Melissa Keir-Small Town Romance Author
  • Welcome
  • Blog
  • Melissa's Books
  • Missy's Children's Books
  • Contact me
  • Privacy Notice
  • Welcome
  • Blog
  • Melissa's Books
  • Missy's Children's Books
  • Contact me
  • Privacy Notice
Search

Melissa's Musings

.@melissa_keir: Interview with Jennifer Allis Provost, author of Changing Teams

3/7/2016

 
Picture

I'm excited to have Jennifer here today sharing a little about herself and her writing. I love getting to know more about authors and how they came up with their amazing stories.

Picture
Hello Jennifer and thank you for visiting today.  Tell us a little about yourself. 
Jennifer Allis Provost writes books about faeries, orcs and elves. Zombies too. She grew up in the wilds of Western Massachusetts and had read every book in the local library by age twelve. (It was a small library). An early love of mythology and folklore led to her epic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Parthalan, and her day job as a cubicle monkey helped shape her urban fantasy, Copper Girl. Heir to the Sun, book one of the Chronicles of Parthalan, launched June 1, 2015. Changing Teams, the first in a new contemporary series, released November 10, 2015 from Limitless Publishing. The second book, Changing Scenes, will release January 5, 2015.

Thanks! Congrats on your new release and the sequel! Now on to some personal questions. If you could go back in time to when you were seven years old, what wisdom or advice would you pass on to yourself?
Go to art school anyway.

That sounds like a story. For what are you grateful?
My kids, my husband, that I’m able to write and get my work out into the world…so many things!

If a zombie virus took over the world, how many days do you think you could last before you were infected? And what would you do to postpone the inevitable?
Well, I don’t run and I can’t shoot, but I was a Girl Scout so I have a few outdoor skills. With any luck I’d find a nice cabin to hole up in and escape the undead’s notice.

There is something to be said for hiding. What television sitcom is most like your family? Why?
Probably Buffy the Vampire Slayer – my family are dysfunctional like Buffy’s, but I have a close group of friends who are my chosen family.

I'm a big Buffy Fan... Like Spike better than Angel.. But that's another topic. What’s your favorite thing to do to relax?
A hot cup of tea and a book!

Let’s find out a little bit about you as an author. Did you always want to be an author?
Oh, absolutely. I was writing stories about princesses from faraway worlds when I was in grade school.

What authors had an impact on you growing up and as an adult?
Robin McKinley, Wendy and Richard Pini, T.H. White, and Mark Twain, to name a few.

Do you have any “must haves” with you while you’re writing?
Yes – silence! No music, no background noise like a café. I need to pay attention to what my characters are saying.

How did you decide to write a New Adult story? Do you feel passionate about that age?
I didn’t set out to write a New Adult story. The character of Sam came to me first, and he just happened to be twenty three. Once I figured out that my heroine, Britt, was twenty two, the plot just came together.

What have you learned the most from being in the writing business?
Network, network, network! The writing community is incredibly supportive. I don’t know where I’d be without the help and advice I’ve gotten from other writers.

Picture
Tell us about your latest release: 
Britt Sullivan, part time model and full time aspiring artist, is sick of living alone in the city… 

Taking lame jobs just to make ends meet is leading Britt nowhere, and she knows something has to change. She needs some excitement, and when she meets blue-eyed Midwesterner Sam MacKellar at a photo shoot, she realizes he’s perfect for her in every way—well, except for the fact that he’s gay. 

A devastating childhood trauma turned Sam’s whole life into a lie… 

Sam came to New York City to escape an existence that had become unbearable, and when his job as a photographer’s assistant leads him to Britt, he realizes he’s finally met someone who sees him as he really is. But plagued by nightmares and trapped by his own deception, he doesn’t know how she can truly be part of his life. 

Friendship leads to a passionate encounter and hidden dangers… 

Britt comforts Sam though his nightmares, and they begin to explore their mutual attraction, but the tables are turned when Britt faces unwelcome attention from a manipulative art instructor and Sam must come to her defense. 

Sam is terrified to reveal the source of his nightmares, sure the truth would shatter his complicated relationship with Britt, but when she suffers an unspeakable trauma of her own, only Sam can help her pick up the pieces. 

When Britt learns the magnitude of Sam’s lies, will his reasons and the depth of their feelings be enough to allow her to forgive him? Does she have a future with Sam, or does his deception also include the reality of changing teams?

For More Information
  • Changing Teams is available at Amazon.
  • Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.
  • Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.

Book Excerpt:
“So, how much cleavage?”

