Tuesday, March 6, 2018

TIME TO SAY GOODBYE by Author Parker J. Cole

Hello! This is one of my tour stops during my one month book tour for Time to Say Goodbye by Parker J. Cole. This virtual book tour is organized by Write Now Literary Book Tours. This tour runs March 5-30, 2018.  Follow the tour here.  Book your own tour here WNL.   
      
ISBN-10: 1973224151
ISBN-13: 978-1973224150
Genre: Sweet Inspirational Romance

About The Author
I am an author, speaker, and radio show host with a fanatical obsession with the Lord, Star Trek, K-dramas, anime, romance books, old movies, speculative fiction, and knitting. An off and on addict to Mountain Dew and marshmallows who writes to fill the void the sugar left behind.
About The Book
Gargi Kapoor is the only one convinced her brother, Dev, is innocent of the crime he was convicted of. When he is sent to the hospital with an unexplained paralyzing disease she finds herself having to lean on the last person she'd ever want to depend on -- a man who wants her brother to pay for stealing his mother's life savings.
Leon Reckley is extremely satisfied to find the man who ripped his mother off suffering from an unknown disease that leaves him paralyzed and in need of rehabilitation therapeutic services. He's even happier when he is given the opportunity to be the therapist that makes him fit enough to return to prison to finish his sentence. No one will work harder to make sure Dev Kapoor serves every minute of his prison sentence.
Gargi never dreamed the man who has utter contempt for her brother would be the man she slowly begins to trust. Leon never thought he'd be convinced Dev might be innocent, let alone be drawn to his enemy's little sister. Together, will they find the truth? Or when Leon's job is over, will it simply be time to say goodbye?
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Purchase Links
Tour hosted by WNL Book Tours 

10 things about the characters in your book.

In my book, Time to Say Goodbye, cultures, guilt, and innocence clash in this tale of enemies to sweethearts. My focus when I write romance is to include a multicultural aspect or an interracial/inter-ethnic couple among the romance.

Creating the characters for Time to Say Goodbye was a fun exercise. The reason why is because they were not of my ethnic background. Gargi, the hero, is an Indian woman and Leon comes from the background of growing up in a trailer park.

The best part is learning about both of these characters through my friends! I made sure to acknowledge them in the beginning of the book and for that, I’m thankful.

So Ten things about my characters.

10. Gargi Kapoor’s beauty, as I see it, came from a brief work acquaintance I had with an Indian woman from South Indian when I was working.  She had dark skin, very dramatic features, and dark hair and eyebrows. I remember staring at her, mesmerized by her beauty. Everything about her was so exotic and different. I tried to incorporate that when Leon meets her from a man’s perspective.
9. Leon Reckley was a truck driver in the first draft, not a physical therapist. Time to Say Goodbye went through two drafts. At first, Leon was going to meet Gargi while at a toll booth on the way back home. He would see her and Devansh being escorted by the agents at the toll booth in Texas and his eyes would meet her. I decided to change that when I began to research other elements of the stor.
8. Some of my characters are named after people I know with the exception of Gargi. Leon is named after someone who was a friend of my sisters (although he’s nothing like Leon Reckley). Shruti is the cousin of my hubby’s best friend who is Naveen. Naveen is my hubby’s best friend.   Ajit is a longtime friend of the family. Elizabeth Chalker is a dear friend as well.
7. Gargi’s lifestyle as an Indian girl growing up in an American setting is one I have seen reflected in many minorities. The traditional values of the Indian culture she was born into clashes with the mindset of her Western influence. Throughout the story, Gargi’s father Ajit tries to set up her with ‘good Indian men’ as potential husbands. Yet, Gargi is not interested in that. One of the women who helped me with the story made a point of how her children would not accept their parents in finding a match for them. They were more interested in love matches than arranged marriages. This pull of old and young, West and East, family tradition vs. individual pursuits is one that has always fascinated me.
6. In the first draft of the story, Gargi and Dev were not brother and sister. In fact, Gargi and Dev were engaged to each other. Dev’s original role was to be the cruel, future husband while Gargi would be the sacrificial bride. But I figured that’s been done already a few times. We’ve all heard that story before, right?
5. Leon and Gargi reside in the real city of a small town here in Michigan called Tawas. It is situated on a body of water called Lake Huron. It has a lighthouse with a picturesque view. I decided to have Tawas featured in these stories due to the fact I had so much information from my co-workers who grew up there. There’s always something to do and it has a real feel small town community
4. I try to capture my love for Indian food in the book. The first time I bit into a samosa, I had pretty much the same reaction Leon had to it. Most of Leon’s enjoyment of a samosa is from my own. Try it with the cool tang of mint chutney – to die for!
3. The character of Elizabeth Chalker is based of the real person I know as Elizabeth Chalker. She is sweet as pie but is very sick due to a condition she has called Lyme Disease. I met her through here book called Hanging on by the Scratch Marks My Nails Left Behind. After this, I interviewed her and we became friends. Due to her condition, her lifestyle is limited so what I’ve done is that I’ve used her in these two books of the Michigan Sweet romance series. In the first book, she’s a police office. In this book, she’s a doctor. What will she be next?
2. Leon’s best friend Krause is a truck driver in the story. He’s based off a person I know who is a truck driver and is a great supporter of my work though. How could I NOT put him in the book.
1. Gargi and Leon are so far my favorite couple I’ve had the pleasure of working with.

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