Today author Bettye Griffin stops by to talk about her latest eBook release, Something Real, joined by her three lead female characters.

First, a little about Bettye: Her first romance was published in 1998. She went on to have a total of 16 novels—10 contemporary romances plus 6 works of women’s fiction—traditionally published over the next dozen years. In 2009, while still under contract to Kensington Publishing, Bettye started her own publishing outlet, Bunderful Books. She now indie publishes all her work through this outlet. Her latest eBook, Something Real, recently went on sale.

Shelia: Hi, Bettye. Can you tell me a little about Something Real?

Bettye: Hi, Shelia! Thanks for inviting me to your blog for a chat. Something Real is a sequel to Save The Best For Last, the story centering around the two best friends of the heroine of that book. Like Isn’t She Lovely? before it, Something Real is more of a mainstream romance than a traditional single title romance. Two romances are covered with near-equal amounts of words, only one of which progresses to the HEA (that’s “happily ever after,” for those of you unfamiliar with romance) by the end. Some other things occur that you wouldn’t see in a traditionally published romance because it’s against those all-important publisher rules, but I can’t go into those without giving away too much of the story. Also, the book has a somewhat unusual structure, spanning a four-year period, which allows for a peek into that happily ever after.

Now, for the interview:

Shelia: Bettye has chosen to stay in the background and let her characters take questions instead, so I’m talking with New Yorkers Francesca Perry, “Cesca” to her family and friends; Olivia Oliveira, known as “Livvy” to her oldest friends and just “Liv” to newer ones; and Genevieve Gray, known as Gen, except to her husband Dexter, who calls her Jenny.

The name of the book is Something Real. According to Bettye, all I have to do is ask one question and the three of you will take it from there, so let me ask…Whose story is this?

Cesca and Liv [simultaneously]: Mine!

Gen: I’m not in it a whole lot, but I already got my own story…my story. I didn’t have to share it with anybody, even though my friends were in a couple of scenes. It was called Save The Best For Last. You’ll want to read it, if you haven’t already, just for GP, although it isn’t a requirement…Bettye wrote Something Real as a stand-alone title. But you might as well check out my story. Bettye has made it free at her new eStore, where you can get it formatted for MOBI (Kindle), ePUB (Nook, Sony and others), and PDF (the rest).

Cesca: This is both Livvy’s story and mine, I guess. But my story with Terrence is complete. Livvy’s and Brian’s isn’t.

Liv: That’s all right. I’ll be the star of the next book, and like Gen, I won’t have to share it with anybody…except for the man of my heart, of course. Bettye’s working on it now, and she plans to have it out by the spring. Besides, I’m the reason Bettye wrote this book in the first place. You see, I also showed up in another book of hers called The Heat of Heat. I was only in it for a couple of pages, but readers were intrigued and told Bettye they wanted to know what the deal was with magazine publisher Brian Price and me, so she wrote this story to show readers why our relationship was so strained, as well as what happened afterward. Part I takes place the following spring after Save The Best For Last ends. Part II takes place after The Heat of Heat ends. Bettye said she had a hell of a time structuring this story and keeping the timelines straight…but she did it!

Gen: It’s definitely not your typical romance, which often unfold over the course of a couple of months.

Liv: That Bettye doesn’t do anything typical. Now that she’s indie publishing you never know what she’s going to come up with. She’s really making me work to get to my happy ending. I can’t believe the wrench she put in my plotline.

Gen: Bettye says that relationships don’t line up neatly in a row like so many dominoes, with each character falling in love neatly when it’s their turn. She says that love doesn’t work like an assembly line and is often messy. And by messy I’m not just talking about sex. But speaking of sex, you guys do have a pretty fair amount of that going on. That didn’t happen with Dexter and me in our book. He spent most of the story trying to get me in the sack. [dreamy grin] But oh, what a chase it was! And when it finally did happen, we didn’t even make it to the bed.

Liv: [making a face] Too much information, Gen.

Gen: You must not have read the book.

