Ya’ll, I can’t tell you how excited I am to have Lori L. Clark, author of The Heart Knows What the Heart Wants, on the blog today! Not only do I have teasers and other fun stuff to share, but she was also gracious enough to answer a few questions. I love author questions. I believe they truly give you an insight into the authors mind and their work. And what can be better than that? I hope you enjoy! xoxo.

Synopsis

Estelle “Star” Falconé, a thirty-year-old tattooed bartender, was once a free-spirited dreamer who dabbled in astrology for fun and secretly dreamed of becoming a rock-star some day.

Twenty-one-year-old Shane Harper was once the star of his high school basketball team. With a full ride scholarship, his dream was to play college basketball and study planetary science. When a tragic car accident permanently sidelines his basketball career, college is out of the question.

Sparks fly when their two worlds collide.

Can a relationship survive between a thirty-year-old starry-eyed woman who’s on the run from an extremely dangerous man, and a twenty-one-year-old science guy who’s hell-bent on protecting her at all cost?

***Caution*** for mature readers. Contains graphic violence including rape. This is a complete, standalone novel.

Excerpt

“What did you dream about becoming when you grew up?” he asked as he studied her face intently. “You know, like a ballerina, or nurse, or something?”

Without hesitation she replied, “A singer.”

“You’re a good singer?”

She snorted, “Oh God no. I can’t carry a tune…which is probably why I never became a famous rock star. What about you, what did you want to be?” she asked. Besides hot.

All traces of happy drained from his face and he sighed. “A rocket scientist.” Star’s eyes widened. His flippant answer wasn’t a joke — his face was void of humor. “Actually, I was supposed to go to college to study planetary science.”

“What happened? Why didn’t you go?” she asked.

He stared silently for a few seconds. “Skip. Besides, it’s my turn. You aren’t allowed to ask two in a row.”

She picked up her pen and added that question to the bottom of the list. “Okay, next,” she told him.

“How many tattoos do you have?” he asked.

“Two,” she said. She pushed up her shirt sleeve and pointed to the blue planet on the back of her hand. “You’ve seen Neptune.”

“Okay, look. This doesn’t count as one of my questions. But I’m dying here. What’s the other tattoo, and where is it?” he asked leaning forward, resting his elbows on the table.

“It’s over my heart and it’s just a saying,” she said, patting her chest with her right hand.

“What saying?”

She bit her lip and replied, “The heart knows what the heart wants.”

“Beautiful.” He spoke the word so softly, she wasn’t sure he’d said it at all. He pushed back his chair and stood. He rubbed the back of his neck. She fascinated him and he couldn’t get enough of her. “I’ve got to go home and clean my apartment. I’ve got company coming over later, and I don’t want her to think I’m a complete slob.”

Star felt as though she’d taken a sucker punch to the stomach. “Oh. Well yeah. You wouldn’t want her to think that,” she said. She hoped the disappointment she felt over him having some other female in his apartment didn’t show on her face.

He reached out, cupped her cheek with his hand, and brushed the pad of his thumb across her skin. “What time should I expect you?” he asked.

Pleased with his response, she raised her eyes to meet his, and smiled. “Six?”

He nodded. “Six it is.” He smiled and dropped his hand to his side before turning to leave.

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Questions with the wonderful, the talented, Ms. Clark:

Can you tell us a little about your book and what compelled you to write it?

I’m the type of author who comes up with a character and a setting before the story comes clearly into focus. I had wanted to write about an older woman/younger man for some time. I wanted to get away from the bad boy cliché and touch on a woman with problems meeting a boy who wasn’t perfect, but wasn’t a total bad ass, either. So I put it all together. J

Give us an insight into your main character. 

My main character is a woman who has been in an abusive relationship. She stayed because she had some warped idea that she somehow deserved his treatment of her. That each time he beat her was because she had done something to set him off. Even her mother stuck up for the creep!

What does he/she do that is so special?

