Building a family for my Keller Family series

I could not be happier with the love that the Keller family has received from my readers. When I began to pen THE EXECUTIVE'S DECISION I had no intention of adding to the series, but when you have so many siblings, how could you not.



 I set out to tell a story about a woman, Regan Keller, who was starting all over with a new life and a secret buried deep in her heart. I never expected to fill the book with characters that would last for seven books...or more. (By the way, all the characters in all the stories (except Clara and Christian's) have been introduced in the very first book!)

I clearly remember the day that I penned Regan's hair demise in a Nashville rain storm. (I've been in one of those!) And instantly she was at the bus stop because her brother had taken her car to fix it. Well there we go, a new character! A little further in there was another brother, a doctor, hmmm he'd be interesting.

By the time the characters in my book had finished introducing themselves to me I had four siblings. And somewhere in my subconscious, I added in the fact that many of my friends growing up had been adopted (yes...I had come to the conclusion that if you weren't adopted you couldn't be my friend...it was an interesting phenomenon.) So the Keller family began to take on the eclectic dynamic which made them appealing.

The Keller parents, Alan and Emily, had their own twists--German backgrounds. In fact, I think in each book, the spotlighted sibling refers to Emily's German/Southern accent and how it intermixes at times and makes her unique.

As for the eclectic part... Regan and Arianna are blood sisters from the same parents. They were, however, adopted by the Kellers when they were very small.  In fact, Regan was an infant (adopted at two) so she has no recollection of her birth parents at all.  Upon their adoption, the Kellers found out they were having a child of their own, which they'd been told wouldn't happen. Curtis is the only natural child to Alan and Emily. He's the only one to be fair skinned and blue eyed, but he is not favored--this is think is what makes the family work. The siblings are all unique and the only natural child to the couple in the bunch is just as important as the others.

Then there is Carlos. Carlos moved to Nashville with is birth parents when he was six, from Puerto Rico. His parents were killed and the Kellers took him in. He, like Regan and Arianna, never left. His dark exotic looks feed his character, and blend into his children's charms as well (as we see when they grow older.) He is probably the most mild mannered of them all. With the introduction of Carlos came a slew of other characters that would follow for books to come. We met his ex-wife (which would become the main character in book 2, A SECOND CHANCE, when she battles breast cancer.) We are introduced to Eduardo (who we will follow in LOST AND FOUND), Clara (her story comes in book six, LOVE SONGS), and our favorite baseball player Christian (his story comes in book seven, HOME RUN). Each of these siblings brought a new level to the series, just as the original four did.

Curtis was probably the hardest character for me to write. He has a caring nature, but he's young at heart. Perhaps the most laid back of the sibilings, his heart tumbled for our rich, and a bit sassy oil heiress Simone Pierpont (whom we meet as Zach's best friend in book one). She was a lot of fun to write because she had to change her thinking on herself. There were a lot of "Come to God" moments for her and it was refreshing.

Arianna Keller was always my butterfly. She did what she wanted, was comfortable in her own skin, and loved her family with a passion.  She is the aunt you love as a child and as a parent you shake your head. She's not looking for romance, but she's not stupid to brush it off either.

You're often asked as an author, do you put yourself into your characters? Of course. I'm uptight like Regan. I have such love and compassion for my children and my husband that Madeline was very near and dear to my heart. I'm a bit of a worry wart like Carlos. I'm a chronic entrepreneur, so I understand Zach very well.  I'm not above a good job done well and working hard to get it, which is how John Forrester is prestented.  Though I wasn't brought up as Simone was, I think her turning points are most like me. Those ah-ha moments that take you by surprise...I've had my share of those.  Arianna, perhaps she's the least like me, but I strive to be comfy in my own skin and not back down from that...work in progress.  I guess that leaves Curtis and I have trust issues just like he does.  Mess me over and it's going to be hard to get on my good side again. I guess in his life, I made him a little more forgiving.

As I'm a very normal person, and I've created very normal characters, I think this is what brings out their appeal. Everyone can relate to one of them.

But as always, in my family building, I keep my motto in tact. I always promise Happily Ever After and family can give you that just as completely as romance can.

You can find all my books on my website at www.bernadettemarie.com or all the buy links at www.5princebooks.com/buy.htm

Launch Day for OPPOSITE ATTRACTION!

Wow! I didn't think this day would ever get here! But finally...the release of book 3 in the Keller Family Series has arrived! Welcome to Opposite Attraction, already on the Bestsellers lists on iTunes!

