The Next Big Thing/ Mary Marvella

The Next Big Thing

I agreed to participate in The Next Big Thing because two friends asked me to. 
Here’s to Barbara Monajem http://barbaramonajem.blogspot.com

 and Annie Rayburn https://annierayburn.wordpress.com. ( I’m very late filling Annie’s request.)  


The picture has nothing to do with anything, I liked the colors.



On to the questions!

What is the title of your book?

I’d like to tell you about CHEERLEADER DAD.

How did you come by the idea?

Actually, I was listening to a story about a woman who put a hit on a cheerleader so her kid could make the squad as a replacement for the one she wanted to off or injure. Details are sketchy now. Then I saw a version of The Parent Trap. 

What genre does your book fall under?

Sweet Contemporary Romance

Which actors would you choose to play your characters if it were a movie?
I have no idea. I don’t usually put faces of actors or actresses to my characters.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Two eleven year old cheerleaders work to get their parents together.

Will your book be self-published or traditional?
I’ll probably self-publish this one.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I spend around two months putting this one together.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I don’t remember a book like this one.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

The idea intrigued me and an editor asked to see the full, which I didn’t have. I finished it, but got a no thanks, which I expected, because the kids played a big part in the story.

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

I think the kids will be a big draw.  Eleven year girls can be so funny as they torture their parents.  Unlike The Parent Trap, the girls are not twins and their parents were not married to each other.

I found the iris in my yard yesterday, no kidding!

Excerpt: Cheerleader Dad

     Lily Bateman sat in the gym bleachers watching her daughter and her friend Jaycee try out for the cheerleading squad. So far her Alex was doing well, as she always did when she wanted something. Poor Jaycee Richmond stared at the gym doors instead of watching her competition perform.

Lily smiled when Alex wandered over to Jaycee and hugged her. Then Lily turned her attention to the other girls going through routines.    

     For the past half-hour groups of eleven and twelve-year old girls had cheered their hearts out while their fellow hopefuls worried. Where the hell was Jaycee’s father? Surely, just this once, the man could have taken a few minutes from his schedule to be here for his daughter.      

     “Poor kid keeps looking for her daddy to show,” she muttered to the mother on her right. “I’ve never seen him at a practice.” Of course Lily didn’t mind taking both girls home so often.

     Her gaze fixed on the hunk standing in the doorway. Could that handsome man be Jaycee’s dad? He looks too GQ and out of place in this old renovated gym. More likely her dad would have with reddish hair like Jaycee’s.

This man had thick, black hair that looked as though he’d raked it back more than once today but it still wasn’t behaving. The pale blue shirt hugged his broad chest. Though he had rolled his shirtsleeves and wore no tie, Lily’d bet he had come straight from a business meeting. Who could he be? She knew all the other girls and their parents.

     He seemed to search the groups of girls. He was even more handsome when he smiled at one.

     Mr. GQ waved toward a group of girls waiting to try out next. The man’s blinding grin was answered by an equally blinding grin that lit up Jaycee’s face. The kid glowed with excitement and relief. Her wave back to the hunk surprised Lily. So the too-busy-to-take-care-of-his-daughter executive was handsome. Handsome and sexy didn’t impress her. She still owed him a piece of her mind for neglecting his child.

     While Lily daydreamed GQ man crossed the gym and started up the bleachers filled with parents and kids. Now he stood on the plank below her, tall enough that he still looked down to her.

     “You must be Alex’s mom,” he said. “I’ve heard so much about you I’d have recognized you anywhere.” His hand was warm, rough for a business exec type, his handshake firm and personal. “Jaycee didn’t exaggerate when she told me how pretty you are, even more than the pictures she carries of you.”

     His gray eyes spoke of sincerity, but Lily wasn’t swayed by flattery. Her black running suit looked fine enough for the school gym, but it was not an outfit for compliments. Her French-braided blond hair wasn’t outstanding either and her makeup had surely worn off by now.

     She tried to stay aloof, holding to her intention to let him know how much he was missing by neglecting his kid. “Yes, and you must be Jaycee’s very busy father.” The girl must look like her mother. With her green eyes and red-gold hair she looked nothing like this man.

     “I’m Jesse Richmond.” His voice was a rich baritone, intimate and low, damned sexy.

For a moment she couldn’t find her own voice to respond. She cleared her throat, then wiped her damp hand on her pants. When he took her hand in his larger one she felt small and feminine.

“Hello, Mr. Richmond.”

Then he planted his too sexy self down beside her and let her have her hand back. His spicy scent invaded her space, masking the gymnasium smells, but not as much as his body heat did when he crowded her as though he had a right. He spread wide shoulders and settled elbows and knees, taking more space than he needed. Just like a confident man!     

Do you like the characters yet? COMMENT AND I'LL SEND A COUPON FOR A FREE NOVELLA!