Today I am so pleased to welcome Joanna Chambers to Joyfully Jay. Joanna has come to talk to us about her latest release, Tribute Act. She has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving Joanna a big welcome!

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I have been known to procrastinate quite a bit when I’m meant to be writing, deciding suddenly that I need to wash windows, bake scones or carry out detailed research into the events of the second Anglo-Burmese war in 1852. But never has my tendency to procrastinate been more evident than with my newest book, Tribute Act, when I spent a whole day writing a Christmas song.

One of my MCs, Mack, was abandoned by his dad, Derek, when he was a teenager. Derek had had a modestly successful pop career in the 1980s, his biggest hit being a Christmas song called Christmas Stocking. Mack—also a talented musician—has been estranged from his father for years at the start of the story, but is persuaded to visit him and his new family when he learns the half-sister he has never met needs a living organ donor and Mack may be a match. But when Mack turns up at the family home, it is to discover that his stepbrother, Nathan, is none other than the man he hooked up with the night before.

Music is a big part of Tribute Act. Mack is an introvert who is more comfortable communicating through music, and music is also the only common ground that he shares with his father. For these reasons, I decided to make Derek’s biggest hit, Christmas Stocking, a feature of the story arc between Mack and Derek, in particular, by having Mack perform the song in a significant scene.

I was about halfway through my first draft of the book, when I decided one Saturday that I absolutely needed to know more about this song before I could write another word, so I decided to write a few lines of it and sketched out the lines of the chorus:

I’ll be hanging up my Christmas stocking

So, when Santa comes a-knocking

There will be a place for him

To put my Christmas presents in

But I don’t need no fancy parcels

I don’t want no bows or sparkles

All I want this Christmas Day

Is you telling me that you are gonna stay.

That was when I decided I also needed to know what these lines sounded like before I wrote the performance scene (like I said, I am amazing at procrastinating).

I was only planning to spend an hour or so, but before I knew it, I was borrowing my son’s ukulele and having him teach me a bunch of chords which I noodled around on for the next couple of hours.

But that wasn’t enough.

I started in on the verses.

Three full verses later and several truly pitiful recordings featuring my execrable ukulele playing, I was done. I had written my first ever song! The next chapter of the book would have to wait till tomorrow…


Blurb

Tribute ActNathan Bridges hadn’t intended to settle down in his hometown of Porthkennack—he just ended up staying after saving the family business from ruin. The truth is, Nathan can’t stop himself from stepping in when problems arise. He’s a fixer, the man everyone turns to. But even fixers can’t solve everything.

When Nathan’s sister needs an organ transplant, it’s his stepbrother, Mack, who the family turns to as Rosie’s only potential living donor. Nathan’s curiosity about the stepbrother he’s never met turns to shock when he realises that Mack is his latest—and hottest ever—one-night stand.

Nathan and Mack agree to forget their single night together, but that’s easier said than done. When Mack moves in to Nathan’s place to recuperate after surgery, it’s not just the sexual tension between them that keeps growing. Against all the odds, and despite Mack’s wariness of intimacy, the two men grow close enough that Nathan begins to wonder what it would take to mend the rift that’s kept Mack and his father estranged for over a decade . . . and whether Mack might consider staying with Nathan in Porthkennack for good.


Bio

Joanna Chambers always wanted to write. In between studying, finding a proper grown up job, getting married and having kids, she spent many hours staring at blank sheets of paper and chewing pens. That changed when she rediscovered her love of romance and found her muse. Joanna’s muse likes red wine, coffee and won’t let Joanna clean the house or watch television.

Connect with Joanna:


Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Tribute Act, one lucky winner will receive an ecopy of the book and a $25 Amazon gift card! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on January 20, 2018. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

  • By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win.  The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
  • If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
  • Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
  • Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
  • All book prizes are in electronic format unless otherwise specified.
  • By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
  • Readers may only enter once for each contest.  Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
  • Void where prohibited by law.
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