On Thin Ice With Liana Laverentz

Welcome back, TLN'ers!!

Hope you've recovered from feasting with family and friends! Goodness knows I'm still trying to work off that extra slice (or two) of chocolate pie. All hail good grub!

Speaking of good things, please make welcome award winning author, Liana Laverentz!! She's dishing up some calorie-free advice for us day.

So, belly up to your screen and let's dig in!

1) If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

What do you do when you’ve got so many things coming at you, you don’t know what to tackle first? Writer Liana Laverentz stumbles and fumbles through Life, saying Yes to as much as she can, then wonders where the time went. Join Liana on her journey of discovery, what works and what doesn’t, as she tries to figure out what Life is all about. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll look at your own life in a whole different way.

2) Using three words describe your voice.

Open, relaxed, casual.

3) What's the biggest obstacle you've had to overcome in your writing?

Myself. I’ve noticed I’ll put myself out there for everyone else, but when it comes to me…I can wait. I’m still working on that.

4) What was the best writing/career advice you've ever received?

Make every word count. Don’t just fill up the pages. Have a reason for everything you write, and know what that reason is. If you don’t know, don’t put it in the book.

5) You've been an EPPIE Winner, a Golden Leaf Award Winner, and Nominated for Best Romance of 2007. What does it feel like to be an award winning author?

It feels good, a little unreal, hard to believe at times, especially on the days when I can’t string two coherent thoughts together. But mostly it lets me know I’ve made some people happy with my books, maybe even helped them a little, like helped them through a bad patch, and that’s what it’s all about—reaching the reader, connecting, touching lives through my writing. That’s the part that feels really good.

Is there anything you'd do differently if you had to start all over again?

I’d believe in myself a whole lot sooner than I did. I’d have listened to my instincts instead of assuming everybody else knew better than I did what direction I needed to go in. It wasn’t until I started digging in my heels and being true to myself that success came.

6) Tell us what's coming up next for Liana?

I’m working on an inspirational romantic suspense. It’s called Caitlin’s Cross, and I’m having a lot of fun with it.

Here's a tasty teaser of THIN ICE:

Blurb:

The last thing Emily Jordan needs in her life is a man, and certainly not one who uses his fists in his work. Her father hit her mother, and Emily’s already made the mistake of marrying a man who seemed to be a dream come true, but proved to be no better. An emergency room doctor and volunteer at a women’s shelter, she sees more than enough of the results of violence in the world, and has no use for anybody who contributes to it.

When she treats Eric Cameron in her ER after a bar brawl, her opinions of men in general seem to be confirmed. It isn’t until she meets Eric outside her eight-year-old son’s school after Eric gives a talk against using drugs and alcohol, that Emily learns he’s a hockey player, and her son’s newest idol. Robbie has been begging her to let him play hockey for months, and has now enlisted his new friend Eric, captain of the struggling Minneapolis Saints, to help him convince Emily to let him play.

Eric Cameron is more than willing to be Robbie’s ally. He’s never met a woman who intrigued him so much. Emily Jordan has it all…brains and beauty, a home of her own, a career she excels at, a son who adores her, and loving friends and family to help her bring it all together in a way Eric has longed for ever since he was a kid living over the ramshackle bar his mom ran when his dad ran out on them. He realized early on that hockey was going to be his only way out of spending his life busting up barfights.

Still, Eric was raised to respect and protect women, and this feisty, independent woman who wants nothing to do with him—and needs nothing from him--totally confounds him. The memory of her healing hands that first night drives him to find the key to Emily’s heart, because he knows that once he wins it, he will have everything he’s ever wanted in life. But for him to succeed would mean that Emily would have to give up everything she has—her home, her career, her independence--and subject her life to the whims of the NHL….for a hockey player’s life is anything but settled.

Will Eric be able to win her heart despite her opposition to the only life he’s ever known? Or when the season ends will he move on again--alone?

Excerpt:

“I want you to kiss me, Emily.”

The fire inside her rekindled.

He released her hands and held his up in surrender. “I’ll even keep these behind my back if you want me to.”

“Eric, this isn’t necessary,” she said in embarrassment.

“Oh, but it is. For whatever reason, it is, and tonight I’m playing by your rules. Now, where do you want my hands?”

Loaded, question, that. But she looked into his eyes and found them clear and direct. This wasn’t a game to him. This wasn’t teasing. This was real. “Behind my back,” she whispered.

He opened his arms. She stepped forward and placed her hands on his chest. His cable knit sweater was soft beneath her palms, a sharp contrast to the hard strength it concealed. He spread his legs to accommodate her, then slid his hands around her down parka, linked them at the back of her waist and pulled her close. “Perfect,” he murmured.

“How so?” she asked uneasily, thankful the thickness of her coat prevented direct body contact.

He chuckled. “Because I’ve wanted to give you a hug for weeks, Emily Jordan. I don’t think I’ve met anyone who deserved one more.”

Wonder replaced wariness. She leaned back and looked into his dark eyes. “You’re serious.”

He tucked her head against his chest, settled his arms around her again and closed his eyes. “Dead serious.”

For the longest time he simply held her. Security settled around Emily like a warm blanket. She could have stood there for hours, cocooned in his arms, listening to the steady beat of his heart beneath her ear, smelling the clean, musky scent of him mingled with the faint smell of leather and the crisp chill of winter. Only the idea of her son wondering aloud to a group of strangers what might’ve happened to them made her pull away.

Eric dropped his hands to his sides and smiled. “See? Told you I wouldn’t bite.” At her sheepish look, he grinned. “Now, how about that kiss?”

Emily smiled. “Something tells me your storehouse of slick moves isn’t limited to those you use on the ice, Mr. Cameron.”

He laughed, a deep, hearty, happy sound that made Emily want to join in. Instead she looped her arms around his neck and drew his head down to meet hers, taking him by surprise.

She kissed him six times, her hands moving to frame his face and brush back his chestnut brown hair after the second kiss. Each time, she studied his face first, fascinated by the restraint she saw in his features, his refusal to take control. Shamelessly she experimented, her last kiss a hedonistic freefall that left her breathless and weak-kneed.

“Enough,” Eric moaned, sinking against the Suburban, keeping a steadying grip on Emily’s elbows. For a long minute they stood there, heads bowed, breathing uneven. When she finally found the courage to look into his face, she found not the cool mockery she’d come to expect in the past...but tenderness and open delight.

And it terrified her.

Buy Link: http://www.thewildrosepress.com/liana-laverentz-m-48.html

Liana Laverentz
Thin Ice (NJRW Golden Leaf and EPPIE Award Winner)
Jake's Return (NJRW Golden Leaf Award Winner)
Ashton's Secret (available NOW)
http://www.lianalaverentz.com/
http://www.polkadotbanner.com/
http://lianalaverentz.blogspot.com/
www.myspace.com/authorlianalaverentz

Hooked yet? I know I am! What a great excerpt! Sounds like THIN ICE is a sure please-read (and a perfect way to ring in the hockey season!) Heaven knows I love watching hunky puck-shooters tearing up the ice! Wowza!

I'd like to thank Liana for hanging out with is today and THANK YOU, TLN'ers for swinging by! Hope you enjoy Lady Antebellum's I RUN TO YOU. Have a wonderful weekend and we'll catch you back next week!