Meet my Guest: Dorothy Ewels

Today my guest is another Cape Town debut novelist, Dorothy Ewels.

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.

I am an indie author releasing my debut novel on 22 Feb. I have a permafree shorty-short story available but this is my first full-length novel.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?

Love At Last was inspired by my work as a criminal court transcriptionist. One case, in particular, sparked off the idea for the first three chapters. The book doesn't follow the case at all but that case got the thought process going and, as they say, the rest is history.

Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre?

LOL! I didn't choose it, it chose me. When I first started writing again five years ago, I had intentions of writing erotic romance. My writing took on a life of its own and suddenly I found myself writing romantic suspense with steamy scenes instead.

What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning this book?

I have a close personal friend who was a SAPS detective for 15 years and I picked his brain relentlessly for about a year in order to get my facts straight regarding anything to do with police procedures in the book.

How do you select the names of your characters?

I have an evergrowing list of names for women, men, gender neutral and surnames so when I'm looking for character names I browse the list and see what grabs my attention. Although, sometimes a character's name will pop into my head randomly.

How do you like to collect and organise your ideas?

I am a planner so I make notes in a notebook and then I plot and outline on my whiteboard so I can remove, rearrange and add as I go.

How long did it take you to write this book?

The first draft took me about four months to write but I put it away for free months before I started the editing phase.

What's next for you as a writer?

I am currently working on my second book, which I will be releasing in July 2019.

Author Bio 

A proud member of the Romance Writer’s Organization of South Africa (ROSA), Dorothy Ewels developed a love of reading from early on. Her passion for the written word has spanned across decades until she finally put pen to paper and began her path as an indie author where reading and writing remain her first love. Married, with one son and three fur babies, she lives in Cape Town, and while she loves travelling, she cannot see herself living anywhere else. When she’s not weaving stories in her writing cave, she spends her time with family, friends, as well as enjoying crafting.

You can follow Dorothy by clicking on the following links:

http://www.dorothyewels.co.za

https://amazon.com/author/dorothyewels

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18573939.Dorothy_Ewels

https://www.facebook.com/dorothyewels

https://www.twitter.com/DorothyEwels

https://amzn.to/2V0neXG

#romance #RomanceWriter #Romantic #RomanticSuspense, #indieauthors #mustread #kindle 
#BookMarketing #dorothyewels #ROSA #romancesetinSouthAfrica #SouthAfricanromance #inspiration #amwriting #guestblog #blog #francinebeaton

Meet my Guest: AnnTony

Please welcome my Guest today, is AnnTony from Cape Town.

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.

I’m a self-employed girl, loving what I do and being creative! I’m the mom of two gorgeous kids, the wife of the man who loves his bike, almost as much as he loves me, and the sister of one of the most big-hearted persons I know and daughter of two loving, supportive and amazing parents. I started writing in 2016 as a hobby and completely fell in love with Lizzy and Tyler, and my hope is that you will too! I sent the book to a few of my close friends, and after their encouragement, I thought I’ll take on the challenge to self-publish my book and what a journey it’s been! I started with THE SHADOW OF TODAY and I simply couldn’t stop writing, so Lizzy & Tyler’s story continued onto book number #2: EMBRACE THE WORLD IN GREY. I’m happy to say it is completed, just need to get it to my editor and I’m currently busy writing BOOK NUMBER THREE! – (It’s a work in progress!)

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?

THE SHADOW OF TODAY. I've always enjoyed reading and having a bit of a wild imagination

myself, I tried to put pen to paper and the ideas and stories just unravelled in front of me and I love every second of it! My dad also inspired me, being a writer himself.

Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre?

After reading Fifty Shades of Grey for the umpteenth time I just decided to create my own Christian Grey and with that came Lizzy Stuart and of course... my Tyler!!

What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning this book?

If someone had to go through my Google History, I think they would probably fall off their chair or I could get arrested!!... No, I'm just kidding but seriously, I did spend a lot of time on research. Phoning up people, even getting my doctor to answer some endless questions I had.

How do you select the names of your characters?

That just comes randomly to me.

How do you like to collect and organise your ideas?

My mobile phone is my life! With hundreds of notes on a very good app.

How long did it take you to write this book?

As I've mentioned, this is a series, so The Shadow Of Today took me a year and Embrace The World In Grey took me another year and I'm currently working on Book Number 3.

What's next for you as a writer?

To finish off The Shadow Trilogy. I've got about another two stories in my head!! I've already started with Rewrite The Stars because I just had to get these next two characters out of my head and onto paper. I'm very excited about their story too! It's something totally different.

Author Bio 

AnnTony is a romance writer who lives in Cape Town, South Africa. She lives her crazy life with her two kids, her husband who loves his bike, almost as much as he loves her and their four dogs. When AnnTony isn't writing books, she's probably taking photos of all her friends, living life to the fullest, being her creative self. From painting, making candles, organizing parties and of course reading lots and lots of books. And then when words fail, music speaks loud and clear in her car, on the couch, or in the gym. She is proudly South African in everything she does, and this includes her grammar throughout all her books! And most weekends, she'll sit around a braai, enjoying spending time with her friends.

You can follow AnnTony at

www.anntony.co.za

www.amazon.com/author/anntony

www.facebook.com/anntonyauthor

https://amzn.to/2GubkCd

#romance #RomanceWriter #Romantic #RomanticSuspense, #indieauthors #mustread #kindle 
#BookMarketing #anntony #ROSA #romancesetinSouthAfrica #SouthAfricanromance #inspiration #amwriting #guestblog #blog 

Food, Romance and Valentine's Day

“When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore.”

Jack Brooks (songwriter) 'That's Amore'

February. Valentine’s Day. The first thing everyone to mind may be hearts, roses and chocolate. I dare say that it does not matter what you plan for Valentine’s Day, or even any other romantic date, it always involves food. It’s probably because it is two of life’s universal pleasures and most people appreciate to have both or, more likely, crave.

Many women have grown up with the age-old English proverb, “A way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”  That may be true, but I’m convinced many women would agree with me that there is nothing sexier than a man that cook’s for you. Barefoot in the kitchen - bare-chested too if he’s daring enough, but that’s just my personal opinion.

There are obviously those would recoil horrified if you mention going out for Valentine’s meal or going the whole hock with flowers, chocolates and candle-lit dinner. Others love the idea because that is part of the entire Valentine’s experience. It’s not to say that if you do plan your Valentine’s date to perfection, it should feel staged. It’s crucial that you should consider your partner’s tastes and preferences. What one may think is romantic, does not work for the other one.

To tell you the truth, some people would happily take the one evening of magic and romance if that’s all they are going to get, or they are going to be the one that has to clean up the kitchen mess afterwards if their partner does decide to cook for them. After all, not everyone in the kitchen should get free reign in the kitchen. Some, like me, should leave it to the experts.

Happy Valentine’s Day