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Monday, November 11, 2013

Romance is Bliss Event with Paula Altenburg


Meet Bliss author, Paula Altenburg.

Paula Altenburg lives in rural Nova Scotia, Canada, with her husband and two sons. Once a manager in the aerospace industry, she now enjoys the freedom of working from home and writing full time. She currently writes demon westerns for Entangled Publishing.

Paula also co-authors paranormal romance under the pseudonym Taylor Keating.

Places to find Paula: 
| Site | Blog | Facebook | Twitter


I’ve been reading for what feels like forever. I love, love, love it.

Love.

And I love reading romance in particular because, no matter what kind of mood I’m in, there’s a story out there for me.

I have more of a love/hate relationship with writing, however. Confession time – I never wanted to be a writer. It looked like a lot of hard work and hard work makes me sweat.

I don’t like to sweat.

I didn’t chase writing. It chased me. In university, take-home exams, or year-end term papers, were a lot easier for me to write than trying to remember the details for finals.

Because details, it turns out, also make me sweat.

Every time I turned around, someone was looking for someone who could write. “Can anyone do this press release asap?” Or “I need an article on…” And later, at the day job, it became “Who’s going to write the technical response to this proposal?” If you really want to see someone sweat, try being the person responsible for organizing the technical content in a multi-million dollar response to a request for proposal and realizing writers are harder to come by than you’d think. That’s when you learn just how fast you can write under pressure.

Writing romance on a deadline is no different than any of the above. I knew that right from the start. That’s why I avoided it. But as much as I don’t like to sweat, I do enjoy the sense of accomplishment that comes from finishing a challenging project. I began to seriously think about writing for fun.

And writing romance has turned out to be fun. A lot of fun. But it’s also a lot harder than writing a response to a request for proposal, at least for me. Remember I mentioned how details make me sweat?

Romance novels are full of that stuff. And the writer is 100% responsible for all of it.

So that’s what I’m less than enthusiastic about. Now let me give you five reasons why I love it.

1. I love to make people think.
If my story resonates with even one person, then I feel I’ve done okay.

2. I love to make people feel.
Sometimes I want them to feel happy. Sometimes I want them to feel sad, at least for the characters. I want them to feel like they’re a part of the world I built. And always, I want them to feel like I gave them a good story.

3. I love to make people see.
I want my stories to come alive. I want people to see what I see when I write, or sometimes, I want them to come up with their own vision. That’s where detail comes in especially handy. Give a little, and the reader sees what they want. Give a lot, and they see what I want them to. Give too much, and you’ve got a travelogue.

4. I love to help people learn.
In Desire by Design, I take the reader into a business world I have a passing acquaintance with, but in which my sister lives every day. I love to hear her talk about her work. She told me it was strange to see her life in a book. That meant I’d done what I set out to do, and gotten the details reasonably right.

5. And I love to entertain people.
My category romances are deliberately light. I want these characters to be complex, but not so angst-ridden that they suck the joy out of life. I want the reader to believe in their happily ever after.

In Desire by Design, I hope I’ve made the reader experience at least some of the above. And what I’ve learned from all this?

Getting sweaty goes hand in hand with doing something you love.



He stole her job, and now she's stealing his heart.

Eve Doucette finally almost has it all. She's free from her mistake of an ex-husband and just landed her dream job: project manager for a new City Hall and drafter of the final design. That is, until a handsome architect sweeps into town to commandeer her blueprints.

Famous architect Matt Brison is unsatisfied with his mundane life in Toronto. So when the mayor of Halifax asks him to spearhead his City Hall project, Matt jumps at the opportunity. There's just one problem: the feisty and beautiful project lead, Eve, who isn't exactly thrilled about her new "coworker" hijacking her design.

But when the sparks begin to fly, they both find themselves falling for the colleague they shouldn't want. And before they know it, their already shaky foundation might come crumbling down...

Purchase: | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo |
Check out what's up for grabs.

