The Bad Guys

Writing guidelines suggest that you should have a villain to counter your hero's moves in every novel. For me, that's always been difficult because I don't see characters in black and white terms. In fact, there's nothing I like more than flipping a "bad guy." For example, when we meet Cynthia and Robert, Josie's siblings, in The Tao of Hockey, they're both extremely rude to Eric. Robert threatens him with a lawsuit and Cynthia doubts Josie would even date him. But as Tao unfolds, it becomes clear that they're only trying to protect Josie—she's the youngest and they have no mother and a harsh father. And when Cynthia pops up again in An Irresistible Force, we learn that under her sophisticated and bossy veneer, she's as full of insecurity and doubt as any normal person.

But as a reader, I do like to see justice: bad things happening to bad people. Laura, the captain of the hockey team in Hockey Is My Boyfriend, Part One, bullies teammates then sees her scheme completely backfire when she sends Kelly to humiliate herself with Nicklas—and he ends up asking her out. Maybe Riley, the creepy stalker in HIMB, Part Two, doesn't suffer enough, but in my imagination, Jimmy went on to make sure that Riley got blacklisted for any hockey work in New Brunswick. And Kelly's awful boss, Brendan Williams, from HIMB, Part Three does get fired in an alternate universe.

Readers of The Tao of Hockey may be wondering where is the justice is for Coach Bob Pankowski and Daniel Ramsey? Daniel is the captain of the team and supposedly a leader. But he tries to sabotage Eric's tryout in every possible way, because Eric is competition. Coach Panner is an old-fashioned screamer whose management style was possibly modelled on a failed Vancouver Canucks coach. The only time he seems happy is when he's cutting Eric from the team. And we see both these characters again in An Irresistible Force. Daniel is in full suck-up mode with Chris. Coach Panner resists the efforts of Amanda and Chris to improve the team. Yet neither one has suffered any comeuppance...yet!

Well, in Second Round you'll find out exactly what happens to Coach Panner. And perhaps even end up feeling sorry for him, once you know his history. Coach Panner plays an important role in this book because it's all about coaching and the arrival of a new coach to the team. This new coach is pretty much the polar opposite of Coach Panner—young, innovative, educated, and hot. Not that hot is an important quality for a good hockey coach, but it certainly helps the hero of a hockey romance. 

Second Round will be released one month from today! You can preorder it here.

The Relaunch

It's Kelly and Phil. Or K-Phil.

Well, my evil plans are coming to fruition. The relaunch of Hockey Is My Boyfriend is well under way, with new editions of Part One and Part Two uploading onto Amazon as I write this. A new cover for How The Cookie Crumbles is coming as well. And the only tasks remaining are a final read-through of Part Three and then off for some special formatting with the guru of formatting, Jaye Manus.

It's Kelly + Jimmy. Couple name: Jelly.

I also wanted to sing the praises of my cover designer, Murphy Rae. She’s at Indie Solutions by Murphy Rae. I found her ages ago while websurfing, but I didn’t pull the trigger on a redesign until I could see the end of Part Three. I have to confess it was hard to find a cover designer I really liked, since I’m pretty fussy. My day job is in visual arts, so I have strong opinions on what I like.

Imagine you’re a cover designer and your client says she needs three covers. And the girl has to look the same, but the two guys have to look different. Also, she’s half-Asian, athletic, and she can’t be wearing dresses or too much make-up. Um, if you could add a little hint of hockey, that would be good. If I were the designer, I’d be pulling the eject button, but Murphy Rae was extremely professional and came up with covers that I love. She even did surgery on one model so her nose looked more Asian.

Also, did you know if you search for half/Asian/women on stock photo sites, this is what you get:

 What’s really embarrassing is how long it took me to figure that out.

I am still writing the bridge story, but will get it to everyone on the mailing list this week. Meantime, reread Parts One and Two, and get ready for the awesomeness that is Part Three! (She said modestly. Hey, I’m just so excited for you to read it.)

It's Kelly + ?

Kisses For Everyone

Well, it’s been a month since Hockey Is My Boyfriend, Part One was born. So far, it’s been a fantastic launch. On the first day, the book got an amazing review from book blogger and hockey lover, Diane Subsits Lynch. You can read it here. I also did a fun interview about the book on the blog of my friend and fellow author, Jaymee Jacobs. Check it out here if you want to find out what I said when a hockey player proposed to me.

Most of all, I want to say thank you to all my readers. Book sales and borrows—yes, if you’re on Kindle Unlimited you can borrow all three of my books—have been amazing! After I did my taxes this year, I made a bet that in 2014 I would double my book sales from 2013. Now that the July numbers are out from Amazon, I’m elated to say that I’ve already done this. And I still have another book coming out this year. I guess I should have made the stakes on my bet higher, but I’m still getting a free lunch!

Speaking of the next book, I figured I’d have Part Two edited by now. Ha ha. But I am working hard on the revisions and the book is taking shape nicely. I’m pretty excited about it. Can there possibly be someone better suited to Kelly Tanaka than Phil Davidson? You’ll have to read HIMB, Part Two, to find out. I’ve said that it will be out in the fall, and I’m sticking to that very vague launch date.

So, what to do in the meantime? If you haven’t done so already, I am shamelessly pleading for reviews. Being raised on serials (not Rice Crispies, the story kind) I am hooked on feedback. I crave it like a hockey fan craves the beginning of the season, which is Wednesday, October 8th for anyone else who’s keeping track. Anyway, reviews on Amazon or Goodreads are much appreciated. Honest reviews, because I can take criticism. Whimper, whimper, really I can. Although if you hated my book, why are you reading my blog?

And to show how grateful I am to everyone, I have finished the short story, French Kiss, that goes in between Parts One and Two. To get this story, absolutely free, all you have to do is sign up for my newsletter in the sidebar. I will post an excerpt on my blog very soon, it’s a fun little tale about Montréal and cathartic violence. There’s also sex and hockey. Because that’s how we roll around here.