Please welcome romance author, Amanda Usen, to Over Coffee. Amanda is a writer, chef, and a romantic. She even brought us some fancy cappuccino to share with us. Isn’t that cup of
cappuccino pretty—you almost want to frame rather than drink it, lol!
I love her thoughts on attitude and balance—a writer needs
both to be successful. Balance tells
you when to step away and refill your creative well and the need to stay connected to your life. Most writers I know are
balancing jobs, family, and writing. Balance keeps you from burning out. It
helps when you have your own personal hero (who is also a talented chef) whispering balance in your ear.
Sia has been talking a lot of good sense about attitude
lately. I don’t think an hour of the day goes by that I don’t ponder some form
of that concept myself. In fact, in a recent e-mail to my agent, I typed,
“Writing is such a head game!” It all comes from within. If, like me, you
depend on outward signs of success to help you feel positive and triumphant,
you might be in serious trouble if you want to be a professional writer. In
fact, as my high school BFF told me last week, “I think if you wanted easy, you
picked the wrong profession.” She also quoted Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird,
to me – a great book to read for writing inspiration.
How do you stay chained to that intangible creative force in
the face of reviews, promotion, day jobs, demanding children and partners,
edits, rejection and days when there are no words in your head? Coffee helps.
J Some days it feels like too much pressure. I think that’s why Olivia, my
heroine in Luscious, came into being the way she did. I am a hardcore pantser;
my stories create themselves on the screen of my subconscious as I write.
Olivia has reached her limit. Her marriage is over. She hates her job. Her two
best friends have fallen in love with each other. She decides to quit, to give
up on her current life, to go to Verona and tell her parents she doesn’t want
to run the family restaurant anymore and to figure out how to pick up the
pieces after she has a nice, wet meltdown in Italy.
Of course, it’s a romance – so her meltdown doesn’t proceed
exactly as she plans. Also, I’m a romantic, so she has to rediscover her mojo
with the help of one sweetheart of a hero, her divorce lawyer Sean. I depend a
lot upon my own hero, my husband, to keep me from flying apart, too. He is the
one whispering balance in my ear when I’ve been sitting in front of the
computer for three days straight, trying to finish a story. Yes, you have to
show up every day, but you also have to know when to take a break and fill the
well. You can’t write when you’re tapped out. At least, I can’t. And it becomes
progressively harder to break out of the chair the longer I’ve been sitting
there.
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| AMAZON, B&N, BAM |
Luscious
by Amanda Usen
Eat, play, love
Plain old ice cream just isn't going to cut it. To
beat these blues, chef Olivia Marconi needs the good stuff: rich, creamy
tiramisu gelato. And no place better to get it than Italy.
But a fresh start is
nearly impossible with Sean Kindred dogging her every move. She's been burned
by his too-hot-to-handle antics before. Though there's no denying the man can
still get her all fired up.
Could a weeklong affair finally turn into something
more lasting...or will it all go up in flames?
Excerpt chapter
Since I never forgot what they taught me in school, I write what I know. Here is an excerpt from one of my favorite scenes in Luscious, where Olivia gets her groove back in the kitchen
Excerpt 2
There are so many things in life that can pull our focus from positivity.
- Have you ever lost your mojo? Your balance? Your groove? How?
- And what did you do to get it back?
Leave a comment below, for the chance to win a copy of Luscious.
Thanks for having me on the blog today, Sia. I
always enjoy sharing a cup of coffee with a fellow attitude adjuster! J
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You can find Amanda: Facebook, Website--be sure to check out her recipe page!
