Apr 8, 2012

Guest post: Author Ju Dimello



Note from AB:  Ju's been a writing pal for a couple years now, so I'm tickled to help her celebrate her release blog tour. And since it's Sunday, and not A to Z day, this post brought to you by the letters J and D and Cake and Yummy-shirtless-men. What? Those are letters where I come from.

.~*``*~...~*``*~...~*` Ju Dimello `*~...~*``*~...~*``*~.

Thanks so much, Amalie, for hosting me in your blog to celebrate my debut release!

My characters like to cook...Maybe it's because I have a love-hate relationship with cooking, or it could be the fact that I need a lot of comfort food to get me into the writing mood or it could just be that I can try whatever dishes I'm in the mood for through my characters. Whatever the reason is, I wish I could say that incorporating food into my stories is much easier than me preparing them! The sad truth is, it’s often not. :sigh:

In Fiery Icicle, my debut release (Look at my cover pretty), the heroine is a witch. To make it interesting, I put in a point that she doesn't eat eggs. Well, I didn't realize the amount of research time I might need, where I ended up searching for recipes that doesn't contain eggs and in making sure the heroes (yep!) take double care in that aspect :)  

Why am I doing this? I think there's a lot one can find about characters from the way they eat or show they care through food. At the very least, I feel so nice when my DH (Dear Husband) steps in to cook for no reason at all...and there're times we substitute eating in instead of going out to celebrate and it's fun to cook together. Of course, the kitchen looks a lot messier that day but well, it gives me a chance to get worked up and start on a whirlwind of cleaning (which btw, is my usual style). LOL! 

How about you? Do you love to cook, hate it? Or in between - where you do it because it has to be done? Let me know in the comments.

I have one copy of Fiery Icicle to giveaway during the blog tour and every comment during this week will count towards it. I’ll pick a winner around the 15th of April and contact them! Don’t forget to leave your email id.

Blurb and Excerpt:
I thought I’d share a short version of the blurb and excerpt here, while a longer one can be enjoyed at : http://www.jasminejade.com/p-10002-fiery-icicle.aspx

This story contains a half-fae intent on claiming his woman, a half-demon bent on resisting her and a passion that's hot enough to melt the alpine snow

Excerpt:

She placed a plate with an omelet topped with peppers and tomato in front of him, while another one simmered on the stovetop. She obviously remembered the part about double the serving. Toast accompanied by homemade muffins followed before she poured generous glasses of orange juice for both.
Following up her promise, she brought out a tub of butter and a bottle of strawberry jam. She didn’t eat eggs and his skeptical glance at the tempting omelet didn’t go unnoticed.
“Cooking helped me focus on something besides school and wanting to run away. Mom never bothered with anything except her ranting. I prepared the meals every day, leaving them on the table for her.”
He cleared his throat to distract her. “You mean to say I can dig in without fear?”

If you liked the teaser, you can also check where I’ll be during this week at: http://judimello.blogspot.ca/p/fiery-icicle-release-week-celebration.html

You can also find me at the following places.

Drop me a line..I’d love to hear from you!
`*~...~*``*~...~*``*~. Ju Dimello .~*``*~...~*``*~...~*`

22 comments:

  1. Hi! Ju do you see this story being a series in the future. Is that something you think about while writing in secondary characters?

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    1. Wow, DJ! What a question! I had thought of a sequel, but dropped the idea a while ago and suddenly started playing with it once again! I am hoping I can write a series, but I need to write it first! Thanks for dropping by!

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  2. Hey, Ju! Congratulations on your debut release!
    Love the blurb and excerpt. Wishing you many happy sales.

    I love to cook and bake. Always tried to keep the cookie jar full when my kids were growing up. That was the first thing they ran for when they got home from school. Nowadays, the diabetes dictates what I can eat, so I don't bake as much. That being said, my kids and grandkids are coming for dinner today, so I must prepare for the invasion. lol

    Happy Easter, Amalie and Ju! Enjoy the long weekend.

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    1. Thanks so much, Lorraine! Wishing you a Happy Easter too! And though I am not consistently in love with cooking, I'd love to see a filled cookie jar ;)

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  3. Hi Ju! I love to cook. I'm not a gourmet by any means, more functional than anything, but I do enjoy it. I used to love to bake cookies when I was a kid. I find it relaxing. I find a lot of my characters tend to like to cook as well.

    Congrats on your release! love the excerpt!

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    1. Thanks, Joanne! Yay for characters cooking :)

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  4. Hi Ju,

    I pretty much have a love hate thing with cooking too, lol. When my hubby was working, I cooked all the meals (not too well), but now that he is retired, he is totally jazzed about cooking and loves creating masterpieces. So I count myself lucky, and gladly take over dishwashing duties.

    Happy Easter

    caity_mack at yahoo dot com

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    1. Thanks for dropping by Cathy! Thank goodness for husbands who are interested in cooking :) LOL!
      Wishing you a Happy Easter too!

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  5. I like to cook...most of the time. I prefer to take a new recipe and change things around and make it my own.. that's when I enjoy cooking. LOL

    Nice cover btw!

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    1. I love to always tinker with a recipe until it suits my tastes as well! But my DH says that I'm pretty much a rigid cook, who doesn't like to experiment.. LOL! A coin does have two sides..!

      I <3 the cover too..Thanks for dropping by!

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  6. Hi Ju!
    I've been cooking for my family for so many years I'm tired of it. Luckily I've trained all my children to be independent in the kitchen and my husband loves to cook. Even so, we eat a lot of takeout! And as an aside, my sister-in-law wont eat eggs. She can't even cook eggs because the smell makes her sick.

    Looking forward to reading your book!

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    1. LOL, Wendy! I am tired of cooking too..except at times :)

      Thank you for dropping by!

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  7. Congratulations on your debut release, and best wishes for many more releases in the years to come!

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    1. Thank you, Madeline!!! Did you see the heroine name matches with yours???? ;)

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  8. I envy people who can write books. To put thoughts down on paper and have people want to purchase what was written. I'm just not that creative. I do love to cook though. My mother signed me up for a cooking class when I was in the sixth grade and I've been cooking ever since. Congratulations on your debut and I raise a glass that you will have many more releases.

    Lynn
    lareynolds01316@gmail.com

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    1. Thanks so much, Lynn! I was a blissful reader once ;) :sigh: Then the writing bug bit me..so I learned : never to say never.. LOL!

      Thanks for dropping by...

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  9. You're full of surprises, Ju. With a title like FIERY ICICLE, I thought we'd be getting all hot and heavy in the excerpts. And what do we get? Toast, butter, strawberry jam and and omelettes! Talk about 'expect the unexpected'!

    Best wishes on your book release!

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    1. Ah, Maria! Thank you for your kind words :) :p My book is a menage (I think you can find that from the cover itself)..., so there's no dearth of spicy chunks... but then getting to the good part is half the fun, don't you think ;)

      Anyway, the main reason is for the tame bits is because, I tend to keep any excerpts on blogs, my websites as PG...lest my small sister (or anyone else who's in their teens) pop up suddenly...

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  10. Ju
    I LOVE the cover! and the story sounds wonderful too. On my TBR pile!
    Annie

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  11. Love your cover! I have mixed feelings about cooking - I love doing the fancy stuff but get bored with trying to think up family meals during the week! Good luck with your writing :-)

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    1. LOL, Suzie.. Mixed feelings is a mild word when it comes to cooking.. It soothes me sometimes..while driving me crazy at other times :)

      Thanks for your good wishes!

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