Bella Notte and the Author Behind It

Today I have the honor of having guest blogger and author Jolyn Palliata on.

Did you ever get a song stuck in your head? Or part of one? How did you get it out? Did you
avoid the song at all costs in the blind hope it would stop hammering you into submission? Or
did you listen to the song over, and over, and over, until you were so obsessed that all you could
think about was that delicious, devilish little laugh….er, what was I saying? (Right. Song stuck
in my head. Ahh...I mean, your head.) Now, I know this has happened to every person reading
this post, so I’m hoping you’ll relate to my little story here.

Let me give you some background. In October, I released Connected (Twists of Fate #1), and
here’s a brief description of the story: A rock group’s rhythm guitarist, Rhys Alexander, dies and
finds himself bound inside the body of a woman he’s never met. Can she help him move on to
the other side, or will he end up finding the love of his life…after his has already ended?

For a time, I had this for free on Wattpad (where I posted as I wrote it). And several readers
asked me how in the world I came up with the concept. The short answer was ‘By taking the
longest route possible.’ The more involved answer is this…

It all started with a song—Imagine that, huh?—which began with a synthesized-sounding guitar
and a sinful, maniacal laugh that made my gut quiver. (Yes, I do realize this may be an issue I
need to fully address later.) It was Disturbed’s “Inside The Fire”. Add a little Framing Hanley
(with that oh-so-sexy voice), and Tavion, lead singer of the band Persevere, was born. And what
kind of woman would knock a strapping rock star to his knees? Why, a best-selling author, of
course.

So here I had two people who worked in the entertainment industry, but were worlds apart. What
could possibly bring them together? The answer seemed so simple, really: Fate. Then my next
though was “What if Fate was a living, sometimes-breathing, entity? What an interesting point-
of-view that would be!” And it spiraled from there. I dug deep into the protag, Devan (the name
of the girl in Disturbed’s song), and put pieces of me and my personality into the mix. Naturally,
then I had to mock myself and my works along the way. (i.e., Suddenly Impending Reprisals
became Devan’s masterpiece, and guess what…it made it all the way to the NYT Bestsellers list!
Way to go, Devan!!)

Now, the question was ‘What inspired me to write Connected’, and so far, I’m telling you how I
started writing Twisted (Book 2). Yeah, well, I’m getting there. (Remember how I said it was the
longest route possible?)

So there I was, writing Twisted and having a hell of a time. And then the unthinkable happened
(insert suspenseful music here)…I got writer’s block. I’m talking a stint of writer’s block that
could only have originated from the deepest, most vile and sulfuric, bowels of Hell. And, man,
was it stubborn! Over a year went by before I picked it up again, and even then it wasn’t because
I came up with a grand master plan, or that my head was swimming with ideas. No. It was
simply because I missed my characters. So I started to reread/revise/edit the 30K words I had
written, hoping it would shake something loose. Enter: two new inspirations.

The first was the Demonica series by Larissa Ione. In the series, paired up mates can sense each
other’s emotions and I got to wondering “What would that be like?”

The next piece of inspiration came from Avenged Sevenfold (A7X). I was studying up on rock
bands for Twisted (and can A7X ever ROCK!!), and checking out the band members (*drool*)
and it inspired a new character—Rhys.

From Ione and A7X blossomed Connected (finally!) where Rhys’ spirit was stuck inside
Addison (my protag), and they could sense each other’s emotions.

But I had one problem. I absolutely REFUSED to walk away from Twisted again. Soooo…how
could I use this? Well, first of all, Rhys couldn’t be a lead singer since that’s what Tavion is. And
secondly, I wanted this to be a fast-hitting novella used to compliment Twisted’s story. What I
needed was a supporting member of the band... Hello, Rhys, my luscious rhythm guitarist!

But then I had another problem. (Because I needed more, right?) I couldn’t picture Rhys in
Tavion’s band, Persevere, which is a more mature, established group. No, he belonged with
some just-making-it-big band that wasn’t afraid to play with the formula, to take chances, and
was just enjoying the ride and what life had to offer. He belonged with the guys of Black Codex.

Then problem #3: How did Black Codex and Persevere tie in to each other? I mean, if Connected
leads into Twisted, they have to know each other somehow, right? Well, as luck would have it,
they’re all friends. (Who knew?!) Eh, okay, so actually two members from Black Codex are
brothers and they grew up with a guy from Persevere, so, by association, they became friends.
(It’s all in the details, right?) ;)

All right. Now what? I didn’t want to introduce Fate (my sassy, capricious entity) in Connected
even though he’s definitely hard at work behind the scenes. It would’ve been too distracting
from the plot, and I had plenty to maneuver already! (Hello…dead rock star stuck in some chicks
head!!) So what I did was plot Connected so it all occurs during the same timeframe as the first
half of Twisted. Perfect! Then when people read Twisted, they’ll get all the behind-the-scenes-
extras that were going on in Connected that either 1) I didn’t have time for, or 2) I couldn’t
smoothly transition in.

At the end of my long-ass journey, not only did I have Connected, but I shook myself loose on
Twisted…aaand came up with storylines for the other eight band members. (I’ll spare you the
details on those. LOL) Thusly, the Twists of Fate series was born.

