Hello, everyone! I recently received a contract from Dreamspinner Press for my second chance romance novella In Over Our Heads. This book follows the events in All the Way to Shore but can be read as a stand-alone. Those who have read All the Way to Shore will remember Anthony as the lively cousin of Jonathan Vallen. Jonathan and his now-husband Marco are back also, along with Marco’s sister Sophia.

Here is the blurb:

Anthony Vallen is the life of any party. Full of energy and fun, Anthony adores romance and enjoys playing matchmaker for his friends while dancing the night away with a series of Mr. Right Nows. But he’s given up on his own happy ending. A bad breakup years ago made him a secret cynic about love… until he runs into Walter Elkins—the boy who broke his teenaged heart—on a scuba diving vacation in Key West. Suddenly, Anthony’s reasons for shunning romance no longer hold water. Being with Walter again forces Anthony to get serious—about himself, his worth, and his heart’s desires.

Brilliant and self-contained, scientist Walter Elkins prefers deep thoughts to other people. He’s a good boss and a model citizen, but Walter doesn’t let anyone get close. After a tragedy drove him out of his career as a chemist, Walter landed in Key West and became owner of a dive shop and bar. Things are fine until Anthony Vallen—the only person who ever penetrated his defenses—shows up, and Walter’s calm, controlled life capsizes. He and Anthony have a second chance for love, but Walter must conquer the old fears that threaten to torpedo their happiness.

Expected publication date is Oct/Nov 2017.

This was such fun to write! Second chance romance set in Key West! I took a road trip from Orlando to Key West this March and its beauty is beyond all expectations. Here’s a pic:

A little more about writing the main characters:

Anthony is such a vibrant character that I decided to write him in 1^st person POV. I don’t usually write in first person, but Anthony kind of demanded the stage. He’s ridiculous and over-the-top and frankly, one of my beta readers found him too much. (“How many times is he going to say ‘doll’ and ‘sweetums’?”) But there’s real heart in Anthony, who is loyal and loving to his friends. His hyper playfulness is all to deflect from his notion that he’s not worth much. He doesn’t take himself seriously and doesn’t expect anyone else to either. Walter takes him seriously, which is a problem for Anthony because Walter also broke his heart years before. I liked writing Anthony as he grows up and steps into his worth by the end of the book.

Walter is a scientist, so I wrote him in 3^rd person and via his meticulous daily log in which he charts the tides and his daily activities. Walter’s log reveals his emotions, but filtered through his logical, facts-based style. Walter is an admirable person who has sentenced himself to a solitary life because he blames himself for some tragedies in his past. The fun of writing Walter was to see how his carefully ordered universe can’t contain the tidal wave that is Anthony coming back into his life. He has to forgive himself for not being perfect to allow himself the miracle of a second chance with Anthony.

I enjoy experimenting with conveying character through written records such as Walter’s log. In All the Way to Shore, I wrote excerpts from Marco’s journal as a way to capture the “real” Marco underneath his hard-driving exterior. I’m wondering how it would be to write an epistolary novel, where the story is told entirely through letters (and journal entries, etc.). That sounds fun to try!

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Talk to you next month!

CJane

After years of hearing characters chatting away in her head, CJane Elliott finally decided to put them on paper and hasn’t looked back since. A psychotherapist by training, CJane enjoys writing sexy, passionate stories that also explore the human psyche. CJane has traveled all over North America for work and her characters are travelers, too, traveling down into their own depths to find what they need to get to the happy ending.

CJane is an ardent supporter of LGBTQ equality and is particularly fond of coming out stories.

In her spare time, CJane can be found dancing, listening to music, or watching old movies. Her husband and son support her writing habit by staying out of the way when they see her hunched over, staring intensely at her laptop.

CJane is the author of the award-winning Serpentine Series, New Adult contemporary novels set at the University of Virginia. Serpentine Walls was a 2014 Rainbow Awards finalist, Aidan’s Journey was a 2015 EPIC Awards finalist, and Sex, Love, and Videogames won first place in the New Adult category in the 2016 Swirl Awards and is a current 2016 EPIC Awards finalist.

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