Today Wednesday Writers welcomes Christina Kirby to the blog. Christina, please tell the readers about the book that is being showcased today.
Running Home is the second book in my Warm Springs Trilogy and picks up one year after book one. It will allow readers to find out more about Jenny Fillmore and what happened to her after the traumatic events in book one, but unlike book one, Running Home is contemporary romance, not romantic suspense. You can read this one at night without leaving the light on. 😉
How did you come up with the concept for this book? As I was writing the first book in The Warm Springs Trilogy, I realized how much more I could do with the characters. I chose Jenny because she was fun and definitely deserved her happy ending after what I put her through in book one.
What are you working on now? Do you have a release date for this book?
I am working like crazy on the final book in The Warm Springs Trilogy. It’s set for release in October and I want more than anything to give the fans a satisfying ending.
Do you write in more than one genre? If so, why?
I do for the same reason I read different genres and watch movies from different genres. Sometimes I’m in the mood to go down a different path. It keeps life interesting. I never want to be pigeonholed into one type of writing. I like a good story, but I don’t need the same type of scenario every time. (Aside from the love story – all good stories need a little love.)
Some writers like quiet when they write, others want music. Which one are you?
I love music, but when I write in need quiet. Considering I live with two little boys, quiet is a rare thing in my house.
Do you revise on paper or on the computer?
I might be old-fashioned in the way I edit, but the truth is, I do a better job if I print it out to give it a once over. When I finish my first draft, I always print out the entire book and read all the way through it. After I reach the editing process with my editor, I only print out a section if it needs a fair amount of work. Typos and such I just fix on the computer.
What’s the worst technical difficulty or disaster you’ve ever had as a writer?
I’m a total non-techy when it comes to computers and social media and have experienced a number of flubs, including wiped out discs, crashed computer drives where I lost 50 pages I’d just written, improper blog setups that caused me to lose my web name address.
I can really identify with you on that. I’ve experienced some of the exact things!
What’s the first book you ever remember reading as a child?
The first book I remember from childhood is The Boxcar Children. My first grade teacher read it aloud to my class and I remember not being able to wait for it to be that time of day. It’s amazing how a great book can pull you in and set your imagination free. I will also say that The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe was a favorite from early on.
What’s the book you are reading now?
I’m usually reading a book for book club or critiquing a book for my CP, but lately I’ve had a chance to choose one off of my TBR (to be read) shelf. I’m a third of the way through The Book of Life – it’s the last book in the All Souls Trilogy. So far, so good.
What’s the first book, in the genre you write in, that you remember reading?
I distinctly remember reading Montana Sky by Nora Roberts. There’s something magical about the way she writes. It makes me wonder how many people she’s inspired over the course of her amazing career.
I love going to the movies. Do you? If so, what was the most recent movie you’ve seen?
I am a movie fanatic. There I said it. I love movies. The most recent one I’ve seen in the theater is Avengers: Age of Ultron, but Inside Out comes out in a week and I have two kids so…
Do you have an all-time favorite movie that has stuck in your mind or that you’d watch over and over?
There are too many movies to name that have stuck with me, but my favorite movie is Ever After. I watch it every time it’s on. Every. Time. You can ask my husband. He’s seen it more than a few times. (Oops!)
What’s your favorite television show currently running? Favorite show of all time?
The Walking Dead and Reign – two totally different shows, but I can’t choose between the two.
Quickies:
Favorite food? chocolate chip cookies or my mom’s spaghetti
Favorite singer or band? Bastille
Favorite season? Fall
Favorite flower? Tulip
Favorite color? Blue
Mug or teacup? Neither – water bottle
It’s been a pleasure having you here today. As you say goodbye, can you leave the readers with an encapsulation of your life’s philosophy? (a quote, a Bible verse, a precept you live by or have tried to instill in your children?)
“She believed she could, so she did…” – I saw this on Pinterest and it spoke to me. Believing in yourself is truly important.
Running Home
by
Christina Kirby
Small town beauty queen, Jenny Fillmore, is a survivor. In the wake of having been kidnapped by a madman, she’s managed to put her life back together, complete with a successful career and a serious boyfriend. But, when her first love returns and hires her as his real estate agent, old wounds are torn open, making Jenny question whether or not she has the life she wants. It turns out broken hearts don’t heal so easily and old desires don’t always fade with time.