Bettye: Of course she didn’t read the book. You guys are all characters…remember? You only know what happens in the scenes you’re in.

Liv: Well, there are some twists in Something Real that you just won’t see coming, in both Cesca’s relationship with Terrence and mine with Brian, let me tell you.

Cesca: And let me tell you, Livvy, that Bettye actually decided to write Something Real about Terrence and me. In Gen’s book (Save The Best For Last), she let readers know that I hate police because of how they mistreated me and my family members. Then she had Gen encounter a sexy police officer named Terrence Gulliver after an escaping thief knocked her down. I’m not privy to Bettye’s reasons for including this scene—Gen has no cause to fear the police, as far as I know—but Bettye decided at that moment to write a book that would pair me with Terrence because she knew there’d be fireworks…and something truly horrifying happened in the interim between the two books that made me hate cops even more. So I was the original inspiration for Something Real, not you. She didn’t think about adding you to the mix until a year later, while she was writing The Heat of Heat and decided to put you in it for a hot minute.

Liv: Oh, you think you’re so smart [glares at Cesca].

Cesca: Do I have to remind you that that’s Terrence and me on the cover? I don’t see you or Brian anywhere, not even in the book summary [smiles triumphantly].

Gen: Can’t we all just get along?

Liv: You guys know I love y’all, even when you get on my last nerve.

Cesca: Yeah, well, that’s about all we know. You’re so secretive about everything else.

Liv: I can’t help it; Bettye wrote me that way. She said girlfriends in books are always confiding in each other, and she wanted me to be different. Besides, you guys wouldn’t understand the way I feel about certain things. Both your parents had money. The only reason I lived on the Upper East Side was because my parents were the supers of the building we lived in. Our apartment was on the first floor, next to the laundry room. We heard washers agitating and dryers tumbling all day and all night.

Gen: Sometimes I wish you’d try confiding in us, Liv. We’ve been friends since we were fifteen years old. When Something Real starts we’re…hey Bettye, how old were we again? [Bettye is heard answering.] Oh, that’s right. Twenty-eight. So we’ve known each other for over a dozen years.

Cesca: We’re well off, or at least our parents were. That doesn’t mean we’re from another planet.

Liv: Nothing personal, but sometimes it’s good to keep things to yourself. I’ll be you have secrets.

Cesca: My life’s an open book.

Gen: [nervously chews her lower lip].

Liv: Gen? You okay?

Gen: [too quickly] Fine.

Liv: Hmm. I’m getting the distinct feeling there’s something you don’t want Cesca and me to know.

Gen: Never mind about me. Something Real is your story, remember?

Cesca: It’s more my story.

Gen: [throws hands up] This is where I came in.

Shelia: Something Real is available now for Kindle, for Nook, and on Smashwords. You can also get it directly from Bettye’s eStore for all formats, and link to Amazon and other retailers.

Cesca: It’s a wonderful story, and it’s about me.

Liv: No, it’s about me.

Gen: Can we just say it’s sexy?

Shelia: Thanks, ladies. It’s been…

Cesca, Liv, and Gen [simultaneously]: Real!

Bettye: As in Something Real. It’s now available in all formats, so download yours today! And as for Liv being sure that the concluding story will be exclusively hers…well, I wouldn’t bet the brownstone on it. Things have a way of changing when I’m writing a story, and I’ve decided that Gen, who is keeping a secret from her friends, is going to have a few anxious moments before it’s all over, as well as the roadblocks in store for Liv as she stumbles toward her ultimate happy ending…the final book, Man of Her Heart, is targeted for ePub in February or March of 2013.  In the meantime, please visit my website for information on my Twelve Days of Christmas Sale that is running from now through December 31st.

Thanks, Shelia! You’ve always been my indie publishing she-ro!

Bettye, thanks for stopping by today. I can’t wait to dive into Something Real.

 I’m excited to be able to provide an excerpt of Bettye Griffin’s latest novel, “Isn’t She Lovely!”

