Ramblings From This Chick: Guest Post with Author Wendy S. Marcus and Giveaway

Friday, December 26, 2014

Guest Post with Author Wendy S. Marcus and Giveaway

Meet Wendy S. Marcus, author of Loving You Is Easy.

Wendy S. Marcus is an award-winning author of contemporary romance. A nurse by trade, Wendy holds a Master of Science in Health Care Administration, a degree that does her absolutely no good as she now spends her days, nights, and weekends mucking around in her characters’ lives creating conflict, emotion, and, of course, a happily ever after. Wendy lives in the beautiful Hudson Valley region of New York. When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family, which includes her dog Buddy, and blogging/e-mailing/tweeting/facebooking with her online friends.

Find Wendy at:

Hi Everyone! And a great big thank you to Ramblings From This Chick for hosting the final stop on the twenty-six day blog tour to celebrate the release of my Loveswept Contemporary Romance, Loving You Is Easy. Now that the end is here I’m feeling kind of like I did when I reached ‘The End’ of writing the book, relieved that it’s done and yet sad to say good bye.

So today, to celebrate the end of my blog tour, I’d like to share a little Loving You Is Easy trivia, which may shed some light into what actually goes into writing a book.

1) I got the idea for this story from watching ‘Soldier Coming Home’ videos on YouTube, more specifically, a video about a soldier meeting his girlfriend for the first time. Turns out they were friends before he left for war but fell in love through correspondence while he was overseas. Thus the soldier pen pal series began to form in my mind.

2) I added in the sexy picture of Brooke getting exposed on Facebook storyline as a result of my editor (before she was actually my editor) saying she’d like to see a story about cyberbullying. This was my variation, and a way of bringing the story I wanted to tell in line with a story she wanted to publish.

3) Sue Grimshaw, my Loveswept editor, came up with the title Loving You Is Easy – which I LOVE!

4) My first draft of the book began with Brooke finding her picture on Facebook. After input from my three beta readers and my editor I added the two letters exchanged by Brooke and Shane and the prologue where they meet for the first time at the airport.

5) After her first read through, my editor did not like my portrayal of Brooke. She felt I’d made her too naïve, unrealistic and un-relatable. A major part of my first round edits involved re-writing Brooke.

6) My very smart editor had suggested I start each chapter of the book with a letter or e-mail from Shane or Brooke to showcase more of their pen pal relationship. Unfortunately, after working so hard for five long months to write and re-write and edit this story, plus having to meet the contractual obligations on another book for a different publisher, I just didn’t have the energy or time to do this. It’s my one regret.

7) My first draft of the book ended with chapter twenty-three, when Shane and Brooke were outside of her parents’ house. I added chapter twenty-four – which occurs two weeks later - during my final revision. Seems like I made the right decision because one reviewer called the new ending “…one of the most beautifully written endings I’ve read in a long time.”

8) My deleted scenes file from my final edit of Loving You Is Easy has over 7,500 words and 27 pages in it – which doesn’t include the scenes I deleted out of frustration without saving them. At the same time, during my final edit, I increased my word count from a pre-deleted scenes file 74,200 to approximately 81,500. That was a lot of work, but I am thrilled with the end result.

9) Loving You Is Easy is the longest book I’ve ever written.

10) Prior to writing Loving You Is Easy I was in a major writing slump. I’d left Harlequin’s medical romance line in search of new opportunities but had met with rejection after rejection from traditional publishing’s editors and agents. I was in the process of deciding whether to go indie vs. whether to stop writing altogether when I received the e-mail from Sue Grimshaw that she was interested in my story.

And now I invite you to ask me any questions I have not already answered either here or at any of my other blot stops. Or if you have a comment about Loving You Is Easy, or my next book with Loveswept, Loving You Is Everything, Neve and Rory’s story (coming in October 2015) now’s your chance!

She’s a survivor of the front lines of politics. He’s a wounded soldier returning home from the battlefield. Can they place their trust in the power of love?

Nobody plays the role of perfect politician’s daughter better than quiet, respectable math teacher Brooke Ellstein. But she won’t be caught swimming with the sharks again, not after the son of a wealthy donor sinks his teeth into her and gets away with it. Still, political connections have their perks, such as heading up the governor’s “Support Our Troops” pen-pal initiative—and getting first dibs on the smoking-hot sergeant whose picture shakes her right down to her goody-two-shoes.

When corresponding with sweet, classy Brooke, Shane Develen instinctively hides his commando tattoos and blue-collar roots—and he can tell that she’s hiding something, too. But Shane knows he’s gained her trust when Brooke gives him a blisteringly sexy photo. Then he’s injured in an ambush and a fellow soldier posts the snapshot online. Overnight, Brooke’s reputation turns to ashes. Even though he’s totally wrong for her, Shane shows up on Brooke’s doorstep, determined to set things right—and discovers that right or wrong has nothing on the chemistry they share.

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