Friday, January 8, 2016

Author Interview w/Giveaway - The Evans Trilogy by Jennifer Collin

The Evans Trilogy


by Jennifer Collin
 

GENRE:  Chick Lit 

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BLURB:
 

Book 1: Set me Free
 

Disastrous love life aside, Charlotte Evans is rather content with her life. Her quaint little art gallery is plodding along nicely, and her sister Emily’s artistic career is about to take off, thanks to her tireless promotion. She even gets to see her best friend every day and drink his delicious coffee in the café next door.

But when dastardly property developer Craig Carmichael comes along, threatening to demolish her gallery and take everything away, Charlotte has an unexpected fight on her hands. Not only is she battling to stop Craig’s development, she’s also struggling against the mysterious magnetic pull that has her on a collision course with Craig himself.


Craig Carmichael is fighting the Battle for Boundary Street on more than one front. The tenants of the building he wants to knock down are mounting a strong case against him and in a hot-headed moment he put his career on the line for a project that is threatening to fail. If the project doesn’t succeed he will lose everything, but for some reason he’s having trouble maintaining his focus.


As their worlds begin to unravel around them, anyone could win. It’s what they might lose that has Charlotte and Craig wondering what it is they really want.

 

Book 2: Open My Eyes 

Everything happens for a reason, they say. And sometimes the reason is you're stupid and make bad decisions. Sleeping with her sister's best friend is one of the dumbest things soon-to-be divorcee Emily Evans has ever done. But she's determined to put it behind her and move on. She's walked away from her cheating husband, managed to make a new friend, and found herself a real job and somewhere to live so she doesn't have to couch-surf any more. Everything should be falling into place but for one problem – there are some mistakes from which you can't move on.

Meanwhile, Ben Cameron is getting on with his life. After all, it's the only thing to do once your heart has been stomped on by the woman of your dreams. Expanding his business and getting cosy with the girl next door are proving welcome distractions. He's even happy to babysit his nephew, as long as he can to hand him back when he's done! And thankfully, Emily Evans, the woman with the heavy boots, is avoiding him like the plague.


But Emily can't avoid him forever, and when she drops a bombshell that turns Ben's world upside-down, suddenly, getting on with his life takes on a whole new meaning.
 

Book 3: Bring Me Back

Andy Evans is on the move. For six long, lonely years, he’s been running from his past, leaving his family and his life as a drug-addicted rock star far behind. His latest move takes him to the sleepy seaside town of Oamaru, New Zealand, to sell cigar-box guitars to tourists. The only running he’ll need to do will be training for the half-marathon in nearby Dunedin. But when Andy sets eyes on Steampunk HQ, Oamaru's main tourist attraction, he realises his days of running might not be over, especially if a certain Steampunk fan from his past catches up with him.

Annie Martin is on the cusp of great success. Her career as a Steampunk academic is about to take off, as long as she can convince one disagreeable, New Zealand-based Professor to sign up to the anthology she’s putting together. Thankfully, Annie is a master at maintaining her poise and few people, no matter how nasty, can rattle her. Not any more. In fact, it’d been a good six years since anyone had gotten under her skin, after her best friend’s brother had vanished into thin air.

When Annie finds her future career on a collision course with her secret past, Andy Evans is the last person she expects to find tangled up in the mess. With a vengeful drug-dealer or two hot on his heels, and a vindictive academic determined to ruin her credibility, can Annie bring Andy back to his family before it’s too late? Annie and Andy are used to being alone, but if they don’t work together, there’ll be much more at stake than her livelihood and his sobriety.


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Book 1 Set Me Free

Excerpt: 

The Evans Gallery was his last stop before he called it a day.  

A little golden bell above the door tinkled daintily as he walked in. He noticed two things immediately: the intriguing painting on the wall to his right and the beguiling woman smiling lazily at him from behind a sleek-looking asymmetrical 1960s Danish-styled desk. Unsettled by the pair of slightly smoky grey eyes that came with the lazy smile, he moved directly toward the painting to take it in.  

The canvas was large; it took up almost a quarter of the wall. The image was a view down a narrow alley corralled by stark grey skyscrapers that, thanks to the wash of the paint strokes, appeared to be crumbling. At the end of the alley, a small dog with a broken tail lay beside an old-fashioned dustbin, chewing a small, bright red ball. 

‘Hi,’ welcomed the woman behind the counter. Her voice was as tired as her eyes and smile, but there was still something smouldering under the surface, like a combusting rain cloud. ‘Can I help you with anything in particular or would you just like to browse?’  

‘Can you tell me anything about this piece?’ he asked, unwisely. She stood up to join him, swinging her hips as she walked, subtly but hypnotically. This might turn out to be the hardest conversation of them all; particularly given he was struggling to keep his eyes on her face and off those swinging hips. He looked up. Nope, no respite there.


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Talking with author Jennifer Collin!


 
What is your writing environment?

I share my home office with my husband. We’re both creative and therefore messy people. It’s a disaster! Throw our equally messy children in to the mix and it’s a wonder I get anything done. Thankfully, I thrive in chaos.


Who is your perfect hero/heroine and why?

I like beta heroes. Guys next door who are emotional intelligent, with respect for women. I don’t like alpha males who plough on through telling everyone around them, including their love interest, what to do.