About Isn’t She Lovely by Bettye Griffin: In the years since her husband left her, Tracy Pegram has struggled to support her children, working full-time and taking classes to advance her career. Then her son is injured in a hit-and-run accident…and when she learns the irresponsible driver is the son of a millionaire politician, she wants blood.

Illinois Attorney General Keith Norwood’s promising political career stalled after a horrific road accident killed his wife and her mother before his eyes. Voters felt he should tend to his traumatized young son, who also witnessed the crash, and he lost his party’s nomination for governor. Now, four years later, he is running again and leading in the polls when his troubled son, Josh, runs over a child and flees the scene in a panic. In an attempt to protect the teen, Keith and his lawyer offer a private settlement to the injured boy’s mother.

Tracy is livid at the candidate’s attempt to buy his son out of trouble, but when young Josh Norwood asks to apologize to her son, she sees into the heart of the troubled teen and opens her home and heart to him. Before long she recognizes a tortured soul under the rigid public persona of Keith Norwood as well, but opening her heart to the father the way she has to the son is out of the question…or is it?

 ISN’T SHE LOVELY EXCERPT

 Keith disappeared next door just as a knock on the door sounded. Jeff strode over to the door and opened it. His assistant stood with a slim, simply dressed woman on the down side of thirty-five, whose natural hair was cut so short that Jeff found himself hoping she’d worn a hat to guard against the cold March wind.

“Come in, Mrs. Pegram,” he greeted, extending his hand. “I’m so glad you could come down this morning.”

“Nice to meet you,” she said nervously, not cracking the slightest hint of a smile. Her eyes darted around the room, lingering on the college and law school degrees that shared the wall with attractive artwork, the rich leather furniture and heavy oak desk.

He invited her to sit down, skillfully sitting next to her in the second easy chair that faced his desk rather than in his usual chair behind it. The first thing he did was ask about her son. He noted the relief on her face as she told him that the broken leg was expected to heal without complications.

“Mrs. Pegram,” he began, “I want you to know that your son was run over by a frightened teenager who’d taken his sleeping grandfather’s car for a quick trip to the library. He was trying to rush home before his grandpa woke up, and that’s when he collided with your son.”

“And kept driving,” she said in an unforgiving tone. “Am I supposed to feel sorry for him?”

Tough as nails

, Jeff thought. But what would he do in her position? “No, Mrs. Pegram. I have a child myself. She’s three years old, and if anyone harmed her I’d want to choke the life out of them with my own hands. I’m just trying to give you the background information. Now, the boy did confess what he’d done to his grandfather, who immediately contacted the boy’s father, my client, who in turn informed me.”

“How did you find out who my son is, and who I am?”

Again that unyielding tone, and suspicious to boot. If Keith was listening he was probably sweating rivulets. But Jeff was accustomed to high pressure. “I’ve got an excellent investigator working for me. I don’t know his methods; all I know is that he gets results. So here you are, and here I am…and the boy’s father is in the next room.” He hoped she would show interest and ask where Josh’s mother was, just to convey to him that she had some curiosity about the boy who’d run down her son, and maybe some compassion as well. He could probably score sympathy points by telling her the mother was dead, but a sixth sense told him not to mention it if she didn’t ask.

She simply sat with the same stony expression. The woman showed no signs of thawing, and he suspected when she saw Keith she would turn into a volcano and start spewing lava. Jeff found himself fearing for both Josh’s future and Keith’s political aspirations. Tracy Pegram looked like Keith’s worst nightmare personified—a woman whose son had suffered pain and who wanted Josh to suffer as well, and Keith, too. Jeff suspected she might have been one of those voters who felt Keith had no business continuing his candidacy after the accident four years ago.

“Why don’t I bring in my client now,” he suggested. He got up and crossed the room, opening the door to the adjoining conference room. “It’s showtime,” he whispered.

Keith was on his feet in an instant. “Tell me quick. What’s your impression of her?”

