Valentine WeWriWa: Maria and Stephania

It's Saturday night, which can mean only one thing: WeWriWa! This month, to celebrate the Valentine's Day and love, we will be reading excerpts from my group of interwoven short stories, the Loving Her series. Each weekend, we will get a sneak peek into the love and lives of the four couples. So, without further ado, let's WeWriWa!

Click www.wewriwa.com for more information and to see other 8 Sentence Sunday posts.

This post is part of an ongoing blog hop hosted by Weekend Writing Warriors. Every Sunday, participating authors post eight to ten sentences from a published work or even a WIP (work in progress). Then we hop to our fellow warriors’ blogs and check out all the fabulous fiction that’s happening! It's a great way to meet readers, writers, and your next favorite book!  :)

Background on the excerpt: It's Maria and Stephania's first weekend away together as a couple. Maria is confused - struggling between the love of her deceased partner, and her new love with Steph.
Stephania has just come out of the bathroom of the hotel room wearing a beautiful nightgown. Maria is overcome, to say the least. Snippet in 10 sentences.

Maria’s jaw dropped and she lost her grip on the book. The air rushed out of her lungs.
Words – thoughts – escaped her. She was overwhelmed with emotion, and yet could not
understand what it was she was feeling. She was intrigued, she was afraid. She was exhilarated,
she was paralyzed. Her vision was blurred…from tears.
“Come here,” Stephania softly beckoned her.
Maria’s body felt heavier than lead. She could hardly breathe let alone move.

Loving Her Valentines: Maria and Stephania

Happy February, gang!

For this month, what I am doing is going to be discussing romances from the Loving Her series on my usual Thursday posts, and then treating you to a romantic excerpt from the story.

Who doesn't love love?

This week's couple is Maria and Stephania!

This is a rather unusual pair. If not for Stephania's persistence, they never would have gotten together.

They met at Linda's Super Bowl party, as Steph was friends with Linda, and Maria knew Liz and Jen, who invited her along with them.

Stephania was immediately taken with Maria. She was a writer. She was older. She was calm, serene, and wise. She was everything Stephania wasn't, and everything she needed. During the party Stephania hounded Maria. In order to gain some peace, Maria finally acquiesced, and they set up their first date.

Maria felt that she would just be playing along. She went out on the date because she had given Steph her word, but she didn't see anything coming of it. After a brief monologue by Stephania at the beginning of the first date, Maria's mind had changed. There was more to this young woman than she had given her credit for. Thus, the relationship blossomed.

There was one problem, though. Maria's first wife: Addy. Addy had passed away some years before, but Maria hadn't really moved on. She was still very much in love with her. As her relationship with Stephania developed, Maria found herself very confused. She loved Addy, but she was also falling in love with Stephania. Maria struggled greatly in finding a balance between her past and her present. Interestingly enough, Steph embraces Maria's past, and that all becomes a part of their present life.

Not everyone was happy for Maria's new found love. Her sister, Marisol, brought her the bad news that her family did not approve of their relationship. Maria was told that until she and Steph broke up and Maria was no longer gay, she needed to stay away from the family. That was until Maria's mother passed away.

While out in California spending time with her family during her mother's services, it comes to light that the only family member who had a problem with Stephania was Marisol. A heated confrontation arose, and Maria was welcomed back into the family, along with Steph.

Despite their age difference and personality differences, Maria and Stephania really make a wonderful pair. They loved and supported each other both through good times and bad. They remind us that love knows no boundaries with age, personality, background, etc. Love truly is blind, an that is a wonderful thing.

Loving Her for the holidays

It's December 10th already!

It's crazy to think we're at the end of 2015 already, isn't it?! Time goes by WAY too quickly!

Since the holidays are officially upon us, I thought it might be a good idea to look at my books as gifts for the readers on your list...or even yourself! ;)

This week, we'll look at the Loving Her series.

The Loving Her series is a very unique series. Unlike Harry Potter or Twilight, the books can be read in any order. Each story is linear, and the series as a whole paints one giant, beautiful picture. However, each story is still unique, is able to stand on its own, and thus can be read in any order.

This series is about love and romance, but it's also about friendship, family, identity, and life. These stories and these characters are complex, as are their relationships. Just like we do in real life, these women wear many hats, and play many different roles.

The Loving Her series is a series of short stories unlike anything you've ever read before. You'll get to experience certain situations from different perspectives. You'll see just how tightly woven our lives are with those around us.