Her thing is her personality. Her perseverance to get the heck out of the dangerous situation she was in. Some women don’t. The guts to just do it. Get in the car and drive. She had no support from family and she was too ashamed to admit to her friends the severity of the situation. But she’s just a really smart, talented, quirky woman who hid behind her battle wounds for too long. When she gets out and away, she begins to really shine.

 Which actor/actress would you like to see playing the lead character from your most recent book?

Natalie Portman

Do you listen to music while you write? Or is silence what you need?

I don’t listen to music while I write, but sometimes songs will pop into my head and I’ll get an idea from that.  I wrote some of the really gritty scenes for the book after watching a marathon of Breaking Bad.

This is going to be a tough one. What is one of your favorite lines from The Heart Knows What the Heart Wants? 

This is more than a line but… I like it.

He smiled and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her on top of the head. “I must’ve seen a million shooting stars in my lifetime, and I’ve wished on every damn one of them,” he whispered.

She drew back and looked up at him. “Did any of them come true?”

He thought for a few heartbeats before answering. “I don’t know yet. I’m working on it, though.” His arms held her a little bit tighter in that instant, knowing that she was his wish come true. He intended to do everything within his power to keep her safe, and make her happy.

It’s been said that authors always put a little of themselves in their characters. Is there any one character that is more like you than the rest? And why? 

I would say that Star incorporates a lot of little pieces of me. I like younger men. I know astrology. I’ve tended bar at various times in my life. I have tattoos. I have not been involved in an abusive relationship, however.

When did you first know you wanted to be an author?

After reading Twilight I got the reading urge again. After reading book after book — I remembered how well I did in English in high school and the A’s I got on my short stories. I decided to try my hand at putting the voices inside my head down on paper. I did NaNoWriMo in 2009 and that basically got the party started.

Is there anything about you that you’d like readers to know that’s not in your profile?

Hmm. I have a tattoo on my lower leg that says: My heart’s like an open book for the whole world to see.

 I’m going to finish this interview with the ten questions James Lipton asked on Inside the Actors Studio.

1. What is your favorite word? Believe

2. What is your least favorite word? Can’t

3. What turns you on? Men who are smart as well as attractive.

4. What turns you off? This is funny…but I have been on dating sites doing what people do on dating sites and the one major thing that turns me off is people who use poor grammar and can’t spell. UGH!

5. What sound or noise do you love? The throaty exhaust of a muscle car from days gone by.

6. What sound or noise do you hate? Hearing my dog cry.

7. What is your favorite curse word? Fuck. Only, I like to extend it out into about 3 syllables.  You know… fuuuuck.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? If I could get paid to be a sunbather in Florida, I’d love it.

9. What profession would you not like to do? I’d like to work in animal rescue but it would be too hard on me to see the abused, neglected, animals. I love dogs more than I do some people. I believe there needs to be a special hell for people who abuse animals.

10. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates? You were right.

Let me introduce you to the wonderful, the extremely talented, Ms. Clark: 

Lori L. Clark was born in Iowa, where she spent the first forty-six years of her life. In 2007, she loaded up a moving van and relocated to Missouri, where she currently resides. Lori’s only child is a very spoiled Min Pin named Barkley. When not writing, she reads and runs. She completed her first half marathon at the age of fifty.

In 2009, after participating in NANOWRIMO, she began to take seriously the voices in her head. Two New Adult contemporary romance novels, Different Roads, and I Breathe You, were published in 2013, and showed early success. The Heart Knows What the Heart Wants is set to release in March 2014, and has her venturing into the realms of Romantic Suspense.

Lori is a member of Savvy Authors, the St. Louis Writers Guild, and Romance Writers of America.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LoriLClarkAuthor?ref=hl

Twitter: https://twitter.com/clarklori

Personal blog: http://www.lorilclark.com

Book review blog: http://www.shereadsnewadult.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6093884.Lori_L_Clark

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/clarklori/

Amazon author’s page: http://www.amazon.com/Lori-L.-Clark/e/B0085953FA/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Giveaway Time!
1 (one) $10.00 Amazon gift card or 1 (one) of two e-copies of The Heart Knows What the Heart Wants by Lori L. Clark.
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