Up For Grabs:
  • 1 $20 Amazon Gift Card

To Enter: 
  • Please leave a comment or question for Paula.
  • Please fill out the Rafflecopter form.

**Don't forget to enter the grand prize giveaway!


Good Luck! 

Special thanks to Paula Altenburg for sponsoring this giveaway.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

58 comments :

  1. thx u for hosting this giveaway..
    congratulation for the new release paula...looking forward to read ur book :)

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    1. Thank you, Nurmawhati! Lovely name, btw.

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    2. It would be lovelier if I spelled it correctly. Sorry about that!

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    3. thx u...u can spell it nurma as norma (like norma jean *lol*)
      and 'nur' is meaning 'light" :D

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  2. Hi, Paula... I wonder how exactly you overcome the sweaty part? I read that there are writers who worry a bit about the outcome, so I guess it can be the sweaty part. Do you just write it down, no matter what kind of mood you're in, just like when you read romance, or do you wait for certain mood or moment?
    Wish you more succeed and fun with your writings. :)

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  3. Diah, my characters and how they react to their situations really define the story for me. I kind of just know when something isn't going right because in the back of my head, I know if what I'm writing isn't right for the character(s). That can be the sweaty part, because sometimes, we have to write things that aren't how we'd handle a situation ourselves. You really have to be able to put yourself in your character's shoes. My current heroine hitchhiked to a concert in Montreal when she was fifteen. I'd never in a million years do such a thing. I accepted a ride from a stranger once when I was in university and was such a nervous wreck that I'm sure he regretted offering me a lift. :-) My heroine loves that kind of adrenaline rush. Not me! I get sweaty just thinking about it.

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  4. Awesome post Paula! I look forward to reading this novel. :)

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  5. I loved Desire by Design! You have a talent and it drew me into the story. :) Love learning more about you - and how writing "chased" you.

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    1. I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Susan! The story was fun to write. And writing continues to chase me. I'm wrestling with a new heroine this morning.

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  6. Is there a following book to this? This sounds just wonderful and maybe I could get it read by the time you next book comes out!

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    1. Hi Sherry, at the moment I just have the one Bliss book out. I'm currently writing the second. I also write paranormal romance/urban fantasy for Entangled, although those books tend to be much darker. I have to learn to write faster!

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  7. sorry but the link for Easy entry for all Paula Altenburg fans on Facebook did not work for me.

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    1. Hmm. I wonder what's wrong with the link? I wish I was a bit more tech savvy so I could help.

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  8. This blurb sounds great, so I can't wait to read Desire by Design.

    Thank you so much for the post and giveaway! I love Amazon and would love the chance to win a gift card, so fingers crossed. :-)

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  9. I have a vivid imagination, so as I sat here reading the blurb of the story my mind began building an unwritten scene to the book.

    Eve is sitting at her desk reading the mayor's letter informing her that he'd hired an architect to oversea her work and her design. Eve sends some of her men to collect the model she'd put on display in the current city hall and pick up all copies of her plans also.

    She talks to her attorney and decides to sue the mayor and the city for breach of contract. The letter she'd received from City Hall was very direct. She was no longer in charge of the project the was contracted for. Facing the mayor, returning most of the front money, and watching the mayor being served the summons.

    All that went through my mind as I read that blurb. It doesn't help that I have eight lawyers in the family, one that was a NY State Supreme Court Justice and then an Appellate Court Judge. I hope I'm the lucky winner so I can buy a copy of the book and find out what really happened.

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    1. Nora, your version sounds way better than mine. :-)

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  10. OOhh this sounds great!! Ill have to grab it! Im looking forward to reading it!

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  11. Love the sound of this book! Thanks for the giveaway!

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  12. congrats to Paula on the new release! Thanks for sharing!

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  13. Thanks for the giveaway! The book sounds great!

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  14. I am laughing about your sweating comments! I have noticed within the last year, I sweat when I am stressed! I hate that!