I blinked. “Um, what are you talking about?”

“Cleavage. Boobage. The girls.” Sam nodded toward my breasts. “How much are you comfortable showing?”

The question was a valid one, being that I’d been hired as the cover model for a romance novel and was standing in costume at said novel’s photo shoot. Since the story was set in the eighteenth century, my costume consisted of miles and miles of rich ochre silk and frothy white lace; as gowns went, it weighed a ton. It came equipped with a set of underpinnings that resembled torture devices more than garments, including a corset that pushed my breasts almost up to my chin.

Since I couldn’t resist flirting with the cute boy, I gave Sam my slyest grin. “Well, it is a bodice ripper, isn’t it?”

Sam threw back his head and laughed. He was the superhot assistant to Nash Williams, currently the hottest photographer in New York City, and we’d been teasing each other with abandon since we’d met earlier that day. “That it is, darlin’.”

I glanced down at my already overflowing cleavage. “Aren’t I showing enough already?”

“C’mere, darlin’,” Sam said. “Let me, the master of fluffers, fluff your breasts to perfection.” I stepped closer, letting Sam straighten the side seams of my bodice, then he tugged at the lace edging. “We have a few options here, darlin’, and it all depends on how daring you’d like to be.”

I could do daring. “And those options are?”

“We can keep the lace edging right here,” Sam said, running his index finger along the top edge of the silk but below the lacy ruffles. “It’s a good, sexy look. Or, we could place this seam right below your nips.”

“Below?” I repeated. “What is this, porn?”

He waved my concern away. “Please, a nipple or two hardly constitutes porn. Turn around and face the mirror, and let me show you what I mean.”
​
Eyeing him dubiously, I turned toward the full-length mirror. Sam stood behind me and began his demonstration by pushing my breasts together to deepen my cleavage. Since I’d been modeling for years I was no stranger to nudity, or having my body and clothing adjusted rather intimately by someone I’d just met, but I’d never had someone that looked like Sam doing the adjusting. He was well over six feet tall, with broad shoulders and thick quads that bespoke a muscular frame, and had this sexy accent that I couldn’t quite place; Southern, maybe? His dark hair was boyishly tousled, his blue eyes were piercing, and that devilish, lopsided smile of his completed a rather attractive package.

Too bad he was gay. Also of note: that gay man was lowering my bodice way past my nipples.

“Hey,” I said, trying to squirm away.

Sam clamped a strong hand on my hip, and nodded toward the mirror, “Have a look, darlin’.”

I did, and saw that while the gown’s upper edge was indeed resting just below my nipples, the lacy ruffles still covered most of my breast. I’d worried such a low neckline would make me look sleazy, but this was more like decadent elegance.

“Wow,” I said. “That does take it to the next level.”

“Sure does.” Sam grinned. “Best of all, anyone looking straight at you won’t even see your cute little nips.”

I smirked at his reflection. “But anyone standing over me, like you, gets a show.” Seriously, anyone taller than me would be treated to a full view of my naked breasts. It was like they were sitting out on a platter.

Sam nestled my hips against his, cupping my breasts as he adjusted them further. “Don’t worry about me, darlin’. You don’t have the equipment I’m after.”

“Then why do you keep touching me?”

“Hey now, it’s my job to make you look good. Not that you weren’t gorgeous to begin with,” he added. Sam’s hands left my breasts as he focused his attention on my hair, which had been looped and curled into a rather fussy up-do. “Now, if you’re being ravished by our hero, I imagine a few of these pins would have come loose,” he said, freeing a few tendrils to float around my shoulders. “That’s better, softens up your look a bit.”

“Who’s this hero going to be?” I asked, meaning the other model for the shoot. As if on cue a door opened behind us, and Sam and I watched in the mirror as a fortyish man entered the studio. My counterpart for the shoot was almost as tall as Sam, but he had shoulder length blond hair and wasn’t half as muscular. He was wearing a gentleman’s version of formal eighteenth century dress, complete with frilled cuffs and a frock coat. He strode directly to the cyc wall, with three assistants—who needs three assistants? The queen of fricken’ England?—following close behind. Then, he unbuttoned his coat and shirt and one of the assistants started rubbing something on his chest.

“Are they oiling him?” I looked up at Sam. “Really, oiling? Is he pretending to be a romance novel sex god or something?”

Sam snorted. “Giovanni wishes he was a sex god. I’ve seen him naked at more than one shoot, and I happen to know that his cock bears an uncanny resemblance to an uncooked French fry.”
​
I laughed out loud, the force of which sent my left boob popping free of my corset. “Maybe we should keep my nipples covered.”