So, let me ask you again: Did you ever get a song stuck in your head…?

For more information on the Twists of Fate series: http://jolynpalliata.wordpress.com/romance/
twists-of-fate-series/

Twists of Fate series Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Twists-of-Fate-Series/
190217514383637

To purchase Connected (Twists of Fate #1): http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?

_encoding=UTF8&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books&ie=UTF8&field-
author=Jolyn%20Palliata

Holiday Hop Winner! 12/26/2011

deannaboocock!

Thank you everyone that entered the contest! Hope your holidays were wonderful and you have a super great New Year! Check back on the Fourth of January for another blog hop and more chances to win!

Holiday Blog Hop, Giveaway, & Contest! 12/12/2011

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Do you smell chestnuts roasting on an open fire? Is Jack Frost nipping at your nose?

Well, then you should probably move closer to that fire, but not too close since it's open!

From December 15th to the 25th, come and check out some good reads and fab prizes. Click the image or click here to take you to the main page. An awesome prize will be given away from the main site from all the winners from the separate blogs, so make sure you enter my contest!

In the true spirit of Christmas, here's what you need to do to enter my contest. Read "A Bella Notte Christmas Story" (it's only like 2270 words or something) and then contact me via the contact form under "Forum & Such". All you need to do is answer this question correctly and you'll be entered into the contest.

"What does Dominic get Emma for Christmas?"

The winner's name will be featured in the third installment of the Bella series, and they will be entered into the grand prize drawing for the entire blog hop, which is... *DRUM ROLL PLEASE*..... A KINDLE FIRE!

Come on, you know you want it... so get cracking! Enter my contest! :0) Be immortalized in a story and get a chance to win this awesome little device!

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Like me on Facebook!

Follow me on Twitter!

Follow @jkimmelf

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Getting in the spirit of X-Mas, Geek Style! 12/09/2011

Enjoy a little Star Wars holiday spirit!

What a Nice Guy by Phil Torcivia 12/08/2011

Do you know any nice guys? Perhaps you’re married to or good friends with one. Well, consider the possibility that this nice guy is so frustrated with his relationship failures that he needs to vent to keep from turning into a bad boy with anger issues. Then, try not to spit hot coffee as you read his sarcastic rants about why men and women don’t seem to fit.

Get it on Amazon

Bella Notte giveaway running on Goodreads! 12/08/2011

*Win one of two signed copies of Bella Notte*

Check it out!

GoodReads Giveaway

Something Strangely Satisfying 12/04/2011

Life as a writer can be a cruel mistress to keep. Today alone, on one of the groups I'm apart of, one of the amazing writers got a bad review- sucky, but unfortunately, it happens. Not only do you have your own expectations, but you have those of others to contend with as well. And EVERYONE has an opinion.
I got a 3 star review on a quick short story I wrote to help flush out the Christmas scene in Bella Notte. Now this is just one person's opinion. That's life. However, on another site, I got a 5 star review on it! And two sensuality kissy lips (not sure about those), but the 5 stars make me do a little dance. I have no idea who did, I don't wanna know. Truth be told, when it's someone that knows me and they tell me- it ruins it. I want to believe that I am a good writer, that my works is awesome enough to reach people other than the ones that feel emotionally obligated to pat me on the back and tell me I did a good job. Yeah it's awesome to get that gold star, but I want to

know that I actually earned it. It's like in the movie Arthur *SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE THAT HAVEN'T SEEN IT* where the girl finds out that he bought the company just so her book would get picked up. She wanted to know that she could do it and that someone other than those that gave to bits about her liked it. *SPOILER OVER*
So yeah, pat me on the back my friends and loved ones. But like my books because they are awesome, because the story touches you, because they hold great tales that you want to share with others. Don't tell me I've done good when you hate it. If you hate you can take your opinion and shove it, I'm just playing. No everything will like what I write- something I learned a long time ago.

So I will take my 3 stars at one place- knowing that at least that person took the time to freaking write something and rate my story. And I will enjoy my 5 star and smile because someone thought my short story was awesome. It is strangely satisfying to have a 5 star review and 2 sales from a website that I think would do very much, or anything at all. Unexpected surprises make me happy.

Damn tired... 12/02/2011

I've not been sleeping at nights... it's starting to effect me. I am so tired and my back hurts like hell from hunching over the computer doing nothing productive... I still have 3 guest blogs to write and I've not started them... and to finish entering my BV edits... I just need a laptop to snuggle up with again. And now I've got books coming to review. I got the first one today, it's called "The Snail's Song"... Not sure about it or the illustrations... but we'll see. Oh, I posted up a new website for me now... jessekimmel-freeman.weebly.com I'm kinda proud of it..

Book & Cook Holiday Blog Festival: Delicious Cheesecake! 12/01/2011

Ingredients! (yum):

1 Graham Cracker Crust
1 8 oz. Package of Phillips Cream Cheese
1/2 cup sugar
¼ cup milk
Sprinkle of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 egg
1 cup of sour cream

In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually add in sugar, milk, salt, sour cream, egg, and vanilla.
Bake at 325 for 20 minutes.
Chill in the fridge until set, typically takes about 5 hours.
Top with fruit or chocolate or your favorite topping of choice!
ENJOY!

Easy Peasy!