What time is it?
Showtime, showtime! I’m not going to lie, I’ve been obsessing over Hamilton on Disney+ this week. Given that I’m Australian, I knew that I would never get to see the Original Broadway Cast performing live, but this is definitely the next best thing. It’s completely and utterly brilliant.
The way they use the choreography to tell the story and the sequence of A Winter’s Ball, Helpless, and Satisfied was absolutely glorious. I’d read accounts of it, but wow…the whole thing blew me away (like Philip!). Anyway, if you’re looking for something to watch, I highly recommend it.
Moving on before I write an entire newsletter about my love for Hamilton, I’ve got three giveaways and three books to tell you about this week before I get into the Cruise Control update…let’s skip the pleasantries, let’s go. š
GIVEAWAYS
This BookFunnel promotion has over 200 books in it, all of them are in Kindle Unlimited, so can be read for free if you have a subscription, otherwise, you can still buy them, of course.
There’s a lot of really great books to check out.
This BookFunnel giveaway has 87 steamy romance books in it. Lots of really good ones in there, I noticed that A Billion Times No is in there and it was seriously one of the most enjoyable reads I’ve had in a while. I highly recommend it!
Click here to check out the books
Last, but not least is a StoryOrigin giveaway with 46 books in it. I got Something Different which sounds raunchy and like a lot of fun!
BOOKS
He gives her fever. But how far can things go before they both get burned?
Danielle has struggled her entire life. Born into a poor family, sheās no stranger to poverty and money problems. But sheās determined to give it her all while sheās young. Sheās working two jobs, and hitting the books at school. She plans to make it big by the time she hits 30, and live a life of comfort and luxury.
But a sudden fever puts her dreams on holdā¦
At first, she tries to ignore her illness, and work through it. But when she nearly collapses from the strain, her bossās son Dale happens to be there to catch her as she passes out. And as he nurses her back to health, Danielle discovers that Dale has had his eye on her for some time.
She never really noticed him before, but she has to admit Daleās easy on the eyes, and heās got a bedside manner to match. But as she succumbs to his tender loving care, she has to wonderā¦ Is the heat she feels her fever coming back? Or the rising fire of passion in her heart?
And if she gives in, will she end up losing control to this obsessed mountain of a man?
Sheās a widow and a mother. Trouble always follows her. Mr. Pennington has his eyes on both her and the ranch.
Mandy Hawkins asks for his help. Heās forbidden, an ex-inmate, but heās the only one who can help her.
Bentley Hawkins wants to teach and protect her at the same time. But the protection she needs is to be loved. Forever.
Will the cowboy remain reluctant to love his brotherās widow? Will he offer her a cowboyās haven?
Book One of the saga of the oldest, continuous hereditary monarchy in the world, the 2600 years old, Chrysanthemum Throne of Japan, “The Goddesses of Japan” is a history-based book, narrated entirely by unsung heroinesāgoddess, sovereign, mother, wife, warrior, loverāall who enact in the forefront, or move in the background, to influence the fate of the country, changing forever the fabric of its society.
The deities Izanami and Izanagi are appointed Creators of the New Worldāthe Land of the Rising Sun. A beautiful relationship of love develops between them during the Creation phase, but fate sadly sets them apart forever. Their offspring fight for hegemony over the land and Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess emerges victorious. Her descendants become the rulers of the new world and found the legendary Yamato Dynasty.
Although, throughout antiquity alliances are forged with powerful aristocratic families in order to survive treachery and rivalries, with the emergence of the Samurai class, the Imperial House loses grip on state affairs and the country is engulfed in brutal civil wars. The sword becomes law and the strong feed on the weak in a dynamic interchange of power, where there is always one who is yet stronger than the strongest. Stealth agents, Ninja, enter the scene, worsening the situation, yet help the process of reunification of the country.
Christianity is introduced to the country. At the height of its power, it has tamed the natives of the American continent, subjugated the Philippines and terrorises Europe with the Inquisition.
Is Japan going to be its next conquest?
CRUISE CONTROL
So, tonight I went on a “Cruise Control date” with my husband. It was mostly unintentional lol, but once I realised, I figured ‘in for a penny, in for a pound’.
