Guest Blogger, Tina Martin

Please join me in welcoming author Tina Martin as the special guest blogger here today at Thoughts in Progress.

Tina stops by today on her virtual blog tour highlighting her release, SECRETS ON LAKE DRIVE. Here’s a brief synopsis of her book: “Monica and Sean clash at a parent-teacher conference when Monica accuses Sean of being too occupied with making money and chasing women to take a real interest in his son’s life. But Sean is no pushover. He knows how to hold his own and deal with Monica, but after the incident at school, he’s also come to realize that he can use Monica’s devotion to his advantage. He propositions her to move into his home to babysit five-year old Roman for the three months of summer break, offering her a substantial amount of money, hoping that she’ll accept. But is babysitting the only reason he’s so anxious to get her into his mansion?

Monica accepts his offer against her better judgment, knowing the rumors of Sean and his womanizing ways.  She tells herself that she’s doing this for Roman – that she can avoid her new, sexy, summer boss – his chiseled chest, pretty green eyes and charm that just won’t quit. But after only a few weeks, Monica finds it a struggle to keep her eyes off of Sean. Can she handle staying focused on her babysitting gig for three months without being swept off of her feet by Milwaukee’s finest? Or is Sean’s game too much for the young, conservative teacher to handle?

Having been heartbroken in the past, Monica is reluctant to play this dangerous game with a confirmed heartbreaker. But it’s what she doesn’t know about Sean that she should be concerned about. Sean knows her well – too well, and it’s those secrets that have the potential to make her love him or hate him.”

As we've talked about in the past, many writers like to listen to music of some sort when they work. Today Tina’s talking about what would the world be without music.

What would the world be without music? There are many forms and varieties, but I love music that touches my soul, music that I can feel and relate to, music that makes me smile or cry. My Immortal, by Evanescence is a beautiful song that I listen to from time to time when I write. It has helped me to cope with a friendship that ended on bad terms, reassuring me that I’m not the only person in the world who’s ever had to say goodbye to a bad thing. The sad part is, when you end any type of relationship with someone, there’s still lingering thoughts of the ‘good times’ you shared with that person that cannot be erased. Those same good thoughts are now bad memories; memories that once made you smile now makes you cry – the gift now becomes the curse. You were once captivated, now you’re bound; wanting to let go but you realize that the person still has all of you, your heart. One line of My Immortal goes, “There’s just too much that time cannot erase.” Contrary to popular belief, time does not heal all wounds.

I’ve used my personal experience to develop characters for a new novel that is due to be released after SECRETS ON LAKE DRIVEANOTHER MAN'S TREASURE. The novel is a story of main characters, Tiphani (pronounced like Tiffany) and Reggie. They’ve been best friends all of their lives and Tiphani has been in love with her best friend since high school. Now that they’re

graduating from college, she feels her love for him growing deeper but is too afraid to tell him how she feels. Reggie, who has a girlfriend, knows that titled, Tiphani has a thing for him, but doesn’t try to build on that love until he sees that another man is interested in her. But then, it may be too late.

ANOTHER MAN'S TREASURE will stir emotions in readers with its underlying premise of how women love so much harder than men. When relationships fail, women usually bear the emotional stress while men appear to be cool and indifferent. The novel will have fans rooting for Tiphani as she makes strides to be a better woman and realizes what she wants out of life, even if that means ending a one-sided friendship.

Thanks, Thoughts in Progress, for inviting me to be a guest blogger. Be sure to check out my new release, SECRETS ON LAKE DRIVE available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com right now. You can read an excerpt at my website, www.tinamartinbooks.com. Also, find me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/tinamartinbooks and visit my blog, http://authortinamartin.blogspot.com.

Tina, thanks for guest blogging here today. SECRETS ON LAKE DRIVE sounds very intriguing and it’s interesting learning background on your next book, ANOTHER MAN’S TREASURE.

Tina is a fiction novelist and poet. She holds an Associates Degree in Computer Technology and a certification in Accounting and is currently working as a project administrator.