Totally Devoted
by E.M. Bannock
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GENRE: Modern Adult Romance w/Erotic elements
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BLURB:
Marie Trousdale, a modern
urban California professional, is ready for a change when she realizes that she
has been mourning her late husband and son for the past 10 years and her life
has become stagnant. She hires Will Townsend, a rural Oregon contractor, to
build a house for her on inherited property. The two mix like oil and water but
the romance spark gets ignited. But will lifestyles, and values become an
obstacle that cannot be overcome? Will misunderstandings and danger put out the
flame of love or feed it? This steamy romance is a story of love, life, values,
and family with a western flavor.
Totally Devoted is the first novel by author E.M. Bannock and was a 2019 National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award Finalist in both the Contemporary Romance 56K Words and up category and Best First Book. Audio Book is now available.
Totally Devoted is the first novel by author E.M. Bannock and was a 2019 National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award Finalist in both the Contemporary Romance 56K Words and up category and Best First Book. Audio Book is now available.
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EXCERPT:
From the description she was given by the hotel desk clerk,
she figured she wouldn’t have much trouble finding the guy—grungy black cowboy
hat, well-worn cowboy boots, scruffy beard, jean jacket, and Levi’s, sitting at
the corner table. She was right. He wasn’t hard to spot. It was Monday night,
and there were only a handful of people in the place. There he was, sitting at
his regular corner table, with his back to the wall, his chair up on two legs,
and his feet propped up and crossed on the chair next to him. There was a glass
of beer and a half-empty pitcher in front of him. She wondered how many
pitchers he had drained before this one. The desk clerk said he had a lot of
funny habits. The clerk said the guy always sat with his back to the wall, so
no one could get the jump on him. He probably watched too many John Wayne
movies.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
E.M.
Bannock grew up in the Detroit suburbs in the 50’s and 60’s. Her father was a
great story teller and E.M. says she inherited his imagination.
After
graduation, E.M. moved to Los Angeles, California where she met her husband.
They have lived in California, Oregon, Alaska, Florida, and Wyoming, where she now lives with her small family which
includes a spoiled dog and cat, two horses, also spoiled, and a brood of
chickens that live like queens in the chicken-coupe-de-ville.
She
has made her living as an office manager, computer programmer/analysts, project
manager, clothing store clerk, substitute teacher, and buffalo meat packer.
Throughout it all, she never lost her love for writing.
A
small inheritance from her father gave her the funds needed to begin her career
as a published author. She has published two books. Her first book, Totally
Devoted, which is now available in audio, was a 2019 National Excellence in
Romance Fiction finalist in two categories; Contemporary Romance 65K Words and
Up, and Best First Book. Her second book Zoey’s Place was published in 2019.
E.M.
Bannock is a Goodreads Author, a BookHub Author, a member of the Romance
Writers of America, and a Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer.
Facebook: E.M.
Bannock – Author
Twitter:
@EMBannock
Instagram:
e_m_bannock
Amazon buy link:
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The Questions
You’re marooned on a small island with one person and one item of your choice—who is that person and what item do you have?
That person would have to be my husband. He’s a man for
all seasons. We’ve been married for over 40 years and he’s always gone above
and beyond what most husbands do. He takes our relationship and family
seriously and has always been a good provider and protector. He’s worked
outside in frigid Alaska as well as in the sweltering heat of Florida to
provide for our family. We’ve always lived in a nice house and had great cars
to drive.
He’s very smart in the survival area. He can and does
hunt, kill, and butcher animals for our food. He knows about growing food, too.
He knows how to build a shelter, make a fire, and do all the things I’d be too
freaked out to do.
He’s good with a gun and/or a knife. Which is why I think
the item I’d have would be a knife. Not a pocket knife, but a big, honkin’
Rambo type blade. It could be used for protection and hunting. I thought about
a firearm, but they’re only good for as much ammunition as you have. After
that, you’re done for. A knife is forever. And of course, my husband would be
in charge of the knife.
And finally, and this is important, he loves me and puts
up with my craziness.
What is your idea of how to spend romantic time with your significant other?