The kids are at my parents’ place because it’s school holidays and we had the night out on our own. We started by going to dinner, and we ended up choosing Italian. As some of you may know, Giovanni’s is one of the Cruise Control gang’s favourite restaurants.
Well, it wasn’t Giovanni’s that we went to, but it was an amazing Italian restaurant that we came across that had lots of D.O.P. stuff on the menu, which stands for “Denominazione dāOrigine Protetta” and basically means that the ingredients come from a specific place in Italy. I figured that Sebastian and Lita would both approve.
I ordered arancini which I had zero regrets about, it was amazing. Arancini is Heather’s favourite dish at Giovanni’s.
From there, we went to play pool at a pool hall. I’d had a cocktail with dinner and I decided that if I was going to do a Cruise Control night out, I might at well go with Ariana’s favourite drink, which meant vodka, of courseā¦
And then we played pool. Confession time, here’s what I got, everyone will tell you I’m a terrible shot. š
But seriously, I didn’t play too badly. I’m definitely more on Hayden’s level of pool-playing skill than Sebastian’s, but I did manage to get so close to pantsing my husband in the second game.
I got it down to thisā¦but the pressure was too much and I knocked the 8-ball out of the pocket, allowing him a turn during which he sunk two balls before I could take another turn and finish the game.
Anyway, that’s the story of my “Cruise Control date night”. Needless to say, I put something of myself into each of these characters. It’s no coincidence that Ariana likes vodka, Heather likes arancini, and the group likes to play pool. These are all things that I enjoy, understand, and can write about.
I meanā¦Hayden has a secret library in his apartment. Why? Because I 1000% would have a secret library if I was rich AF like him! š
Fun fact, Hayden is the only band member that has a pool table other than Sebastian. Because I, too, understand what it’s like to love something so much but be so very bad at it. š¤£
Anyway, moving onā¦
THE BABY – LITA AND SEBASTIAN
*dramatic gasp*
What is happening?! This is the first week that I have nothing to tell you about either The Album or The Wedding! This series is running away with me. Hopefully, I’ll get some of the audio files for the audiobook of The Wedding, soon. Until then…we’ll see if I have anything to say in future weeks, I guess!
So, today, I officially reached “breaking point” in The Baby. That is the point at which I need to break the story. Most of the first part of the book is staying the same. There was a natural point at which the story could go in an entirely different direction to create more drama and I have finally gotten to that point in the rewrite.
I still worry that it’s not enough. I get so much feedback on how people are really looking forward to Seb’s book. It’s a lot of pressure to stay true to the character, keep his integrity, but also make the book interesting, given what I know about him as a person (shh, I do know he’s not real! š).
Anyway, my happy book has gone. When I realised what I was going to do and basically what effect that would have on Sebastian, I said to a friend, “Oh, shit, this hurts“. But, I think that it’s going to hurt more in Sebastian’s Baby because we’ll be in his head if that makes sense?
I don’t want to give too much away, of course, but a bit like Harrison’s book is going to be much harder than Heather’s version (and Heather’s was pretty damn rough), Sebastian’s side of this story is going to hurt more, I suspect.
SEBASTIAN – YOUNG ADULT CRUISE CONTROL
Gah! I started writing this chapter, tonight, but I wasn’t feeling it. Every week I tell myself that I’ll write it during the week and post it on Sundayā¦but then I don’t. I’ll try and get it written and posted tomorrow, stay tuned.
In the meantime, if you’re reading this and wondering, “What the hell is Sebastian, anyway?”, then click this link and it will take you to the story on Wattpad where you can read it for free.
Final thoughts: I managed to stay focused on The Baby this weekā¦for the most part. I did sneakily write the first time that Hayden and Tatiana have sex becauseā¦I wanted to. Shh, don’t judge me!
I normally write books start to finish, so the “fun stuff” (that’s not always sex, mind you!) is my reward for writing everything preceding it. In this case, I’d been listening to my The Stalker playlist on Spotify (probably a mistake!) and I just wanted to get it out of my head and written down while it was fresh.
That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.
Anyway, happy reading, guys. I hope you’ve had a great weekend!
