Hi Everyone,
Please welcome the lovely Jasmine Aherne, who is a multi published author and lives in the very beautiful city of Cardiff, UK. She is studying for a Masters Degree in Novel and Poetry Crafting. Today we are talking about her paranormal novel 'Outfoxed' and perfect romantic moments. Yes, Jasmine has just experienced a perfect romantic moment - but I shall let her explain!
Her brand new novel 'Well Traveled' has just been released by Pink Petal Books.
What type of romance do you write?
Contemporary
and paranormal romance. The modern and the magical.
What was the first thing you had published?
The first thing?
Now you're asking. I think it was, rather embarrassingly, a fantasy story I
wrote about a boy and idol for a teen magazine. I was about 14. I won the
competition and it got published. I was so chuffed.
If you weren’t a writer what would you be?
I'd like to think
I would be a palaeontologist. I just love dinosaurs. I love to imagine what
life was like before humans set foot on the Earth and beasts reigned.
How do you overcome writer’s block?
I go to the
movies. I LOVE films. I especially love trailers. If ever there was a
challenge, it's trying to cram a story into approximately two minutes of film
footage and make it appealing.
Most romantic moment you’ve ever had?
Recently, when my (now) fiancé proposed. He'd iced a cake
with "Will You Marry Me" and got down on one knee with a pink
sapphire and diamond ring. An intimate, understated and perfect proposal.
(see, I told you it was a perfect romantic moment!)
Blurb for Outfoxed
Meet Colin. A zoologist. Dedicated to his work. Crap at
meeting women. He’d like to meet the girl of his dreams, but he never imagines
she’ll be hidden in … a statue?
Rhoswen longs to bond with Colin and be part of his human
world. She’s wanted him for so long, and that fact he thinks she’s a fake
hurts. So she sets out to prove to him that just because he can’t see or touch
love, it’s a force to be reckoned with all the same…
Extract for Outfoxed
“What are
you looking for?” Rhoswen asked Colin after a few minutes. “The machine is very
clever. This picture is what I look like inside, is that right?”
“Yes.” Her presence beside him, her strawberry
scent, distracted him, and he wanted to give into the urge to touch and kiss
her. “I’m trying to see how you’re different from a human. How you can shift
into animal form.”
Her brows furrowed. “Do you want to
learn to do it yourself?”
“No, of course not. I just.... I
want to understand. Rhoswen, if you saw someone else... doing magic in the
Faewild, wouldn’t you want to understand how they did it?”
She looked at him for a long time.
Then she took the MRI scan and put it aside on the desk. “Colin, is a magic
trick not more magical because it is not understood? If an old man pulls a
rabbit out of a hat for a child, what is gained by showing the child the hat’s
false bottom? The trick is no longer so special.”
“I know what you’re saying, but....”
He closed his eyes, frustrated. “I love science, and science is about learning
and understanding how things work. And using that gained knowledge to help
others.”
She touched his face. “You said
before that you want me. Do you understand how that works?”
He nodded. “Of course. Chemical
reactions. Pheromones. Chemicals in the body,” he amended when she looked at
him askance.
“But that one word doesn’t explain
everything you feel,” she countered. “How can it? Sometimes words are not
enough. I cannot explain why my heart soared when I first saw you. I cannot
explain why I want you with my heart and soul, but I do. Is that not another
kind of magic?” She stroked her hand over his cheek. “It seems to me, and
forgive me if this is wrong, but it seems that you are looking for reasons to
delay deciding if we can be together.”
Her words made his heart jump, and
he leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers. “I’ve never made a
decision as big as this in my life, Rhoswen. I don’t know how to start.”
“You mentioned taking me out to
dinner – is that what you called it? We could start there.”
Colin stood and left the office
with her, marvelling at this Fae woman and her wisdom, patience and kindness.
If I let her go, I’m a fool.
He wouldn’t, he promised himself. He just
needed more time to appreciate the gravity of spending his life with her, as
delicious as that prospect was.
Colin chose a restaurant in an entertainment
plaza near the canal. He figured that Rhoswen probably hadn’t tried Indian food
before. She drew admiring glances as they were seated from the other diners. She’s with me. His earlier thoughts were
right. He’d be stupid to let her slip through his fingers just because he was
waiting for a revelation.
But you’re
still waiting. He could
leave the restaurant with her now, take her to bed and claim her. Nothing’s stopping you. But it didn’t
feel quite right.
He remembered something his mother had said a
long time ago. Colin had been thinking about asking a girl at his University
out on a date, but was biding his time waiting for the right moment.
“Don’t wait,” his mother had advised
him. “There will never be a time as perfect as right now.”
He’d waited. And the next week,
she’d been asked out by someone else in his class.
Colin had cursed himself then. And you didn’t learn, did you? You’re
waiting now.
But dating someone was so very different to
essentially marrying them. Promising to love them for their whole lives.
But aren’t you already starting to
love her? A little voice inside his head
asked.
Buying Links -
Thanks so much Jasmine for dropping by. Jasmine's new book 'Well Traveled' is available from Pink Petal Books.
Nicole x
Temporarily living in London to care for his ailing father, travel writer
Wade is torn between his urge to globe trot and his love for his dad.
Enter broken hearted but free-spirited Kiersten. After a spilled cup of hot chocolate
brings them together, Kiersten shows Wade that he doesn't need to
get on a plane to find places to explore. The city opens up before his eyes, and
he starts discovering things about London - and about himself - that he never
expected...
http://pinkpetalbooks.com/Well-Traveled-by-Jasmine-Aherne.html
When I was a bright young thing and started reading romances I found that many of the heroines lacked gumption. Yes,we all grew up with fairytales wherein the prince always rescues the damsel in distress. Many of the novels of that time continued this message. In other words you needed a hero not just to rescue you but to complete you. Our girls would stand by looking frail and scared whilst the heroes would battle the evil bad guy. Never thinking to pick up the sword, dagger or gun which lay mere inches from them. Thank goodness thing have changed. Now we have heroines that kick butt, both physically and emotionally. 
