Get Lost in some Florida Heat

Born and raised in Minnesota, Jody has remained close to home living with her husband of twenty plus years, three children and a cat named Holly. Growing up, she enjoyed reading V.C. Andrews' the Dollanganger series, starting with Flowers in the Attic, S.E. Hinton, and Stephen King to name a few.

She has traveled throughout the United States, to the Bahamas and Cancun, Mexico. Between watching soccer games, scrapbooking and being the COO of the Vitek household, she writes contemporary romances.

Website:  www.jodyvitek.com

Facebook:  Jody Vitek Author

Blurb:

Maggie Carlisle thought she left her ex-husband’s drug life behind in Texas. Left with a physical scar, she struggles to shed the emotional pain and falls in love with Trent Randall. But, Kevin Shaw, a man from her past, looks for revenge through Maggie. Emotional blackmail forces her to choose between true love with Trent or a life based on lies and deception with Kevin.

Trent Randall, a boarding and breeding ranch owner and offshore powerboat driver, loses focus of his racing when Maggie enters his life. Trent contemplates whether Maggie’s worth the danger after he is involved in a racing accident. Trent can’t help but let his heart lead the way when he finds out Maggie’s in trouble.

Excerpt:

Trent strolled around the counter and closed in on her. Her stomach flipped. His slate eyes had a hint of blue shining through.

Maggie stepped back from his looming figure. He was too close. Her voice quavered. “I’m alone because I want to be...and I’m okay with it.”

“Are you afraid of me, Maggie?” He teased as he moved closer to her body.

“No,” she squeaked and ran out of counter space.

“Why do you avoid me?” He backed her up against the wall, his hands around her waist, trapping her.

“I don’t avoid you.” Not about to show her unease with his close proximity, she mustered a firmer voice. “I’m putting a little space between us.” Quickly she added, “At least I was trying to.” Her face felt warm, and a hot wave swept through her belly.

“Why do you need to put space between us? I’m male, you’re female, and we’re attracted to one another.” He smiled suggestively.

“Speak for yourself.” She strained to say it firmly, only to fail.

Her knees weakened when her eyes made contact with his dark smoldering eyes. She bit her lip and averted her eyes from his. “I think...” Her gaze went back to him. “It’s late, and I need to get to work.”

“I hope you’ll think again about coming to my party,” he whispered as he leaned close into her ear.

Her eyes closed, betraying her, at his slow and delicate delivery of his soft warm lips on hers.

FLORIDA HEAT is available from Melange Books and Amazon.

I’m excited to have Jody with us this weekend.  She my Midwest Fiction Writers’ chaptermate and a terrific writer.  FLORIDA HEAT is her debut novel and if I wasn’t a huge fan of Jody’s already, I would buy the book for the cover alone.

CAT:  How often to you get lost in a story? 

JODY:  Every time I read, I get lost. When I’m reading, I lose all focus of what is going on around me. I travel to the stories location and become the character. For some time I quit reading because I couldn’t immerse myself into the story. I would be reading and instead of reading for pleasure, I was studying the author’s writing style and critiquing. Reading was no longer enjoyable for me. I’m happy to say, I’ve started reading again and getting lost in the story.

CAT:  What’s your favorite kind of story to get lost in?

JODY:  I love being lost in contemporary romances, but read other genres. Lord knows I didn’t grow up reading romances.

CAT:  What’s the first book you remember reading? 

JODY:  This is a tough one. I loved reading when I was growing up and there were so many. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume is the one I remember reading in fifth or sixth grade. You know when you’re waiting to become a woman and have all these fears, anxieties and excitement mixed together, this book was fantastic to read during that time. I remembered and loved the book so much that I bought it for my daughter.

CAT:  What’s your favorite fairy tale? 

JODY:  Cinderella. And this is kinda funny and corny, but while we were on vacation two years ago, we celebrated the families July birthday’s. I’m a July baby along with my husband and nephew. My mother-in-law picked up a Cinderella decorated cake that had figurines of Cinderella and her fairy godmother with a thin plastic horses and coach scene. I kept them and have them looking over me in my office. It was a year later that my fairy godmother‑bibbity‑granted me‑bobbity‑my wish‑boo‑of becoming a published author. Believe in what you want, but I do believe that dreams do come true.

CAT:  Is there a playlist you’d recommend for reading your latest release? 

JODY:  I listened to Toni Braxton while writing some scenes, but usually I need it to be quiet, so anything by Toni. I recently purchased Def Leppard-Rock of Ages, The Definitive Collection and there’s a song on there that I think fits a particular scene very well–“Two Steps Behind.”

CAT:  Where do you read and how often? 

JODY:  I usually read when I’m in bed. Daytime is my time for writing, writing related work and doing many other daytime chores.

CAT:  What was the first story you remember writing? 

JODY:  Well, if you really want to go back, it would be from when I was in grade school. It was a story about a bionic frog. Yes, I said frog. The bionic part came about because of the great TV shows of the 70’s. But in all seriousness, my first story is called Love At Sea. My dream wasn’t to be a writer so I didn’t start writing until I quit working to be home with my two children at the time. Love At Sea was my sanity saving grace. It’s what started my writing career. I showed a close friend who thought it was great. Little did we know it wasn’t ‘all that’ and needs a lot of TLC if it ever wants to see the light of day.

CAT:  Do you read reviews of your books? If so, do you pay any attention to them, or let them influence your writing? 

JODY:  Of course I’m going to read reviews of my book. Isn’t curiosity in our human nature? If the reviewer has a valid point, it may very well influence my writing but as a writer, you can’t satisfy everyone’s taste. You need to write what’s within you. I’ve had critique partners come up with some great descriptive lines, but I didn’t use them because it didn’t stay true to my voice.

CAT:  What dreams have been realized as a result of your writing? 

JODY:  If you stay true to your dream, it will come true. Never give up. Take a break, but never give up. Once my writing became a career, my only dream was to see my book in print. Now it’s a reality and I need to move on. Time to write and sell the next book.

CAT:  Tea or Coffee? And how do you take it? 

JODY:  Coffee! A pot a day and sometimes more. I must have coffee. Black. No cream or sugar. If it’s from a coffee shop, then I usually add cream because it’s too strong for my taste.

GOT A QUESTION YOU’D LIKE TO ASK YOUR FANS?

My youngest, eight years old, has asked me multiple times where I’d like to go if I could go anywhere in the world. I haven’t been able to give to him an answer because I’d like to visit everywhere. I do prefer a warm locale with water though. I think it has something to do with being a crab‑my astrological sign. I would love to go back to Florida. So, if you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

JODY is offering a small gift from Bath & Body Works tied to the book to one commenter.