Untitled by Jackie Chanel - Virtual Tour and Giveaway

Today we're welcoming author Jackie Chanel to the blog on her tour with Goddess Fish Promotions for her contemporary romance novel, "Untitled".

Jackie will be awarding gift baskets to two randomly drawn commenters which will include:

- a copy of the Untitled soundtrack
- a "I like Big Books and I cannot Lie" totebag
- Untitled themed or guitar shaped keychains
- $20 Amazon gift card.

So comment today AND follow her tour (if you click on the banner over there on the left, it'll take you to a list of her tour stops)! The more you read and comment, the better your odds of winning. You could be introduced to a great new author AND win prize!

Suzanne answered all my prying questions, so let's turn the floor over to her!

Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?

Contemporary romance is my favorite genre to read. My favorite types are the ones that aren’t your traditional happily ever after romance. I was drawn into creating plots where I could make the “happily ever after” moments happen early and the real story focuses on what happens after that blissful kiss on the beach, when the characters really start to get to know each other and personalities start to clash. It’s real life romance with big old heaps of drama.

What research is required?

Most of my research involves my characters’ career choices and their hobbies and interests. Most of them do things that I’ve never done in my life. That’s what makes it good fiction. Therefore, I do a lot of research. For Untitled, I visited guitar shops, talked to musicians; I even learned how to play a few chords so that the story would be authentic.

Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.

I learned that love, whether it is a parent’s love, the love of a sibling, or the love of your partner, is way too powerful to truly understand. But without it, nothing matters.

Any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?

This may only be odd to me, but I cannot write a first draft of anything on a computer. I simply cannot write without an Ultra Fine Point Sharpie and a legal pad. There is something about the way the pen feels on paper that helps me write.

Plotter or pantser?

I am definitely a plotter. I have my entire novel plotted before I start writing. More often than not, the plot will change and evolve during the writing process, but it’s the base that I need to even get started.

Look to your right – what’s sitting there?

There’s nothing sitting on my desk but hanging on my wall is dry erase board calendar with my schedule of blog posts and events. It also has my erasable To-Do list.

Anything new coming up from you? What?

I’m currently working on another contemporary romance called Unsung. There are three books planned for the characters in Untitled and Unsung is the second. It’s not exactly a series because each book will be a standalone book, meaning you don’t have to read one in order to know what’s happening in the others. Of course (and I hope) you just might fall in love with Aiden and crew and can’t wait to see what they are up to next.

Do you have a question for our readers?

I wouldn’t be an author if I wasn’t a reader first. I know what drives me to fill my bookshelves and Kindle with books but I’d like to ask; What influences you, as a reader, to purchase a book? Do you enjoy that Amazon and other retailers offer samples of e-books so it’s kind of like being in a bookstore sampling books before you buy?

For some, music is an escape from the every day norm.

For Aiden, it's his life's blood.

Already a star in his own mind & with the help of an unlikely partner, Aiden's escape from a life less ordinary begins with the blues and a guitar. Only he can determine where it ends.

Halfway through his set, the announcement that I’d been impatiently waiting for came over the PA system.

“It’s that time...what we call a blues jam! I know there’s someone out there who wants to jam with us! Come to the stage, plug in, grab some sticks and let’s jam!”

I rushed the stage like a thirteen year old girl at a New Kids on the Block concert. Paulie was right behind me.

I picked the amp closest to Joey Clausen and plugged in Dee-Dee. I played a few cords to check that she was tuned properly. She sounded perfect.

The bass player, a smooth looking older black man, looked me up and down and started to snicker.

“You sure you want to do this, kid?” he asked.

“Hell yeah,” I muttered, slightly offended by his snicker.

“This is a blues jam session,” he added as if I didn’t know. “This ain’t no Guns N Roses concert.”

“I wouldn’t be up here if it was,” I replied shortly.

“White boy thinks he can play the blues, huh,” he gaffed. “You must think you’re Stevie Ray or something.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “You must think that.”

I took a few steps away from the dude. Now I was nervous. I know how I look to the all black band. After all, I am just a white boy in a Hendrix t-shirt, cargo shorts, and Nikes with no socks holding a guitar. There aren’t many of us who play the blues. Looks can be deceiving, because I can play.

I don’t care that I look different from other Blues players. Who says that all Blues players have to be black and from the South? However, the bass player’s assumption that I’m trying to be like Stevie Ray made me feel a little apprehensive.

I’m not trying to be like anyone. There are tons of guitarists that influence me, but I like to think that there’s a distinct difference between me and them. I got nervous...more like terrified. I could be a great blues guitarist, but what if no one accepts that style of music coming from me, a white kid from the suburbs?

Jackie Chanel is a contemporary romance author and self proclaimed badass. Her writing career began in high school when she began writing short romance stories about her celebrity crushes. Her very first novel was penned while she was a high school senior in Youngstown, Ohio. She insists that no one will ever read it.

Jackie studied at Georgia State University and currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia. When she’s not writing or daydreaming, she can often be found drooling over the latest Chanel shoes or reading on her Kindle with a cup of coffee in hand and a little Mayer or Hendrix in the background.

Her characters are a reflection of the people she has encountered along her writing journey and her books are often inspired by her favorite thing, music.

Social Media
Twitter Handle: @JackieChanel
Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/#!/JackieChanel
Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/jackiechanel
Website: http://www.jackiechanel.com/