Opposite Attraction book 3 in the series

OPPOSITE ATTRACTION, book 3 in the Keller Family Series:

Curtis Keller is a lucky man. He has the love and support of a family like no other. But he's never fallen in love with a woman. He likes to play the field, have a good time, and enjoyed friends with benefits. But when wild child Simone Pierpont comes into his life for the first time he considers settling down—until she abandons him.

Simone Pierpont fell in love. She hadn't meant to, but her best friend's brother-in-law had treated her, the Parisian oil heiress, with more compassion than she'd ever known.  What was she to do? So she left him stranded on a yacht in the French Rivera.

Now, cut off from her father's fortune, pregnant, and desperate to win Curtis's heart; Simone must prove to everyone she can hold down a job and take care of herself.  Curtis isn't sure the spoiled princess can change, but because of his caring nature he has a hard time turning her away.

However, all efforts might be for not when he learns about her pregnancy and she is forced to run back to her father. But Curtis will eventually understand and come for her—or so she hopes.

Excerpt

…

Caterers moved about the house and Curtis fixed himself a plate of fruit.He’d be happier in the kitchen he decided.The reception was depressing him.

When he lifted his head from the platters of food, he saw the reason it depressed him standing right in front of him.

“Hello, Curtis.”Simone Pierpont’s French accent stabbed right into his heart before he choked on the grape he’d just swallowed whole.

He coughed until he could breathe.Her eyes never wavered from him and he was sure they had bored a hole right through him.

“Simone.I didn’t expect you here.”

She twisted her fingers together and smiled nervously.“I’ve been out of town.”

Didn’t he know that?He’d tried for the past two months to find her.Even his brother-in-law, Zach, who she claimed was her very dearest friend, hadn’t known where to find her.

“You’re looking well.”He wasn’t sure what else to say.He’d been dumped by women before, but it had never hurt like this one did. Oh, she’d had him fooled. Yes, he thought there’d been a chance for something real.He’d thought it was love.

But he had to acknowledge that there were women in the world who appreciated the art of seduction and fast steamy love affairs without stings just as men did. He just never thought he’d be the man who was used and disposed of.

Damn her anyway, he thought.

She took a step toward himand then stopped just short of reaching him.Her knuckles were white now and her nervousness wasn’t helping him keep calm.

Simone bit down on her lip then shifted her blue eyes to his. “I would have called…”

“Listen,” he set down his plate.“You don’t owe me any explanations.Zach and Regan set us up to share the evening together so we wouldn’t be alone.They didn’t tell us to,” he lowered his voice, “screw like rabbits and run off to your yacht in the French Riviera.So we had a good time.Really, who thought much of it?”He had and he fought his eyes to make sure she didn’t know how much he’d thought of it.

“Right.It was just sex.I was hoping you would understand that.”

“Got it.”He picked up his plate.“Well I think I’ll go see how the party is going.See ya‘round.”



That wasn’t exactly how Simone had hoped that would go.She untangled her fingers realizing they were almost numb now.

She deserved him to treat her like that.She’d been very forthcoming with him, over too much champagne on her yacht, that she’d bedded many men.Why she felt he needed to know that she wasn’t sure.She’d left out the hefty part of the tale though.Most of those men had been in her bed while she tried to wrap her head around the fact that Zachary Benson had never seen her as more than a sister or dear friend.

Lucky for her, she loved him the same.She was glad he and Regan had found each other and now had a family.But that hadn’t changed her view on herself.Simone Pierpont longed for what Zach now had.Love, marriage, and a family.One piece didn’t really fit without the other.

She sucked in a breath.Had she not made such an ass out of herself in front of Curtis and then run off without a word, stranding him on the Rivera to find his own way home, perhaps she’d have just that.

Simone ran her hands over the slim satin line of her dress, lingering only a moment on her jittery stomach.

Well, she thought, at least she’d have some of what Zach had.

…

Bio

Bernadette Marie has been an avid writer since the early age of 13, when she’d fill notebook after notebook with stories that she’d share with her friends.  Her journey into novel writing started the summer before eighth grade when her father gave her an old typewriter.  At all times of the day and night you would find her on the back porch penning her first work, which she would continue to write for the next 22 years.

In 2007—after marriage, filling her chronic entrepreneurial needs, and having five children—Bernadette began to write seriously with the goal of having her work published.  That year she wrote 12 books.  In 2009,  she was contracted for her first trilogy and the published author was born.  In 2011 she (being the entrepreneur that she is) opened her own publishing house, 5 Prince Publishing, and has released contemporary titles and began the process of taking on other authors in other genres.

In 2012 Bernadette Marie found herself on the worldwide bestsellers lists of iTunes and Amazon to name a few.  Her office wall is lined with colorful PostIt notes with the titles of books she will be releasing in the very near future, with hope that they too will grace the bestsellers lists.

