Shah Fazli
Victoria Valentine, Welcome, and thank you so much for being our guest tonight, obviously you have your fans who are following this event live, and they want to hear something from you at the start of this event, what do you want to say to your fans please?
Victoria Valentine First, I'd like to thank you for hosting my interview, and thank you to Catherine Mahoney who is working so hard to help promote my book. Thank you to everyone who's been with us since this afternoon, and to those of you who have just arrived. We're planning some great fun and prizes following my interview.
Shah Fazli Head Over Wheels, and you have a few more of such romantic titles that we want to hear from you, and also you may want to tell us why so much romance, what is going on please?
Victoria Valentine My first romance novel was Love Dreams contemporary romance. The story is about a young woman who was abused and almost died. A partially handicapped, sweet and handsome man has been longing to meet her, but of course, he doesn't think she'll ever notice him. One day, they literally run into each other, and from there, romance blooms, but as in life, there are roadblocks. I like to write romance. I also write thrillers and combine genres because I believe a good story contains all elements, even humor, which is in Head Over Wheels.
Shah Fazli Thanks, now tell us more about Head Over Wheels please, we will ask you about its characters and the rest later?
Victoria Valentine Head Over Wheels is a steamy New Adult Romance novel. It's 398 pages and is available in print and Kindle on Amazon. It's free to Prime members right now. It involves a 21 year old college girl named Jewelia who wants to join the NYPD Police Academy. She is focused and on target until she sees Indigo (James/Jimmy Ballou) an irresistible medical student who is wrapped up in his career - he also has a lot of secrets which are keeping him from a relationship. Their road is bumpy - unpredictable, and very sensual.
Shah Fazli Thank you so much, tell us where the story begins, where is the setting of the book, or even you may want to tell us why you wrote this novel?
Victoria Valentine The story takes place in Manhattan, The Hamptons, Poughkeepsie, and Maine where the characters travel during various scenes. It begins in Kelly's Cafe where Jewelia first sees this hot guy. Their eyes meet and although he's not up for a relationship, he's so taken with her. She makes his blood boil. They argue a lot, and each reunion brings them closer until a point in the book where the unexpected occurs. One of my inspirations for the story was originally to write a YA, but as the story progressed, Indigo morphed into quite a lover, which changed the story to New Adult with 17+ reader advisory. It's young and heartwarming but also touches upon serious issues.
Shah Fazli Describe yourself in five words and describe your writing in about the same words please, can you?
Victoria Valentine Consumed, compulsive, spontaneous, fun-loving, romantic. (Me) Dramatic, romantic, suspenseful, confrontational, thrilling. (Head Over Wheels)
Shah Fazli True, now tell us about yourself a little bit in detail, maybe your romantic side of life, or any other thing that you want please?
Victoria Valentine I've been writing forever: poetry, short stories, novels. I write romance, horror, psychological thrillers, even children's stories. I publish books for others. I host my own show on blogtalkradio: Away With Words and a new show, We Three Pimps. I'm a daydreamer, which evokes my romantic side. I have a vivid imagination that flows in many other areas as well.
Shah Fazli Can you read from Head Over Wheels please?
Victoria Valentine This is an excerpt from the chapter: Party At The Prestige which is the first close encounter and argument: We left the club immediately. As Indigo towed me into the cool night air, I angled my head, calling over his shoulder, "Elizabeth?"
"My mother." His reply was as stiff as his hand in mine as he pulled me to his side.
"So they're pretty tight. Does she live with you and your mother?" I was such a smartass.
"I don't live with my mother and neither does Vanessa. She just hangs out a lot. With no family of her own, we're all she has." His voice sounded heavier than my heart, which was struggling to digest Vanessa and Jim Jim. What had gone on between them? What was between them?
We're all she has? He included himself in what she had. How much of him did she have? The mood of the night had been destroyed thanks to a creep and the bimbo. I shrugged off his hand. My heels clicked faster, widening the gap between us.
Strolling, Emma and Bill had fallen behind. I heard them chattering.
"She calls you Jim Jim?" I tossed over my shoulder.
"Yeah. Sometimes she does." Catching up, Indigo pulled me to a halt. After gauging my face, he took hold of both of my arms and backed me against the club's brick wall. "Jewelia ..." His voice was ragged. "Don't let anything she said in there get to you. She acts on impulse sometimes ... without thinking. She's got a lot on her plate."
"Don't we all," I flared. "I can't believe you're excusing her bad behavior."
