21 April 2019

Blast from the Past...Spotlighting Beth D. Carter's "Between You & I"


A broken engagement left Madeline Shawl feeling like a shattered woman.  When she meets Hunter Caligari, he seems to be the perfect man for some friends-with-benefits action.  But when the easy affair turns into something more, it threatens her comfortable grief.

The passion of the younger man nearly infects her until Hunter tries to articulate it with the three words she refuses to hear. When she pushes him away, wounding his heart, she finds her own broken all over again.

Still, Madeline struggles to leave the past and accept that when Hunter said, "I love you," he wasn't just speaking for himself.


Q & A 

      1.   Did you plot this book out or write wherever an idea took you?


I used to live behind a park that had an inline skating arena and when I would walk my dog I’d like to watch the guys play. This led to thinking about using this sport for a character. Madeline had been bouncing around in my head because I’d just had my second surgery for endometriosis, and this time I had a hysterectomy. It’s a horrible disease and I wanted to try to use my experiences as the basis of a story. It didn’t take long to marry these two ideas and thus was the premise of Between You & I.

2.       
     2.  What was your hardest scene to write in this book?


Madeline’s motivation for breaking up with Hunter. As a reader, I’m not a fan of characters who make decisions for the other characters without talking to them. I don’t think this really happens in real life so I hate when it’s a plot device. BUT in this case, I honestly thought Madeline would do that exact thing I dislike so much. She’s a little too strong for her own good, and taken to that extreme, I can understand why she wouldn’t tell Hunter about her inability to have children because she wouldn’t want his pity. Or worse, him staying with her to prove he doesn’t pity her, in a type of misguided sense of chivalry.

3.      
      3.   Since the publication, what would you say has improved in your writing?


I think my passive writing has improved. I’m very aware of using the word “was”. At least, I think I am

4. Do you believe a book cover plays an important role in the selling process?


Very much! The first cover I got for this book had this half naked guy on it with some type of pastel coloring and I really didn’t like it. The cover didn’t fit the book. This story is actually Madeline’s story, not Hunter’s, and I couldn’t see putting a rock-n-rock jock on the cover when it’s more of a love story. So I asked to change it and I’m thrilled with what I got.



EXCERPT  



A broken engagement left Madeline Shawl feeling like a shattered woman.  When she meets Hunter Caligari, he seems to be the perfect man for some friends-with-benefits action.  But when the easy affair turns into something more, it threatens her comfortable grief.

The passion of the younger man nearly infects her until Hunter tries to articulate it with the three words she refuses to hear. When she pushes him away, wounding his heart, she finds her own broken all over again.

Still, Madeline struggles to leave the past and accept that when Hunter said, "I love you," he wasn't just speaking for himself.





Q & A 



1.       Did you plot this book out or write wherever an idea took you?

I used to live behind a park that had an inline skating arena and when I would walk my dog I’d like to watch the guys play. This led to thinking about using this sport for a character. Madeline had been bouncing around in my head because I’d just had my second surgery for endometriosis, and this time I had a hysterectomy. It’s a horrible disease and I wanted to try to use my experiences as the basis of a story. It didn’t take long to marry these two ideas and thus was the premise of Between You & I.

2.       What was your hardest scene to write in this book?

Madeline’s motivation for breaking up with Hunter. As a reader, I’m not a fan of characters who make decisions for the other characters without talking to them. I don’t think this really happens in real life so I hate when it’s a plot device. BUT in this case, I honestly thought Madeline would do that exact thing I dislike so much. She’s a little too strong for her own good, and taken to that extreme, I can understand why she wouldn’t tell Hunter about her inability to have children because she wouldn’t want his pity. Or worse, him staying with her to prove he doesn’t pity her, in a type of misguided sense of chivalry.

3.       Since the publication, what would you say has improved in your writing?

I think my passive writing has improved. I’m very aware of using the word “was”. At least, I think I am.

4.       Do you believe a book cover plays an important role in the selling process?

Very much! The first cover I got for this book had this half naked guy on it with some type of pastel coloring and I really didn’t like it. The cover didn’t fit the book. This story is actually Madeline’s story, not Hunter’s, and I couldn’t see putting a rock-n-rock jock on the cover when it’s more of a love story. So I asked to change it and I’m thrilled with what I got.



EXCERPT 

              
               All too soon she pulled in front of the gate that sealed off his apartment complex, slipping into an empty slot designated for future residents.  She put the car in park and turned off the engine before shifting to look at him.  The overhead parking lights illuminated his face through the front window, highlighting his chiseled good looks and her heart thumped in excitement.

                “I had a great time,” Hunter murmured.

                The chemistry between them heated up the small confines of the car.  Madeline wet her suddenly dry lips with her tongue.

                “Me…” She had to clear her throat from the huskiness coming through.  “Me too.”

                He smiled and their gazes met.  Locked.  She had this sense of free falling, just plunging head first into an unknown, yet magical, abyss.  He brought his hand up to cup her cheek, and she leaned into it.  Still, the looked at one another, and she swore he was reading her soul.  Or she was reading his.  His eyelids narrowed a bit and his attention shifted her mouth.  All sorts of delicious heat spread through her body she knew he was going to kiss her.  God!  She wanted to kiss him back to much it was like an ache deep in her gut. 

                Then his head descended and her eyes fluttered shut just as the first touch of his mouth on hers brushed her lips.  So gentle, like the dewy wisp of butterfly wings, almost so gentle she wondered if he had kissed her at all.

                She opened her eyes and saw gasped at the desire pooling in his blue eyes.  This time when he kissed her, he held nothing back, possessing her lips while electric currents shot through her body.  He slid his tongue over hers, tangling, dancing, sending delicious sensations vibrating over all her nerve endings.  His kiss was hot and smooth, tasting of everything dark and velvety.  She’d never a kiss quite like it before.

                And she wanted more.





WHERE TO BUY

https://www.evernightpublishing.com/between-you-and-i-by-beth-d-carter

https://www.amazon.com/Between-You-Beth-D-Carter-ebook/dp/B01K7TO3TM/ref=sr_1_32?keywords=beth+d.+carter&qid=1555717102&s=gateway&sr=8-32

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/658351


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