Celebrating the debut of JAMIE WESLEY!
on August 14, 2014
I am so excited to welcome, debut author, friend, and fellow Firebird (Golden Heart class of 2012!) Jamie Wesley to my little slice of the internet. Jamie recently launched her first book, TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD, a contemporary romance about two talk-radio hosts with very different personalities who are forced to work together. As some of you may know, I was a DJ (not talk radio, but close) for 8 years so I’m all about this story. I’ve already started it and love the sparks that bounce off this couple from page one.
Before I forget, Jamie is running a contest (for a Kindle!), which you can enter through the Rafflecopter widget at the bottom of the blog. But I’m also giving away a digital copy of TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD to one lucky commenter, so make sure you get yourself entered into both contests.
Ready to hear more? Then let’s go to the source. Take it away, Jamie!
Hi Terri,
First of all, thank you so much for having me on your blog today!
But if my guest post is going to be a success, I have to admit to having a deep, dark secret.
I want readers to lose themselves in the story. I want you to fall in love with my hero and root for my heroine and the couples’ happily-ever-after.
Yep, it’s true.
In order for that to happen, I have to do my part to get the details and the emotions and characterizations right to prevent you from going, “Ummm, no, lady. What are you doing/thinking/writing?”
Okay, I guess the real deep, dark secret is that I’m not always confident I can pull all of this off.
I set TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD in the world of talk radio. While I am a radio listener, I can’t claim to be an expert on the business side of radio. Noelle, the heroine, is a psychologist. I have degrees in communication studies and sport management. I think I took “Intro to Psych” my freshman year in college a lot of moons ago. So I researched the radio business and the field of psychology and then crossed my fingers.
But there was one aspect of this book I was completely confident in – the sports stuff. I love sports. Football, basketball, tennis, baseball, the list goes on. I am at my sports nerdiest during the Olympics. I watch the events, which NBC streams online, during the day at work and then go home and watch them again during the primetime broadcast. I love it!
Because of my love of sports, it made perfect sense to make my hero, Tate, a sports talk show host. And let me tell you that was the best decision I could have made. When I write sports scenes, I’m not worried about whether or not I’m getting it wrong. I’m in my comfort zone and the writing just flows, and it’s fun and funny. IMHO.
TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD takes place during the summer, so baseball was the sport I found myself writing about the most in this book. Tate gets to show off his chops with Noelle, who is – how should I put it? – sports neutral. I LOVED writing this scene. I hope you enjoy it.
Excerpt
Tate relaxed his features and forced his lips upward. “I’m fine. The Rangers need to win this game.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do they need to win?”
“Because they’ve lost the first two games in the series and don’t want to be swept.”
“Oh, okay.” They watched the game in silence for a few minutes.
He twisted toward her. “Didn’t you say that sports are mind-numbingly boring?”
Noelle took a sip of her drink before answering. “I said some people feel that way, not me. I don’t have a strong opinion either way except when they take over your life, but I feel that way about most things that cause discord in relationships. Truth be told, I’ve never paid much attention to sports. I try not to hate things I don’t know about.”
“Hmm.” He turned back to the TV and took another pull of beer.
“He needs to get some heat on that ball.”
Tate looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “You have no idea what you’re talking about, do you?”
“Yes, I do.” Her shoulders stiffened, but she didn’t take her eyes off the action on the screen.
“Really?” He stared at her profile until she turned to him, stubborn denial plain on her face. He raised his eyebrows. And waited.
Noelle slumped. “Okay, maybe not.”
“I knew it.” He grinned. “Want to know how I knew?”
“No. I thought I was doing a good job faking it using the miniscule sports lingo I have in my arsenal.” She sighed. “But yes, tell me. What gave me away?”
He leaned in closer, catching another trace of her scent, and pointed to the pitcher on the mound. “You said he needs to get some heat on the ball.”
She stared at the TV, her face screwed up in confusion. “He’s throwing the ball so slowly.”
“Yeah, because he’s a knuckleball pitcher.”
Noelle spun toward him, putting their faces, their lips inches apart. The air between them sparked with an electric charge. After a taut second, she pulled back and looked down at her glass. “A what?”
Tate took another swallow of beer, hoping the comfort of the familiar would calm his suddenly jangling senses, and turned back to the TV. “Watch. See how the ball kind of goes crazy at the end?” He quieted as the batter swung and missed.
“Yeah.”
“That’s intentional. Unlike most pitchers who grip the ball with the pads of their fingers, he only uses the tips and then throws it, giving the ball the unpredictable trajectory. He’s not sure where the ball is going and neither is the batter, so he doesn’t have to throw it as hard as other guys.”
“Oh. That makes sense.” She sighed. “Guess that’ll teach me to talk about stuff I know nothing about.”
“You don’t like being wrong, do you?”
Noelle’s brow furrowed. “What gave you that idea?”
“That frown on your face. It’s the same one I see when I contradict you in a staff meeting or during the show.”
“Probably because what you’re saying makes no sense.”
“You just proved my point,” he said, fighting back laughter.
____________________
To celebrate the release of TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD, which is priced at $0.99 through Sunday, I’m giving away a Kindle! All you have to do to enter is tell me what you’re an expert on in the comments and fill out the Rafflecopter!
TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD
by Jamie Wesley
Two radio show hosts. One show. Who will come out on top?
In a moment of restlessness, Tate Grayson sold his multimillion-dollar company and spun his love of sports into a radio talk show. Life, and love, is too short to take seriously—a fact he enjoys rubbing in uptight radio host Noelle Butler’s face.
After the death of her parents, a tragedy she blamed on herself, Noelle vowed to live a controlled, focused life. Now a psychologist, she channels her need for connection into her radio show. But when the arrogant sportscaster next door tells listeners men shouldn’t get married, she’s all too happy to yank the silver spoon out of his overprivileged mouth.
Their heated on-air arguments are a hit, but when the station director forces them to do a joint show for two weeks, Tate and Noelle object. They can’t stand each other, despite the attraction sizzling beneath every interaction. But if they can’t pull the struggling radio station back from the brink, they’ll lose their jobs. Or worse, their hearts.
TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD is $0.99 until Sunday, August 17.
Buy links: Amazon Barnes & Noble Kobo iBooks Google Play
About the author
Jamie Wesley has been reading romance novels since she was about 12 when her mother left a romance novel, which a friend had given her, on the nightstand. Jamie read it instead, and the rest is history.
She started her first manuscript, a contemporary romance, after she graduated from Northwestern University in 2002 and couldn’t find a job. Life got in the way as it often does, i.e. she found a job, and she didn’t finish the story. However, she never forgot about it and finally got serious about completing it in 2009. She’s been writing ever since.
Jamie holds a master’s degree in sport management (yes, that’s a real thing 🙂 ) from the University of Texas at Austin, so it probably comes as no surprise that she loves sports and spends an inordinate amount of time rooting for her hometown Dallas’s pro sports teams and her alma maters.
She also adores Walt Disney World, shopping, and pop culture. Want to know if your favorite TV show is going to be canceled or what the newest Disney attraction is? Ask Jamie. She’ll probably know the answer. Connect with her at:
Website: Jamiewesley.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Jamie_Wesley
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorJamieWesley
