Where to start? The question is the easy bit the answer is still unknown.
The Heaven Scent Trilogy is the culmination of a years’ work, which all started with a poem. In July 2011, I met a Cowboy online, from Texas and yes, one of those meetings where you feel you have know this person all your life. Three weeks later he sent me a poem called –On Finding Someone– by Joel Nelson the Cowboy Poet, and I immediately saw a story in it.
I should be riding along
Observing—not expecting—well maybe
And should see just as hoof swept by
One flawless arrow point—
If on that bright shining morning
I should step down to lift this point
Turning it delicately—feeling its smoothness
Beneath my fingertips
I would marvel at its perfection
At the way some ancient one
Had tempered and crafted such beauty
At how it came to lie there
All these centuries—covered—uncovered
Re-hidden—re-exposed
Until it came to me
To happen by this place
On this day made now more perfect.
And I would ponder such things
As coincidence and circles and synchronicity,
And I would pocket this treasure near my heart,
And riding on I would recall
Having seen such treasure as this elsewhere
But not this one—not this one.
And for one brief moment I would stiffen with fear
At how one quick glance in another direction
Could have lost this to me forever,
And I would touch my shirt over my heart
Just to make sure.
With permission of © 1998, Joel Nelson
I began writing, the ‘chapters’ just poured out and ten days later had over 20,000 words, at which point said Cowboy disappeared. I duly put the short story onto my website www.breathlessnights.com , which I co-own with Keith David – my writing partner of three years -and started writing something different. Within a month an editor, who I knew from Facebook, messaged me and suggested I make the short story into a novel. It took me about two weeks to look at it again but eventually thought ‘what the heck, in for a penny, in for a pound.’ (Good old English idiom haha) Removing the last 1000 words to keep for the ending, I began filling in the middle.
It took until September to complete the novel. When finished, I decided that the book would benefit from having the poem printed in the front so set about finding the poet. It did not take long and after a few emails and phone calls, he kindly agreed to let me use the poem in the book. Joel also suggested that I attend the ‘Cowboy Poetry Festival’ in Alpine Texas at the end of February. That thought appealed even though I live on a little speck in the Atlantic Ocean known as Madeira Island – over 5000 miles away! Needless to say, not only did I attend the event, I also wrote two more books before I left for the USA, which made up the trilogy.
The Festival was an emotional time. I felt as if I belonged in that little Cowboy town situated in the middle of nowhere in West Texas. During my time there, I discovered all sorts of coincidences pertaining to the book. I described places I had never seen, people I had never met; it all became a little spooky. By the time I got back on the coach five days later, I had decided to buy a house there.
I arrived back on the island and this is where things went downhill. I asked my husband of thirty-two years for a divorce and put my house up for sale. My friends thought I had lost my mind, my family thought I was having a mid life crisis.
In July, I returned to Alpine with my daughter and mother in tow. They understood why I loved the place, which was a bonus and have supported me with my decisions. Joel and his wife are now great friends and I look forward to returning there soon.
So here I am, my life turned upside down because of a poem. I published the first book on Amazon on 31 October 2012, second on 1st December and third on 15th December and the Trilogy came out as one book on the 23rd December. Something is telling me to do this, I do not know why; I am just going with the flow.
They say people come into your life for a reason. The unknown cowboy who sent me the poem did just that however, the person I owe everything to is Keith, I could not have done this without his constant nagging, poking and support. I am in the process of writing and editing a Vampire Erotica Trilogy, the first book of which I will publish in January 2013.A fourth ‘Cowboy’ book is now on its way, based on another of Joel’s poems called ‘The men who ride no more’. I wonder where this one will take me…
Author Bio:
Born in Bournemouth, England, Virginia’s gypsy heritage led her to a rather unusual childhood. Her father worked within the oil industry and she spent much of her younger years travelling. Schooled in several countries until the age of eight, and fluent in several languages, on attending boarding school in the UK, she found delight in the extensive ‘English’ library, and her love of reading was born. From there the travelling continued, around the UK, Wales and then finally finishing in Canada, where she attended, and graduated from St John High school in New Brunswick. Her love of the English language was due partly to the inspiration of her English Tutor. An Oxford Don, he despaired of the American/English idioms, and as she was the only English student in the school, found her a delight to teach.
Spending another year in working in Canada, life then returned her to England and on to the remote Shetland Isles for three years. Following her return to the UK, she threw herself into floristry for fifteen years, and her artistic talents took another turn when she picked up a pen for the first time to write her first dragon fantasy novel. It took another ten years and the passing of her artistic father, to discover her talent for painting. Setting out on a new path, she now paints celebrity portraits to raise money for charities. Through Face book in 2010 she met a friend who encouraged her to take up writing again, shortly after this inspiration which rekindled her spiritual beliefs, she met her (writing collaborator and co-conspirator) Keith David. They now combine their sensual words drawn from the depths of their souls, to captivate the imagination, and entice the reader to discover their innermost desires.
