***8/26/08***Unfortunately, the comments (the party itself) didn't survive transfer to the new blog.***
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Cyber-Launch Party for SWEET SENSATION by Gwyneth Bolton
Hey, Blog Buddies! Welcome to the party! This time we have our own lovely Gwyneth Bolton with her newest release SWEET SENSATION. This novel is in all the stores and you can find it on-line at Amazon too. Click on Gwyneth's link to the right and you'll be taken to her blog where you can click on her website link. For such a new author, she's got quite a booklist accumulated already. You may remember me featuring I'M GONNA MAKE YOU LOVE ME and, most recentaly, IF YOU ONLY KNEW in past entries. So, join the fun and if you comment under the entry your name will be entered into a drawing for an autographed copy of SWEET SENSATION.Do try to be patient with the Klingons though. They're usually a blast to have around, but they can get carried away sometimes.Here are some questions I asked Gwyneth which she graciously answered:1. Can you share the journey you took in creating SWEET SENSATION? What inspired you? How did the characters reveal themselves?The journey to SWEET SENSATION is actually a pretty long one when I think about it. I did a Master of Arts degree in Creative Writing and Composition Studies back in the mid-90s. At the time, I opted to do a thesis that was supposed to be a collection of short stories. Well, one short story about a deejay and a wanna-be female rapper just refused to confine itself to the 20-25 page spot I had allotted it. When it refused to end and I realized that I really wanted to keep writing it, my thesis changed from a collection of short stories to the first third of a novel titled “Looking for the Spirit: A Hip-Hop Love Story.” At the time, it was not a romance novel. And I knew that they would eventually part ways even though I never finished that novel. But the characters never really left me. When Flex popped up in my first romance novel, I’M GONNA MAKE YOU LOVE ME as a competing love-interest, I thought hmmm… so there you are… I remember you… The cool thing is that long forgotten thesis about Flex and Sweet Dee’s angst-ridden teenage years didn’t go to waste. It gave me the most detailed back-story for characters that I have ever had. LOL. Part of my inspiration for writing SWEET SENSATION, for going back and revamping that thesis, is I really wanted to see what a hip-hop romance would look like.And I wanted to play with what happens when hip-hoppers grow up and have families and have to think about raising their own children in this media influenced world we live in. The characters revealed themselves to me pretty much the same way all my characters reveal themselves to me. They invaded my dreams with their stories until it got to the point where I was sufficiently compelled to write them down.2. What experience do you hope your readers will take away from SWEET SENSATION?I want them to get a taste of the culture of hip-hop and the flavor of the Spoken-Word Movement. But mostly I want them to just enjoy a nice sweet love story that just happens to have hip-hop as its backdrop and soulful soundtrack. 3. Do you want Klingons at your party? ;) Sure! Klingons are very much welcomed! We don't discriminate! The more the merrier. Thanks for having this party for me, Kimber An. You rock!To which I replied, "Ka-plah!" (translation: "Success!")