“I hate to tell you this, but I think it’d be easier to climb Everest than to pacify this lady.” Jeff raised his index finger to his lips just before he pulled the door all the way open, and Keith knew he didn’t want the boy’s mother to think they were whispering behind her back.

Keith quickly covered his distress and followed Jeff through the doorway into his office. In one of the chairs facing his desk sat a woman who looked nothing like what he expected. It was probably silly of him, but from Jeff’s description of a struggling divorced mother, he hadn’t expected anyone who looked, well, quite so together. For one thing, she was petite. Keith imagined that her schedule of full-time work, part-time college, plus caring for her children left little time for nutritious eating, but Tracy Pegram hardly had a figure of a woman who grabbed a lot of greasy hamburgers and French fries on the run.

She was also fashionable. Her hair was cut in an extremely short natural that emphasized delicate features and a graceful neck. From what he’d seen, the shorter a woman’s hair the larger her earrings tended to be—perhaps to prevent her from being mistaken for a man—but Tracy Pegram’s lobes were decorated with small gold love knots, just one in each ear. She wore a simple crew neck black sweater and black pants with a black-trimmed collarless kelly green suit jacket. A thin gold chain hung around her neck with a curvy capital T hanging from it. To Keith’s eyes, Ms. Pegram looked as well-dressed as, well, Wendy, who was in a considerably higher income bracket.

“Mrs. Tracy Pegram, may I present Mr. Keith Norwood,” Jeff said.

Keith saw the flash of recognition in her dark eyes. She shook the hand he offered like she was in a trance.

“You might recognize him,” Jeff added lamely.

She spoke for the first time since Keith entered the room. “Yes, I do.”

“Keith, you sit there,” Jeff instructed, indicating the chair to Mrs. Pegram’s right, then went around to sit behind his desk.

After Keith was seated he cleared his throat and began to speak. He noticed that while his back was firmly against the back of his chair, she sat upright, her legs bent backward at the knee and demurely crossed at the ankle. He tried not to be intimidated by her stern body language. “Mrs. Pegram,” he began earnestly, “I can’t tell you how sorry I am about what happened yesterday. My son, Josh, has been unhappy lately about my campaign. You see, if I should win it’ll involve moving to Springfield. He’s a high school sophomore and doesn’t want to leave his friends.”

“I don’t mean to sound rude, Mr. Norwood, but is that supposed to be an explanation for what he did? Your son has a tantrum because he doesn’t want to move and my son ends up with a broken leg?” Her eyes flashed with anger.

He resisted the urge to exchange worried glances with Jeff. The last thing he wanted to do was make Tracy Pegram think they were ganging up on her. “Of course not. I just wanted to give you some background information.”

She nodded. “I know about the accident that killed your wife and mother-in-law,” she said softly. “I truly am sorry for the…horrendous experience you and your son suffered, but perhaps he should be supervised more closely.”

Keith’s spine stiffened. He understood the message behind her words: that he shouldn’t be out campaigning, he should be at home with his son. And he didn’t like it. Who was this woman to tell him how to raise his son? With all she had on her plate, how much time did she spend with her kids?

She kept looking at him with anger in her dark eyes. Keith didn’t know if he’d ever had her vote to begin with, but if he ever had it, he’d definitely lost it now.

Jeff quickly intervened, leaning forward personably. “Listen, we’re all parents here. We have to realize that even the best-behaved child is going to act out every now and again. I’m not saying that Josh has had no problems stemming from witnessing the accident that killed his mother and grandmother, but that ordeal is pretty much behind him. What happened yesterday was really a one-time impulse that he regrets very much. Mrs. Pegram, I asked you here today in the hopes that we can reach some kind of a quiet settlement.” He put just the right emphasis on the word ‘quiet.’

Keith found himself holding his breath as he waited for her reaction.

Tracy felt torn. She was being asked to take money in exchange for not pursuing legal action. Josh Norwood had left the scene of an accident, and one with injuries at that.