I like strong, sassy heroines who are independent and capable, rather than vulnerable and insecure ones.


What type of book have you always wanted to write?

I’m very character driven. To me, the best books are the ones with the most intriguing and well-crafted characters. Some of my favorite characters I’ve met through Wes Anderson films, particularly The Royal Tenenbaums and The Grand Budapest Hotel. I’d love to write the kind of book that could be turned into a Wes Anderson movie, full of quirky and original characters. I write very descriptively and visually, and given the sets are such a critical part of Wes Anderson’s movies, I think I’d fit right in.


Top 3 things on your bucket list?

  1. To write a book that could be turned into a Wes Anderson movie!
  2. To visit St Petersburg, Russia. I meant to go there when I did my back-packing trip around Europe when I was younger. But on my very first day on European soil, I was told it’s not the kind of place a young woman should go on her own. So I didn’t go, and I’ve regretted it ever since.
  3. To one day take a leap of faith and quit my job to concentrate on writing full time.

 

How did you get the idea for this particular series?

The series was born out of a job I had many years ago, where I was working with a lot of town planners putting together transport plans for my city. I learned a great deal about urban design and found it a fascinating subject. I realized if urban development is done well, it can transform cities into something wonderful and I wanted to capture this in a story. So I created Craig Carmichael, the developer with a heart of gold and the hero in the first book of the Evans Trilogy, Set Me Free. His love interest, and the pivotal character of the whole series, Charlotte Evans, came next and from there it simply snowballed. I didn’t set out to write a series, but as I was developing Craig and Charlotte’s supporting cast, I found her sister Emily needed a story of her own. And again, in developing Emily’s supporting cast, I needed to give their little brother, Andy, his own story as well.

 

What is your favorite scene in your latest release?

There’s a scene about mid-way through Bring Me Back, the final book in the trilogy, where the lead female character, Annie, is chasing Andy down a beach. Andy has just run a half-marathon and he’s exhausted, so Annie is gaining on him. She throws one of her shoes at him and it hits him in the head, knocking him off balance because he’s so spent. He lands face first on the beach and she jumps on his back so he can’t get away again. The sexual tension between these two is off the charts, so when Andy musters the energy to roll onto his back beneath Annie, she shoots off him like a rocket, scalded by the sudden intimacy. I love this scene because they’re both so annoyed with each other at that moment, but the sparks of attraction are flying regardless.


What are you working on now and when can we expect it to be available?

It’s a secret, but I can tell you I’ve been researching Medieval Europe. If anyone knows any good Medieval romances, let me know! I’m trying to immerse myself in the era, but apart from Lynn Kurland’s divine heroes, the male leads all seem to be overbearing jerks! 

As far as when it will be available… I’m not sure. My job took all of my energy in 2015 so my writing didn’t get a lot of attention. My new year’s resolution is to make sure I get back into the grove in 2016.


What do you like to do when you are not writing?

I have two beautiful girls aged 9 and 7. During the school term, when I’m not writing, I’m spending time with them and my husband, or I’m fast asleep in front of Netflix. Life is at its most mundane during the term, so we make up for that by taking the girls on adventures during the school holidays. My kids are well-travelled, having been to Europe and closer to home, New Zealand and Vanuatu. Our next big trip will be the west coast of the US.


What is one interesting fact about you that readers don’t know?

I’m good at reading maps. My husband calls me “The Navigator”. He’s the rally car driver.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links: 

Jennifer Collin writes quirky, and sometimes gritty, love stories about ordinary people dealing with what life throws at them. 

She lives in Brisbane, Australia, with her husband, two noisy children and a cantankerous cat. 

She used to party, but now her idea of a good time is an uninterrupted sleep. These days, her characters do her partying for her, and she doesn't necessarily let them sleep. 

Links:



myBook.to/setmefree  (Amazon buy links)



 
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GIVEAWAY: 

Jennifer Collin will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

 
 

29 comments:

  1. I enjoyed the interview. Thank you so much!

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  2. If you could join any past or current music group which would you want to join?

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    1. Hi Mai,
      At the moment, I'd just want to play with David Bowie :(.

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  3. Let us know when you fill #3 on your list.

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  4. Sounds like an awesome series! Thanks for sharing :)

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  5. I enjoyed the excerpt and interview, sounds like a wonderful trilogy, thanks for sharing!

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  6. All three books sound great. Loved the excerpt from no.1

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    1. Thanks Jane. Set Me Free is my first book and she has a very special place in my heart.

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  7. thank you for the excerpt and sharing -- sounds like a very interesting series

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  8. Russia would be great to visit. I like your bucket list.

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    1. Thanks Mary, I am so keen to see Russia. Would have to be in the summer, though!

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  9. Sounds like a great book-can't wait to read it!

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  10. If you could live in any age when would it be?

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    1. I love 1950s style, but maybe not so much some of the cultural elements of the era. I think I would have made a good suffragette, so maybe early 20th century...

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  11. I have enjoyed learning about the book. Thanks for sharing it.

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  12. This book sounds great and I would love to rea it. ty.

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  13. Enjoyed the excerpt, sounds like a great read. Entering under the name of Virginia

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