Loves of our Lives
by A.C. Chenier
GENRE: Romance
BLURB:
For
Katie Benjamin, finding the perfect soul mate was just a fairy tale until a
chance encounter on a train changes everything. What she discovers takes her on
a journey that spans lifetimes.
EXCERPT:
“I had this commissioned for you to
have. I want you to wear it close to your heart and know my heart is now and
will always be yours.” He opened the case and displayed a gold locket. She
gasped at the beautiful locket within the case. It was a white cameo in a pale
pink background.
“Turn it over,” he said.
She did and read the words he had
engraved on the back. Forever in my heart, forever in my soul.
She felt tears running down her face
as she looked at the beautiful words and then into Jonathon’s eyes. She looked
deep into his eyes and felt her own soul connecting directly to Jonathon. He
said to her, “Forever in my heart, forever in my soul. I will find you again.”
He then wrapped his arms around her and took her lips in a passionate kiss. Her
heart was hammering in her throat as she kissed him back. To her it felt a bit
like a good-bye kiss, but a kiss filled with the promise of reuniting in time.
I
wanted to thank you for hosting my blog tour today. I’m happy to talk to you
about my writing, and my debut novel “Loves
of our Lives”.
What
inspired you to write “Loves of our Lives”
About 18 months after
my husband passed, I met singer/songwriter Ross Kennedy. He was in the process
of completing his first CD “Your Friend”; the bulk of the songs he had written
himself. Watching him during the creative process re-awoke in me my long held
desire to write my own songs. (I had been a pianist when I was young, and
always had this ‘need’ to write music, but never managed to put anything
together that was any good) Anyways, I
dabbled a bit with music, and then started to write some poetry. That led to a
desire to write a book. I guess being
around Ross, and his creative methods finally stirred the long dormant creative
side of myself.
The inspiration for
the novel itself was Dr. Brian Weiss and particularly his book “Only Love is Real”. That true story of
soul mates finding each other through time seemed to be a siren call to my
creative side. Soon I was crafting the stories of Katie, Elinor and Catherine.
When or at what age did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I’ve
just started writing novels in the past couple of years. However, during my
prior career in downtown Toronto, I was engaged in writing technical documents
and sales pitches. It was all IT related, so extremely technical and factual. I
actually loved the entire process of creating each of those documents,
including the many rounds of edits. So, I guess that was the love of writing
coming out. However, I had no idea that I had a creative side that would result
in Loves of our Lives until I met
Ross, and was exposed to Dr. Weiss.
What is the earliest age you remember reading your first book?
Earliest
memories would be from around grade 5ish. The first book I have clear memories
of reading was The Lord of the Rings
by Tolkien, well, first The Hobbit. I
know in my early years I read a lot of short story sci-fi/fantasy books. My dad
read a lot of that genre, and got me hooked on it, especially novellas.
What genre of books
do you enjoy reading?
Fantasy
and Romance are the key genres you will find on my Kindle or Kobo. (or in my
rather large collection of paperbacks)
What is your favorite book?
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
You know I think we
all have a favorite author. Who is your favorite author and why?
Jane
Austen for romance; I love the cadence of her language and the finesse she
writes with, a product of her times no doubt.
David
Eddings in fantasy – I love the worlds he creates and the winding intricate
plots that he brings to life.
If you could travel back in time here on earth to any place or time. Where would you go and why?
Wow,
that is a really tough question to answer. I find myself drawn to so many
different places and times. I’ve travelled a bit in Britain and Europe. I’m
always amazed by the feeling of the old homes and churches there. They all call
to me. But then, so does the south of
the US, particularly South Carolina and the Charleston area.
I’m
also fascinated by ancient history, the ancient Egyptians, the Greeks and The
Templars (my second novel is partially set in Templar times)
I
think I’d want a time travel machine to visit all of the places. But in
reality, I really like this time and place that we are in now. The world is
changing before our eyes; becoming smaller all the time. What an exciting time
to live.
When writing a book do you find that writing
comes easy for you or is it a difficult task?
When
I wrote “Loves of our Lives” and “Love by Knight” (my second book, in the
advanced editing stages) writing came very easy. I would just sit at the
computer, and the characters would leap to life in front of me. As I started my
3rd book “That Muskoka Summer’
(currently in first re-write) it was easy to write, but has since become more
difficult. I’m finding that I have a
hard time alternating between the business aspects of the industry (publishing
and marketing) and the creative side of actually setting pen to paper (or in my
case fingers to keyboard)
Do you have any little fuzzy friends? Like a dog or a cat? Or any pets?
I
have many fuzzy little friends. I have horses (who don’t qualify as “little”
actually), and recently adopted two kittens. I’m more a dog person, but do
travel a fair amount, so having cats is much easier for me when I need to be
out of town.
What is your "to
die for", favorite food/foods to eat?
Give
me red meat anytime; a great steak or a prime rib. Yum!
For comfort food, give me dark chocolate or chips and dip
Do you have any advice for anyone that would like to be an author?
AUTHOR BIO:
I
am a CPA, CGA and live in Southern Ontario. After working for many years in the
high pressure worlds of banking and IT, I decided that it was time to have a
change in pace. Leaving Toronto behind I embarked on a new career in retail
sales. The change was wonderful, but I felt something was missing.
Then,
the unthinkable happened, and I was widowed at 46. That was a truly life
altering experience. In time, I was introduced to the books and work of Dr.
Brian Weiss. I discovered in his research a new purpose in life, and was driven
to start writing, something I had always enjoyed, but never thought of as a
career choice.
And
now here we are in 2015, and my first novel is ready to be published. My
second, also in the Past Lives series, will follow shortly. I continue to write and dream of a future
that I had never even considered in my wildest dreams.
LINKS:
Giveaway:
$15 Amazon or B/N GC
Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better
your chances of winning.
13 comments:
Thanks so much for the opportunity to win
Thank you very much for hosting my tour stop today.
Really great post, I enjoyed reading both the excerpt and interview! Thanks for sharing ;)
Great interview and excerpt, sounds like a wonderful read, thanks for sharing!
Thank you all for the kind comments. And I'm happy you like the excerpt. Good luck to all in the giveaway.
Such a lovely cover.
Happy Friday, thanks again and have a great weekend
I enjoyed the interview and the excerpt. Thank you for sharing the post and the giveaway!
Wishing you a terrific Saturday and thanking you for the giveaway
I'm late but made it to thank you again for the chance
I made it but real late tonight. Thanks again for the giveaway
Don't get upset to see me again but saying thank you this evening
My days are confused, was thinking it was Friday all day. Anyway, thanks again
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