Well, it’s the twenty sixth of June!

By: Annie Seaton

Congratulations to "Jonetta", the winner in Annie's giveaway. Thank you to all who participated!

Well, it’s the twenty sixth of June!

And today is my birthday...if anyone had told me ten , five or even three years ago that I would be spending my fifty ‘somethingth’ birthday  writing a blog for  Just Contemporary Romance, I would have shaken my head in disbelief!

Over the past two years, I have undertaken the most amazing journey and achieved my lifelong dream of being not only an author...but a published author.

I took one of those side roads that beckoned and left a career as a high school principal to try my hand at writing romance novels. Within a year, I had a bestseller on the Amazon virtual book shelves!

I’ve dipped my toe in the waters of contemporary romance, paranormal romance, steampunk romance and now romantic suspense. And I’ve loved every minute of it.

Over the way I’ve made some wonderful friends both , fellow authors and readers and appreciate the contact and talking to them virtually every day as writing can be a lonely occupation. One of the questions I often get asked is ... where do I get my inspiration and I can answer that easily.

Everyday life! I love watching people...in the supermarket, on the bus, walking on the beach and I love imaging their stories. Sometimes stories come to me in my dreams and I try to get them down as soon as I wake up before they disperse like gossamer threads.

Brianne Ballantine, the sexy, vulnerable heroine in Italian Affair came to me in the beauty salon! My secret weakness for pampering myself is having a facial—it does wonders for the stiff neck from sitting at a keyboard all day and when you have had a few birthdays...it is an essential!  As I lay back with gunk on my face and cucumber on my eyes, my beautician told me how she had discovered her birth grandfather on Lipari Island.

My eyes flew open, the cucumber went flying and Brianna  Ballantine was born in that moment. Free spirited and with an urgent need to find a husband in four days, she meets Tom on the plane on the way to Italy. And that is where their story begins.

I loved writing their story and I have been delighted with the wonderful reviews and the reader response.

I would love to give away a digital copy of the first book in the series –Holiday Affair to one lucky person leaving a comment or email entry.

A teaser from Italian Affair for you:

 “Excuse me. Oh, sorry.” She pushed past the few passengers who remained standing and were loading their luggage into the overhead compartments. Her laptop bumped the seats all the way up the aisle and she apologized, hitching it higher on her shoulder. She cursed softly when she reached her seat at the very back of the plane and opened the hatch above her seat row to find it was already crammed full with bags.

I hate it when that happens. Next time I’ll be on time, she promised herself.

She handed her laptop over to one of the cabin staff to stow it in another compartment. Glancing down at her boarding pass, she smiled when she saw she’d been allocated the window seat. No matter how many times she flew, she preferred sitting near the window so she could see the ground approach when the plane landed on terra firma.

“Excuse me.” She smiled at the man sitting in the middle of the three-seat row. The aisle seat was vacant. “I need to get past.”

He ignored her.

“Excuse me.” She stood with her hands on her hips as the fasten seat belt sign came on and the flight attendant gestured for her to be seated. She shrugged her shoulders and pointed to the man who was ignoring her, and then she realized he had earphones in. She reached out and tapped his shoulder, and when he looked up, she grinned at him. It was the sleaze who’d been checking out her ass in the coffee shop.

“Sorry,” she said pointing to the window. “I’m in the window seat. I need to get through.” He closed the laptop and slid his legs to the side so she could get past. Settling into her seat, she reached over and held out her hand.

“I’m Brianna. I hate flying and I talk too much when I’m nervous so I’ll apologize in advance.”

Annie lives with her husband, and ‘Bob’ the dog and two white cats in a house next to the beach on the east coast of Australia. She sits in her writing chair, gazing at the ocean and writing stories.  Their two children are grown and married and she loves spending time gardening, walking on the beach and spoiling her two grandchildren. She has always been fascinated by all things romantic and has found her niche in life writing romance novels, ranging from contemporary to paranormal with a foray into steampunk! 

Her debut full length novel, Holiday Affair, a contemporary romance set in the South Pacific was released as part of Entangled Publishing’s Indulgence line in March 2012 and has been a best seller on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The sequel Italian Affair was released in early June and will be followed shortly after by Outback Affair. Annie has more books being released in 2013 with Entangled Publishing in the Bliss, Entangled Suspense and Covet imprints.

Buy links:
http://www.amazon.com/Italian-Affair-ebook/dp/B00CNTTEAI
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/italian-affair-annie-seaton/1115375432?ean=9781622661374&isbn=9781622661374
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/italian-affair/id645263903?mt=11

Annie loves to hear from readers at: annieseaton26@gmail.com
Her website is
http://www.annieseatonromance.com/
and her blog is at
http://annieseaton.blogspot.com.au/
You can find her on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/AnnieSeatonAuthor
and
https://www.facebook.com/annieseaton26
and Twitter
https://twitter.com/annieseaton26

Giveaway ends 11:59pm EST June 26th. Please supply your email in the post. You may use spaces or full text for security. (ex. jsmith at gmail dot com) If you do not wish to supply your email, or have trouble posting, please email maureen@JustContemporaryRomance.com with a subject title of JCR GIVEAWAY to be entered in the current giveaway.