money For Blood.
Since then I have had three other novels and two novellas accepted, all
HEA/HFN.
I currently have four books published with Steam eReads.
Giveaway
Darry will be awarding a $25 Amazon gift card and an ebook copy of Berry Flavours to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour (closes 12 June). So, follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of
winning.
Links
