Say Anything
The Love in NYC Series
by Audrey Harte
SYNOPSIS
Hi, my name is Erin Tanaka. You first met me in The Winner Takes It All, and now I get to tell my story. Before I graced the stage with my presence in New York during the first season of The Next American Superstar, I was an executive assistant for the EVP of a video game publisher in Los Angeles. Meeting my fiance Mike on Craigslist might not have been the most conventional way to find romance, but I guess we must have done something right, because we've survived being together for ten years. Ten long years during which I stuck with my man through thick and thin, guiding and mothering him along the way. Now I've had my fill of being his caretaker and am on the brink of ending our relationship.
When not juggling my boss' intimidating schedule, I've been trying to break into the world of self-publishing, an unexpected yet exciting back-up plan to singing--my first love. There are a lot of possibilities, and I know the only thing that can keep me from succeeding is myself. I'm scared to be alone, but will I let that control my future, overshadowing everything else I've worked so hard to achieve? I'm beginning to lose hope that I deserve something better, something more. I feel trapped. I am afraid to say anything...afraid that in taking a big risk, I may lose everything.
EXCERPT
I really couldn’t wait until I could afford to never have to come to work again. I mean, of course I’d still be working, but not in an office. Impulsively, I checked my Amazon account. Zero sales for the day. Lovely. If I thought writing a book was difficult, selling one was even more so. It had taken me a long time to even get to this point in my life—the point where I’ve started to really focus on building a career for myself. Not the nine to five desk job I currently held, but my new side career of being an author. I knew what I wanted, and although I wasn’t completely sure yet as to how I would achieve all my goals, at least I could say that I was actively working on them. It felt like the older I got, the more time I spent reflecting on life and what it is all about. Where did we come from? What makes us tick? What makes us keep going day after day? What makes us yearn for something more? After over thirty years of living, I still do not have any answers, but the jaded cynic in me has come to this conclusion. Life is the difference between things you do for entertainment, because it makes you feel good, or things you do to survive and stay out of trouble. You work so you don’t live on the street and don’t starve. You cut your hair so you don’t look like Cousin It. You wear deodorant so you don’t offend anyone with your stench. You brush your teeth so they don’t turn black and fall out of your mouth. You pick up your clothes, do your laundry and dishes so you don’t look like you live in a pigsty. You eat healthy food and exercise regularly so your immune system stays strong and you don’t get fat and disgusting. You’re nice to your boss and co-workers because you have to see them five days a week and you want them to like you and be nice to you and not fire your ass. You’re nice to your mailman or other delivery person because you don’t want them being careless with your packages. You make friends so you don’t go insane from the lack of human contact. You stay away from the bad friends so you don’t suffer from the consequences of their shenanigans. You have children so you aren’t alone and have someone to take care of you when you’re old and incapable of caring for yourself anymore. You’re good to your children so that they will take care of you instead of leaving your worthless carcass to rot on the street. You’re good to your grandchildren so they’ll send you cute pictures of them so you look cool to the other grannies and gramps when you’re all sitting in some rest home, playing show and tell with your photo libraries on your iPads. And if you’re really good to them, they might even come visit you once or twice a year in that smelly, overpriced shithole and smuggle you some high-grade Californian medical marijuana.
And so here I was, working this desk job, sitting in an office day after day, hating the monotony of my life and the lack of direction. But at least now I’ve finally been motivated to do something about it. Tucking all my rambling thoughts away, I reluctantly turned my attention back to Jerry’s schedule. First things first. Do the job I had now and do it well so I could keep living and keep pursuing my dreams.
ONE-CLICK
MY THOUGHTS
I think this was a decent story. It revolved around Erin and her steak of men, commenting of the daily actions. There were a few things that I found a bit off. One, was that it was pretty much a telling of Erin's life. At times, there was very good imagery, but at other times not so much. Another thing I found off is that the time lines didn't add up a few times....when she was in Hawaii she had a toddler-aged nephew, Kenny (I think?) and a pregnant sister-in-law but later on while she was in NYC, Erin was buying Christmas gifts and said that she didn't have any nieces or nephews to spoil. And again when in NYC, the announcer says that they're "not passing out a schedule today. Look for your badge number on the schedule", and a couple lines later schedules are being passed out. ???? Overall the story was funny and cute at times, and was not bad. I will definitely give Audrey Harte another try on a different book, she sounds like she has some good potential. :-) I give it 3 STARS.
MEET THE AUTHOR
A self-published author of romantic and erotic fiction, Audrey Harte was born and raised in Hawaii but spent her junior high and high school years in Scottsbluff, Nebraska before moving to Los Angeles, California on her own at the age of 17. She loves living in the City of Angels, which she has proudly called home for the past 17 years. Her first book, Love in All the Wrong Places, was released on April 10th, 2013, and the second book in the same series, All the Right Things, was released on February 13th, 2014. The third and final book in the Love in L.A. series, The Winner Takes It All, was released on October 13th, 2014. Say Anything was released on April 3rd, 2015, with the cover featuring actor/model/former Harlem Globetrotter and Washington Generals player, Tyler White, and fitness model, Catherine Gontran.
You can follow all three of them on Instagram (@audreyharteauthor, @tylerdashwhite & @_coryvegas).
INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m a romantic fiction author based in Los Angeles, California, and I got into self-publishing about
two and a half years ago. I published my fourth book in April 2015 and am currently working on my fifth book, Say Something, which is Book 2 in my Love in NYC series.
What made you decide to start writing?
I’ve been writing since I was in junior high. It started out with poetry, plays, musicals and songs. I
tried to write some stories a few times, but couldn’t manage to keep at it long enough to come up with an actual book. It wasn’t until I learned about self-publishing in my early thirties that I finally decided to try to write a book and finish it this time. I’ve always been a creative person, whether it was acting, singing or writing. This is just something that is easier for me to pursue while I’m still working a day job. And I have to say it ended up being much more fulfilling than I think a career in acting or singing would have been for me.
Do you have a favorite among the characters you’ve created?
I love Alex. He’s Annie’s gay BFF in my Love in LA series. Alex was based on a few different men I knew, and he is one of her best friends and her confidante. He is also great comic relief! Everybody
should have a BFF like Alex!
What’s your favorite book to read?
I love re-reading the Harry Potter books. With as many books as I have to read these days, it is
extremely rare for me to re-read any books at all. But those are some that I would re-read for fun.
Okay, now a little bit of fun stuff ! What’s your favorite movie?
The Fifth Element is probably my all-time favorite movie, but Love Actually is one of my favorites as well.
Favorite song?
This changes from time to time, but currently my favorite song is Fantasy by Alina Baraz and Galimatias.
Favorite food?
I don’t really have a favorite food. I love great food in general! I do love a good pizza! And crème brulee is my favorite dessert ever!
And last, but not least, if you were stranded on a deserted island and could only have three things with you, what would you choose? And who is the one person you would be stranded with?
I’d say Kindle, but I would have nothing to charge it with! So I’ll go with a blank notebook, a pen and a volleyball (to play with—I wouldn’t make the ball into a Wilson or anything, lol). The one person I would be stranded with?? So easy! Channing Tatum FOR SURE! <3
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