We are very low key and our needs are simple. But I would
love to be able to pull my husband away from his daily stresses and help him
relax if even just for one full day. The day would include full body massages
for both of us. Then maybe a ride through the mountains by our home with a
picnic lunch to experience the loveliness around us and make us realize that we
live in a beautiful place with nature’s wonder all around. It makes you feel
small and insignificant and puts your problems in perspective. It helps us
focus on the things we have, like our love and our family. On the way home we
would stop at one of our favorite restaurants in town and enjoy a delicious
dinner, including a decadent dessert which we would be too full to eat just
then and have to take home for later. The day would end with an intimate soak
in the hot tub that gets us sizzling in more ways than one. We continue the
event in our bedroom. After making love and satisfying each other, we would
share the dessert we brought home. We’d end by watching a movie that we both
enjoy (that part might be hard). I fall asleep before the movie is over like I
always do.
When you start a new
story, do you begin with a character, or a plot?
I don’t really have hard and fast rules for my writing. Totally
Devoted began with a plot. Zoey’s Place started with a half plot and the lead
female character. My work-in-progress, Only Dreams, started with the lead male
character. I’ve got an idea for my fourth book and that started with a time
period and several characters. I kind of have a rough plot for that one but I
know I’ll need more detail and a few more characters.
It’s easy to develop the lead characters because they
usually have characteristics that you admire yourself. Villains are harder for
me to create. I don’t really like letting those types of personalities in my
head. The villain’s part in Totally Devoted was very hard for me to write. His
personality type gives me the creeps and I can’t stand to be in the same room
with that kind of person. I had to become him while writing. I didn’t like it.
Even if I do have a character right away, the plot
follows shortly after. I like working from a timeline and outline. Since I
usually know how I want my stories to end, I never know what will happen to
them in between and/or who they will meet along the way. Sometimes I have to
create other characters as obstacles or solutions to happiness, sometimes it’s
events. Each book is different. In Totally Devoted the plot is driven by life
events that both help and hinder Marie in her relationship with Wil.
If they were to make the story of your life into a movie, who should play you?
Well, funny you should ask. I’ve had a lot of time to
think about this one. So long, in fact, that the actresses I once wanted to
play me in my life story, which for some reason, always had drama, hence the
movie, have gotten almost as old as I am. So, instead of Madeleine Stowe, who I
fell in love with in Last of the Mohicans, or Famke Janssen, who played Jean
Grey in the X-Men movies, I think I’d have to go with Mila Kunis. She’s got the
beautiful dark hair and eyes I once had. She’s short, dark, and a natural
beauty, like I was. Now I see my mother every time I look in the mirror. Not
that she wasn’t a beautiful woman but when I see her looking back at me, I feel
like I did something wrong and she just busted me. It’s just weird, know what I
mean?
Do you have an historical crush and if so, who is it?
I hope you didn’t mean real people. I’ve never seen a
picture of an important historical figure that does anything for me. I’ve
admired many but never felt anything remotely romantic about them. But, oh, my!
Do I ever have a historical fantasy lover! My favorite books are the Outlander
series by Diana Gabaldon. Her main lead character is James Alexander Malcolm
McKenzie Fraser, better known as Jamie. I, and about a million other women, are
in love with this perfect man. He is a handsome eighteenth century Highlander
with flaming red hair, stands over six feet tall, and wears a kilt. He pledges
the protection of his body for his wife. He defends her honor when she is gang
raped by hunting down and killing all the men involved.
Being an eighteenth century man, Jamie was raised with
old fashioned ideas about wives obeying their husbands and getting beaten when
they don’t. But he, being a compassionate man, was convinced that the wife
deserves equal status with the husband.
I’ve read all eight books in the series and Jamie proves
his worthiness in every one of them. He’s an attentive lover and always,
always, always knows the right thing to say to make me weak and want him even
more. Things like telling his wife, Claire, that if his last words are not ‘I
love you’ it’s because he didn’t have enough time. Who couldn’t love a man like
that? I am so infatuated with him that my husband calls him my second husband.
Is there a story that
you’d like to tell but you think the world isn’t ready to receive it?
Yes, and because the world isn’t ready to receive it,
I’ll leave it at that.
And with that I’d like to thank everyone for stopping by
and reading my interview. I also want to thank Full Moon
Dreaming for host this tour stop for by audio book, Totally Devoted. I hope you
enjoy it.
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