I'm thrilled to introduce the prolific Morgan Mandel. Give her a warm Get Lost in a Story welcome.
A novella length romantic comedy, with a dash of the serious.
Longer than a short story, shorter than a full-length novel - just the right
size for a busy reader!
Throw a crazy canine, a handyman, and a quirky artist together and
you've got mayhem!
Jake's engaged to a sexy, perfect woman, who's even a great cook!
There's no room in his life for wealthy unconventional Zoe, who
eats raw vegetables and probably can't even boil an egg -- or is there? Are
Jake's perfect plans about to be disrupted?
Blame it all on a far-out dog named FuFu, who dropped a toy into
the toilet.
EXCERPT
“Handyman, please, you’ve got to help me. The water,
it’s everywhere.”
“Calm down. Tell me more.”
A toy in the toilet, a messed up chain and flapper --
flood time!
“I’ll
be right there.”
Like a fireman, Jake knew the drill. He grabbed his
jeans and shirt off the bathroom hook, and slipped into his rubber boots by the
back door to the alley.
The Hawk, Chicago’s nickname for its malevolent wind,
blew a dark strand of hair over his eyes. He pushed it away and continued down
the stairs of his Northwest side two-flat. His pickup truck, loaded with sundry
supplies, awaited him in the detached garage.
A round of February snowflakes began as he pulled off
Wrightwood Avenue and turned toward the River North area.
As Jake of All Trades, he willingly performed tasks
others couldn’t or wouldn’t do. Like an old-fashioned doctor, he stayed on call
all hours. A certified plumber, electrician, and overall handyman, he loved
facing and conquering challenges.
Merging onto Trendale, he evaded a Camaro weaving into
his lane. At two a.m. on a Saturday morning, drunks were a common sight on the
almost empty road.
Twenty minutes later, he pulled up to a brownstone
high-rise on a prime site.
Another rich chick.
From their conversation, a mental picture of Sandra O’Toole
flashed in his mind: blonde, helpless, about five years younger than his
thirty. Far from the level-headed Angelina Fortunata, Jake’s intended bride and
future bearer of their children.
Get to Know Morgan
Morgan
Mandel writes romance, thrillers, and mysteries. Her current release is the
romantic comedy, Her
Handyman, featuring a handyman, a crazy canine and a
rich, quirky artist. Her other romantic comedy is the popular reality show
book, Girl of My Dreams.
Coming
soon is Blessing or Curse, sequel to
Morgan’s Boomer thriller, Forever
Young: Blessing or Curse.
Also
still available are Morgan’s romantic suspense, Killer Career, about a Chicago lawyer’s dangerous
career change, and Two
Wrongs, Morgan’s debut mystery set in Chicago.
CLOVER: How often do you get lost in a story?
MORGAN: Very often! At breakfast and
lunch, you’ll find my kindle sitting on my left (far from spillage) as I devour
a book along with my food.
CLOVER:
You are a blogging queen, running a lot of different blogs. How do you find
the time?
MORGAN: Somehow I manage to get it all together. I lost my day job a few years ago, and now am “retired.” Actually
I work harder now than before. On set
dates I post on my group blogs at Acme
Authors Link, Make
Mine Mystery, and The Blood-Red Pencil. On
special occasions I post on my personal blog, Double M. I also
feature guests at my weekly guest blogs, Sweet Not Spicy and Spunky Senior Authors and Talents.
I have others, but too many to mention! My desk calendar reminds me of what to
do each day, or I’d forget.
CLOVER: You have such a
large presence online I really want to know what you do to relax.
MORGAN: I read, watch TV, go to movies, listen to country music, check out
garage and rummage sales, attend outdoor Festivals; and, when on vacation, I’ve
been known to play slots.
CLOVER: What was the first story you remember writing?
MORGAN: In grammar school, I started a story about a shipwrecked girl and boy who
fell in love with each other. I never finished it.
CLOVER: What’s the first thing you do when you finish writing a book?
MORGAN: I wonder if I forgot something.
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CLOVER’S GOTTA ASK: Her Handyman features
FuFu, a Chinese Crested canine, inspired by your own dog, Rascal. Want to tell us a bit about that?
MORGAN’S GOTTA ANSWER: Actually, Rascal doesn’t look at
all like FuFu, but they are both unique dogs. I wanted to show my heroine’s
soft spot, so I had her adopt FuFu, a Chinese Crested, who belongs to a breed
that often wins the ugliest dog contests. My own dog, Rascal, is actually quite
cute. We didn’t mean to adopt her, but it happened anyway. Before I and my
husband set out to adopt a dog, I wrote a list. Some of the negatives were: Not
a pit bull, not a puppy, and not one with physical problems. So, wouldn’t you
know it, we fell in love with Rascal, a deaf puppy pit bull!
Morgan, that's great. You never quite know what animal is going to take off with your heart.
MORGAN CAN BE FOUND ALL OVER THE WEB AT ANY OF THESE PLACES:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/morganmandel
(@MorganMandel)
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/MorganMandel
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/morganmandel/
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OUT THIS MONTH FROM MORGAN:
Romance with a Touch of Thriller
- 5 separate stories about 5 different people who take the Forever Young pill,
plus a few villains lurking in the background.
And Now, Morgan has a question for us:
Do you stick to one genre when you read or write? Or, do you enjoy
diversity, like me?
DON'T FORGET to FOLLOW us on Twitter #GetLostStories or LIKE us on Facebook to keep up with all our guest authors and their prizes. ~ Clover