But he was also the son of a wealthy man, and she’d begun to dip into her meager savings to keep her bills paid on time, something she wouldn’t be able to keep up for very long. She was still paying back the loan she’d taken against her retirement account to finance her divorce from Clint. Her credit card balance was creeping upward because of emergency repairs for a nine-year-old car she couldn’t afford to replace. And the kids always needed something, especially the rapidly growing Gabe. Things were worse now than they’d ever been before, and her stress level was becoming unendurable. Just last week she’d actually cried when she realized she’d accidentally picked up two half gallons of more expensive premium orange juice instead of the regular kind she usually bought. Things had to be pretty bad when an expenditure totaling a dollar and forty cents reduced her to tears. In that case it wasn’t so much the money as it was the strain of trying to keep up. And who knew when Clint would be able to send her anything?

It might not be fair that rich men like Keith Norwood could buy their children’s way out of just about any jam, but she had no choice. She had to hear him out.

“I’m listening,” she said quietly, trying not to sound defeated.

“I wanted to give you an amount that would cover your out of pocket expenses for your son’s medical treatment and would leave plenty left over,” Keith Norwood said. He paused, then said, “Twenty-five thousand dollars.”

“You give the word, and I’ll get the papers drawn up right away,” Jeff added. “You’ll be able to pick up your check this afternoon. Of course, there are some terms we must ask you to agree to.”

Tracy’s fingers gripped the arm rests of the chair even as she kept her facial expression impassive. Twenty-five thousand dollars! That was probably two-thirds of her annual salary. To think that Keith Norwood could pay her that much money in one lump sum, the same way she would buy a ninety-nine-cent burger at McDonald’s. She could actually pick it up on her way home from work, Jeff said.

But nothing was as simple as it seemed on the surface, and Jeff Howard’s words suggested a catch. “What kind of terms?” she asked, her voice low with suspicion.

“Confidentiality. We would expect for the details of the situation itself, as well as the financial settlement, to be kept secret. No friends, no family…not even your ex-husband should be told.”

Her eyes narrowed. She had broken her promise to Amber and hadn’t yet telephoned Clint, but it bothered her that Jeff knew about Clint in the first place. “How do you know I have an ex-husband?” That same creepy feeling she’d gotten when Jeff called her house returned.

As he hedged, the answer came to her with the force of a strong ocean wave. “My God, you’ve had me investigated,” she said accusingly. “You did more than just find out my name and phone number. You’ve snooped into my personal business, going over any records that exist on me. You invaded my privacy!”

While listening to her tirade, Keith noticed that her voice had a husky quality to it that was charming. In a different setting he’d find it sexy. He pushed that outrageous thought aside and sought to reassure her. “Mrs. Pegram,” he said in the most soothing voice he could muster, “I can understand your being upset at the thought of a background check being done on you, but I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s only common sense to get an idea of a person’s character before you offer them cash to keep something quiet.” Too late, he realized that pointing out his ability to pay her for her silence would only antagonize her.

She turned on him with blazing eyes. “And what if my character had been questionable, in your opinion? That doesn’t change the fact that my son has a broken leg because of your son’s reckless driving. So then what would you have done?”

His answer came without hesitation. “I would’ve brought Josh to the police station to turn himself in. I would have let the insurance company handle the settlement and done everything I could to protect my son against the law, even if it meant dropping out of the race for governor and having to disappoint those who’ve supported me with their money and their time.” Keith spoke with quiet resolve that conveyed he was every bit as concerned for his son’s welfare as she was for hers.

He certainly sounded convincing, she thought. She felt herself softening, then swiftly changed her mind. She couldn’t cave in now. Josh’s leg would be in a cast for the next six weeks. She’d have to shuttle him to and from school all that time, and she was already exhausted.

No. As far as she was concerned, Keith Norwood was as sincere as Fred C. Davis, the character of a do-nothing, hot-air Chicago alderman on the old TV sitcom Good Times. His decision to stay in the governor’s race four years ago after witnessing his wife’s death in a fiery car crash suggested he was power-mad and wanted to be the nation’s second black president. Couldn’t he see that his son had been traumatized and needed his dad? That might be why the kid took his grandfather’s car keys in the first place, to get his father to stop running for office and pay him some attention for a change.

