Today I am so pleased to welcome Shae Connor to Joyfully Jay. Shae is here for our last stop in the Beach Read Bonanza. She is also chatting with us about her release, Sand & Water. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!
Beachy Business
I’m not much of a beach bunny. Salt water in my eyes, sand in unmentionable places, relentless heat, a lifetime of sunburns—spending time on the beach, especially in the summer, is never going be my favorite thing.
That doesn’t mean I don’t want to go to the beach, though. I love to listen to the waves crashing on the shore. I love the smell of salt in the air. I love collecting sand dollars along the surf. Mostly, though, I’m content to sit near the water and watch, rather than wading in.
My mom has always been a big beach fan. She’s not a swimmer, but she loves the ocean, and she loved walking on the beach until mobility became an issue. My sister takes after Mom, except she loves the swimming part, too. Give her a beach and a boogie board, and she’s set for hours. (It helps that she tans instead of burning.)
Me, I’m back on the balcony overlooking the beach, or ensconced in a chair under an umbrella. And yes, I’ve usually got a book in my hands.
I grew up going to beaches along the Gulf Coast and Georgia’s Gold Coast. When we lived in southwest Georgia, a family friend had access to a cabin in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, so we spent a lot of time there and at nearby Destin. Then we moved farther east, and the Golden Isles of Jekyll and St. Simons Islands were much closer to visit. We made a couple of trips as far as Tybee Island and some farther south, to Jacksonville Beach and St. Augustine.
(I got the worst sunburn of my life at Jacksonville Beach my senior year of high school. Bad enough to land me in an urgent care center with heat exhaustion and keep me home from school for a few days. The remnants of the scars on my back have only faded in the past few years.)
It was trips to Tybee that I drew from the most when I started writing my first novel, Sand & Water. The story is set mostly on the island, which is twenty minutes from Savannah, hanging into the ocean off the very eastern edge of the state. I last visited in about 2006, when my sister was living in a small town a couple of hours inland. We took a long weekend and went to both Savannah and Tybee, mixing walks along River Street with a stroll down the beach and a seafood lunch at Sting Ray’s.
The biggest takeaway for the book was the pace of the island. Things move a little slower in the South anyway, so when you combine that with the relaxed atmosphere of a little beach town, it’s all molasses and lazy smiles. John and Bryan are far from the fast track of life, and the way their relationship develops reflects that.
One of my souvenirs from that last Tybee trip was a set of pictures I took with my nothing-special digital camera, several of the beach and a few of the pier that extends out into the water. Two of those images ended up as part of the gorgeous cover Reese Dante designed for Sand & Water. I loved the feeling of being able to contribute more than just the words to the story.
This summer, there won’t be any beach trips for me. Even if I was a regular visitor, my schedule is too jam-packed already to fit anything in. But maybe I’ll find a pool and a chair and an umbrella and make the most of it. Maybe I’ll even give Sand & Water a re-read and enjoy a visit with some old friends.
Blurb
Widower John McConnell gets along fine raising his daughter on Georgia’s Tybee Island, though he wouldn’t exactly say he’s happy. Haunted by the memory of his dead wife, John hasn’t considered dating again until he meets Bryan Simmons in the park. It isn’t long before John realizes that what he feels for Bryan could be something real, but how will he know he’s ready to move on?
As John soon discovers, Bryan carries some heavy emotional baggage of his own. With John’s help, Bryan starts to put his demons to rest, and together they lay the foundation for a relationship. It looks like they might finally leave their tragedies behind them—until John takes a misstep that could turn a magical night together into their last.
Buy links:
- Dreamspinner Press
- Amazon
- Amazon UK
- Barnes & Noble
- All Romance
Bio
Shae Connor lives in Atlanta, where she’s a lackadaisical government worker for a living and writes sweet-hot romance under the cover of night. She’s been making things up for as long as she can remember, but it took her a long time to figure out that maybe she should try writing them down. A member of the Romance Writers of America and the Rainbow Romance Writers chapter, Shae was first published in 2010. Her third novel, Wayward Son, was released May 11, 2015, by Dreamspinner Press.
Shae is part Jersey, part Irish, and all Southern, which explains why she never shuts up. When she’s not chained to her laptop, she enjoys cooking, traveling, watching baseball, and reading voraciously. You can find her hanging out on Twitter most any time @shaeconnor, but for the more direct route, you can email her at shaeconnorwrites@gmail.com or visit her website at shaeconnorwrites.com.
