What They Say:
7 Years Bad Sex
One wedding. One curse? Disaster ever after…
A seven-years-bad-sex curse? Surely not! Yet something went wrong when rock singer Casey and drummer Alex got married on that beautiful yacht anchored off St Tropez in the south of France. Something went badly wrong. For even on their wedding night, the young couple discovers a complete and somewhat surprising inability to make love. Muddling through their honeymoon with a string of thin excuses for their predicament, the lovers defer finding a solution (and panicking) until the return to their home in London. After all, they married for life and to make rock music, not for the love of sex. Right?
But when they resume life as normal in London, all hell breaks loose. Increasingly frantic in their quest for release, the unhappy newlyweds embark on a string of hilarious and occasionally harmful antics that drives them, their band, and an assortment of random strangers to the brink of despair. But it ain’t over ‘til it’s over or, in this case… it ain’t over ‘til the newlyweds sing.
Guest Post from Nicky Wells
“How does it work for you, this writing thing?” I get asked time and again. “You have kids and other commitments, who do you fit it all in?”
It’s a great question and yes, I lead a ridiculously busy life. (I said busy, not glamorous—I’m not boasting here. It’s all incredibly normal and… busy. Just like yours, I promise!). Truth be told, I was finding it hard to find the time to write. With that, I imposed a complete social media ban on myself starting from 5 January. That was the day I started writing 7 Years Bad Sex. (I was also painting the kitchen at the same time, but that’s a story for another day).
The first week was tough because I had to find my voice and the characters’ voice. The book includes the female and male lead characters’ point of view, and it was difficult to find my way into Alex’s head to begin with. In the first week, I wrote 3,500 words and was proud of that.
By week three, I was fully up to speed and producing twelve thousand words a week. I had two and a bit writing days every week: Mondays, Thursdays, and sometime at the weekend. So twelve thousand words seemed like a great achievement.
The final story is eighty thousand words long, so you can work out that it took about nine weeks to write in its entirety. Naturally there was a half term in the middle as well, LOL. Kids—love them!
It was intense and beautiful and hugely satisfying, and definitely a model I will emulate again. Once the book was finished in draft form, I gave myself some cooling off time and then began editing. I self edit, and I also get several critiques for each novel, so that was a lot of input. By now the book is edited and has been proofed several times, and as I write this guest post, the novel is with the professional proofreader for the final polish.
And that, as they say, is how I do that. The takeaway? It’s all about organisation and sticking to a plan. I should say at this point that my fast-and-furious approach only worked because I had the book fully planned out since about November 2013. I don’t think I could have written at that speed without the plan!
*takes a bow* So yeah, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t quite proud of myself. But the proof is in the pudding, or in this case, the reading. I’d love to hear whether it was worth it. What do YOU think?
About The Author
Ultimate rock chick author Nicky Wells writes romance with rock stars—because there’s no better romantic hero than a golden-voiced bad boy with a secret soft heart and a magical stage presence!
Nicky’s books offer glitzy, glamorous romance with rock stars—imagine Bridget Jones ROCKS Notting Hill! If you’ve ever had a crush on any kind of celebrity, you’ll connect with Nicky’s heroes and their leading ladies.
Born in Germany, Nicky moved to the United Kingdom in 1993 and currently lives in Lincoln with her husband and their two boys. Nicky loves listening to rock music, dancing, and eating lobsters. When she’s not writing, she’s a wife, mother, occasional knitter, and ad-hoc radio show presenter. Rock on!
Nicky’s books: Sophie’s Turn | Sophie’s Run | Sophie’s Encore | Spirits of Christmas
***Coming May 2015: 7 Years Bad Sex!***
Join Nicky: Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Romantic Novelists’ Association | Sapphire Star Publishing | Amazon | Goodreads | Pinterest | Google+
Did you know? There’s a single out now by Nicky’s fictional rock band Tuscq come to life! “Love Me Better” is available for download from Amazon, iTunes and many other places.
EXCERPT FROM 7 YEARS BAD SEX BY NICKY WELLS
RELEASES 14 MAY 2015!
There was a stunned silence in the room while Alex and Casey tried to assimilate the importance of this statement. She remembered all too well her conversation with Alex on the yacht after they had trawled through the wedding video. He had pointed out to her even then that she hadn’t looked at him.
Casey shivered. She caught Alex’s eye and saw nothing but utter confusion. Liza was still standing up, one fist raised in an air punch. Sasha had taken one of Casey’s hands into her own.
Eventually Alex spoke. ‘Maybe we didn’t look at each other. So what?’
Liza and Sasha shared another look. ‘The seven-years-bad-sex curse!’ they shouted as one.
Alex burst out laughing. ‘The seven-years-bad-sex curse?’ he repeated. ‘You’re taking the mickey, right?’
Myles was chuckling so hard, he toppled over sideways on the sofa and had to hold his stomach. ‘That’s why we had to rush over here? To tell them about a seven-years-bad-sex curse?’
‘Laugh all you want,’ Liza said calmly. ‘But you’re watching it in action.’
Casey swallowed hard. She didn’t believe in curses. They were nothing but delusory superstitions from the middle ages. But still, both Sasha and Liza looked utterly serious.
‘So—so what does that curse entail?’ Casey asked, her voice almost a whisper.
Sasha produced her smartphone and called up a website. ‘It says here,’ she said, ‘there’s a superstition in many parts of southern Europe about how not looking at each other when clinking glasses during a toast brings couples seven years bad sex.’ She angled her phone so that everyone could see the screen.
‘And you were in France when you committed this ritualistic mishap,’ Liza offered helpfully. ‘So that definitely applies.’
GOODREADS GIVEAWAY!
Nicky will be giving away two (2) signed paperback copies of 7 Years Bad Sex over on Goodreads in advance of the official launch day of 7 Years Bad Sex on 14 May. Don’t miss your chance to enter!
Giveaway is open internationally and runs from 23 April 2015 to 10 May 2015—hurry, hurry!
Thank you so much for sharing the lurve, excitement and cover reveal here today, Jo, it's an honour to visit your blog. :-)
ReplyDeleteHere's wishing good luck to all giveaway entrants, go on, don't be shy! And don't forget, release day is 14 May...not long to go. Lovey'all! XX