Thank you Kate for having me over to visit with you and your
followers today. I’m excited to share
about my life and writing with you.
I wear many different hats in my life. I’m a wife, mother, full time elementary
school teacher, editor with Inkspell Publishing, book reviewer with Sizzling
Hot Books, and author. Many people ask
me how I find time to fit it all in. I’m
very organized first of all. I have a
schedule that I follow in order to get my work done in a timely manner. And for me, timely means ahead of time. In 10 days I have midterm reports going home
on my students and I’ve already been working on the reports and have them mostly
completed. Using a calendar to keep
track of my schedule, I write down any blog visits, promotions, important
upcoming dates and other information. I
also use the mail feature to sort and keep track of my emails regarding
important information on my writing.
Sometimes something does have to give and often my family
feels the brunt of the lost time. I
bring my laptop with me everywhere and often am working or checking in on work
during the evening hours. But I wouldn’t
have it any other way. I really enjoy
keeping busy and would go crazy without something to do. My husband likes to remind me that the
summers are challenging for me because without the daily classroom activities I
tend to go crazy. It is because of the
extra time on my hands that I started reviewing books. Then writing my own stories followed. Since my husband works at home, he is able to
work during the times that I am also working so we are both working at the same
time. Of course since my children are all young adults, they are often off with
their jobs, college or dates and aren’t needing as much time as they did when
they were younger. All in all, it works
for us.
My family understands and supports my writing. My father, sisters, aunt, husband, and
children have all read my books and enjoyed them. They are able to make connections to the
other people in my life and the things that excite me. Even some of my students are excited to know
that I’m a published author. They can’t
believe that the writing that I am teaching them daily could become a passion
when they are older. One of my former
students is even a published children’s author in her own right. She was very highly received when she came
into the classroom to read her story about Dewey and the water cycle.
I’m also able to write in a variety of places from the couch
with the fur babies lying next to me, to the kitchen island or the bed. I love that my computer can go with me to all
these places and be available when my muse is hot! Each of the different jobs
that I do have pluses and minuses but I love them all and couldn’t imagine my
life without them. Now to just keep all
my jobs straight! ;-)
Now a little about her newest release
Second Time’s the Charm is a tale of a divorcee who
doesn’t believe in love anymore. Her
ex-husband hurt her emotionally and made her self-conscious of her
sexuality. But when she meets her best
friend’s ex-husband, sparks fly and she must decide if she is willing to take a
chance on love again…especially with someone who was once married to her best
friend.
Here's an excerpt from the book:
Returning shortly with coffee and candy bars, he
shared his feast as we sat lost in our own thoughts. While my guess was his
thoughts were of concern over his son, my thoughts were all about the carnal
man sitting across from me.
Watching him peel open his candy bar was
tantalizing and seeing him bring the chocolate to his full bottom lip in a slow
tease made my insides turn to jelly. I wanted to be the one he was feasting on.
Then he ran his tongue over the tip of the candy bar. No no no! my mind
argued. He's Chloe’s ex-husband. An enemy of my friend is my enemy or
something like that. This is wrong. He looked up at that moment and caught
me watching him and heat flooded my face as he walked over to the seat next to
me.
“Do you want what’s left of my candy bar?” I
offered sweetly, holding it out towards his generous lips.
Alex opened his mouth and slowly bit into the
chocolate bar. “Thanks. That hits the spot.” He grasped my hand. “But you’ve
got melted chocolate right here.” He ran his tongue over my fingertips.
My stomach clenched thinking about his lips on
other parts of my body.
“I'm glad you're here. Not that this is the best
way to meet or the best time to do this but,” he swallowed hard. “I’ve been
bugging Chloe for information on you for the last year, ever since I saw a
picture of you at her place. I can’t get you off my mind. I’ve been hoping we'd
run into each other or that Chloe would take the hint and just introduce us.
Will you go out with me sometime?”
Oh, my gosh. I can’t go out with Chloe’s ex. That
would be a disaster waiting to happen. Sure, he's gorgeous and sexy, but what
will Chloe say?
“Ummm.” I couldn’t think clearly
with his tongue running over my fingers. “Sure. I guess so.” What am I
doing? He's gorgeous and I’m just plain old me. He can have any woman in this
place and he's asking me out? What mess am I getting myself into?
You can purchase Second Time's the Charm from any one of these links:
Melissa Keir has always wanted to be an author when she wasn’t
hoping for a career as a race car driver. Her love of books was instilled by
her mother and grandparents who were avid readers. She’d often sneak books away
from them so that she could fantasize about those strong alpha males and plucky
heroines. In middle school and high school, Melissa used to write sappy love
poems and shared them with her friends and still has those poems today! In
college her writing changed to sarcastic musings on life as well as poems with
a modern twist on fairy tales and won awards for her writing. You can find many
of these musings along with her latest releases on her website and blog.
As a writer, Melissa likes to keep current on topics of interest in the world of writing. She’s a member of the Romance Writers of America and EPIC and other writing organizations. She is always interested in improving her writing through classes and seminars.
As a writer, Melissa likes to keep current on topics of interest in the world of writing. She’s a member of the Romance Writers of America and EPIC and other writing organizations. She is always interested in improving her writing through classes and seminars.
Melissa doesn’t believe in down time. She’s always keeping
busy. Melissa is a wife and mother, an elementary school teacher, a book
reviewer, an editor for a publishing company as well as an author. Her home
blends two families and is a lot like the Brady Bunch, without Alice- a large
grocery bill, tons of dirty dishes and a mound of laundry. She loves to write
stories that feature happy endings and is often seen plotting her next
story. Melissa loves to hear from
readers.
Many
thanks to Melissa for stopping by to chat! Be sure to check out her
work and find out more about her from any of these links.
twitter: @melissa_keir
Thanks for having me Kate! :)
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