Deborah Cooke: Author

I’m very excited to have Vanessa Kelly visiting my blog today. I met Vanessa a few years ago and we hit it off right away. She’s smart and funny, and is one of those writers who get things done. It’s been terrific to see her success this year and cheer her on – and it’s best of all to have her visit today. (I’ll be visiting Vanessa’s blog in August.)

So, without further ado, heeeeeeeeeeere’s Vanessa!

My Multiple Personalities

I’m very happy to be here on Deborah’s blog today, not only because she’s one of my favorite writers but because she’s another author with multiple personalities.  She writes as Deborah Cooke, Claire Delacroix, and Claire Cross, which is pretty impressive since all three of her personalities are very talented.  I’ve only got two writing personas, the first is the “real” me – Vanessa Kelly.  As myself, I write sexy, Regency-set historical romance for Kensington Zebra, and my books are published in both print and e-book form.  My alter-ego is V.K. Sykes, and under that name I write very steamy and very modern contemporary romances.

But there’s even a bit of twist to my writing alter-ego: there are two of us jostling around under that one pen name.  The other is my husband, Randy.  Yep.  We’re one of a rare breed in the romance writing world – a husband and wife team.  Our first book was published last year with Carina Press, Harlequin’s digital first imprint.  It’s called CaddyGirls, and it’s a sexy read about a young woman who’s an aspiring pro golfer who supports herself by caddying for rich guys on the golf courses of Las Vegas.  It’s a fun book and hubby and I really enjoyed working on it together – even though we had the occasional argument about that thing guys really hate to talk about.  I’m referring, of course, to emotions, and the need to have them in a romance novel.  As you can imagine, I tended to carry the day in those discussions!

I’m happy to say that V.K. has a new book out, and we’ve chosen to take a different route from our last book – this time we’re indie published on Amazon and Smashwords.  The book is called Hardball and it’s another sexy contemporary romance, starring a hot baseball hero and a very serious surgeon as the heroine.  As you can imagine, there’s a lot of heat between these two characters when they get together.

Here’s the blurb for Hardball:

After years of hard work and keeping her nose firmly to the grindstone, Dr. Holly Bell has finally achieved her dream:  a position as a pediatric surgeon at a prestigious teaching hospital.  Children’s lives rest in her skilled hands.  That means total dedication to her work and her patients without letting anything or anyone get in the way.  And a hot affair with a superstar athlete is most definitely getting in Holly’s way.

Nate Carter, star pitcher for the Philadelphia Patriots, has the world in the palm of his baseball glove.  He’s at the height of his game, a west coast team is about to lure him with even greater riches, and the most gorgeous women in town are in full pursuit.  Nate has everything he wants, or at least he thinks he does, until he meets the beautiful and brainy Dr. Holly Bell.  He’s totally up for a hot affair, and Holly turns out to be the hottest.

But will Holly be willing to play his game?  When the lovely doctor starts changing the rules, Nate realizes he just might be playing for keeps.

Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?  Very sexy fun, if I do say so myself!  There’s also an element of suspense in this book, which really ups the stakes for Nate and Holly.  If you like the kind of books that Lori Foster writes, then I think you’ll like Hardball.  To read an excerpt, please stop by our VK Sykes website.  While you’re there, you can also have a look at the CaddyGirls excerpt too.

Well Deb, thanks for having me on the blog.  I’m off to write now.  If only I could remember who I am today!

When she’s not trying to figure out who she is, you can find Vanessa Kelly on the web at http://www.vanessakellyauthor.com.  And when she’s working with her dear hubby, you can find her at http://www.vksykes.com.

Thanks Vanessa! What do you think of authors with multiple personalities like Vanessa and me? Does it help you pick books to read, or does it just make bookstore choices more complicated?