Fried Oreos: Welcome, Alana Lorens

Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Welcome, Alana Lorens

People ask me often about my “writing process.” Mostly other writers, I guess, since we all read craft books and watch videos by authors trying to share what works for them, or attend workshops, or sign up for Masterclass spreads. We’re all trying to find the one way, the key to opening that door to the next big bestseller.

I’d love to say that I have jimmied together some marvelous pattern that has led me to fame and fortune. Alas, not so, yet far otherwise. (nod to Rudyard.) I honestly just…well…write.

I don’t use a formula—i.e. must meet in first chapter, must kiss by page 45, must have mad sex by page 50, etc. I don’t even write consistently in one genre. I write romance and suspense as Alana Lorens, sci-fi, fantasy and paranormal as Lyndi Alexander, and even have a how-to divorce book under my last married name, Barbara Walton. I start with some “what-if?” and roll from there.

In my latest second-chance romance the question is, what if a mommyblogger using an assumed name and avatar to write an edgy column supporting the life of a single mother reveals her true self at her high school reunion? And what if her former boyfriend is a member of a group that dislikes said name and avatar—but he wants to be with the mommyblogger? What happens when the truth comes out and shocks everyone?

Blurb:

Up-and-coming mommyblogger and single mom Marisol Herrera Slade returns to her old hometown in western Pennsylvania for her 20th high school reunion in 2005, reluctant and yet compelled to see her high school sweetheart, Russell Asher, who dumped her for the homecoming queen.

Russell's marriage to the golden girl, however, ended in a nasty divorce, and he has been systematically excluded from his sons' lives. In his Internet wanderings, he's found feminist blogger named Jerrika Jones, who glorifies single motherhood, essentially putting a stamp of approval on what's happened to him. His group of single dad advocates have vowed to take this woman down.

What Russell doesn't know, when he thinks to rekindle what he had with Marisol, is that Marisol and Jerrika are one and the same. When his group discovers the truth, will their drive for revenge derail any chance the couple have to reunite? Or will they find they have more in common than they ever expected?

Excerpt:

Debbie grinned at Russell. “I was hoping you’d come. We’re just planning some events for the dance at the gym tomorrow night, the eighties splash, you know, and I remembered you and Tiffany doing the Pee Wee Big Shoe Dance.”

A flash of embarrassment ran through him as he remembered it, too. What a geek he’d been. “Oh, geeze, Debbie. Can’t you remember some of what I did on the basketball court instead?”

“We haven’t forgotten that,” Angela purred, her eyes hungry as she watched him. “Those thin jerseys didn’t cover much.”

Russell swallowed hard. “Well. I…ah…” Maybe not that much remembering. “What about that Pee-Wee thing again? What was that song?”

“ ‘Tequila,’ ” came a quiet voice from behind him. He turned slowly to see who spoke. Marisol Herrera. Marisol Herrera Slade now. He’d seen her name in one of the interim emails from the reunion committee. So she must have gotten married after she left school. At the moment, she sat alone, though.

Marisol hadn’t changed much at all: a little older through the eyes, a little tired-looking, her smile faint as if it would fade away if the light didn’t stay focused on it. But she still carried herself well, her figure slim, and her sharp white tank and skirt showed it off. Older, and better, apparently. He’d always liked her. They’d had some real good times. She was smart, kinda pretty, and always pleasant.

She just wasn’t Tiffy.

Buy Links

https://www.thewildrosepress.com/book-post/a-rose-by-any-other-name

Ebooks - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09KQWTDPF/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i3

Paperback https://www.amazon.com/Rose-Any-Other-Name/dp/1509239294/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-rose-by-any-other-name-alana-lorens/1140380664?ean=9781509239290

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-rose-by-any-other-name-25

https://www.walmart.com/ip/A-Rose-by-Any-Other-Name-Paperback-9781509239290/182573222