AT MY DESK: Wendy L Curtis

At My Desk
Wendy L Curtis

 

Well, this is a very interesting topic for me, because half of the time my desk has been my lap, and my lap might be in the lounge, in the car, or at the beach, even up the bush. Below is a favourite place of mine to go and write. This is Jeneret Beach. Part of the Bay of Fires on the East Coast of Tasmania, near my hometown of St Helens. So beautiful and relaxing. I LOVE the beach.

I also travel to the West Coast to visit my older kids at Strahan. Ocean Beach is wild and woolly at the best of times and the atmosphere there is so great to get the creative juices flowing. I just love it.

What’s not to love, right?

I am fortunate that I can write in most environments if I can take the dedicated time to write. That is a very tricky thing to find as a writer, a mother, and also with a part time job. But I still have way more time on my hands than many authors and writers, so self-discipline is a key factor for me. Bum in chair. Write, write, write.

But I do have a real desk which is incredibly messed up with mail and paperwork, etc etc. It houses my huge 750ml mug for my tea, usually a jug with water, and a 24” monitor to be easier on my eyes.

When I write, I zone out of everything around me. It’s like my mind just blanks out and I may even answer questions I have no memory of ever being asked!

Naturally, when I housed teenagers they took full advantage of this. Funnily enough, I do exactly the same thing when I read. Always have. With my head in a book I’m enjoying, or even a comic as a kid, people would talk to me, be sitting right next to me, and I wouldn’t hear a thing. Awkward when Mum asked me to help with the dishes.

This is why I need to be ‘somewhere’ to write which isn’t my traditional desk. It’s very exciting to have booked my first professional writing space this week. Dedicated to word count and editing, Monday to Friday from nine till three, on every day I’m not working at my job or otherwise busy.

I do save my promo stuff for when I’m at my desk. Twitter is a real fave of mine. I LOVE Twitter. Please come follow me. I’m also on Facebook, feel free to come and like my page.

To finish off, I’ll give you a snippet of my current project in my Romantic Suspense line based around the Australian Federal Police.Find out more at my website.

 

 

–Excerpt–

To set the scene:
Grant and Dee have just met in a nightclub in Sydney. She thinks he’s a bodyguard sent by her mother and he is off to a newer, straighter life in Canberra tomorrow. Dee knows nothing annoys her mother more than when she shows interest in the hired help, and Grant is quickly convincing himself his new life starts tomorrow, not tonight. He’s teaching her to waltz, yes in a nightclub. Sigh…don’t you just love a guy who can dance the old-fashioned way?

 

“See. You’re a natural. I can always tell.” The deep timbre he now used ignited her confidence.

Maybe she’d read him wrong. He didn’t seem to be the arsehole up-himself type her mother usually employed. Maybe he was just an innocent fish out of water in this club.

 “You control-freak women are always the easiest to tame in dance.” He winked at her.

Then again, she could be wrong about the arsehole part. She trod on his foot. “Sorry. Actually, no, I’m not. You insulted me.”

“Simply making an observation.”

“You called me a control freak.”

“Anyone with a body as cut as yours is a natural control freak. You don’t get that muscle definition unless you are seriously anal about training.”

Dee couldn’t help but laugh. “Be sure to give a healthy dose of backhand with your compliment.”

He grinned. “Just an observation.”

“Anyone would think observation was your game.” Let’s see if that cracked his cool exterior.

“Maybe.” He guided her around the floor.

 All the other dancing couples made an attempt to swing around the floor in whatever ballroom dance style they could muster but none moved as fluidly as she did with him.

“Everyone is having a go at a waltz now. Amazing,” she said. The music had changed to something that suited the dance perfectly. The DJ must’ve been in nostalgic mood.

“Everyone wants to dance like this. They desire it, deep inside, even if they don’t know it yet. Like orgasm.”

“This dancing is like orgasms? Seriously.”

“No, the desire is like the one for orgasm. The need may not obvious but it’s always there. Two bodies. A single purpose. Dancing like this isn’t actually the orgasm, it’s the foreplay.”

“So we are having foreplay?” She stared at him.

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“We don’t even know each other’s names.”

He leaned in to whisper. His hot breath burned along her neck, close to her ear. “I’m Grant.”

She swallowed hard, and trod on his foot again. “I’m Dee.”

He took his hand from her back and twirled her out with his right hand, pulling her back to crush against his rock-hard body his arm forcing her tight against his immaculately hard body. Then he dipped her very low, his mouth so close to hers. His dark eyes commanding her attention. “Hello, Dee.”

 

 

About the Author:
I live in Tasmania, the southern island state of Australia. I’ve live in Tassie all my life and I do love it here. I also love to get away to the mainland of Australia and visit some big cities and have a bit of a shopping fix. We are separated from the mainland by Bass Strait, so everywhere is a plane trip for us down here. Not that I mind that at all. Makes it a lot more fun.

I started writing about ten years ago and started from complete scratch. I’d always loved books and reading. I decided I’d love to write a book and as I have a penchant for the happy ending I set about to learn about writing romance. Check in ten years later and I may have learned a few things. I did have some publications in small epublishers a few years back and loved that experience. I decided to pull back and focus on improving my craft before trying for the traditional publishing route. I love ebooks and digital publishing in all forms and I am absolutely stoked to be a part of Harlequin Escape. There are so many great opportunities for writers now and taking advantage of as much as possible can only be a good thing.

 

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Escape Publishing