Giveaway
This is the last post in our Beach Read Bonanza. You can enter here to win the big beach bag full of goodies, including the kindle! Just leave a comment here, or at any of our Beach Read posts in June.
- 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.
Like you, I’m not much of a beach bunny. I love the beach at dusk, when there is no people and you can feel the waves rolling in. I also love the beach in winter, with a wild sea and waves breaking and salt in the air. That’s my favourite time of year for going to the beach.
Thank you for the giveaway. The book sounds great.
I am a beach bunny, given half a chance!
I’ve not heard of these islands so I’ll be investigating later!
Spent so much time on many beaches. Thanks for the post.
I like the beach when it’s not to hot and not to crowded. I’m not a sunbading person and i don’t get a tan but sadly do get sun burn easy. But i love to read and i love the blurb of Sand & Water. It looks like a great summer read, it will definitely go on my TBR/buy list and i’m looking forward to read this when i’m lounging in my own backyard this summer 🙂
I sunburn super easily, but I love relaxing in the shade on the beach under a palm tree or a beach umbrella!
The beach is my favorite place!
I love the beach after 6pm when less crowdy and breezy and no need to apply suntan lotion. Then I can read in peace!
I’m not a beach person myself. Worst sunburn of my life was during Senior week. A friend and I were staying in a Condo in OC. We went sunbathing and I fell asleep. What made it the worse sunburn is I fell asleep with my arms over my head…lying on my back. If you have never burned your arm pits be very grateful. Very painful. I look back now and laugh but at the time….. Thanks for the post
I too have experience with, and scars from, a bad sunburning from when I was a kid/young teenager. When the blisters healed it took years before the damaged skin tolerated even a tiny bit of sun, and now, many years later I do everything I can to make sure I don’t get much of a tan, due to the old damage and more recent medical treatment which has left the skin more perceptible to sun damage. I still enjoy the beach though, but I stay in the shade or stay mostly covered with clothes when not bathing.
When I was a kid we used to go to the Jersey shore. Traffic was bad in the 60’s/70’s. I couldn’t imagine the traffic now. Any “zenness” the beach might provide would be crushed in the commute home.
Not a beach person but love reading about them! Thanks for the post.
I’m with you on the beaches. I much prefer shade and a book. I’m happy to watch others enjoying the sand and water, though. 🙂
Major beach bunny here. That’s what happens when you grew up in San Diego with the Jan & Dean, the Beach Boys and the rest.
You just described the way I like to spend time at the beach. It’s so difficult to get people to understand that being at the beach is just as much fun as being in the water. Just being around the water is soothing.
I like the idea of having the beach nearby, but I’m not compelled to visit too often…
It’s quite a drive from Dallas to the closest beach, but I went to Padre Island for a few days as a teenager and loved it.
I’ve had people tell me that the Texas gulf coast isn’t all that great compared to other coasts, but I really enjoyed myself.
🙂
I love the title. Calls to mind sand castles.
I wish I could spend time at the beach. I’d love to sit and make sandcastles with my grandchildren, watch them run into and out of the water as it chases their steps.
I wish I could spend more time at the beach! Love the water on the East Coast as opposed to the Gulf of Mexico where I live. The water is so pretty there!
I, too, like you am not a beach bunny. If I’m lucky enough I tan in the weirdest places as well as sunburn on parts of my body that I swear was covered up. I do love the boardwalk though and all the little shops and food. Thank you for the post!
The sun and my skin don’t get along but I do love the beach. Mostly I sit under an umbrella with a book but I like to walk too – wearing lots of sunscreen and a big hat!
I’m lucky enough not to burn terribly often, of course, on the flip, I also rarely tan. Pale, pale, pale. But I enjoy the sunshine anyway!
With my high sun factor slapped on, because of my pale skin, and a parasol at hand, I would much rather beach comb or read in the shade 🙂
My worst sunburn ever? My friend and I took our kids to the beach! We were out numbered 5 to 2. As we were putting sun block on the kids , the kids insisted on putting it on us. I ended up with a big circle in the middle of my back that did not receive treatment and some stray finger prints within where it did! I was so painful but hilarious at the same time!