Friday, February 23, 2018

How She Went From #Jobless to #Fearless by Valerie Ullmer


FEARLESS FRIDAY

Please join me in welcoming Valerie Ullmer. She fearlessly dove into a writing career. Read her story.
In 2010, after working for close to twenty years in various office jobs that I hated or bored me to death, I was laid off.  Of course, at first you freak out because you have just lost your job, and I was no different.  I couldn’t stop thinking about what I was supposed to do.
But an idea kept playing over and over in my head.  Since my early twenties, the idea of becoming a writer appealed to me.  There are a lot of writing resources, but back when I was first thinking about it, there seemed to be rules upon rules upon rules that made me think that writing was formulaic and not natural or creative.
And then I came across advice that I understood and perfectly from the moment I heard it.  In order to learn how to write…you write.  You just write.
From that moment on, I realized the only way I could write a book was to write a book.  And the first one was horrendous, but I got through it and loved every moment of it and it encouraged me to try again.  I did study structure and character arcs as I went, but writing everything from writing prompts to short stories and working my way up to novels was the greatest teacher I could have ever had.
Being laid off was the greatest thing that ever happened to me and it taught me that sometimes, life has something different planned for you.
My newest release, Fall for You, will be released in the boxed set, All You Need is Love, available now.
Blurb
Ethan Sutton had come to the stunning revelation that he’d fallen in love with his best friend, Sebastian Young.  Although friends since childhood, Ethan vowed to keep his feelings for Sebastian under wraps and live the rest of his life with this one secret between them rather than risk a lifelong connection and never see him again.  But when they move into their own apartment at the start of their third year of college, can Ethan keep his feelings from showing when they live so close together?
Sebastian Young had an epiphany about Ethan at the end of last year and arranged for the shared apartment he’d found over the summer to be closer to Ethan and see if a relationship could develop between them.  But as they settle into their lives in a new place with such close quarters, ex-girlfriends, nosy downstairs neighbors, and Sebastian’s own doubts, their relationship could be in jeopardy before it even begins.
Can two best friends admit their feelings and fall in love?
Ethan realized falling in love with his best friend had been easy.  Keeping his feelings a secret from Sebastian as they move into a one-bedroom loft and deal with decisions from their past might prove a bit more difficult.
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Excerpt
Sebastian beamed at him and managed to quickly change the subject.  “Ready to see our new place?”
Ethan nodded.  He felt a loss when Sebastian squeezed his hand once before he let go.  Sebastian opened the driver’s side door and Ethan copied the movement on his side, wondering if he would survive living in a space with Sebastian and be able to keep his feelings locked down deep inside.
“Let’s get our stuff after.  I want you to see it first.”  Sebastian’s excitement made Ethan smile.
Sebastian reached for Ethan’s arm and led him to the side entrance of the modern building Ethan hadn’t noticed before.  Ethan was surprised when Sebastian kept his warm hand on his arm, underneath his grey tee, skin on skin.  As Sebastian turned to shoot him a smile of reassurance, walking backward toward the door, Ethan couldn’t help but noticed how the blue of Sebastian’s tee brought out the hazel of his eyes.  Thinking that he might have been staring a little too long, he glanced down and back up at Sebastian, who still smiled at him.
Reaching back to open the door, Sebastian moved his hand out of the way in time to avoid the door that was pushed open from the inside.  Darting his gaze to the opened door, Ethan barely contained his groan when he spotted the pretty blonde exiting the building.
Well, it was good while it lasted.
She was exactly Sebastian’s type.  Blonde, slender, and wearing a tight white tank and shorts.  He knew Sebastian wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to flirt with her.
Ethan tried to pull his arm from Sebastian’s grip, wanting to go inside and avoid the inevitable, but found himself trapped when she turned and smiled at Sebastian.  With a quick glance to see what Ethan had been looking at, Sebastian turned back to Ethan and raised a brow.
“Hi, I’m Sarah.”
Ethan was stunned silent when Sebastian gave her a quick nod in greeting and dragged Ethan through the door and up the short flight of stairs.  With one last glance behind him to make sure Ethan hadn’t bolted, Sebastian unlocked the door to their flat.
“What?”
“That was the first time I’ve witnessed you not flirt with a woman.  And she was blonde.”
Sebastian laughed and shook his head, opening the door.  “I’m partial to dark hair and olive skin.”
“Since when?” Ethan blurted.
Sebastian’s smile grew wider.  He turned and walked inside the flat, leaving Ethan to follow.
As if on autopilot, Ethan walked in behind Sebastian, keeping his eyes on his wide shoulders, waiting silently to see what he would say.
“After Amber, and others that came before her, I realized that I needed some time alone to think about who I want to be with.  I’ve figured out a lot of things after I quit serial dating.”
His words, while doing nothing to clear up why he hadn’t flirted with Sarah downstairs, struck him as sincere and completely serious.  His heart beat hard and his hands went numb, unable to stop his thoughts from presuming that Sebastian felt more for him than friendship.  And as quickly as they’d come, he dismissed his crazy notions that Sebastian would fall in love with him after all their years of friendship.
About Valerie
Valerie writes paranormal and contemporary M/F and M/M erotic romances. She lives in Denver, Colorado with her wonderfully supportive husband and their funny and wise black lab. She's addicted to coffee, crime shows, and reading and writing character-driven romances.
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