"I'm not excusing anything. I'm just trying to explain ..."
Before he could say another word, I set him straight. "So listen. Let me know right now. Do you two have a thing going or what?" Struggling for composure, I felt my chin jut out. "Because I don't want to become involved if ..."
"I thought we already were." He stared deep into my eyes then pressed against me, nuzzling the base of my neck. His words were muffled. "I like you, Jewel, a lot. Let's forget the fight ... forget Vanessa ... and start again." He breathed into loose strands of my hair working their way across my cheek with the breeze. "I don't want you to be upset ... or let this ruin anything between us."
I inhaled deeply, trying to unclench my jaw. "What a mess this is turning into."
"Only if we let it." His lips found their way to my ear. "Can I call you during the week?"
I lay my palms on his chest, easing him forward, gazing into his eyes. He must have seen uncertainty on my face because he added, "I'll call this time. And we'll make plans for my next night off – a night we're both free. Are you good with that?"
Nose to nose, he had me pinned, his arms stretched out before him, palms flat against the wall. There I stood, locked between his forearms, and he was closing in. Those eyes ... dark as the night surrounding us ... penetrating ... searching.
“Can I kiss you?” he whispered.
"You already did in the club."
"Not the way I want to kiss you now."
The way he was looking at me, the sound of his voice, weakened everything inside me. “Suppose I said no?”
“Then I’d ask again, and again, until you finally said yes.”
My eyes searched his face, landing on his lips, which was a big mistake. At the same time I sighed, my lips parted involuntarily.
"Let me kiss you ..." Without waiting for an answer, he angled his head, lowered his face, and his mouth was on mine, sliding, tasting, nibbling the top, lingering on the bottom. I let my lips open wider, slipping my tongue over his. I smoothed my palms up his chest, gripped his sweater in my fists, then coiled my arms around his neck. His hands moved from the wall to my back and he spun me, reversing our positions, yanking me into him. He had some smooth moves. I spaced, letting myself sink against him, feeling his passion which skyrocketed mine. When I moaned into his mouth, he seemed to snap out of it and held me at arm's length.
"This isn't right." He was breathless.
"Huh?" I had to shake some sense into my head which was still in the clouds.
He looked desperate, trying to gather his senses, then drew me in, lowered his chin so his head rested on mine. I couldn't see his eyes, but his voice held despair. "I can't be doing this." When his arms tightened around me, I felt him tense.
"Doing what?" Stunned, I didn't move. I couldn't move. I was locked in his embrace.
"Partying. Brawling like I'm back in high school." His lips worked against the side of my face, drifting into my hair. "Making out in alleys."
"You partied a lot? Kicked ass in high school?" I spoke against his chest, and felt the strong beat of his heart. "Made out in alleys?"
"Why do you find that surprising?"
"It's just that you ... you don't seem like ... I mean you're mature ... and you're almost a doctor. I never pictured you as ..."
"As a normal high school kid?"
"As reckless, I guess."
"We all go through stages ..." His arms loosened, and I drew back to stare at him, but when I saw the hardness in his eyes, I buried my face in his chest, trying to decipher the correlation between his words and the tormented look on his face.
Was I one of his stages? I lifted my eyes, my lashes brushing against the nap of his sweater. "Well excuse me if you're slumming it and I'm not high society like you and your stuck-up friend back there." As I wrenched from his arms, I noticed Vanessa in the process of flagging a cab, watching the entire scene unfold. My stomach twisted into knots.
I wasn't able to move far, because he caught me in his arms again, bringing my face back to his. "You know what I mean, Jewel. I'm supposed to be treating people in a hospital, not sending them to the E.R. I'm disappointed in myself." He seemed to be riding his own wave. "I'm really into you ..." He pulled me against him, circling my cheek with his. "But I can't get in too deep right now, although it's tempting. I have three long years ahead of me, and I can't have my mind all over the place ... running wild." His lips trailed my cheek, drifted to my neck."I don't want to start something I might not be able to ..."
I rested a finger on his lips. "Listen. I recently got out of a relationship ... a disastrous one. I'm not ready for anything serious." Liar. But I was becoming obsessed with him ... what was I supposed to do? I took his face in my hands, then covered his mouth with mine.
My lips swelled beneath his, working as though we'd had months of practice, pursing, sliding. His tongue circled inside my mouth, reached for mine, lingered. Then he captured my top lip, moved to the plush bottom and sucked, gently then stronger, terrifying me with the degree of passion he possessed.
