Renovation by Kim Loraine - Guest Blog and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Kim Loraine will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

The Process

Writing a book is different for everyone. Some people start and hammer it all out in one awesome marathon of flowing ideas and brilliant words. That’s not me. I plot, plan, and second-guess myself constantly. And that’s just writing the book. Once I send it to my critique partner it comes back and the doubts creep back in as I implement changes based on her feedback.

I’m fortunate to have a great team of people I use throughout the process from first draft to publication. My Beta readers are a wonderful resource. They usually get to see the book after my critique partner. Once I’m pretty sure what I’m sending them will be super close to the finished product, I hit send and the waiting begins. I wait to hear what they think, whether they connect with the characters, if they found any inconsistencies, and more than that, I wait to see if they liked it. That’s the worst part. The waiting.

Assuming the Beta readers give me glowing feedback, I send the manuscript off to my editor and wait some more. After the first round of edits are done and I know I won’t need to make any content changes, my editor and I spend time polishing the book. We make it the best it can be. There’s nothing more embarrassing than finding basic grammar errors in your published work (believe me, I know) and not being able to fix it.

My favorite part of this whole process is cover art. I’ve got an awesome cover artist. The day my proofs pop up in my inbox is always exciting. Usually, for the first week after I approve a cover, I make it my profile picture on social media and stare at it with a dopey grin on my face.

Even though self-doubt creeps in and inspiration wanes, I love writing. As long as people want to read my books (honestly, even if they don’t) I’ll write.

Valerie Peters is done with bad boys and ready to start living for herself. She’s determined to settle for nothing less than a romantic, sweeps-you-off-your-feet, nice-guy. So when a sexy firefighter with the hottest reputation in town saves her from near-drowning, there’s no doubt he’s everything she shouldn't want.

Donovan’s looks and image have kept his nights entertaining and his ring finger empty. One-night stands serve as a short-term distraction to the flashbacks of his past he increasingly struggles to ignore. But a chance encounter with his best friend’s sister makes him realize that one night is no longer enough.

Together they discover that bad can actually be the best and forever is worth everything.

Enjoy an excerpt:

Donovan Miller braced his arms on the side of the pool as he pushed himself out of the water. His limbs trembled slightly from exertion. He reached for his towel and caught sight of the swimmer a few lanes away. She was tiny. Her body moved smoothly through the water, mesmerizing him as she rotated back and forth. He could tell she was an experienced swimmer by the consistency in her strokes. As he toweled off, he admired the curves of her body. Alarm bells rang in his head when he realized she was rapidly approaching the wall and showed no sign of slowing.

"Hey! Hey! Watch out!" he shouted as he ran toward her lane, hoping desperately to intercept her.

With a dim thud, her head hit the side of the pool. He watched as her eyes rolled back and she sank under the water.

"Shit! Shit!"

Jumping into the swimmer's lane, he pulled her to the surface, attempting to immobilize her neck as much as possible. He assessed her pulse and checked to make sure her airway wasn't compromised.

"Call an ambulance," he barked at the dumbstruck lifeguards headed in their direction.

She floated in his arms, eyes closed, bleeding. He took a moment to feel thankful he'd seen the effects of blood mixed with water before. Even a small amount of blood can look like a murder scene when water is added. He held her while they waited for the ambulance. He stroked her hair and checked her pulse again, disconcerted by the feeling of her soft skin under his fingers. Her eyes fluttered open, affording him a concerned glance before she winced in pain.

"What happened?" Her voice was thin and raspy.

"Shh, don't try to move, sweetheart. You slammed into that wall pretty hard."

"I . . . mmm . . . lost my count."

"It's gonna be okay."

She frowned, eyebrows pulling together. "Can I get up now?"

"There's an ambulance on the way. They'll be here in a minute. We need to wait to move you. I want to get you on a spine board and in a neck brace." He smiled and locked eyes with her. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Valerie. Valerie Peters." Her face pulled into an adorable frown again. "Don't call me sweetheart. I don't even know you."

About the Author:

Kim Loraine is the author of the “Golden Beach” series, including “Restoration” (2015) and “Renovation” (2015). She started writing at a young age, scribbling down song lyrics, short stories, and poems she was too afraid to share with anyone. Busy working as a music teacher in her Pacific Northwest hometown, it wasn’t until her family of four picked up everything and moved to beautiful Japan that she decided to finally take the plunge and send her characters out into the world.

The central theme in Kim’s books is self-discovery, whether that is found through taking risks, breaking down walls, or admitting mistakes. Kim likes to write characters that seem like someone you actually know, who find that life is a journey not without its challenges.

When not writing Kim spends her time with her husband, chasing around their crazy kids, exploring Japan, and binge-watching Doctor Who on Netflix.

You can follow Kim on Facebook www.facebook.com/kimlorainewriter or Twitter http://www.twitter.com/kimloraine2.

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