Blog Tour! Moon Dance (+Jewelry Giveaway!)

Moon Dance

by Jillian Chantal 

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BLURB:

Olga Quinn hopes her relocation to London to work on their space shuttle program is the life changing move she needs after the loss of her co-worker in a workplace explosion.  She meets Gabriel Swicord, a fireman turned celebrity radio personality and deejay. He lost his sight while rescuing a family in the line of duty and has immersed himself in music and work since then. For a few days, Olga and Gabe burn hot for each other and then things turn cold.

Someone is murdering women who patronize the club where Gabe spins records. It appears that he's the connection to the dead women and his name and face are plastered all over the news. Things are not looking good for Olga's peaceful new life and when the killers turn kidnappers, things really begin to heat up. 

When I found out about this tour, the question I really wanted to ask Jillian was about the careers of her characters. Did careers have any role in her character development? And when it comes to romance, which jobs were HOT and which jobs were definitely NOT! So with no further ado! Jillian Chantal!

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Character’s Professions: Hot or Not

I was given some choices of topic and this one interested me – I have to say, I never thought about it in quite this way. When I write a character, I don’t think that I consciously decide what career he or she will have based on a hotness factor but maybe I should. It seems like there are quite a few hot jobs that heroes have lately in the romance genre. I’m talking about the vast number of contemporary books written with law enforcement type heroes.

I’ve written that hero on a few occasions. I have a DEA agent hero in my novel, Surfer Bride; a former Green Beret in Sebastian’s Salvation; an Interpol officer in Hot Pursuit; and a few detectives and other cop-types in other books so I guess I have been writing hot hero professions.

In Moon Dance, the hero was in a super-hot profession (pun intended). He was a fireman for a number of years even though his heart wasn’t in it. He chose his profession because his father was overbearing and unreasonable about the hero’s true calling which was the stage. His father told him he couldn’t take a sissy job like that so the hero, being a dutiful son, became a fireman. His career was cut short when he rescued a family from a blazing inferno and was blinded in the process.

Speaking of the hero’s blindness, I’m very interested to see how readers react to that factor. He’s a buff, macho man but I’m a little concerned about how he will be received since he’s less than perfect. That, to me, is an interesting question just like the question in this topic.

Is an injured hero a hot hero? I’d be interested to see what readers think about that question.

What about hot careers for heroines? What’s hot with them these days? I know I’ve read a lot of books with kick-butt heroines and I like those types. I’m very quick to put down a book where the heroine is too mousy. I like to think of myself as a strong person and I write my heroines that way.

I think we’ve seen a lot of contemporary romantic heroines lately who are in law enforcement themselves so it seems to be that the hot careers for both these days are related to law enforcement or the services. It could be that it only seems that way to me since that’s what I’ve been picking up in the stores. What about you? Are you seeing a lot of these type heroes and heroines?

The heroine in Moon Dance is a scientist. She’s working on the passenger shuttle to the moon.  I thought that would be a cool heroine’s job since there seems to be a lot of interest these days in getting back to the moon or even to Mars. I wanted her to be cutting edge and in a typically male field (Yes, I know the times are changing and girls are now being encouraged to go into the sciences- yay for that) and I wanted him to be more interested in the arts and music.

I think it’s hot to turn stereotypes on their heads. It may cost me in sales to have a wounded hero or a heroine in an odd field but I love these challenges myself and hope the readers will as well.

So, whether the jobs are hot or not, I hope the characters themselves are so hot that they make the page sizzle. Good reads are the goal always and hotness makes it better, doesn’t it?

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Try an Excerpt!

Another voice chimed in, "Am I interrupting?"

Gabe glanced toward the speaker as Mary said, "This guy is a big old meanie-head. Be warned. He'll play the song you want but he won't share a cocktail with you."

"That's perfectly fine with me." The second woman addressed Gabe. "Can I make a request?"

Mary huffed and Gabe could discern her spin on her heel and stalk away. "So, did you come over her to tell me what kind of person I am, finally?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

He pointed at her. "You. Last night. Spilled drink. Remember? You said I was acting a like a typical person like me. You never told me exactly what that was."

"How the hell did you know that I was the same person from last night?"

"Hey, I'm blind, not stupid." Gabe barked a laugh.

"Still, you have to admit, it's a little weird. You don't know what I look like, you've only heard my voice once and you pegged me for the woman you talked to for a few minutes one time. It's very impressive and I want to know how you do it."

"In one sentence you call me weird and in the next, you call me impressive. Which is it?"

"Weirdly impressive. So, how'd you do it? Really?"

Gabe could hear the smile in her voice. She actually seemed nicer tonight than she had the evening before. "It's a combination of voice and scent. I've learned to master putting the two together. I usually associate people with the way they smell and speak. With you, it's easier."

"Why's that?"

"Let's start with that Texas drawl."

"And go where from there? Since American and twang is a dead giveaway."

Gabe leaned out the window and rested his elbows on the ledge. "From there, we go to the combination of jasmine, sandalwood and grapefruit, which I believe is a mixture of your shampoo and the top-note of your perfume."

"Well, I've made a decision."

"And what's that?" Gabe grinned because he could tell from the tone of her voice that she was delighted with his answer.

"Between weird and impressive, my decision is impressive. Hands down."

"Thank you, ma'am." Gabe bowed his head. "But you came over her to make a request, didn't you?"
About the Author

Jillian Chantal lives on the gulf coast of Florida. She’s an avid traveler and enjoys using her experiences in other places as the background and inspiration for her stories. Writing Romantic Adventures with an International Flair is her favorite type of story to focus on. She loves to hear from readers and can be contacted at: 

http://www.JillianChantal.com

email: JillianChantal at gmail.com

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/JillianChantal

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jillian.chantal

Author pages:

http://www.desertbreezepublishing.com/brands/Jillian-Chantal.html

http://store.sweetcravingspublishing.com/index.php?main_page=products_all&filter_author=124

http://www.bookstrand.com/jillian-chantal

Jillian will be awarding a free backlist e-book to a randomly drawn commenter at each stop, and a Grand Prize of a moon charm/crystal necklace to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.