Professional baseball player, Adam Hamilton, didn’t expect a career ending shoulder injury. Thrown a curveball in his prime, he returns home to Warm Springs and the one woman whose heart he broke to pursue his sports dream. But, earning Jenny’s forgiveness won’t be easy. What he and Jenny once shared was real, but she’s moved on. With the new man in her life, time isn’t on Adam’s side.
Excerpt
Jenny smoothed a hand over her navy skirt and tucked a loose hair behind her ear as she waited to meet her new client. After speaking with his assistant several times to setup a schedule that would work for everyone, it was finally time to meet the man himself.
She glanced around her office where they’d be meeting before she took him out in her freshly washed Lexus SUV. Everything was in place. There were no loose papers strewn around or files left open on the back counter.
A partially open drawer caught her attention at the bottom of one of her filing cabinets. She moved to close it and found it was stuck. She knelt down on the carpet and tried to push it again, but it still wouldn’t budge. “Close, you stupid–”
“That’s my Jennifer. Still talking to herself after all these years.”
Jenny’s hand froze at the same time a flush of heat surged through her body. A fire she hadn’t felt since the last time she’d been with him, the owner of the deep voice. A voice she’d know anywhere. Adam.
“Here,” he knelt beside her, “let me give you a hand.”
“I don’t need your help,” she shook her head, but he didn’t seem to care. He lifted the drawer and pushed, and it closed like the traitor it was. Damn drawer.
Adam took a step back from her, but it did nothing to dissipate his scent. His aftershave hung in the air and with it a flood of memories of the two of them, together, crashed down around her. Memories it had taken her years to repress because forgetting was impossible.
Keeping her back to him, she tugged her skirt back into place and did her best to calm her nerves. How dare he show up at her office out of the blue? It wasn’t fair and it hadn’t given her a chance to prepare a suitable insult.
She took a deep breath. There was no need to overact. All she needed to do was find out what he was doing there and get rid of him.
She turned. “So, are you just passing through?”
“Not exactly.” He sat down in one of her office chairs, his tall frame filling the space.
Unsure what else to do and not wanting to be rude in her place of business, she sat down, more than aware that three different people from the office had walked past her door in the last thirty seconds. Word must’ve gotten out the great Adam Hamilton was in the building.
Gritting her teeth, she smiled. “Why, exactly, are you here, Adam?”
“I’m your ten o’clock.” He grinned, held his hands out in a ‘here-I-am’ gesture, and laughed when her mouth fell open.
“You?”
“Yes, I believe we’re supposed to go see some houses this morning.”
She blinked twice. “Wait, why are you looking for a house here?”
“I like it here.” He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world and smiled again, the same smile that had gotten her out of her clothes more than a few times when they’d been younger.
“But, you live in Atlanta.”
“Not for long.” He leaned the chair back on two legs, like he used to do when he was seventeen.
“Wait, but,” she pressed her palms flat on her desk, “does this mean you’re moving back here?”
“That’s my plan.”
Adam in Warm Springs, indefinitely. The words swirled around in her head like a tornado, tearing apart every other thought, until he was all she could think about. How was she supposed to live in the same town with him again? It was too small for the both of them.
If you enjoyed the excerpt you can get Christina’s book at Amazon
About the Author:
Christina Kirby holds a degree in Public Relations from Auburn University. She worked in banking for four and a half years before deciding to become a stay at home mom to her two sons. Moving every couple of years because of her husband’s job, Christina has had the opportunity to meet all kinds of people and live in many different states. Fortunately, writing is something she can take with her no matter where she lives. Christina is an avid reader of romance, young adult and anything having to do with pop culture. She also knows a copy of Entertainment Weekly and a chocolate chip cookie can cure anything.
Find her on:
Twitter: @CKirbyWriter FB Goodreads Pinterest
Sign up for her newsletter on her website
About a week ago, I lopped off the Queen Anne’s Lace that grew taller than me this year. Iowa’s great rains this spring and fall made for extraordinary growth in everything from field corn to flowers. But those wonderful thunderstorms we’ve had really laid the Queen Anne’s Lace low…over some other flowers doing their best to thrive an/or make a national growth record, too.
