Experience. Confidence. You probably know the feeling. You’ve spent months, maybe even years learning a skill and you’re finally at a place where you can take a deep breath and enjoy all your hard work. I don’t mean slacking off, but you can dive into projects with the knowledge that you know the ropes. And let’s face it: it’s fun to know you know your stuff.

While I can’t say I don’t get nervous when I release a new book (yes, I still do!), I do have a sense that I generally know what I’m doing when it comes to the process itself as well as the content. Sure, I might angst over a certain character or plot point and end up rewriting parts of a book even in the editing stage. But I pretty much understand my own writing process from imagination through publication.

Then why the hell do I step outside my comfort zone and write a book in a subgenre I’ve never tried before??? Because that’s exactly what I did with Take Two, my upcoming release from Dreamspinner Press.

So okay. Pre-release jitters aside, I think the answer is “why not?” How do you know if you suck at something (or do it well), if you never try it? You might also realize you love it.

Take Two is my first funny/sweet contemporary. I tried sweet for the first time with my Dreamspun Desires title, First Comes Marriage, but a funny story? That was something I’d been terrified to tackle. I love stories that make me smile and laugh, but also have a little bit of depth and even a little angst. But I’ve stuck mostly to high-angst or high-adventure in my books so far. It seemed a real stretch. But I had this idea, and these two guys wanted to have their story told.

So I did the only thing I knew to do: I asked for help. Lots of it, in the form of beta readers. And I wrote, and rewrote, and layered on more fun and silliness. The end result is a combination of sweet, silly, funny, with a bit of depth of character (because that’s what I live…er…write for!).

Take Two is a second-chance-at love romp set on location with a Hollywood movie crew at the North Carolina coast. The story of two men who really love each other, but can’t quite figure out how to make their very different lives fit together. The slightly geeky academic, Wesley, and the loveable but over-the-top actor Sam, aka Sander Carson, seem like total opposites, but they are a great couple. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I loved writing them! And I hope you chuckle a little while you’re reading. – Shira

Blurb: Shiver me timbers! When Professor Wesley Coolidge accepts a summer job as a historical consultant to a pirate movie being filmed in North Carolina, the last person he expects to bump into is his soon-to-be-ex, movie star Sander Carson. Just like the flamboyant pirate he’s playing, Sander, aka Sam Carr, is used to getting what he wants, and he makes it clear he wants Wesley back in his life.

Sam acknowledges it’s his fault they split up. He lost Wesley when he left their life in New York City behind for a career in Hollywood. But Wesley has finally managed to put the pieces of his heart back together, and he isn’t interested in Sam and Wesley: The Sequel. Sam soon realizes that convincing Wesley to give their relationship a second chance will take much more than apologies and reminders of good times past. If he wants Wesley back, Sam will have to show Wesley that they really can sail into the sunset together—a real-life happily-ever-after that won’t end once the final credits roll.

About Shira: Shira Anthony was a professional opera singer in her last incarnation, performing roles in such operas as Tosca, i Pagliacci, and La Traviata, among others. She’s given up TV for evenings spent with her laptop, and she never goes anywhere without a pile of unread M/M romance on her Kindle. You can hear Shira singing “Vissi d’arte” from Puccini’s Tosca by clicking here: Shira’s Singing

Shira loves a great happily-ever-after and never writes a story without one. She’s happy to write what her muse tells her, whether it’s fantasy, sci fi, paranormal, or contemporary romance. She particularly loves writing series, because she thinks of her characters as old friends and she wants to visit them even after their stories are told.

In real life, Shira sang professionally for 14 years, and she currently works as a public sector attorney advocating for children. She’s happy to have made writing her second full-time job, even if it means she rarely has time to watch TV or go to the movies. Shira writes about the things she knows and loves, whether it’s music and musicians, the ocean, or the places she’s lived or traveled to. She spent her middle school years living in France, and tries to visit as often as she can.

Shira and her husband spend as many weekends as they can aboard their 36′ catamaran sailboat, Land’s Zen, at the Carolina Coast. Not only has sailing inspired her to write about pirates and mermen, her sailboat is her favorite place to write. And although the only mermen she’s found to date are in her own imagination, she keeps a sharp lookout for them when she’s on the water.

Website: http://www.shiraanthony.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/shira.anthony

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/4641776.Shira_Anthony

Twitter: @WriterShira

Email: shiraanthony@hotmail.com