It almost seemed unfair that such a cold, unfeeling man—even if he did manage to show personality and warmth on the surface, like that heartfelt claim he’d just made—should have been blessed with a personal fortune, Tracy thought. Imagine, paying someone twenty-five thousand dollars just like that!

It just went to show how real estate often made people rich. Tracy had dreamed, at least she used to before her divorce, of one day buying a house, a place of their own that she would lovingly decorate, where she and Clint would raise their children. Of course, they would have owned just one house, the one they lived in. Keith Norwood, on the other hand, owned properties all over Lake County in a partnership with his father. It was likely those lucrative investments, more so than his salary as attorney general, that allowed him to write five-figure checks without a second thought.

She blinked. Wait a minute. Real estate. That was the key. Keith Norwood could do something for her that would help her even more than twenty-five thousand dollars’ cash, something that would help her get back on her feet.

“Um, Mrs. Pegram?” Jeff Howard prompted.

She decided to go ahead and ask. All he could say was no. She could even make him sweat a little, suggest subtly that she’d go to the police if he didn’t give her what she wanted. She wouldn’t actually do that, of course. Tracy had no interest in revenge. She just wanted a chance to get ahead for once in her life, and a better future for Amber and Gabe. If he resisted, she’d just accept the money and go about her business. But he didn’t have to know that. That damn background check showed she wasn’t a criminal, but it wasn’t like they could read her thoughts by reading a piece of paper.

“I’m going to make you a counteroffer,” she said. “Your offer is very generous, and while cash is always wonderful…”

Keith and Jeff looked at each other in puzzlement, and she knew they were wondering what on earth she was about to ask for.

Tracy rushed on. “But what I’d really like is a rental house with free rent for five years, a house with three bedrooms in a good school district, like Gurnee.”

There. She’d said it.

Isn’t She Lovely? is available for download at Amazon.com (for Kindle), BN.com (for Nook), and Smashwords.com.

  Bettye Griffin is the author of A New Kind of Bliss, Once Upon A Project, If These Walls Could Talk, Nothing But Trouble, and The People Next Door. A native of Yonkers, New York, she now lives in Southeast Wisconsin with her husband. She’s stops by today to discuss what many avid readers like–sequels.

One of the most challenging aspects of writing for today’s audience is that readers don’t want “The End” to really mean, well the end. Even with a story that ties up all loose ends (and in my opinion a good story should, unless another installment is going to follow in a month or two), the question is almost inevitable: When will the sequel be out?

                I received many such requests following the publication of my debut work of women’s fiction, The People Next Door, in 2005. I resisted the idea at first—I wanted to move on to other storylines and characters—but then an idea began to form, and before I knew it I had an entire storyline to update readers on what those initial characters are doing now. That story is being published under the title Trouble Down The Road and will be available to consumers on April 27th.

                Readers have been emailing me as they’ve learned that my new book features characters from The People Next Door as well as my sophomore women’s fiction effort, Nothing But Trouble It’s really a compliment to a writer when readers ask for a sequel, for it shows that they’ve made a connection with the characters the writer created and want to know, and then what happened? But, just as Trouble Down The Road was written five years after the publication of The People Next Door, the action also takes place five years later. That’s the type of sequel that works best for me…one that allows both myself and the characters to grow. The long time lapse also means it’s not a requirement for readers to pick up copies of The People Next Door (although I wouldn’t mind it, of course.) The actions of the past are touched on sufficiently to bring new readers up to speed about what they need to know about the characters’ pasts.

How do you like your sequels?

