A Look At Terri Herman-Ponce & 'In This Life' ~ @TerriPonce @GoddessFish #suspense

Today we have author Terri Herman-Ponce visiting. Welcome!

What would you like to tell readers about yourself?

* I look for any opportunity to make stuff up and think anything that can’t so easily be explained is worth an extra look and often makes a great story. I lovelovelove red wine, scotch (yep, I do!), sunrises, Ancient Egypt, the beach—and a host of other stuff that would take too much real estate to talk about. I’m the last of five children and live with my husband and son on Long Island. And, in my next life, if I haven’t moved on to somewhere else, I want to be an astronomer. I’m fascinated with the night skies almost as much as I’m fascinated with ancient Egypt.
* I’m a member of member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America, and you can read about me at http://terriponce.com/. If you love social media, you can also find me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Terri.Ponce.Author and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/TerriPonce. Come visit. I’d love to hear from you!

What book are you going to tell us about today? Is it part of a series? If so, what's the order the books should be read in?
* I’ve just re-released In This Life, Book 1 of the Past Life Series. And I’m so very, very excited about it! It’s the story of second chances…the whole concept of, if you could do it all over again, would you? The book is written from a paranormal premise of past lives, where the characters have a chance to fix past mistakes and right previous wrongs, but who soon discover that doing so doesn’t always mean better. It can also mean deadly. In This Life opens with Dr. Lottie Morgan recovering from the flu and experiencing dreams of a lover she’s never had before. As a psychologist, she’s thinking the dreams will go away when the fever breaks, until she gets a call from a mysterious man claiming he’s the one she’s dreaming about…

How'd you/your muse come up with this story?
* Every time I tell this story, I get an eye roll. Or a laugh. A long time ago (sheesh, it must be 18 years now) I fell totally in love with Star Trek: The Next Generation. I mean, I couldn’t get enough of the series or the characters. But watching the show, even as reruns, wasn’t enough and so I started writing fanfiction. I’d written one, in particular, about my being sick with the flu and going to bed in real life and then waking up the next day on the Enterprise. I know, cute. Or weird. Or something, right? Anyway, during that time I met my now best friend who also became my beta reader, and one day she told me that I should do more with my writing. That maybe I should branch out on my own and write something mainstream. I hadn’t thought about it before, and didn’t know where to start, so she suggested I use that ST:TNG story, focusing on the concept of “what if reality wasn’t what you thought it was?” Then I started thinking about second chances, and what if second chances weren’t as promising as you thought they were? What if you made a mistake in the past, maybe a distant past, and had the chance to fix it? And what if things didn’t turn out as you expected? Well, all those what-ifs charged up my creative brain and In This Life was born. It’s a story about dangerous secrets, resurrected revenge, second chances, and the hope of true love.

Describe the hero in five words.
* Yikes. This will be hard. Ummm… Loyal. Intense. Deep. Passionate. Strong-willed.

Describe the heroine in five words.
* More yikes. This is equally hard! Thinking… Empathetic. Curious. Devoted. Quiet Strength.

Who's your favorite character in the book & why?
* Oh, my favorite is also my passion. I have a lust-fest going with my sexy male lead David Bellotti. He’s perfect in his imperfection. His looks can stun a room into silence. His body can kill in more ways than one. He hates lies and hates being lied to. And his single-minded way of looking at life is his Achilles heel, as is his love for Lottie Morgan. He’s perfect in his imperfection.

What's your favorite line in the story?
* “We do not remember days, Shemei, we remember moments, and the richness of life lies in memories we have forgotten.”

A look into the story

~ Blurb ~ * Hidden memories. Buried secrets. Resurrected revenge.
* Psychologist Lottie Morgan knows something is wrong when she relives memories of a lover she's never had. At first she attributes them to fever-induced dreams. But when the fever disappears and the visions don’t, Lottie realizes something else is going on.
* Then she meets Galen. Their first encounter is as intense as it is eye-opening, and his revelation that they shared a passionate relationship thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt entices Lottie into wanting to learn more about her past. Her decision, however, comes at a price. Galen may hold the answers but he could destroy the devoted, lifelong relationship Lottie has with her current lover, David.
* It also could mean her death—again.
* Someone is protecting millennia-old secrets, determined to keep them buried while exacting a revenge on Lottie for a mistake made a very long time ago. A mistake she could be destined to repeat.
* Take a trip to mysterious ancient Egypt, where Lottie becomes caught between two lifetimes, two men, and long-buried deceptions. Hank Phillippi Ryan, Agatha, Anthony and Macavity-winning author, calls this paranormal suspense "Inventive, original and thought-provoking; this mystically romantic mystery will instantly intrigue."
~ Excerpt ~ * “Doctor Morgan?”
* Galen’s voice soothed me into a strange calmness that intrigued and scared me. I nodded because I couldn’t find my voice.
* “I am Galen Briscoe,” he said.
* He held out his hand and I took it, unprepared for the heat that surged between us, and the images came hard and fast—sweaty, intertwined bodies, his hungry mouth on mine, and a desire so desperate, so insatiable, it devoured everything we were.
* I tugged out of Galen’s grip, breathless and overheated and unhinged. I stared back at him and swore I could see the two of us in the depths of his sand–colored eyes. With a pounding heart, I headed for the window. I needed space and time to think, not to mention a good dose of cool, calming air.
* “Take a seat,” I said, unable to restrain the huskiness in my voice. Whether he took the seat or not didn’t matter. In fact, I didn’t even care that he may have considered my immediate disregard of him as rude, and when I opened the window and felt the fresh summer breeze rush in, it did little to temper my overheated body and the fine sheen of sweat that covered it.
* “Doctor Taletta Morgan,” he said, reading my diplomas from the other side of the room. “Unusual name.”
* Once again his voice blanketed me in a calm that eased my alarm as quickly as his touch ignited it. It was deep and refined with a hint of an accent thrown in, and I would have asked him to continue talking just so I could keep taking pleasure in it. I closed my eyes, determined to fight the startling and primal effect he had on me, and didn’t face him until the restlessness in my body subsided.
* “Taletta is a derivative of Taletha,” he said, peering over at me. “Did you know that?”
* I shook my head, still unable to find my voice while some baser part of me took pleasure in his, wanting more. “No,” I said after clearing my throat. “I didn’t.”
* He shoved his hands in his pockets and continued browsing around my office as if it were his own. I tracked his lean body and long legs, and the form–fitting silk T–shirt and black slacks that accentuated it. Understatedly wealthy. Supremely self–confident. And an unexpected enigma to me.
* “It’s a biblical name,” he went on. “Taletha is Aramaic for little girl and is taken from the phrase taletha cumi, meaning little girl arise. Jesus spoke the phrase to bring a little girl back to life.”

Buy In This Life here...
Amazon

Find Terri Herman-Ponce here...
Website | Facebook | Twitter

Thank you for joining us here today, Terri Herman-Ponce! It was a pleasure getting to know you and your story.

ANNOUNCEMENT! Terri will be awarding a digital copy of IN THIS LIFE (Book 1 of the Past Life Series) to a randomly drawn commenter at each stop during the tour, and a Grand Prize of a $50 Amazon gift card to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour! So be sure to leave your name and email with your comment, visit the other tour stops (find them here: goddessfishpromotions-virtual-book-tour-in-this-life) for a greater chance of winning!