Friday, 7 March 2014
Things That Didn’t Make the Cut in One
Kiss by Lisa Fox
I’m so thrilled to be here! Thanks so
much for having me over, JB!
I usually have a pretty good idea when
I’m writing who my characters are going to be and what’s going to happen to
them, but there are always some things that just don’t work out. There are a
million reasons for things to get cut, it could be that a scene is going on too
long for example, or maybe I’m being too repetitive, or the vibe of the words
just doesn’t feel right. I wholeheartedly believe that edits always make a
story stronger, and I am not afraid to cut anything – even those things I’ve
decided I love.
I’m really pleased with the way One Kiss
turned out, but just for fun, I thought I’d share some of the things that didn’t
make the final cut.
Stuff
That Just Didn’t Happen in One Kiss
- 1 One of the rejection letters I received suggested that I make it into a Valentine’s Day story
- 2 At the party, Kat actually wanted Dean to save her from her blind date disaster
- 3 Dean’s ex, Marine, was going to be at the party when they arrived
- 4 Kat was originally a sculptor
- 5 Instead of discussing a midnight kiss in the cab, Kat and Dean talked about why New Year’s Eve was the night to live all of your craziest dreams
Would you like to see how the story
finally came out? Leave a comment to enter to win a digital copy of One Kiss!
One Kiss by Lisa Fox
Blurb
Sometimes one kiss can change
everything.
New Year's Eve is supposed to be a night
for celebration and new beginnings. For best friends Kat and Dean, it is a
nightmare filled with disastrous dates and enraged ex-girlfriends!
Lucky for them, they've got each other
to help laugh off the embarrassing, and downright inappropriate, moments. But
then midnight rolls around and neither of them have anyone to kiss…
There's no doubt this is a night they
will always remember.
The real question is whether it will be
a night they want to forget…
An Excerpt From: ONE KISS
Copyright © LISA FOX, 2014
All Rights Reserved, Harper
Impulse, a Division of HarperCollins Publishers
CHAPTER ONE
Kat spun
around when her cell phone rang, and the stiletto heel on her brand new shoes
snapped, knocking her off-balance. She crashed down on the living room carpet
with a loud thump, grunting out a string of vile curses. Her short, sparkly
dress twisted around her hips as she scrambled to get up, and a few sequins
fell off when she collided with the coffee table. The phone slid off the glass
top, bounced twice, and hit the floor. She snatched it off the ground as the
last bars of “Tank!” played, brought it to her ear, and winced as the missed
call beep blasted her eardrum.
“Son of a
bitch,” she muttered, and checked the caller ID to see who had caused her all this
grief. Dean. It figured. Her eyebrows furrowed. She hadn’t expected to hear
from him for another few days. He was supposed to be out somewhere swank
tonight, spending a very expensive, very exclusive New Year’s Eve with his
girlfriend, Marine. The more expensive, the better. Marine wouldn’t settle for
anything less. And she would not be happy if she knew he was calling Kat in the
middle of their date. There had to be something wrong.
She
slipped off her broken shoes as she called him back, grimacing when she tossed
them into the trash can. It was a damn tragedy to have to throw out a cute pair
of shoes. This was not a positive omen for the evening.
“Hey,
Kat,” he answered on the second ring, and the familiar sound of his deep voice
made her smile. Dean had a way of always making her smile. He also had a way of
getting under her skin and driving her crazy too, but right now it was good to
hear his voice. She’d missed him a lot during the Christmas break.
“Hey,
yourself.” She switched the phone to her other ear and pushed open her bedroom
door. Going out tonight was probably a bad idea. She was beginning to regret
letting Ron talk her into this ridiculous blind date. If there was any time
left to back out, she would have. Well, maybe that wasn’t entirely true. She
was kind of excited. Curious anyway. She’d been so stagnate lately. It was time
to shake things up. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.
I just got back and I wanted to say hi.”
“Huh-huh,”
she said, allowing him to hear the skepticism in her voice. This was not a
“just say hi” call. Something was up. She could feel it. “I thought you’d be
out with Marine by now.” She knelt down in front of her closet and pushed her
half-unpacked suitcases aside. Her shoulders sagged as she peered into the
dark, chaotic recesses. She was never going to find anything in there. Why had
she never organized? Maybe that ought to be her New Year’s resolution. She dug
around and pulled out a pair of red, patent leather Mary Jane’s, which she
examined and promptly tossed aside. Definitely not right. “What are you guys
doing tonight?”
He took a
deep breath and exhaled. “Mari and I broke up.”
Kat sat
back on her heels. That was news—and not the bad kind. The last time she’d seen
them together, Marine had been clinging to Dean’s arm as hard as usual. Found someone with a bigger wallet, did she?
formed on her lips, but she bit the words back. He knew exactly how she felt
about Marine. He didn’t need to hear it right now. “What happened?”
