Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Today I have the very talented Leslie Pike on my Blog. Read more about her latest book: The trouble in Eden.







SYNOPSIS:

BLISS NOVAK has a great life. She's happy, beautiful and financially secure. What more could she want?

Fortune has smiled on STEVEN FRENCH too. Handsome, talented and sexy, the stuntman has it all. At least that's what he believes until he meets Bliss.

When a movie production comes to Pacific Grove, these two are drawn together in a passionate romance. Their love creates their personal Garden of Eden.

But there's only one thing wrong with the Garden of Eden....there's always a snake.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25011611-the-trouble-with-eden




PURCHASE LINKS:

AMAZON * B&N *KOBO


INTERVIEW WITH LESLIE PIKE

1.       Where did the idea come from for the book?
It came from my own experiences in the film business. I’m a screenwriter, and my husband was a Stuntman/Stunt Coordinator/Director. I’m very familiar with movie sets and the people who inhabit them. So, I thought it was the perfect setting for my first book. It’s an interesting world inhabited by interesting people. Every day someone misbehaves. What a great world to write about!

2.       What genre does your book fall under?
Contempory Romance  

3.       Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I hesitate on this question, because the fact that readers see the characters as they imagine them is one of the wonderful things about reading. No real person, no actor does the character justice. I rather have the reader shape the faces and bodies from their own ideas of beauty and sexiness. But for me, I’ll leave it to casting for now!

4.       What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Oh no! One sentence?     When a movie production comes to Pacific Grove, Bliss Novak and Steven French are drawn together in a passionate romance. Can I write a run-on sentence? Haha  Their love creates their own Garden of Eden. But there’s only one thing wrong with the Garden of Eden…..there’s always a snake.
               
5.       How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I write a detailed outline first, so by the time I begin writing I know where I’m going. So for that outline it took me about two weeks. Then I began.

6.       What did you learn about yourself while writing this book?
I learned a lot. I learned I could write 75,000 words give or take, that told a good story, made sense and made me want more. I learned that once again words make me happy. The crafting of sentences, the ideas to express, the beauty of finding the perfect way to say what you mean. I learned I like the silence of the act of writing, when you are not obligated to finish on a specific date. That was very freeing. And I learned there’s a community of readers out there in cyberspace that are hungry for stories. They are supportive and uplifting women and men who want the writer to succeed. So, I learned I like being in their world.




EXCERPT:


BLISS

I can barely keep my eyes open.
            Like Cleopatra on her chaise, I lie face to the sky enjoying a rooftop poolside catnap.  After my morning workouts I take time to decompress.  If only someone would feel me a grape.
            My lids close, as the August sun lulls me into an intoxicating half sleep.  The heat feels so good on my skin, soothing my overworked muscles.
            Ironic, that the pleasures of life can trick us into affection, and then need.  Sun, food, sex, everything we enjoy we can enjoy too much.  And when we do, the pleasure becomes the course of our pain.  How well I understand this perversion.
            I close my eyes, pushing down the past.  I prefer to think of the now.  Gorgeous day, gratitude for the gifts of life that are mine, and the entire pool to myself.
            SPLASH!
            The sound of a body diving into the pool interrupts my little Valhalla.  I’m shocked by what feels like a blast of glacial water. 
            Droplets rain down on my hot skin and white bikini, and I shiver with the impact.  My reflex is to jump up, but decide instead to investigate the source.
            I lift the oversized brim of my red straw hat to peek at the intruder.  Who trespasses in my personal Garden of Eden?
            A golden male body streaks under the water, powerful, aerodynamic.  He rises to the surface and takes long easy strokes.  I’ve seen enough to know that this particular body is pretty damned beautiful.
            Adjusting my position to get a better look, I watch him turn and head back towards my end of the pool.
            Lift your head, lift your head.  Let me see your face.  I will it so.
            As it on cue, he reaches for the edge of the pool and raises his head out of the water. Wow.
            I’m dazed into silence.  My pulse quickens.
            Pillowed lips, dark thick hair, penetrating green eyes, well defined jawline, it all comes together in a perfect storm of hotness.
            And for just a few moments, the entire picture I see freeze frames.  The world stops and makes sure I’m paying attention.
            He smiles at me.
            “Morning,” Adonis speaks.  His voice is seductive and flirtatious.
            “Morning,” I flash him my best smile, and my interest is completely sincere.
            Putting his hands on the pools edge, he lifts himself out in one effortless motion.
            “Jesus,” I mutter, under my breath.
            His right shoulder is covered in tattoos that wrap around to this chest.  I can see one of the underside of his left forearm, a snake I think, and a piece of another peeking out of the bottom of his trunks.  Suddenly I’m a big fan of tattoo art.

            He stands dripping in front of me.  My eyes follow the envious journey of droplets running from his hair, down his chest, over his flat stomach, and into the band of his trunks.  My eyes linger for a nanosecond on the mother lode.  Yep.  Ding, ding ding.  Oh yeah. 






AUTHOR BIO:

Leslie Pike lives in Laguna Niguel, California, with her husband Don, and Pom-Poo Mr. Big. Before writing her novel, Leslie worked as a screenwriter on episodic television. She has traveled the world with her Stuntman/Stunt Coordinator/Director husband, on movie sets from Africa to Israel, from New York to Los Angeles. Some of her favorite things include calligraphy, long walks with her friends, and enjoying delicious food that other people have cooked!

The Trouble With Eden is Leslie's debut novel.





MEDIA LINKS:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/authorlpike/




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