“Nah, let’s give ol’ Gio a run for his money.” Sam turned me around, then he set to work on my bodice. “I mean it, you really do have great breasts,” he said as he wrestled my breast back inside my gown, pinching my nipple in the process. I wondered if that was accidental. “Nash has this ongoing harem girl series; you should audition for it.”

I stared at Sam, unsure how I felt about the hot gay guy telling me I should sign up for a bunch of topless photos, not to mention all the fondling. “If you keep it up with the cupping and pinching, I’m going to cup and pinch something of my own,” I warned.
​
“I love it when you tease me, baby.” Sam extended his arm and I tucked my hand into his elbow. As we crossed the set toward Giovanni, Sam whispered in my ear, “Now darlin’, you need to keep your nips up,” he advised. “If you let them go flat, your dress will slip and it’ll ruin the look.”

“I can’t exactly control my nipples,” I said, wondering if men were capable of exerting some sort of influence over their mammary glands that women just couldn’t mimic.

“Don’t worry, darlin’, if they go down I’ll just come after you with an ice cube.” When my eyes widened at his threat, Sam laughed and gave me a gentle push toward the cyc wall. “Now, don’t you fret over a bit of ice. Just get over there and be beautiful.”

I tried glaring at Sam, but his infectious grin won me over. “You come after me with ice and I’ll retaliate in kind.”
​
“I’ve no doubt you will, darlin’.”

​
How did you decide on your story plot?
Once I had Sam and Britt, I needed to get them to meet. Since Sam’s a photographer, Britt became a part-time model. Now that they’d met, I had to figure out how to get them together.

How did you choose your characters names and location for your story?
Early in changing Teams Britt asks Sam why he moved to NYC from Iowa. Sam’s response is that New York is where everything happens, and he’s right! As for names, there’s a funny story behind Britt’s (it’s short for Britannica), and Sam just seemed like a Sam to me.

Do you have a favorite scene? Why?
Yes – when Britt tells Sam the story behind her name. They’re having a quiet few minutes together, and they’re just laughing and talking and being honest. That scene is when Britt really starts falling for Sam.

Do you have a character that you identify with? Who and why?
I identify somewhat with Britt, since she is an aspiring artist forced to work odd jobs until she starts selling her work, and I’m an author with a day job :)
​

Let our readers know how they can get a hold of you…
Friend me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jennallis https://www.facebook.com/copperraven
Follow me on Twitter: @parthalan
http://jenniferallisprovost.com/
http://jenniferallisprovost.blogspot.com/
 
Is there anything else that you want to share… feel free!!

Dorothy Thompson link
3/7/2016 08:05:45 am

Thank you for hosting Jennifer, Melissa!


Comments are closed.

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Melissa Keir

    Gator Girl Extraordinaire

    RSS Feed



    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011

Proudly powered by Romance
Melissa Keir-Author

Photos used under Creative Commons from emilyonasunday, imagesbyk2 Photography, Beverly & Pack, thisreidwrites, jDevaun, Ken Wilcox., jan_krutisch, wiesiek_kr, ginnerobot, Tim RT, erasergirl, wheatfieldbrown, fivehanks, Ⅿeagan, theilr, symphony of love, Abhishek Singh Bailoo, Max Braun, Daniel Leininger, EliJerma, sean_reay, DafneCholet, Pablo Tocagni, kevin dooley, CarbonNYC, Loren Javier, marco monetti, shannonkringen, Peter Werkman (www.peterwerkman.nl), tekkbabe, Aditya Rakhman, MilitaryHealth, almarWho, raganmd, snowkei, wuestenigel, Amal Hathaway, augustineisnotmyname, digitizedchaos, photologue_np, -stamina-, Jessica_Branstetter, I woz ere, Erháld, Tostie14, kdinuraj, feline_dacat, RobBixbyPhotography, glaciernps, aussiegall, Pink Sherbet Photography, Poul-Werner, Loren Javier, Diamond Farah, AForestFrolic, williamcho, shannonkringen, gagilas, ben.fitzgerald, Tony Fischer Photography, rufusowliebat, emilianohorcada, George Deputee, LadyDragonflyCC - >;< - Spring in Michigan!, brick red, citymaus, Emery Co Photo, midiman, Thragor, jdegrazia, dane brian, sibikos, nan palmero, r.nial.bradshaw, US Army Africa, bambe1964
  • Welcome
  • Blog
  • Melissa's Books
  • Missy's Children's Books
  • Contact me
  • Privacy Notice