Hello! This
is one of my tour stops during my one month book tour for Time to Say Goodbye
by Parker J. Cole. This virtual book tour is organized by Write Now Literary Book Tours. This tour runs March 5-30, 2018. Follow the tour here. Book your own tour
here WNL.
ISBN-10:
1973224151
ISBN-13:
978-1973224150
Genre: Sweet
Inspirational Romance
About The Author
I am an author, speaker, and radio
show host with a fanatical obsession with the Lord, Star Trek, K-dramas, anime,
romance books, old movies, speculative fiction, and knitting. An off and on
addict to Mountain Dew and marshmallows who writes to fill the void the sugar
left behind.
About The Book
Gargi Kapoor
is the only one convinced her brother, Dev, is innocent of the crime he was
convicted of. When he is sent to the hospital with an unexplained paralyzing
disease she finds herself having to lean on the last person she'd ever want to
depend on -- a man who wants her brother to pay for stealing his mother's life
savings.
Leon Reckley
is extremely satisfied to find the man who ripped his mother off suffering from
an unknown disease that leaves him paralyzed and in need of rehabilitation
therapeutic services. He's even happier when he is given the opportunity to be
the therapist that makes him fit enough to return to prison to finish his
sentence. No one will work harder to make sure Dev Kapoor serves every minute
of his prison sentence.
Gargi never
dreamed the man who has utter contempt for her brother would be the man she
slowly begins to trust. Leon never thought he'd be convinced Dev might be
innocent, let alone be drawn to his enemy's little sister. Together, will they
find the truth? Or when Leon's job is over, will it simply be time to say
goodbye?
10 things about the characters in your book
In my book, Time to Say Goodbye, cultures, guilt, and
innocence clash in this tale of enemies to sweethearts. My focus when I write
romance is to include a multicultural aspect or an interracial/inter-ethnic
couple among the romance.
Creating the characters for Time to Say Goodbye was a fun
exercise. The reason why is because they were not of my ethnic background.
Gargi, the hero, is an Indian woman and Leon comes from the background of
growing up in a trailer park.
The best part is learning about both of these characters
through my friends! I made sure to acknowledge them in the beginning of the
book and for that, I’m thankful.
So Ten things about my characters.
10. Gargi Kapoor’s beauty, as I see it, came from a brief
work acquaintance I had with an Indian woman from South Indian when I was
working. She had dark skin, very
dramatic features, and dark hair and eyebrows. I remember staring at her,
mesmerized by her beauty. Everything about her was so exotic and different. I
tried to incorporate that when Leon meets her from a man’s perspective.
9. Leon Reckley was a truck driver in the first draft, not a
physical therapist. Time to Say Goodbye went through two drafts. At first, Leon
was going to meet Gargi while at a toll booth on the way back home. He would
see her and Devansh being escorted by the agents at the toll booth in Texas and
his eyes would meet her. I decided to change that when I began to research
other elements of the story.
8. Some of my characters are named after people I know with
the exception of Gargi. Leon is named after someone who was a friend of my
sisters (although he’s nothing like Leon Reckley). Shruti is the cousin of my
hubby’s best friend who is Naveen. Naveen is my hubby’s best friend. Ajit is a longtime friend of the family. Elizabeth
Chalker is a dear friend as well.
7. Gargi’s lifestyle as an Indian girl growing up in an
American setting is one I have seen reflected in many minorities. The
traditional values of the Indian culture she was born into clashes with the
mindset of her Western influence. Throughout the story, Gargi’s father Ajit
tries to set up her with ‘good Indian men’ as potential husbands. Yet, Gargi is
not interested in that. One of the women who helped me with the story made a
point of how her children would not accept their parents in finding a match for
them. They were more interested in love matches than arranged marriages. This
pull of old and young, West and East, family tradition vs. individual pursuits
is one that has always fascinated me.
6. In the first draft of the story, Gargi and Dev were not
brother and sister. In fact, Gargi and Dev were engaged to each other. Dev’s
original role was to be the cruel, future husband while Gargi would be the
sacrificial bride. But I figured that’s been done already a few times. We’ve
all heard that story before, right?
5. Leon and Gargi reside in the real city of a small town
here in Michigan called Tawas. It is situated on a body of water called Lake
Huron. It has a lighthouse with a picturesque view. I decided to have Tawas
featured in these stories due to the fact I had so much information from my
co-workers who grew up there. There’s always something to do and it has a real
feel small town community.
4. I try to capture my love for Indian food in the book. The
first time I bit into a samosa, I had pretty much the same reaction Leon had to
it. Most of Leon’s enjoyment of a samosa is from my own. Try it with the cool
tang of mint chutney – to die for!
3. The character of Elizabeth Chalker is based of the real
person I know as Elizabeth Chalker. She is sweet as pie but is very sick due to
a condition she has called Lyme Disease. I met her through here book called
Hanging on by the Scratch Marks My Nails Left Behind. After this, I interviewed
her and we became friends. Due to her condition, her lifestyle is limited so
what I’ve done is that I’ve used her in these two books of the Michigan Sweet
romance series. In the first book, she’s a police office. In this book, she’s a
doctor. What will she be next?
2. Leon’s best friend Krause is a truck driver in the story.
He’s based off a person I know who is a truck driver and is a great supporter
of my work though. How could I NOT put him in the book.
1. Gargi and Leon are so far my favorite couple I’ve had the
pleasure of working with.
Connect Socially
Thank you for hosting me!
ReplyDeleteThank's for your support. Can't wait to read it.
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