About Trouble Down the Road:

From the author of The People Next Door comes a smart, sexy new novel that peeks behind the curtains of one very complicated Florida cul-de-sac, where the neighbors are a little too close for comfort…

Suzanne and Brad Betancourt have a lot to be grateful for—their home, their children, and each other. They’ve even survived the fact that Brad’s ex-wife lives next door and Suzanne’s intrusive mother and siblings are just down the road. But Suzanne’s confidence unravels at Brad’s fiftieth birthday blowout, when young, voluptuous, neighbor Micheline brings a specially wrapped gift: herself. Suddenly, Suzanne feels like she’s the one having the midlife crisis…

Hoping to impress Brad, and ease family troubles that are already straining their relationship, Suzanne goes into business with a friend. But the endeavor stretches her too thin, leaving Brad hurt and alienated. Soon he begins to distance himself from her—moving right into the waiting arms of Micheline, who is all too ready to ditch her own husband.

Now, with marriages on the line across the neighborhood, Suzanne and Brad will have to question their notion of loyalty to one another—and to themselves.

The Hollywood Deception Red Carpet Tour kicks off today over at Bettye Griffin’s blog.

One thing Bettye and I have in common besides our love for the written word is our love for movies. I love her movie trivia during Oscar month. This year, I wasn’t able to participate because I was under a deadline. Go check the archives because she has some good trivia questions for movie buffs. When I came up with the idea for the Hollywood Deception Red Carpet tour, Bettye’s spot here on the web was one of the first places I thought about. I’m grateful she agreed.

Please visit http://chew-the-fat-with-bettye.blogspot.com/2010/04/welcome-guest-blogger-shelia-goss.html to read my guest blog post and leave your comments.

This holiday season add a little romance to your Christmas stocking. Books are reasonably priced and can fit into any budget; what better way to add spark to your nights than to read each other scenes from a page-turning romance novel.

Dallas Morning News & National Best-selling author Bettye Griffin kicks off this week of romance spotlights.

To read her interview, click on the following link: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-28527-Dallas-Romance-Examiner~y2009m12d14-Romance-author-spotlight-on-Bettye-Griffin

I love those character interviews Shelia does and decided to do the same thing on my guest blog for her. Here’s my “chat” with the heroine of my new contemporary romance, Save The Best For Last (Bunderful Books, trade paperback, 257 pages).

Q. What is your name?

A. Genevieve. My friends at home in Paris pronounce it Zhuhn-vyehv. You Americans say it, Jen-uh-veev or even Jen-uh-veev.

Q. You just have one name?

A. Of course not. But it’s a little complicated. Here in the States, I use Shane for sentimental reasons. My real last name is (glances around to see if anyone is listening, then speaks in a whisper) L’Esperance.

Q. L’Esper who?

A. That’s one reason why I use Shane.

Q. There’s another reason?

A. Yes, but I won’t tell you what it is.

Q. What’s your most prized possession?

A. The sapphire necklace that was a gift to my late mother from my father, who is now (voice trails off into a whisper) deceased as well.

Q. That’s a tough break. With no family, who do you trust?

A. No one. I’ve got too much to lose to go around confiding in people. In a pinch, I’d probably choose my doorman, Z.L. I’ve known him since I was about twelve. (pauses) I’m twenty-seven now.

Q. What about the people you work with?

A. I’m a freelance graphic artist. So I see different people all the time, and they’re my clients, not my co-workers.

Q. Why do you keep to yourself so much?

A. I can’t tell you that.

Q. No family, no friends…no wonder you’re closest to your doorman. Speaking of which, that freelance work must bring in big bucks, huh? That Upper East Side of Manhattan where you live isn’t exactly a low-rent district.

A. Well, if you must know, it’s my father’s condo.

Q. Didn’t you say he passed away?

A. Yes. Uh, I guess that does make it mine now. But I won’t discuss the financial details.

Q. Are you sure you don’t have any family? Don’t I see you every now and then in the company of an older gentleman with a receding hairline?

A. Oh. You mean Barry.

Q. Who’s he, your uncle?

A. No! He’s my…my friend.

Q. Boyfriend?

A. No. We’re just friends. Like you mentioned, he’s a little older than me.

Q. A little older? He looked old enough to have firsthand memories of the JFK assassination.

A. No, of course not. That was over forty-five years ago. Barry is only forty-one.

Q. Wow. That’s ancient. Can he still, you know…function?

A. You’re getting way too personal here. And if you must know, I wouldn’t know about that. Like I said, Barry and I are just friends. Everybody needs to have at least one friend.

