How My Obsession With You've Got Mail Turned Into A Book

Some people hate this movie. Hate it. Fox took her store in the end and that makes him a bastard and not a hero. Except every time I looked at the movie and the heroine, Kate aka Shopgirl, I saw a woman stuck in the past. When one of the characters asked her What if you do lose the store what would you do? She looked flummoxed. Her enter life had been that store and nothing else. Hell, even her AOL name was Shopgirl. She identified as nothing else even though it was apparent she loved books.

And, I may have been the only person who watched that movie and thought, Thank God, when the store closed. Go ahead. I'll wait for the tomatoes and rotten eggs to be thrown my way.

Ok. Done?

The single redeeming factor is that from the first scene you knew Fox and Kate belonged with each other and not the pompous buttholes they were with. When they found out who each other were, you knew, just knew, still they belonged together.

In the end I just couldn't get one nugget out of my head: what if you had to let something go? Something you loved with all your heart? Something, that maybe, you should have let go a long time ago.

I bridged that nugget with my favorite trope. The I Loathe The Very Being Of You romance trope. Love it. You get to banter and I love banter. You get to sneak in all the glimpses of the real person underneath and watch the hero and heroine fall. And there's nothing better to get to that scene where the character realizes they are head over heels in love and their general reaction is, Oh, hell. Not you! I mentioned I was bent, right?

And then Lynne sort of just lurked in the back of mind. She's a wannabe rebel. She's a big ol' softie. The more I thought of the type of man who would make her go all Oh, hell. Not you! The more I kept thinking You've Got Mail needs an argument in its defense. (Ok. Not really what I was thinking, but close enough. And it's a Nora Ephron movie and really she needs no defense. She's brilliant.) I imagined the kind of man who'd make her want to strangle herself before falling for him and then Nate started to form. He's alpha, he's a jackass and he's brilliant at what he does. And at the core he's a big ol' softie.

So, yeah, that's the big reveal in how an obsession turned into a book. Frightening or enlightening? lol

See Lynne Chased Has Landed

The official release date is May 11th, but you can pick it up now. And I'm so over the moon about getting Lynne and Nathan's story into your hands. I faced a lot of road blocks, but the characters kept dragging me back. And now it's here. Squee!

Blurb:

Nathan Craine eats small businesses for breakfast. There's one store he is dying to buy, but this time it is for very personal reasons. He's certain the owner will hand over the store; it's only the matter of naming a price. To his surprise, Lynne Kelley refuses to sell, now or ever.

For Lynne, this is more than a business--it's a home. For Nate, it is a way to honor his father and right a past wrong. Both are determined to win, yet the more time they spend together, the deeper their attraction grows. In this battle, someone has to lose. And the cost of winning might be far more than either is willing to pay.

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DAY 3: The Fifth Ring of Diet Hell

My co-worker told me the snap would be audilbe on this day. Of course, I didn't believe her. The first day I knew I had to change my eating habits I freaked. What in the hell do you mean only 5 oz. of meat and meat substitutes ALL DAY? There must be crack in your drinking water.

Then I started to warm up to the idea. Day 1 I did fine. I didn't have enough snacks that would take me over my 1600 calorie diet. I felt dizzy most of the day, so it's kind of a blur. Day 2 I did even better. I ate less than 1600. I even got in a 20 minute walk.

But today when I woke up, I needed a damn Snicker's bar. It's been calling my name. Right along with those smurf looking folks called Keebler. I don't even like sweets that much, but shh...can't you hear them?

Melissa

Melissa!

Yes.

You know you want me.

But I'm doing so good right now. I want to fit into those jeans I bought, but can't wear because my hips are too wide.

You know you want me. We have M&Ms lodge in our sweet, sweet, fatty dough.

I'm trying to think of pretzels (12 of them to be exact, because that will only be 110 calories), even a blueberry bagel with fat free cream cheese.

Melissa, you can just lick us. That won't count against your calories. Just one lick. Maybe a even small nibble.

Folks tell my mom and kids I love them. I don't think I'm going to make it.

Oh, Look At The Cuteness

So, I was trying to dig up more dirt on See Lynne Chased. See, I've never owned a diary for fear someone would find it and read all my innermost secret thoughts. But because it makes total sense to me, I've written a lot of major events and thoughts on blogs. I came across this post about How Much You Want to Bet?  I was so green.

This still holds truth:

Maybe it’s write for the fun of it, publishing will come when it’s your time. It’s okay to let a book rust on your hardrive until you know how to write it. Submit on a whim. No, it’s really write because you love it. Write because the characters won’t leave you alone. Write because you can NOT write. 

Looking to Send Out (Unproofed) ARCS: See Lynne Chased

I'm looking to send out some (unproofed) ARCs of See Lynne Chased, a contemporary romance, for reviews. Not too picky where you post the review, just that you post a review. Here's the blurb:

Nathan Craine eats small businesses for breakfast. There's one store he is dying to buy, but this time it is for very personal reasons. He's certain the owner will hand over the store; it's only the matter of naming a price. To his surprise, Lynne Kelley refuses to sell, now or ever.

For Lynne, this is more than a business--it's a home. For Nate, it is a way to honor his father and right a past wrong. Both are determined to win, yet the more time they spend together, the deeper their attraction grows. In this battle, someone has to lose. And the cost of winning might be far more than either is willing to pay.

If you are interested please send an email to melissablue84 at yahoo dot com And, FYI, I'm not looking for glowing reviews. I won't say no to them. lol I'm just looking for honest reviews. Contact me at the above email addy.

My Thoughts at the Moment

That is all.

Save the Date: May 11, 2012

Lynne's story has been in the works for years. Eons, more like it. (Ok. Ok. 2009) She first showed up as Megan's bestie (2007). Snarky and with secrets. Now see I don't usually write series. Or I didn't. So I didn't think much of writing Lynne's story. Until I re-watched You've Got Mail. Around the same time I watched Gone With the Wind. And because my brain is bent, a story came together.

See, Lynne had been after Megan to sell her the Boutique, a clothing store. (Yeah, I know a creative name. My brain is bent, not original.) My mind started thinking, what if Megan did sell the store to Lynne. She trusts her to take care of the business started from heartbreak. Really, Lynne would be the only person she'd sell it to. She'll start her own business closer to home i.e. Aiden Blake. (And make a nice piece of change. Megan is business-minded after all.) And what if, Lynne finally gets her hands on the Boutique. Sees a grand future in the works and someone comes along to rip it out of her grasp. Of course, since this is a contemporary romance, the person to rip the store out of her grasp is the hero.

So, this book is three years in the making. And finally it's, sort of, here. It'll make it's debut on May 11th To tide you over here's the blurb:

Nathan Craine eats small businesses for breakfast. There's one store he is dying to buy, but this time it is for very personal reasons. He's certain the owner will hand over the store; it's only the matter of naming a price. To his surprise, Lynne Kelley refuses to sell, now or ever. 

For Lynne, this is more than a business--it's a home. For Nate, it is a way to honor his father and right a past wrong. Both are determined to win, yet the more time they spend together, the deeper their attraction grows. In this battle, someone has to lose. And the cost of winning might be far more than either is willing to pay.

Also, some other (some of them older) links to see behind the scenes of Lynne's story.

The first incarnation of Lynne.  As an aside, she looks more like this now. Without the nose ring. But, at one point in time she had one. Lynne, the wannabe rebel.

The collage.

Pinterest board that goes a little more in depth of how the implosion happened. And other stuff.

And, FYI, I'll also bundle See Megan Run and See Lynne Chased together. This is the cover for that edition of the stories.