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    1. Oh yeah. Sweating is bad. It also happens at the worst possible times.

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  15. Very nice blurb, title and cover. I always thought being an architect was fascinating, creating form, function and beauty. Is your sister an architect?

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  16. Jbst, she's a draftsman and project manager, just like Eve. :-) And very girly, despite the fact she built out house and even hung our air exchanger. You'd never know it to look at her.

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  17. Hi Dani! Hey Paula! Loved this post and learning how you came to write romance! I'm very glad you did. I felt it all in Desire By Design!

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  18. My father is an architect, and I know how proprietary he was over his designs. I can just see Eve's frustration at this unwelcome development. Matt has quite the obstacle to overcome.

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  19. Desire by design sounds wonderful, can't wait to read it :)

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  20. I love that this story has a couple of unique features - it's set in Halifax and it deals with architects

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  21. Greta interview and the book looks good. I also hate to sweat. Lol

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  23. Sounds like you've learned a lot about writing and what makes readers tick!

    Barrie

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  24. Dani, thanks so much for having me here today. I'm about to run out to celebrate my husband's birthday. :-) This has been fun!

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  25. I've got this book on my Amazon Wish List! I'm familiar with your paranormal books and am looking forward to reading your new story!

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  26. Is there going to be a follow up to Desire by Design??????

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    1. Hi Kim, no actual follow up as of now, but I'm working on another Bliss romance that I'm really loving.

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  27. What inspires you to write? Thanks for the chance to win this giveaway.

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    1. Ideas just pop into my head, usually complete with characters. It's having to turn them into actual, workable story lines that causes me to sweat.

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  28. Thank you for being here today! I am adding your book to my Wish list! Thanks for the giveaway!

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  29. Sounds like I found another great author. Thanks for sharing. I'm looking forward to reading this book.

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  30. Thanks for sharing Paula! I appreciate the insights into your "writing life". While I like reading super dramatic books at times, other times I prefer a lighter escape with less angst! Thanks for being an author for the easy escape. :-)

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  31. Hi Paula,
    Great post! Just like you, I know something about working on a deadline because I'm a translator. You're absolutely correct, that kind of work surely make me sweat! LOL

    Thanks for the giveaway. Love the blurb & cover of "Desire by Design" :)

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  32. Thanks so much for sharing a glimpse into your writing world :)

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  33. I was lucky enough to get to read black Widow Demon and review it for I Smell Sheep and I loved it! It was the first book from you that I'd read and after reading it I know that I'll be reading more from you. Congrats on your latest release, it sounds wonderful.

    miztik_rose@yahoo.com

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  34. Thanks for the giveaway. I look forward to reading this book.

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  35. Great to meet you here Paula. It really does sound like a love/hate relationship.

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  36. Sounds like a great read!!
    Thanks for the chance to win!

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  37. Hi Paula! Great post - I always love to get insight into a writer's process. I'm glad that the universe kept nudging you in the "write" direction (har) because you definitely make readers think, feel, see, learn - and you keep us entertained while you do it! Keep up the great work!

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  38. Hi Paula! Great post - I always love to get insight into a writer's process. I'm glad that the universe kept nudging you in the "write" direction (har) because you definitely make readers think, feel, see, learn - and you keep us entertained while you do it! Keep up the great work!

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  39. Loved the post! Very informative. Your book sounds really great and I can't wait to read it.

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  40. HI Paula! Sounds like a great read--can't wait to read it!

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  41. I enjoyed your post. I haven't come across your paranormals; I'll have to look for them.

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  42. I love when authors assign interesting jobs to their characters. I get to learn about a whole new profession and enjoy it! Architecture is something I don't know a whole lot about so I think that's an interesting job to choose!
    Thanks for the giveaway!

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  43. I really liked Desire By Design. I think I picked it up because I was intrigued by the setting - you don't see many romances set in eastern Canada. The story was very good and I'll be looking forward to reading more of your books.

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