Q. There’s something else everybody needs, too. And if he’s not even trying to…well, as they say, something’s rotten in Denmark. In this case it’s so rotten that I can smell it all the way over here. Tell me, Genevieve, have you considered that you’re not the only one keeping a secret?

To find out Genevieve’s secret, the deal with Barry, and how it leads her to Harlem and a man named Dexter, you’ll have to read Save The Best For Last. It’s not available in bookstores, only on-line at Amazon.com and through my e-store.

Also check out Bettye’s latest novel of mainstream women’s fiction, A New Kind of Bliss (Dafina Books, trade paper, 321 pages) which is available in stores, as well as at on-line retailers.

I’ve been a fan of Bettye Griffin’s work for years. It’s hard to pick one favorite book because they all are my favorites. To learn more about Bettye Griffin and her books, visit her website:  http://www.bettyegriffin.com.

May came quick. I’m excited that at the end of this month, my first young adult novel will be in stores. If you have a teen or know any teens, I hope you pick up The Ultimate Test, the first book in the Lip Gloss Chronicles series. The official release date is May 26, 2009 but if I see it beforehand, I will definately let everyone know.

Check out the interview I did with AAMBC Radio. I discussed my new teen series. Click here to listen or paste the following link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/AAMBC/2009/04/26/Get-to-know-Shelia-Goss

Oprah did it. Barbara Walters did it. Now I’m doing it. Join me on Twitter.
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The Lip Gloss Chronicles Vol. 1: The Ultimate Test
by Shelia M. Goss

The Diva’s Creed: All for one, one for all; never let the other fall.

Ever since they met in their elite private school, Britney, Jasmine, and Sierra have lived by these words, but now that they’re entering their freshman year in a public high school, their bond is about to be put to the ultimate test.

The daughters of wealthy Texas socialites, these girls are used to getting whatever they want, so it’s no surprise to them when the gorgeous DJ takes them under his wing. Drama soon comes their way in the form of Tanisha, a jealous older student who thinks DJ’s attention should be focused solely on her.

Even Tanisha’s threats can’t intimidate these girls as they form a united front against her. They’re tighter than ever—until a sticky situation complicates everything. Jasmine and Sierra both fall head over heels in love with DJ. Could this really mean the end of their friendship?

The Lip Gloss Chronicles Vol. 1: The Ultimate Test will be in stores at the end of May 2009. To order your copy now, click here.

The Lip Gloss Chronicles Vol. 2: Splitsville will be in stores at the end of September 2009. The cover will be revealed this month over at www.thelipglosschronicles.com.

Last month, one of my local book clubs (Sistah Circle Book Group) participated in the Sister Soldier project aimed at helping our AA women in the Armed Forces.

To see how you can help out our sister soldiers, visit the website: www.sistersoldierproject.com

The author of the Essence & Black Expressions best-seller My Invisible Husband is back with her fifth novel – His Invisible Wife.

REVENGE…LUST…HOLY MATRIMONY

Texas businessman Jacob “Jake” Banks is about to lose his business and everything else he’s worked for until his uncle dies and leaves him as the executor of his estate–only catch is, he has to marry and marry a specific woman in order to cash in on the inheritance. Big problem, since Jake has vowed to be a bachelor for life.

Brianna Mayfield is at her last rope. Her father lost his business due to Jake’s uncle turning down a loan. She’s convinced this caused her father to fall into a deep depression. She blames the Banks and vows to pay them back one day. When she sees an ad in the paper for a job at her self-proclaimed enemy’s company, she feels her luck is turning around. She applies and is later approached by Jake with a proposition she can’t turn down.

How far would you go for a million dollars?

His Invisible Wife can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com. It will be in stores in July.

Recommended Books for the Month