Spotlight on Author Zrinka Jelic

I am delighted to be your guest today, Margay. My debut novel “Bonded by Crimson” has been released on January 28th, and it is available in all formats at Black Opal Books, Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble and All Romance eBooks

Today I’d like to blog about what I do when I don’t write. And there are two versions.

My fantasy version

I wake up to sound of birds chirping outside the window of my bedroom washed in soft sunlight. Then I stretch and turn to my side to take in a few moments on my fresh and crisp linen.  By the time I get out of bed (with perfect hair), kids are dressed, fed and their school bags are ready, waiting by the door. When they leave for school, I drink my coffee in peace and then drive to the spa where I can enjoy facial, manicure and pedicure and if there’s time maybe a haircut. Then I go to the mall and do some browsing and shopping. By the time I get back, kids are sitting quietly at the kitchen table, doing their homework.
Insert here ear shattering sound of a needle scratching on the record. This is where my fantasy ends and reality pops up.

The real version

The annoying sound of alarm wakes me from a nice dream. I flip a leg or arm or any other body part of my younger boy who sneaks in my bed, that’s sprawled over me. The room is still dark and any sound is that of my alarm still blaring. (It’s away from my bed so I don’t just keep hitting snooze and I have to get out of bed to turn it off). My hair is a mess and my head still swimming. COFFEE!!!!
I can’t wait to make a fresh pot, so I drink at least a couple of hours old coffee my husband made when he got up. And if I hurry, it may still be hot. Then I rummage through the fridge and cupboards to find anything peanut/nut free and nutritional enough to put in school lunches. I wake kids for school and they pull the blankest over their heads. I wake them again, with the same results. Once they are forcefully out of their beds, it starts. Can’t find this, that and the other thing, have I seen the homework book, the toy they absolutely must have, the shirt they just have to wear. My coffee is cold by now. I brew fresh pot. Once they’re out the door, now I can sit and drink it in relative peace. I check my email and other social media then I feel the pressure from my characters to finish the story, scene or a chapter I left them hanging at last night. But there’s also a load of laundry in the dryer, waiting for me to fold it and put it away. The dishwasher needs to be unleaded, grocery list got bigger … So the days pass by in a crazy haze and by the time I get to sit down and work on my manuscript, it is already evening and all I have is a few hours at best before I have to start the mad rush all over again the next day. But, I wouldn’t change a thing.

I will leave you now with this short excerpt from “Bonded by Crimson”. Enjoy!

Matthias approached with slow steps. His devilish little smile stirred butterflies in her stomach. Her hands trembling, she played with her fingers.

“How are the boys?” she asked to break the awkwardness.

 “Their usual, can’t stay still for one minute. They ask about you all the time.” Matthias’s voice echoed in the stark church interior. “How’s your vacation going?”

“Slow. I’m not used to sitting around and doing nothing.” She laughed, his smile widened.

He nodded. “Enjoy while it lasts. In a week’s time it’ll be over.”

She lowered her gaze from his face to her feet. “I can hardly wait.” Her so-called vacation had left her with an empty feeling only his boys could fill.

“Your family must have been happy to see you?”

Pain stabbed at her chest. “They were, but it was hard. My dad passed away four years ago and—” She took a deep breath and stared over his shoulder. How would she explain she had not come home for Dad’s funeral? “I requested time off work, but couldn’t get it. Besides, I didn’t have the money.”

“I understand.” His soft voice eased the tightness in her ribcage. “So, you like coming here, too?”

Glad he had changed the subject, she relaxed her shoulders. Her family had become smaller and, as their numbers declined over the generations, the more estranged the current members had become. Not something she liked to discuss with anyone, let alone him. “Yes I do. This place takes me back into history.” She sighed. “Wouldn’t it be great to see this church in its former glory?”

“It would.” He pressed his back against the balustrade and shoved his hands in the large side pockets of his cargo shorts, staring at her in silence for an eternal moment. “Will you do
me a favor and sign this?” He extended a book to her. She took the pages bound in a cover of red and white squares with a rose across the middle. Funny, she’d chosen this picture for her novel to have on the sleeve, if it ever got published. Rose of Crimson, by Kate Rokov was printed on the
front. The words started to sink in as she leveled her eyes with his. “You want me to sign this for you?”

He drew a long breath and nodded again.

“How?” she asked. “This never left my computer.”

Puzzled, she searched his face.

His smile vanished. “I found the files on the memory stick on your first day.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “You returned it.”

“Forgive me.” His gaze travelled back and forth from her face to the floor. “I copied the files.”

Silence followed. She stood transfixed. He had copied her files? Why would he?



BLURB

Love isn’t in the cards for her…

After her short failed marriage, Kate tries to rebuild her life and takes a position as a nanny to three small boys. She quickly grows to love them, but their father, terrifies her, while igniting a passion she didn’t know she possessed. Disturbed by his distant manner with his sons, Kate struggles to make him more involved in the boys’ daily lives. Her efforts are mysteriously supported by an entity that cannot really exist. Or can she? And if she does exist, is she really trying to help Kate, or just take over her body?

But when he deals the hand, all bets are off…

Six years after his beloved wife passed away, Matthias is still trying to become the father she wanted him to be. Not an easy task for a three-centuries-old immortal. His search for the ultimate nanny ends when Kate Rokov stumbles to his home and into his arms. The immediate attraction he feels for her seems like a betrayal of his dead wife, a love he’s harboured for over three hundred years. But when Kate is stalked by a deadly stranger, life he clung to in the past begins to crumble and break down. Can Matthias learn to trust and to love again in time to save his family from disaster, or will his stubborn pride destroy everything worth living for?



AUTHOR’S BIO

Zrinka Jelic lives in Ontario, Canada, with her husband and two children. A member of the Romance Writers of America and its chapter Fantasy Futuristic &Paranormal, as well as Savvy Authors, she writes contemporary fiction—which leans toward the paranormal—and adds a pinch of history. Her characters come from all walks of life, and although she prefers red, romance comes in many colors. Given Jelic’s love for her native Croatia and the Adriatic Sea, her characters usually find themselves dealing with a fair amount of sunshine, but that’s about the only break they get. “Alas,” Jelic says, with a grin. “Some rain must fall in everyone’s life.”

Contact me @: www.bondedbycrimson.blogspot.com
http://zrinkajelicromanceauthor.wordpress.com/
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Watch the book trailer: Bonded by Crimson