MuseTracks plays host today to a world-traveling, cheeky author of Contemporary Romance, Serena Clarke. her debut novel All Over The Place released from Crimson Romance TODAY! And to celebrate, she’s brought us an excerpt.
Welcome Serena!
WWW gives you wings – but don’t forget your roots
We’re so international these days. We zoom around the world by air – and by www. As soon as something happens, everyone knows about it. And while it’s happening, we’re sharing it on Facebook, or live tweeting it, or blogging about it. We’re plugged in and switched on. I don’t know about you, but I love feeling like I’m part of the world, no matter where or who I am.
But…could it be that having access to everything, all the time, is just too much? Too many choices, too many distractions, and too much to live up to?
In All Over the Place, Livi meets Journey, a free-spirited believer in ‘voluntary simplicity’, a movement that embraces happiness through simpler living and mindful consumption. Livi has left one country in search of a new life, only to find that you can’t always outrun your past – and Journey’s words hit home. “Maybe what you think you’re searching for,” she says, “is just something to keep you busy, so you don’t have to look for what you really need to find.”
Despite our aspirations and achievements out there in the world, so many of us struggle to find our own true home. The truth is, home isn’t just about where, it’s also about who. The people you have around you – and that one special person who can be so hard to find.
I’m not suggesting we give up our international online lives. After all, here I am on an American blog, promoting a book set in London, New Zealand and Paris, featuring American, British, New Zealand, Swedish and Australian characters! And I’d love to ‘meet’ you on Twitter or Facebook. But while we’re busy looking here and there – all over the place – we’ll probably be happier if we remember what counts the most. Then wherever you are, as Phillip Phillips would say, you can make this place your home.
About All Over the Place
Livi Callaway has fled back to London after a reality TV disaster in New Zealand. Safely anonymous in the big city, she’s determined to stay under the radar from now on. But her attempts to build a new life are complicated by unexpected visitors from her old one, and new dangers and temptations lie in wait.
Late one night, she meets a mysteriously sexy American on the Underground – and the events that follow take her from Pooh Bear to the golden lights of Paris, via a trail of rock stars dead and alive. A family in disarray, a determined Swede, a crazed Australian and a childhood friend (who might yet be more than that) have her all over the place as she tries to discover the American’s secret – while keeping her own.
With help – and occasional hindrance – from her friends, what she eventually finds is something unexpected…sometimes, running away can lead you to exactly what you didn’t know you needed.
Excerpt:
He was going to push for more, she could tell. But then, mercifully, his phone rang. He went to answer it, but stopped, giving it a dismissive wave. “They can wait.” The implication was clear—he wasn’t a slave to his phone. He wouldn’t rudely interrupt their conversation. But she could see he was itching to pick it up. She sighed. Men could make a competition out of anything. “No, honestly, that’s okay. Answer it.”
“Sure?” But before she could reply, he had answered. She looked out at the French countryside, trying to give the impression she wasn’t listening.
“No, Tuesday…yeah, Wiltshire…if we don’t, someone else will, might as well get in first…yeah, damn right he’s earned it…”
When he was done, he took a business card out of his wallet and slid it across the table. In red lettering on a black background, it said ‘Ryan Velez. What needs doing.’ She turned it over but there was nothing more, only a handwritten phone number. She looked at him, questioning.
“Ring me when you’re free of your sidekick,” he said. “I’m not here much longer, but we should see each other again.” He sounded star-spangled confident, but there was a hint of doubt in his eyes as he saw Cam coming along the aisle.
Then Cam was sitting next to her, and Ryan picked up his bag, and the satchel. He would leave them in peace, he said, he was going to spend the rest of the trip in the bar. Cam was obviously relieved. Livi wasn’t sure how she felt. She tried not to watch him go.
It was only then that she realised she hadn’t found out why he was tripping around after dead rock stars. He didn’t seem dodgy or ghoulish. A tease, sure…but dangerous? She fingered the rectangle of his card in her pocket. What needs doing. That told her absolutely nothing. Tuesday. Wiltshire. She thought of the folding map of Wiltshire, the last clue from his bag. Which expired rock star might have lived in Wiltshire? Or died there?
Well, it was nothing to do with her now.
Unless. Unless she wanted to see him again.
WANT MORE?
Click the link to buy All Over the Place
http://www.amazon.com/Over-Place-Crimson-Romance-ebook/dp/B00B2B0X9E/
Serena’s Bio:
Serena grew up in a family of itchy-footed readers and dreamers – not concentrating, reading the atlas and Narnia books, and planning to escape somewhere magical as soon as she could. When she was 16, she went from New Zealand to live in Sweden for a year. It was the beginning of many travels and adventures – and quite a few disasters! She didn’t know it at the time, but eventually she’d be grateful for all the downs as well as the ups. As writers say in the face of adversity: “I can use that.” She’s now living back in New Zealand, where she writes stories reflecting her determined belief in magic, possibility, second chances and happy endings.
Find Serena here:
https://www.facebook.com/SerenaClarkeAuthor
https://twitter.com/Serena_Clarke
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6893136.Serena_Clarke