Contact Links: Website * Facebook
Title: Heaven Scent-The Trilogy by Virginia Alison
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Genre: Erotic, Romance
Length: 593 pages (estimated)
Summary:
Fate has her wicked way in this compelling trilogy set in modern day Texas. Encompassing strong family bonds within a powerful, yet light hearted romantic saga, from the first lost note and missed telephone call Evan and Ginny fight against the odds to find their own little piece of heaven. Seemingly influenced by an old arrowhead and the sweet scent of jasmine, their lives swirl within a whirlwind of laughter and heartbreak as they rush headlong towards their destiny.
Book two finds Ben – Ginny and Evan’s son – following in his father footsteps as he turns twenty-one. Brought up by his Aunt Charlotte and her son – JD – on Creek Ranch and haunted since birth by the scent of jasmine, Ben feels something is missing from his life. History begins to repeat itself when Jeannie, inextricably linked by a strange quirk of fate to the doomed Adams clan, meets Ben on his birthday. Love is the result – but like father, like son – serendipity has a few tricks up her sleeve.
Book Three awakens the arrowhead – after eighteen years – to the present as the young girl, Jodie’s, birthday approaches, it sets events in motion, which pull on Ben’s heartstrings. Across country, the jasmine blooms and its scent drifts on the breeze in search of his soul. When a glimpse of the past gives fate a nudge, Ben yet again, finds himself chasing the fragments of a dream. The final book in the series sees the conclusion to generations of fated Adams boys who hope that happiness lies in their destiny, which waits just around the corner, over the hill…
Purchase Links: Heaven Scent * Heaven Re-Scent * Heaven Scented * Heaven Scent the Trilogy
Excerpt from Chapter 1 The Cowboys Tale
Heaven Scent
Stroking in and out, he controlled the rise and flow of her body’s desires. Hands grasped at his skin. Nails clawed welts across his back, and her moans grew louder as his plunging became erratic with the surge of adrenaline through his veins. Ginny’s screams filled the air as she climaxed and Evan – squeezed between her rippling muscles – and with one final thrust, he shuddered as his body drained deep into her depths. Staggering backwards, they fell onto the bed in a heap amidst pants and gasps of delight.
“Holy shit, what was that?” Ginny laughed as she caught her breath.
“What, you a virgin or something?”
Ginny giggled. “Certainly not now!”
Evan smirked, turned to her and slowly removing her skirt began to discover the delights of her body. Savoring the hardened nipples on her pert breasts and tasting the perfumed curves over her hips to the shaven mound that glistened with loves nectar, his tongue slipped into her moist crevasses and languidly twirled around her sweet pearl that pulsed in his mouth until she cried for him to stop.
Excerpt from Chapter 2 Ginny’s Story
Heaven Scent
Unfortunately, missing her alarm, she woke up with a start at the noise of a beeping horn. Shivering as the cool morning air blew into the room through the flapping curtains and looking at her watch, she realized that her car would be waiting, and skedaddled into the shower, dressed, put her hair up in a ponytail, and threw her clothes into the case. Scribbling him a note with her name and phone number, she placed it on top of his clothes.
Bending down she whispered into his ear.
“Dream sweet Cowboy, see you soon.”
Kissing him lightly on the cheek, she closed the door quietly behind her as she left.
The journey into the city was full of questions for which she had no answers. The intensity of their passion shook her, and she regretted not awakening him, and not even knowing his name. Convinced he would ring later in the day, by the time she arrived at her appointment, she was calm, cool and collected. The meetings went well and finished on time.
Arriving at the airport, Ginny checked her phone for the umpteenth time that day and her heart was as heavy as her weary footsteps while she climbed the steps to the plane, looking back longingly at what she may or may not be leaving behind.
She managed a little sleep through the relatively short plane journey, jerking awake every so often as visions of the Cowboy invaded her subconscious. Unfortunately, each time she awakened her perception concerning the entire incident changed little by little, as they landed, she concluded that maybe he was not her soul mate but just another fling to be stored in the back of her mind and best forgotten.
So her mundane life continued. Weeks passed, she worked, she travelled again, but avoided contact with the opposite sex for some reason, and she could not fathom why she had just lost interest. Dreams kept her tossing and turning in her bed at night, and each morning she awoke more discontented than the previous day. Then came the morning when she rose from a restless night, flung open the window and caught a whiff of her favorite scent. The jasmine, growing around her porch was finally in bloom, a sure sign that summer was on the way. Skipping into the kitchen, her heart lighter than it had been for many a day, she made a cup of tea, and drank it sitting on the veranda, inhaling the calming aroma of the delicate white flowers.
Good guest post! Thanks for the excerpt and the info on the books in this series – I’ll be adding them to my list to check out:)
I love the inspiration behind this!