Love, laughter, loathing, lamentation, and life are what the Loving Her series is all about.

These books are for readers who want a more meaningful, more rich, deeper story, with true-to-life characters.

Get your copies here

5 Stars

In this series of stories, we meet a group of loving friends and couples. Each member of this group is diverse in personalities and abilities, but they are tied together by the common denominator - love.

The Hardest Thing I've Ever Written

As I reflect back on these last few months, delving deeply into the souls of my characters, I am exhausted.

Though it may sound odd, these Character of the Week posts are arguably the hardest thing I have ever written.

I know these people inside and out, and yet there was more to them than even I knew. I had to unearth old pain, old stories. I had to make sense of their neuroses. I had to give you more. I had to give them more.

The process was lengthy. Describing the soul of someone is no easy task. I also had to learn more about each and every one of them. There was a lot of time, thought, and energy that went into each of these characters, and each of these posts.

There were times I was shocked. There were times I was scared. There were times I was sad. These back stories often took unusual and unexpected twists and turns. I learned so much more about them.

I'll admit that there were times I felt incredibly vulnerable writing these. I experienced their pain, shame, and vulnerability. It was a very deep and emotional process.

Now that it's all said and done, I hope that you not only know and better understand my characters, but that you now have a greater connection to them and their stories. I hope you have come to love them the way I do. I hope their personalities and quirks make more sense to you. I hope you appreciate them for all that they are.
                                                 


I thank you for joining me in this journey. I hope that you enjoyed the opportunity to better know and understand my characters. I hope that this was as great an experience for you as it was for me.

Thank you again, and happy reading!

Character Review

Now that you have been inundated with all of my characters, here's a quick review with buy links for their stories.

                                                                           Amnesie                                                                                             

http://www.amazon.com/Amnesie-Lauren-Shiro-ebook/dp/B007NJQZZA/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1428251463&sr=8-16&keywords=lauren+shiro

Elfie

Maryanne

Imperfect/Impeccable

http://www.amazon.com/Imperfect-Lauren-Shiro-ebook/dp/B00KXHUN84/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1428251463&sr=8-4&keywords=lauren+shiro

http://www.amazon.com/Impeccable-Lauren-Shiro-ebook/dp/B00KXNR1LA/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1428251463&sr=8-6&keywords=lauren+shiro

Alex

Byron

Candace

Carol

Loving Her Series

The Ballerina

http://www.amazon.com/Ballerina-Loving-Her-Book-ebook/dp/B00EP01SP2/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1428251463&sr=8-7&keywords=lauren+shiro

Liz

The Cop

http://www.amazon.com/Cop-Loving-Her-Book-ebook/dp/B00FW3VWF2/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1428251463&sr=8-13&keywords=lauren+shiro

Donna

The Mechanic

http://www.amazon.com/Mechanic-Loving-Her-Book-ebook/dp/B00GMPBKS8/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1428251463&sr=8-9&keywords=lauren+shiro

Linda

 

The Model

http://www.amazon.com/Model-Loving-Her-Book-ebook/dp/B00GVLL3NA/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1428251463&sr=8-12&keywords=lauren+shiro

Stephania

The Peace Officer

http://www.amazon.com/Peace-Officer-Loving-Her-Book-ebook/dp/B00ICQWXCW/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1428251463&sr=8-14&keywords=lauren+shiro

Brynn

The Shelter Director

http://www.amazon.com/Shelter-Director-Loving-Her-Book-ebook/dp/B00JCI6CXA/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1428251463&sr=8-11&keywords=lauren+shiro

Jen

The Vet Student

http://www.amazon.com/Vet-Student-Loving-Her-Book-ebook/dp/B00L5WJXCS/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Katie

The Writer

http://www.amazon.com/Writer-Loving-Her-Book-ebook/dp/B00K6ZEAAU/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Maria

Pianissimo

http://www.amazon.com/Pianissimo-Lauren-Shiro/dp/0692310819/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Agnes

Corinne

Margaret

Trajectory

http://www.amazon.com/Trajectory-Lauren-Shiro-ebook/dp/B004VS2GP4/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Claudette

Joe

Unbreakable Hostage

http://www.amazon.com/Unbreakable-Hostage-Lauren-Shiro/dp/0615902456/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Lareina

Marc

Tony

Thanks for taking the time to get to know them all. Happy reading!