Bernadette spends most of her free time driving her kids to their many events.  She is also an accomplished martial artist who will earn her conditional second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do in October 2012.  She loves to meet readers who enjoy reading contemporary romances and she always promises Happily Ever After.

Where to find Bernadette Marie and connect with her:

www.bernadettemarie.com

www.5princebooks.com

info@bernadettemarie.com

www.facebook.com/authorbernadettemarie

www.authorbernadettemarie.blogspot.com

Twitter: @writesromance

Buy links:

The Executive's Decision is FREE!
Book 1 in the series

Book 2 in the series!

Where to buy my books:

AMAZON

BARNES AND NOBLE

iTUNES

SMASHWORDS

Meet Curtis Keller ~The Keller Family Series

For those of you who have read the Keller Family series, you're very familiar with Curtis Keller, the youngest of the Keller family sibilings.  But, just in case you're new to the party of this best selling series, let me introduce you to the Keller family.

Opposite Attraction, book 3

Alan and Emily Keller, in their own right, are an eclectic duo. Emily was born and raised in Germany. Often her children, through out the series, reflect on how wonderful her mashed up accent is--German and Southern. This couple, still madly in love after decades of marriage, had only wanted to start a family, however, as they both moved into their forties they knew this dream would never come to light. But fate deals out many different cards, and bestowed to the Kellers were two young girls, Arianna and Regan. Arianna was two when she became the foster daughter to the Kellers and her baby sister only a few months old. Two years later, on the day the Kellers would officially adopt these two strong headed girls they would find they were finally expecting a child of their own, Curtis Keller. If you know the Keller family you know that one more child came into this eclectic bunch when he was seven. Carlos Keller was adopted by the Kellers when, after having moved here with his birth parents from Puerto Rico, his parents were killed in a car accident.

Now you know the Kellers... let's get to know Curtis!

A Second Chance, book 2

Curtis, though not much younger than the rest in age, is certainly considered the baby of the group. Of course, he is the only one that resembles the Kellers at all with his light hair and blue eyes.

The youngest Keller sibling is a doctor, and his brother and sisters look up to him. We see Curtis at work often. We met him in THE EXECUTIVE'S DECISION on numerous occasions as Regan came and went from the hospital as a visitor and a patient.  Curtis was on call in A SECOND CHANCE as Madeline was wheeled into surgery the very first time.

He has a strong conviction for family. You don't mess with his family--but then we see often enough, the Keller family rally for each other.

Curtis loves women, but he is married to his job, and any woman who thinks differently is in for a heart break. Cynthia O'Dell understands him best.  She too is married to the medical profession, but she's lucky enough to have "befriended" Curtis Keller. The duo enjoy all the perks to a "friend with benefits," from being the safe date at dinner, to bringing snacks to work, to having one of them fix a leaky faucet. The two of them enjoy each other in and out of bed, but they both know friendship is as far as it goes.

Curtis Keller could live happily ever after on his own. He's built his life to encompass his work, his family, and a few special friends. But when oil heiress Simone Pierpont shakes up his world, his priorities are scrambled.

An arranged date at Carlos's wedding to Kathy, Curtis and Simone are thrown together, only the couple lets the heat between them take over. What was to be companionship for a few hours turned into a hot and heavy affair lasting over a week on two continents and ending with Simone stranding Curtis on a yacht in the French Rivera.

The Executive's Decision, book 1

Lucky to have his job still in tact, he's bound and determined to keep his life the way he had it before Simone Pierpont turned it upside down.  But now she's back in Nashville, and it looks like she's planning to stay.

Now what is he supposed to do?


Thanks for taking the time to get to know Curtis Keller!  Leave your remarks and you could win a FREE e-copy of OPPOSITE ATTRACTION, (chosen at random and announced on 8-15-12) 

OPPOSITE ATTRACTION launches world wide on 8-16-12! Join us here for the launch party, and join us tomorrow and meet Simone Pierpont!



Where to buy my books:
AMAZON
BARNES AND NOBLE


iTUNES
SMASHWORDS

About Bernadette Marie

Bernadette Marie has been an avid writer since the early age of 13, when she’d fill notebook after notebook with stories that she’d share with her friends.  Her journey into novel writing started the summer before eighth grade when her father gave her an old typewriter.  At all times of the day and night you would find her on the back porch penning her first work, which she would continue to write for the next 22 years. 

In 2007 – after marriage, filling her chronic entrepreneurial needs, and having five children – Bernadette began to write seriously with the goal of being published.  That year she wrote 12 books.  In 2009  she was contracted for her first trilogy and the published author was born.  In 2011 she (being the entrepreneur that she is) opened her own publishing house, 5 Prince Publishing, and has released contemporary titles and began the process of taking on other authors in other genres. 