While I blocked out the world, losing myself in Indigo, the headlights of passing cars whitewashed the walls, tearing me from what was escalating into mind-blowing ecstasy from which I would never have escaped had we not been on a public street.
Still, I imagined our bodies sliding down the wall, his hands all over me, massaging my breasts, ripping off my panties, plunging his erection deep into the ache inside me. The sound of traffic, lights piercing the lids of my closed eyes, jolted me to my senses, rendering me exposed, uneasy; along with Vanessa, could the creep be lurking in the shadows? Driving by in a car? Would he follow me home for retribution? I shivered.
With a groan, Indigo's lips slid off mine. He ran his palms up and down my arms. His breath was hot against my throat. "What's wrong, baby? Are you cold?" His words were thick.
I was still warm from our experience inside the club, and outside with Indigo where he'd heated my body beyond my wildest dreams. I shook my head. My fingers took a sensual walk to his chest where my hands clutched the soft knit covering his pecs. I felt his heartbeat, then realized the wild pulse I felt was my own.
Shah Fazli Thank you so much, do you want to tell us what are the things that you love to do in life apart from writing, or the things that bother you in life, we want to know a little more about you as a person, what is your favourite colour, music, book, for instance?
Victoria Valentine First and foremost, my family is the most important part of my life. Writing is secondary, but I don't think I could manage without either. Aside from writing, I love to design books, I love to walk on the rail trail, I love animals. I love movies: romance and horror are my favorite, as well as comedy. My favorite color is mauve. I love all kinds of music from all eras. I write song lyrics and produced my own alternative rock CD with a local band. I don't get to read books as much as I would like to as I'm so busy, but I admire Dean Koontz, Stephen King, and Nicholas Sparks. I'm energetic and the only time I relax is when I settle in for the night with a movie with my kids. I also love doing my radio shows. I'm a very social person, and very much enjoy interacting with others: writers, readers, and friends. I enjoy meeting new people.
Shah Fazli We are so lucky to have you with us tonight, that is how it feels to me, do you want to describe a romantic scene from Head Over Wheels please, what happens there, where it happens, and who is there?
Victoria Valentine A very romantic scene begins when Indigo picks Jewel up after work (hospital rounds) for a dinner date. They have to stop off at his classy Manhattan apartment for him to shower and dress. The moment they step into the apartment, Jewelia comes on to him. She's been restraining herself for weeks, and feels now is the time to take things further. Indigo has his reservations because he is holding back from a serious relationship due to obligations, but she corners him in the kitchen. She ends up on the counter ... and that's all I can say here LOL
Shah Fazli Beautiful, thank you, do you have any poem or any song that you have written yourself that you can post, or a at least a few very romantic sentences from your works that you can remember please, anything from you is so welcome?
Victoria Valentine I have a poetry site where I have recorded several pieces of poetry I have written in the past.http://www.lostpoetry.com Here is one poem, but everyone is welcome to visit the site. There are several other pieces on the site.http://lostpoetry.com/Poetry/quietly.htm I also like this piece:http://lostpoetry.com/Poetry/BigHatVictoriaValentine.htm
Lost Poetrywww.lostpoetry.com
Victoria Rose Valentine Poetry Skyline Magazine Water Forest Press Love Dreams Sweet Dreams novels
Shah Fazli Sure, thanks a lot, what else do you want us to know about your books or writing or yourself that we failed to ask please?
Victoria Valentine My books are all available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle. I hope readers will check them out. With each signed copy I send out, I include a matching designer pen and bookmarks. I love feedback from readers. I write romance and horror under the pen name January Valentine and other works under Victoria Valentine. Please check out both. I want to thank you, Shah Fazli andCatherine Mahoney for this lovely opportunity. Oh I would also invite everyone to call into my radio show and join our chat room every Wednesday evening 7 pm EST. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/aww1
Away With Words Online Radio by Away With Wordswww.blogtalkradio.com
Weekly book talk with host Victoria Valentine & Guests. Authors promote new releases, current titles, novel excerpts. Poets & Poetry. Round table readings.
Shah Fazli Now we leave it to others if they want to ask questions or comment, it was so much romantic with you January, we hope to have you on this show again.http://shahsightshop.blogspot.de/2013/02/head-over-wheels-january-valentine.html
ShahSight Literary Book Shop: Head Over Wheels January Valentineshahsightshop.blogspot.com
Victoria Valentine Thank you, Shah. I enjoyed it immensely and would love to come back. I'm working on another book which should be ready this fall. Thank you again
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