She heard
the phone shift and knew that he was raking his fingers through his thick,
curly hair. It was what he did whenever he was upset. “It started out like it
always does, you know? She bitched about my job, cried over all the money I was
‘losing’ by not going somewhere else, and then she got all twisted, went on
this rampage about how we can’t get married if—”
“Whoa,
whoa, whoa.” She shook her head so violently, her hair got caught on a button
of the only business suit she owned. She winced as she pulled herself free,
ripping out a fair amount of hair in the process. “Please don’t tell me you
proposed to her?”
“What?
No. But it’s what she wants.”
I’ll bet. Marine was no fool. She
was entering her late twenties and while she was a working model, she wasn’t
one of the elite. One day very soon she was going to be nothing more than an
old face in a sea of younger, fresher faces. For women like Marine, marrying
well became the next logical step. Dean was an excellent candidate. He was
young, ambitious, an award-winning designer on the ground floor of a successful
boutique web design and marketing firm. He’d already been headhunted a number
of times by the corporate giants. If he ever decided to make a move, he’d be
able to name his price. And, as an added bonus, he looked great in a suit. “I
don’t understand. You broke up over that? You guys have had that fight a
million times before.”
“Well,
this time when she left, I didn’t stop her.” He paused. “I haven’t heard from
her since.”
Good
riddance, she almost said aloud. He deserved so much better. “When was this?”
“Tuesday.”
She heard him sit down on his couch, the familiar creak of the springs in the
background. “Right after the holiday dinner.”
Kat’s
mouth dropped open. “Before Christmas? Dean, that was over a week ago! You’re
just telling me now?”
She could
feel him shrug, see his sheepish grin. “You were in California, and I only got
back from Colorado last night. There was nothing you could do.”
She
huffed in reply and dove back into the closet. There was probably something she
should be saying, some comfort she should be offering, but he didn’t really
sound all that upset, and a deep, mean, little part of her was glad Marine was
gone. A deep, selfish little part of her actually rejoiced. “So, what happens
now?”
He didn’t
get a chance to answer because Kat yelped as a pile of boxes fell down around
her head.
“Kat,” he
called, his voice sharp with alarm. “Are you all right?”
She
couldn’t help but smile. She knew without any doubt that he was on his feet,
that he’d leapt up the moment she screamed, and was ready to jet over to her
place to save her immediately. Sir Galahad had nothing on Dean. Sickening as it
was, it never failed to strum a cord way back in the depths of her black,
little heart. She wasn’t used to people wanting to care for her and every time
he did, it left her feeling a bit unbalanced, yet oddly touched. But, no matter
how sweet, it was the reason behind most of his problems. He was a sucker for a
female in distress—or at least the ones who were convincingly in distress.
“I’m
fine,” she said, pressing her palm against the side of her head where the
corner of a box had struck. She supposed she should have been grateful there
was no blood. A great, big river of blood gushing out of her head would only
have made the night that much more awesome. “I’m trying to get ready for Ron
and Alan’s party.”
“I didn’t
think you were going.”
“I
wasn’t.” She had intended to stay home and work, maybe have a glass of
champagne alone at midnight, but then Ron approached her the day after the
holiday dinner with his idea, and she had randomly said yes, surprising both
him and herself. A sigh escaped her lips as her gaze touched the disarray
spanning out into the center of her bedroom. She should have stuck with her
original plan.
BUY
LINKS:
Harper
Impulse: http://www.harperimpulseromance.com/books/one-kiss/
Amazon: http://goo.gl/kUhg13
Amazon UK: http://goo.gl/WF65GA
B&N: http://goo.gl/VD8s78
iTunes: http://goo.gl/BsfHz5
Amazon: http://goo.gl/kUhg13
Amazon UK: http://goo.gl/WF65GA
B&N: http://goo.gl/VD8s78
iTunes: http://goo.gl/BsfHz5
About
Lisa:
World-renowned
neurosurgeon, jet fighter pilot, secret member of American royalty, seducer of
legions of beautiful, outrageously sexy angels and demons and vampires and
werewolves and the occasional pirate, Lisa Fox has done it all…in her own mind.
In reality, she can generally be found at her desk with a cup of coffee close
at hand. Or maybe a martini. It really depends on the day.
Feedback, comments, opinions, words of
wisdom, chocolate cake and the addresses of super hot men are always
appreciated and encouraged. Please feel free to contact Lisa any time.
Email: lisa@lisafoxromance.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/LisaFoxRomance
Twitter: @LisaFoxRomance
Thank you so much Lisa for this wonderful post. As Lisa has previously mentioned, if you want to be in with a chance of winning an ecopy of her book then leave a comment below. The winner will be chosen on the 14th March, midnight UK, and announced on 15th March.
This book sounds great. I cant wait to read it
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM AWESOME AND LOVE THE COVER LISA!
Thank you for the amazing excerpt.
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
ok guys so everyone's name was put into a hat and the winner drawn out by my beautiful daughter. Congrats Mary Preston........YOU WON! I will email you shortly. x