In 2012 Bernadette Marie found herself on the bestsellers lists of iTunes and Amazon to name a few.  Her office wall is lined with colorful PostIt notes with the titles of books she will be releasing in the very near future, with hope that they too will grace the bestsellers lists.

Bernadette spends most of her free time driving her kids to their many events.  She is also an accomplished martial artist who will earn her conditional second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do in October 2012.  An avid reader, she enjoys most, the works of Nora Roberts, Karen White, Megan Hart, and Carmen DeSousa to name a few. She loves to meet readers who enjoy reading contemporary romances and she always promises Happily Ever After.

Have you ever heard of anyone who died from embarrassment?

As a martial artist I have the opportunity to enrich lives of others.  One way is by teaching them how to physically take care of themselves if they are ever in a threatening situation.

Whenyou’re trying to explain this concept to kids, however, they will tell you how they can take the bad guy out with one punch. To hear my six-year-old talk, he could take a three hundred pound man and pummel him to bits. 

Thoughthat’s thinking big, perhaps it’s not that realistic.  We teach the kids To run, scream, and make a scene.  And why would you do that?  To get away.  To live to see another day, because the bad guy might get you if you don’t, and no one ever died of embarrassment if you happen to have misunderstood the situation.

 

Perhaps a drastic way of looking at your writing career, but don’t we do that too?  Sure we do. Our three hundred pound bad guy, isn’t really bad at all, but just as scary and could crush us all the same. We know we have what it takes to write one book and make it to the top of that list.  We think big. 

But how many of us attack the big bad guy? We lurk in private places egging on the bad guy by writing our stories. We walk in dark alleys (aka, our offices while others sleep.)  Only those we trust hear our secret whispers, “I’m working on writing a book.”  We protect what’s ours, but then someone asks, “What’s it about?”

You’vebeen approached by the enemy.  Danger is now looking you in the face.  One option to deal with the enemy is to not tell them anything.  Keep it hidden.  Walk the alley at night.  And what happens?  Your manuscript has been crushed by the bad guy, and never sees the light of day.  You’re not dead, but your dreams might be.

OR…you could run, scream, and cause a scene! 

That’s right you could tell everyone what’s been happening in that alley.  Bring it to the light and let them see.  Run through the streets and let the world know you’re there.  Someone might even ask to see this book you’ve been writing.  And you might get embarrassed!  It just might happen.

But remember, no matter whether you’re running from an attacker or putting yourself on display for the world to critique, no one has ever died from embarrassment.

Happy Reading!

Bernadette Marie

Meet the Keller Family

The past few weeks I have been very blessed with the outpouring of love for my Keller Family which I feature in the Keller Family Series.  Currently THE EXECUTIVE'S DECISION and A SECOND CHANCE are published.  Expect OPPOSITE ATTRACTION, book 3, at the end of summer 2012 and CENTER STAGE (book 4) in early 2013. Book 5 is not yet titled.

So who are the Kellers?  Well, let's meet them.

Alan and Emily Keller are the heads of the dynamic and eclectic bunch.  Regan makes mention in T.E.D. that one of the unique features of her mother is when her German heritage and her Tennessee home intermix with her accent.

Alan and Emily have only one birth child, Curtis.  The rest of their family was built through adoption, building a close knit and unique family.

Arianna is the eldest of the Keller children.  She was two when the Kellers took her in as her foster parents.  Arianna is an actress living in New York and perusing her dreams. When we meet her she has landed her first On Broadway production. Her story, CENTER STAGE, is her coming home story to open her own theater with the help of John Forrester, Zach Benson's right hand man.

Regan Keller was an infant when the Kellers took in her and her sister.  She doesn't remember any other home.  Regan's wanderlust took her away from home after college where she worked in L.A. at a law firm and met the man that would change her life forever.  Though that man was not Mr. Right and nearly killed her, without him she wouldn't have fallen into the lap of her true love Zach Benson in THE EXECUTIVE'S DECISION.  Regan has the most haunted past of all the Keller children, and she will have to face past decisions as they come to light again in a future book.

Carlos Keller was seven when his biological parents were killed after having moved to Tennessee from Puerto Rico.  The Kellers took him in and like Arianna and Regan, he never left.  Carlos married the love of his life when they were young.  Though in love, they couldn't make their love hold their marriage together and after three children, he and Madeline divorced.  Their story is found in the pages of A SECOND CHANCE--because perhaps there is one.

