Skip to main content

Guest blog and Street Team Book List excerpt - Allie Pleiter

Camy here: Here's another book I added to my Street Team book giveaway list! You can win this book by joining my Street Team--Click here for more info!

Falling for the Fireman
by
Allie Pleiter

There's something achingly familiar about the look in fire marshal Chad Owens's eyes. Widowed mom Jeannie Nelworth knows firsthand what it is: loss, hurt and yes—bitterness. Ever since the fire that changed their lives, Jeannie's young son has borne that same look, pushing everyone away. So she's grateful when Chad tries to get through to the boy with the help of his trusty fire station dog.

But the man who's all about safety and prevention keeps himself protected—from loving and losing again. Seems as if Jeannie will have to add his kind, guarded heart to her rebuilding efforts.

And now, here's Allie!

I’m not sure I buy into the concept of a universal consciousness, but every once in a while the world lines up in a way that makes you wonder if the Holy Spirit couldn’t easily pull it off.

I needed a positive fire experience. Something a little more exotic than roasting s’mores around a campfire, but nothing huge and inferno-like, either. After trolling around the internet for a few weeks, I came upon the Chinese lantern ceremony. It was perfect. Visually stunning, filled with spiritual metaphors, and extravagant enough to feel out of place in the small Illinois town I’d created as the setting for FALLING FOR THE FIREMAN. A romantic night backdrop for a pivotal turning point in Chad’s relationship with Jeannie.

Smiling smugly, I congratulated myself on having grafted a unique and somewhat exotic custom into my next novel.

Then, my nieces come to visit. For fun, we rent TANGLED--Disney’s surprisingly clever re-do of the Rapunzel. What’s crucial to the plot? Floating lanterns straight out of the Chinese lantern ceremony.

Some part of me wants to stand up and yell “I thought of it first!” but I didn’t. I just hadn’t seen the movie until months after it came out. And really, who am I to lay claim to a thousand-year-old oriental ceremony?

Nothing’s ever really “new.” The creative people on the planet just take old ideas and use them in new ways.

But really, I thought of it before Disney. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.


Excerpt of chapter one:

TEST

Print book:
Harlequin.com (Save an extra 10% with code SAVE10AFFO at checkout!)
LARGE PRINT Harlequin.com (Save an extra 10% with code SAVE10AFFO at checkout!)
Barnes and Nobleicon
Amazon
Christianbook.com
BOOKSAMILLION.COM
LARGE PRINT BOOKSAMILLION.COM

Ebook:
Harlequin.com (Save an extra 10% with code SAVE10AFFO at checkout!)
Nookbookicon
Kindle
Labels:

Comments

Camy Tang said…
Oops sorry I'll fix the excerpt tonight!
Wed Jan 18, 12:09:00 PM 2012
Anonymous said…
I know what you mean about having similar ideas. One of my working titles for "Letters on Balboa Island" was "Dear John." And then Nicholas Sparks had the nerve to not only publish a book with that same title but it also became a movie. How dare he steal my idea - lol! I guess we all live in the same world and we're bound to have similar ideas.
Tue Jan 31, 01:01:00 PM 2012
Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Brainstorm - character occupation

Captain's Log, Stardate 03.23.2009 Hey guys, I could use some help. In my current manuscript, The Year of the Dog , which is a humorous contemporary romance, I have a minor character, Eddie. He’s my heroine’s ex-boyfriend, and they’re on good terms with each other. He’s a bit irresponsible, but not so much so that he’s a complete loser. He’s got a very easy going attitude, he forgets to pay his bills sometimes, he’s friendly and charming. He’s adventurous and fun to be around, but he’s a little forgetful sometimes, and he tends to spend a little outside his income. I need an occupation for him. What would a charming, easy going, slightly irresponsible guy do for a living? He’s not too irresponsible, because otherwise readers will wonder what in the world my heroine saw in him to date him in the first place. She was attracted to his charm, his easy going attitude (her family’s uptight, and he was a nice contrast), and his adventurousness. But his forgetfulness and irresponsibility ...
64 comments
Read more

I sold to Steeple Hill!

Captain's Log, Supplemental Remember that romantic suspense proposal I blogged about earlier? Well, it just sold to Steeple Hill’s Love Inspired Suspense line! I am so jazzed! I am beyond jazzed! The story’s working title is Sinister Spa The story's title is Deadly Intent and here’s a blurb (but it’s probably not what will appear on the back of the book): Massage therapist Naomi Grant could use a massage herself. With her father at home recovering from a stroke, Naomi is put in charge of the family’s elite day spa in Sonoma county. The new responsibilities sit awkwardly on her shoulders, and things only get worse when handsome Dr. Devon Knightley breezes into the spa, demanding to see one of the female clients. And the woman is found dead in Naomi’s massage room. Suddenly, Naomi is a suspect and her family’s spa is shut down. How could God let this awful thing happen? Devon only needed to see his ex-wife about a family necklace she still hadn’t returned, but when she dies and...
32 comments
Read more

I got my cover!

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Blog book giveaway: To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there. Eyes of Elisha by Brandilyn Collins Tangerine by Marilynn Griffith I GOT MY COVER!!!! What do you guys think?
34 comments
Read more

Chinese Take-Out and Sushi for One

Captain’s Log, Supplemental My agent sent me an article from Publisher’s Weekly that discussed this incident: Chinese Take-Out Spawns Christian Controversy And here’s also a blog post that talks about it in more detail: The Fighting 44s This is Soong-Chan Rah’s blog: The PCS blog In sum: Apparently Zondervan (yes, my publisher), who has partnered with Youth Specialties, had put out a youth leaders skit that had stereotypical Asian dialogue, which offended many Christian Asian Americans. In response to the outcry, Zondervan/Youth Specialities put out a sincere apology and is not only freezing the remaining stock of the book, but also reprinting it and replacing the copies people have already bought. I am very proud of my publisher for how they have handled this situation. The skit writers have also issued a public apology . (I feel sorry for them, because they were only trying to write a funny skit, not stir up this maelstrom of internet controversy. I’ve been in youth work long enou...
39 comments
Read more

Excerpt - A HUNDRED YEARS OF HAPPINESS by Nicole Seitz

Captain's Log, Stardate 03.05.2009 Update: Sorry, this giveaway is closed. A Hundred Years of Happiness by Nicole Seitz A beautiful young woman. An American soldier. A war-torn country. Nearly forty years of silence. Now, two daughters search for the truth they hope will set them free and the elusive peace their parents have never found. In the South Carolina Lowcountry, a young mother named Katherine Ann is struggling to help her tempestuous father, by plunging into a world of secrets he never talks about. A fry cook named Lisa is trying desperately to reach her grieving Vietnamese mother, who has never fully adjusted to life in the States. And somewhere far away, a lost soul named Ernest is drifting, treading water, searching for what he lost on a long-ago mountain. They're all longing for connection. For the war that touched them to finally end. For their hundred years of happiness at long last to begin. From the beloved author of The Spirit of Sweetgrass...
24 comments
Read more