Writer's Spotlight: Joanne Rock

Welcome to my favorite day of the week Writer's Spotlight Day and this week we have special guest Joanne Rock.

Three-time RITA nominee Joanne Rock turned a passion for writing into a career when imaginary characters kept her awake at night, demanding she tell their stories. The author of over thirty romances in a variety of subgenres, she enjoys writing medieval historicals and sexy contemporaries along with the occasional romantic suspense. Joanne traces her passion for all things medieval to an early brush with John Keats' poem "The Eve of St. Agnes" and a rapt fascination with the Pre-Raphaelites' depiction of medieval themes. As a writer, she enjoys supplementing her more research-intensive trips to the Middle Ages with faster-paced contemporary stories sparked by the characters she meets in real life. The move back and forth between very different story styles keeps her Muse singing happily. A former Golden Heart recipient, Joanne has won numerous awards for her stories. Her work has been reprinted in twenty-four countries and translated into nineteen languages.

To view more about Joanne Rock you can visit her website: http://www.joannerock.com/ or her Myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/joannerock.

This list includes some of Joanne's upcoming releases:

SHE THINKS HER EX IS SEXY, Blaze 2/09

ALWAYS READY, Blaze 3/09 A NIGHT OF WICKED DELIGHT, HQ Historicals "Undone" 3/09

THE KNIGHT'S RETURN, HQ Historicals 4/09 SLIDING INTO HOME, Blaze 8/09

Here is an excerpt of She Thinks Her Ex is Sexy

SHE THINKS HER EX IS SEXY

Chapter One

"Every single person in this hotel is getting it on right now except me." Shannon Leigh cradled her cell phone against one shoulder as she packed her suitcase in an exclusive Mexican seaside resort, her emotions in more disarray than her stale career. "It's like the Cupid wedding theme ran wild and infected every employee and guest in the place. I just went to hunt down more towels and even the maid is getting busy in the supply closet."

"Eeeww." Shannon's agent, Ceily, was back home in L.A. She started her day at six a.m. so Shannon hadn't felt terribly guilty about waking her at five to share the trauma of this Valentine weekend wedding from hell.

Shannon's best friend had gotten married in a romantic private ceremony in La Paz on the Baja Peninsula and Shannon was the maid of honor. Too bad she'd agreed to the Cupid fest before the best man-- her rock star boyfriend of almost a year-- had broken up with her. She'd been stuck watching him charm his way through the wedding with adoring female guests throwing themselves at his feet wherever he went. She'd been due to jet out the night before until her charter flight had to cancel for engine trouble. A situation Romero overheard during the wedding reception and publicly offered to drive her back to L.A. the following morning.

Now technically today.

How could she refuse gracefully without drawing more attention to a break up that still had the tabloids buzzing three months after the fact?

Shannon had no idea how she'd survive the long trip ensconced in a small sports car with one of the sexiest men in the known universe. And that wasn't just her opinion. Look up any VH1 poll on hot rockers and Romero Jinks topped the charts. She just wanted to get the hell out of the love-fest hotel and back to real life. Back to salvaging her imperiled career.

"Tell me about it. I was trying diligently to avoid any more romance references after the overexposure to pink roses, pink champagne and pink bridesmaid dresses. Then I have to stumble into a storage room orgy." She yanked the lemon yellow dress she'd worn to the rehearsal dinner from the closet and tossed it onto the bed, trying not to think about how long it had been since she'd had sex. Three months without Romero had been-- lonely. But even before that there'd been the fights and the nights alone in his king size bed while he made love to his damn guitar instead of her.

Their relationship had been deteriorating for months from lack of communication and-often-lack of presence on the same continent. She needed to talk and connect with him while he had long stretches of brooding alone time that fueled his music and left her frustrated. The whole precarious situation had imploded over the stupidest fight ever when he'd bought new hiking boots for his entire entourage but hadn't bothered to toss a pair in her direction.

She'd been petty to erupt about something so superficial, but it wasn't about the damn boots. She'd been tired of being a non-entity to him while he'd meant so much to her.

"You should totally report her and I don't want you using those towels." Ceily's voice cracked, no doubt because she hadn't had her morning coffee or her first cigarette of the day which, bizarrely, seemed to clear her throat.

Shannon's high heeled slipper caught in the strap of her sequined bag and she tripped, twisting her ankle. And shouldn't she know better than to march around the room in a snit? How many times had she cringed as a kid when her movie star mother threw tantrums?

To read more of this great excerpt http://home.att.net/~jrock008/shethinksexcerpt.html

To purchase this book and/or other books by Joanne Rock go to http://eharlequin.com/

Also check out my column over at freshfiction.com throughout the year where I will feature books by Joanne Rock and other authors and their book releases from Harlequin and Silhouette

Tonya

XOXO