Curtis Keller is the only biological child of Emily and Alan Keller, but not favored.  He is a resident doctor and spends most of his time at the hospital.  There is little time for him to create a lasting relationship in his life, but Zach Benson's best friend Simone Pierpont is about to turn his world upside down in OPPOSITE ATTRACTION.

You'd think the series could end, right?  Four kids, four books.  But book five will take us on an adventure of the next generation as we get to know Eduardo Keller as a grown man working with his uncle at Benson, Benson, and Hart.  I have to say, after writing Carlos and Madeline's story, this is the one I can't wait to get my hands on, but that's all I'm going to say for now.

So why Nashville, Tennessee?  The entire series was based on one even that I thought about.  What if you were caught in a rain storm, forced on a bus, and fell into the lap of your future boss and the man of your dreams.  One quick jerk of the brakes on a bus could toss you into a whole new world.

So, funny enough, the only time I was caught in a flash rain storm was indeed in downtown Nashville.  I've never been so wet!  But it stuck with me and what a fond memory I have of that day.  So when I began to pen the book Nashville was naturally where they landed and where Regan was caught in the rain storm.

I hope you enjoyed a little break down of the Keller family.  I have enjoyed writing them.  I am also working on a long term series the Aspen Creek Series set in the fictional Colorado mountain town.  The fun of this series will be the different dynamics I can bring to it with different families and different characters.  The first book FIRST KISS brings a retired NFL MVP back to town to close out his father's estate.  Another encompasses that love between a single mother and a younger rock star. Of course my martial arts sneaks in there with a very great and eclectic Irish/Korean family.  There is so much you can do with a town, but we will explore that next week.



Until then, remember if you haven't read THE EXECUTIVE'S DECISION you can find it on Amazon and iTunes for FREE!

Six Sentence Sunday! featuring FIRST KISS

Six Sentence Sunday!

Today I am bringing you a quick sampling of FIRST KISS my work in progress as the first book of the ASPEN CREEK SERIES.

Cade Carter is headed back to the small town where he was raised.  Only this former NFL MVP has his head in the clouds, but his old friend Olivia Baker is about to pull him back to Earth.

He’d had no intentions of getting to his own father’s funeral on time.  

Cade gripped the steering wheel tighter.  He did owe him the decency to be at his funeral, because Cade Carter had been the worst son, and he knew it.

The first sign that would alert drivers to the small town of Aspen Creek was coming up on his right.  A left would take him over the next hill to the elite ski resort town of Aspen Hills.  The road he veered down would drop him into small town hell.

 Look for the first installment of Aspen Creek Series will arrive in the fall of 2012.

When your voice won't work use your pen

Have you had that ah-ha moment, oh you know the one, ten minutes after a fight or someone made you mad you know what you should have said?  That stirring in you gut sticks with you for hours, days, months.  The gnawing feeling you have when you see that person, hear about them, or darn it--that fight or argument replays in your head again, still eats away at you.

Be honest, it happens to all of us.  For me, I'm nearly a 2nd degree black belt (October 2012 by the way-happy dance continues) and if you attack me physically I could defend myself.  If a job needs to get done, I have the discipline to do it.  However, for being a best selling author, words never surface when they need to.

I can give you one heck of dirty look.  I still have the teenage girl in me that can talk just a bit too loud so you can get the gist of my point, but to say what needs to be said at the moment it needs to be said is not a talent I have.  So how do I combat these feelings of loss to my pride when words deceive me and leave me unsatisfied?

I write them in my stories!

To date I haven't murdered anyone in my books.  Well no one within the book.  I have put a few of my husband's quirky habits into my heroes and yes, my mother caught this one, my father's favorite pizza.  But I haven't made any nemesis die, though I could.  However, the words that must be spoken are said.  And they fly freely from my fingertips through the virtual mouth of my heroine.  She gets the satisfaction of telling someone exactly what I would have told someone else had my throat not closed off when I needed to speak.

The best part about all this is I can work out my frustrations and I get paid to do so.  And chances those people aren't going to read me anyway, but they don't even know they did wrong by me.  I usually laugh when I make a snide comment on Facebook and the person in which it is about likes my status.  It's worth the laugh.

However, on a serious note, this writing challenge started for me at a young age.  It was my mother's coping mechanism.  She didn't get mad very often.  She didn't scream or yell a lot.  She sat down with a piece of paper and wrote a letter that would tear you to pieces.  Then she would rip up the paper and throw it away.  I often wondered why she did that.  But as I grew older I understood.  Some of us can't say the words that need to be said, but we can write them.  And sometimes no one has to read them to make us feel better.  We just feel better having seen the words for ourselves.

Happy Reading!
Bernadette Marie