Jack Gets His Man Blog Tour! (+$25 GC Giveaway!)

Title: Jack Gets His Man 

Author: D.E. Haggerty

Series: N/A

Pages: N/A

Date Published: 2015

Format: Kindle

Source: Goddess Fish Blog Tours

Synopsis:
Jack’s life is awesome. His store is making money hand over fist and his best friend has found love. So what if he’s feeling a bit restless and put out about his upcoming birthday and his ex is being a pain in his fabulous behind? That’s nothing he can’t handle, but then his super hot new bookkeeper discovers things at the store aren’t actually as they seem. Someone is playing fast and loose with the finances. Jack’s bestie and his gal pals, the grey-haired knitting detectives, jump at the chance to solve Jack’s problems. When they aren’t re-enacting scenes from spy thrillers, they’re setting Jack up on dates and generally insinuating themselves into his love life. They’re determined to find love for Jack as well as his missing money. Will Jack catch a thief or find love? Either way Jack’s going to get his man.

~Guest Post!~

At the launch of my third book, Life Discarded, the 11-year-old daughter of a friend of mine asked if I’d ever write a book from a man’s perspective. If anyone else had asked that question, I would have guffawed and asked if she was out of her mind. Because an 11-year-old asked, I had to actually think about my response. Why was my initial reaction to guffaw? Finally, I answered that as a woman I didn’t think I could write from a man’s perspective and make it believable.

Of course, I couldn’t get the question out of my mind. Why was I so instantly against the idea? What was I afraid of? Men write as women all the time. I’d also like to think that the more I write the less the characters resemble me or my friends and the more they come from my imagination. I’m not a librarian being emotionally abused by her husband as was the heroine in Life Discarded. If I could write that story, why couldn’t I write like a man?

I let this simmer in my mind as I wrote my next book, Murder, Mystery & Dating Mayhem. The main character’s best friend is a gay man and several of the reviewers indicated that they would love to hear Jack’s story. The thing is – I already had a story for Jack that I wanted to write but I was scared. Not only would I be writing from a man’s perspective but a gay man at that. Could I pull that off?

The first issue I mentally tackled was Jack’s sexuality. When I thought about it, it didn’t seem like such a big deal. Jack likes men. I like men. It wouldn’t be hard to visualize things about a man that would turn Jack on because they’d probably turn me on as well. The books are romantic comedies so there wasn’t a need to worry about how to write the sex scenes themselves (I am absolutely terrified of writing heterosexual sex scenes as well). As for writing the emotional aspects of Jack falling in love, well, love is love. Doesn’t really matter if it’s between two men, two women or a man and a woman.

But writing a book from the perspective of a man still bugged me. Although I love to write in first person and the other two books in the series are in first person, I didn’t dare attempt to write in first person as a man. That was one step too far. I still wasn’t convinced I could write from Jack’s perspective even if it was in the third person but I thought I’d give it a go. The Gray-Haired Knitting Detectives series is not meant to be literature, but rather chick lit to read at the beach or next to the pool. I didn’t have dig deep into Jack’s feelings or fill the story with angst, I just needed to get the readers to laugh. Well, that I could do!

~Try an Excerpt!~

The first candidate arrived promptly at 9:30 or at least his mom did. Danny ushered an elderly lady with a stern bun into Jack’s office and made a hasty retreat.

Jack just stared at her until Izzy cleared her throat and poked him in the ribs. “I’m sorry,” she said when Jack kept staring. “We were expecting someone named Fred. Is that you?”

The woman looked first at Jack and then at Izzy. “Of course that’s not me,” she snapped. “What kind of name is Fred for a woman?”

“Er.. um,” Izzy stumbled. “Do you know where Fred is?”

The woman rolled her eyes and harrumphed. “He’s in the bathroom. He always gets nervous at interviews.”

“Um. Okay,” Izzy was quick to respond when she saw Jack opening his mouth. Knowing Jack nothing appropriate was coming out of his mouth at the moment. “Can you have a seat outside while we conduct the interview?” Izzy could do prim and proper when necessary.

The woman gave Izzy the evil eye before turning on her heel and walking out. They never saw Fred.

Jack was licking his fingers when Danny ushered in the next candidate. “Hi!,” the enthusiastic candidate nearly shouted. “I’m Tim!” That part was definitely shouted.

Jack and Izzy stood to shake the man’s hand. He swayed a bit as he leaned forward. Jack took a sniff, but didn’t smell anything untoward. Tim collapsed in his seat while Jack stared at his hand in disgust. Tim’s hands were sweaty. Jack’s mouth pulled tight in a grimace and his nose scrunched in disgust.

“So Tim. Why do you want this job?” Izzy’s voice was overly enthusiastic in an attempt to bring Tim’s attention to her so he wouldn’t see Jack’s grimace. She need not have bothered. Tim had leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. When he didn’t respond, Izzy snapped her fingers. “Tim?”

“Huh? What?” He started.

“Have you been drinking?” Jack didn’t even bother to ask in a polite manner.

Tim shrugged. “Just a tiny drink to settle my nerves.”

Jack stood. “Okay. Thanks a lot for coming. We’ll be in touch.”

Tim looked confused but managed to struggle to his feet and lurch out of the door. Izzy was giggling uncontrollably by the time Jack sat back down. He snorted. “At least this isn’t boring.”

~Meet D.E. Haggerty!~ 

I was born and raised in Wisconsin, but think I’m a European. After spending my senior year of high school in Germany, I developed a bad case of wanderlust that is yet to be cured. My flying Dutch husband and I have lived in Ohio, Virginia, the Netherlands, Germany and now Istanbul. We still haven’t decided if we want to settle down somewhere – let alone where. Although I’ve been a military policewoman, a commercial lawyer, and a B&B owner, I think with writing I may have finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up. That’s assuming I ever grow up, of course. Between tennis, running, traveling, singing off tune, drinking entirely too many adult beverages, and reading books like they are going out of style, I write articles for a local expat magazine and various websites, review other indie authors’ books, write a blog about whatever comes to mind and am working on my sixth book.

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

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