From Erotica to Romance by Jenny Kane
Thank you ever so much for letting me drop by your wonderful blog today to help celebrate the six month anniversary of my very first contemporary romance, Another Cup of Coffee.
After 9 years of writing erotica under the name Kay Jaybee, last year I was persuaded to dip my toe into the world of contemporary romance. I must admit, although I knew I had a story to tell, I was rather nervous about writing a novel that didn’t have sex underpinning the plotline!
Once I’d begun to write however, I had a great time weavingall of the novel plotlines together- and I have to confess, it was rather nice not to have to write loads of sex scenes. A girl can have too much on the boobs and bits front sometimes!
Blurb-
Thirteen years ago Amy Crane ran away from everyone and everything she knew, ending up in an unfamiliar city with no obvious past and no idea of her future. Now, though, that past has just arrived on her doorstep, in the shape of an old music cassette that Amy hasn’t seen since she was at university.
Digging out her long-neglected Walkman, Amy listens to the lyrics that soundtracked her student days. As long-buried memories are wrenched from the places in her mind where she’s kept them safely locked away for over a decade, Amy is suddenly tired of hiding.
It’s time to confront everything about her life. Time to find all the friends she left behind in England, when her heart got broken and the life she was building for herself was shattered. Time to make sense of all the feelings she’s been bottling up for all this time. And most of all, it’s time to discover why Jack has sent her tape back to her now, after all these years…
With her mantra, ‘New life, New job, New home’, playing on a continuous loop in her head, Amy gears herself up with yet another bucket-sized cup of coffee, as she goes forth to lay the ghost of first love to rest...
Although it is the story of Amy and Jack’s past and present,that forms the backbone of Another Cup of Coffee, there is also a third player in this novel who is vital to both Jack’s history and Amy’s future- and her name is Kit Lambert.
For the character of Kit I shamelessly borrowed from my ownknowledge and background- for I made her a writer of erotica. An ordinary thirty three year old wife and mother, with a serious coffee habit who is suddenly, with Amy’s arrival inLondon, forced to face a few home truths that she buried long along.
Here’s a mini extract to pique your curiousity...
Walking past Pickwicks’ window to check that she was there, Jack saw it was very busy. Full of elderly women with shopping trolleys, ladies who lunched, and Kit. She was in the corner just as he’d imagined, head down, her right hand speedily moving back and forth across the table as she scribbled down her words. Jack was about to open the door when he saw Peggy approach her. He hung back, watching their exchange as Kit’s cup was refilled. Jack couldn’t help but smile. He wondered how much coffee she’d unconsciously drunk that morning, and not for the first time, marvelled how Kit’s body coped with such high levels of caffeine on a daily basis.
As he stood there, Jack realised that it had been a long time since he’d looked at Kit properly. Without him even noticing she’d turned from a girl into a woman, a mother, and a wife. Her hair was still red; no grey was peeping through. It was shorter than he remembered, though. Maybe she’d had a trim recently, or more likely it had been like that for ages and he just hadn’t noticed. Despite the coffee-and-cake lifestyle, she was still relatively slim, but childbirth had changed her shape, and the chest he used to admire was bigger than it had been. There she sat, quiet, motionless, and slightly scruffy. The last woman. Jack knew how much he owed her. It was high time he told her so.
Peggy had gone to tend her other customers, so the coast was clear. Jack wiped his tacky palms on his jeans, suddenly conscious of being in last night’s clothes. They smelt of stale smoke and beer. Jack ran a hand around his face; the stubble had crept beyond its usual fashionable shadow. Still, he hadn’t crossed London to back out because he was a touch less than hygienic. Pushing the door open, Jack approached her table. ‘Kit?’
She looked up. Her oval-shaped face went white as she saw who was standing before her.
‘May I sit down?’
She didn’t say anything, but nodded, gripping her pen tighter as he sat down on the spindle backed chair opposite her.
Peggy, who’d noticed Jack’s hesitant approach to the corner table, immediately recognised the urgent need for another cup of extra strong coffee. Quickly filling a mug, the waitress scooted forward, and placed it wordlessly in front of Jack before retreating to her counter, keeping her ears wide open, ready to witness the potential showdown.
Words tumbled out of Jack’s mouth as he plunged straight in, ‘I want to apologise. I didn’t not tell you about Amy. It just never came up. She never came up. Time moved on and stuff.’
Kit twiddled a biro between her fingers, looked Jack directly in the eye, and spoke with a calm voice that belied the turmoil within. ‘You have absolutely no idea why I’m so upset, have you?’
He hung his head, ‘No. Not really. Sorry.’
‘You didn’t make our tape, did you?’
Jack felt uneasy. ‘No, I’ve remembered some of what would have been on it though. I’ve remembered quite a lot actually. It’s been quite a fortnight.’
‘Hasn’t it.’ Kit picked up her drink, trying to resist her natural tendency to forgive instantly, determined not to tell him it was OK; that she was being silly, and that he should forget it. Because it wasn’t OK, not this time. Trouble was, she still didn’t really know why – but she was damned if she’d tell him that.
‘Peggy,’ Kit hailed her friend, ‘we need sugar over here. Fast.’
Without a word, Peggy headed for the cake display, placed two large slabs of carrot cake onto a plate, and returned to the frosty silence which hung over her corner table.
‘Thanks,’ they spoke in unison, both Kit and Jack thankful to have something to focus on as they sat opposite each other and, for the first time in their lives, didn’t know what on earth to say...
****
If you want to find out exactly what history has passed between Kit and her gay best friend, and how it all links up to Amy, you can buy Another Cup of Coffee as an eBook or a paperback from –
Thanks again for letting me visit you today – time for a cuppa now I think!
Jenny xx
Bio-
Jenny Kane is the author of the contemporary romance novelAnother Cup of Coffee (Accent Press, 2013), and its novella length sequel, Another Cup of Christmas (Accent Press, 2013). Jenny’s second novel, Romancing Robin Hood, is due for release in 2014.
Keep your eye on Jenny’s blog at www.jennykane.co.uk
You can also follow Jenny on-
Twitter @JennyKaneAuthorhttps://twitter.com/JennyKaneAuthor
Jenny also writes as the erotica author Kay Jaybee.
Details of all Kay’s work can be found atwww.kayjaybee.me.uk
A huge thank you for letting me visit your fabulous site today! Jen xx (aka KJB!!)
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