Welcome, Gemma Brocato!

Let's give a warm welcome to my fellow Romance Writers Weekly member, Gemma Brocato.

Hello, Brenda. Thank you for inviting me to visit you today. I can't wait to share a little about me and Exposed To Passion, my new release from Kensington Books/ Lyrical Press. 

I’ve existed in a flurry of activity for the past few weeks as I’ve prepared for release day. I think I’ve muttered under my breath at least once a day that no one had ever told me this was part of the job. Or, maybe I just didn’t listen when they did. So, I’ve decided to share a few of those surprises with you.

1. This job is a 24/7 gig. And you’re the boss. In fact, you’re the only employee. If you mess up you don’t get to fire yourself, right?
   
   
2. Be prepared for your family’s eyes to glaze over or for your husband to bury his nose in his iPad as you begin to talk about story lines, plot structures, marketing, book covers, sales or whatever. Don’t get me wrong...they care, but they are more concerned about why dinner features leftovers yet again.
   
   
3. The amount of time spent on social media working on promoting your book will be considered play-time by everyone but you. All I want to do is write my stories, but I need to spend time telling people about my book, too. Most of my friends think I’ve got the good life because I’m on Facebook/Twitter/Google+/Pinterest (pick one, any one) all day. It’s not as fun as it looks.
   
   
4. My workday begins at 5:30 most day, goes until 5:30 most days, with thirty minutes for lunch, if I’m lucky. Then I’m back at it until 8:00 at night. My level of respect is in the stratosphere for every author I know who is working a full-time job in addition to being a writer.
   
   
5. Sleep is overrated. I’ve discovered I can exist on about 5 hours a night. The blue-black circles under my eyes a trade-off I have to live with.
   
   
6. I no longer have time to read a book. This is so sad for me, because I love to read. Now, I’m lucky to get in fifteen minutes before I fall asleep. Long gone are the afternoon reading hours I used to enjoy.
   
   
7. The glamorous life of an author will be overshadowed by the necessity to still maintain your household. You must continue to cook/clean/do laundry/help with yard-work and do an assortment of other tasks.
   
   
8. Some days, the only exercise I get it walking to the coffee pot.
   
   

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining about these things. These are just some of the eye-opening facts of my job I wish I’d known. I love my job as a writer and I work hard everyday to be the best at doing it as I can be. And there is an upside... I get to stay in my pajamas all day if I want.

Now I’m wondering if anyone else discovered something about their job they weren’t expecting. Leave me a comment and let me know.

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While you're thinking about the parts of your job that surprised you the most, here's a peek at Exposed to Passion.

They walked through the shadows individually. Will they emerge into the light together?

Leading a vagabond life as a curator for a traveling photography exhibit translates to a lot of bad days for Rikki Salerno. But her trouble doubles when a careless high school student shoves her into a marsh. Being rescued by teacher Sam Kerrigan should have made things better, but Rikki’s inability to confess her true identity casts a shadow over their budding affair.

When Sam refuses an overly aggressive parent’s marriage proposal, she’s determined to ruin him. Not only does she doctor photos to make it look like Sam’s behaved inappropriately in front of students, she hacks the foundation website to reveal Rikki’s true identity. Faster than the blink of a shutter, Rikki’s focus changes from pursuing her full-color future to the black and white necessity of clearing Sam’s name.

To celebrate her new release, Gemma has an amazing giveaway!  You could win:
- One Digital Copy of Exposed To Passion
- One Leather Brighton London Flat Pouch
- Assorted Picture Frames
- $25 Amazon Gift Card
- $15 Starbucks Gift Card. 

(Prize package valued at $185.00. Sorry to all my Canadian readers, but valid to US residents only.)  Enter the Rafflecopter Draw!

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Discover more about Gemma and her other 
books at www.gemmabrocato.com.

Buy links for Exposed to Passion:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Kensington

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It will be my turn to visit with Gemma, tomorrow on her blog. Why not stop by and leave a comment for your chance to win a copy of my newest release, Chef d'Amour!