Wednesday Pomo- Judi Fennell

Hi Paty,

Thanks so much for having me on your blog to talk about my latest book, Catch of a Lifetime.

It's the third story in my Mer series - I hesitate to say "trilogy" because there are still two sisters left whose tails, I mean, tales haven't been told and, boy, are those ladies chatty! They have stories and they want them to be shared.

But, for now, it's Angel's turn.

Angel is the fourth child, and second daughter in the Tritone family, and she's always been interested in Humans. So when the opportunity presents itself for her to become the Director of the Mer-Human Coalition her brother Rod, their ruler, is putting together to create an interspecies awareness for global warming and pollution, Angel sets her sights on that job. It's what she was born to do.

Unfortunately, her brother doesn't see it that way.

Nor does Logan Hardington, a Human who ran away from the circus when he was a teenager because he wanted a normal life. With a six-year-old son he'd known nothing about now dropped on his doorstep and a mermaid showing up in his boat, life is anything but normal.

My stories are tongue-in-cheek, light-hearted paranormals that I like to call "fairy tales with a twist." I take what you think you know, and put a little spin on it. Case in point: the first story that started the whole series was In Over Her Head, and a twist on The Little Mermaid by making him the Mer. Once I came up with that world, it was easy to come up with more stories. If we had a Human going into the ocean and discovering Mers exist in In Over Her Head, then we had to have a Mer come on land and live among Humans. Voila! Wild Blue Under, book 2 that came out in November 2009. So then I had to come up with a different twist on those scenarios, and settled on having a Mer come on land, but then go back in the sea, and the Human having to follow her into the sea.

What compels him to do this? Ah, that would be a spoiler. But I will give you a teaser:

****

Sing? He wanted her to sing? Here? In front of his son? Usually when Human males wanted a Mer female to sing, it wasn’t appropriate for children.
“You haven’t forgotten ‘Happy Birthday,’ have you?”
Ah. Right. She remembered that tune from Human Cultural Basics 101. “Of course not.”
Logan lit the candles on the cake, and Angel tried not to stare at the flames. They fascinated her. While temperatures in Atlantis were regulated by the heat of molten lava that flowed beneath the sea bed, flames were a foreign concept. She was going to have to experience this fire phenomenon up close while she had the chance.
She leaned forward, catching the hair that swept over her shoulder before it could catch on fire. She didn’t want to experience it that closely.
Logan cleared his throat, and when she looked up, he quickly averted his eyes. “Ready?” he asked, his voice deeper than before.
Angel glanced down. The peekaboo hole in her dress gapped forward. That explained it. Thank the gods, Logan was such a gentleMer—man. She pressed one hand against the bodice of the dress, tucked the hair behind her ear with the other, and sat back. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Logan cleared his throat.
Angel looked at him.
He looked back.
“Are you guys gonna sing or what? I want cake.” Michael hopped up and down in his chair.
Logan cleared his throat again and spun so fast to look at Michael that Angel thought the man might fall out of his chair.
He tapped the rim of Michael’s cap. “Ah, sure we are, sport.”
He started the song then and Angel quickly caught up. Beneath her melody, he had a very nice voice. Tenor. On key. It could be a bit stronger, but that wouldn’t take much work.
His lips formed the words properly—not that she was looking at his lips or anything—but perhaps he could lengthen that “you” note. His technique wouldn’t take much tweaking. He breathed at the right moments, not straining to hit the high note, soft when he should be—
She suddenly realized she was singing solo. She stopped, mid-dear Michael.
“What?” Both males stared at her, Logan with a strange gleam in his eye and Michael with a breathy, “You sing like an angel, Angel.”
No, actually, she sang like a…
Siren.
Oh Hades. Her voice. She’d forgotten the effect it had on Humans. Especially adult males.
Logan, his pupils almost nonexistent—the classic characteristic of Siren Song enchantment—was clearly under its influence
“Uh.” She cleared her throat and took another sip of that delicious wine. “I, um, that is… I guess I like to sing?” She shrugged her shoulders, going for nonchalant.
Big mistake. With the way her voice was working on Logan, his eyes went right to her breasts.

***

But is that attraction enough to entice him into the sea, or is it something more?
Catch of a Lifetime
Sourcebooks, Inc.
February, 2010
ISBN#:9781402224287

She’s on a mission to save the planet…
Mermaid Angel Tritone has been researching humans from afar, hoping to find a way to convince them to stop polluting. When she jumps into a boat to escape a shark attack, it’s her chance to pursue her mission, but she has to keep her identity a total secret…

When he finds out what she really is, they’re both in mortal danger…
For Logan Hardington, finding a beautiful woman on his boat is surely not a problem—until he discovers she’s a mermaid, and suddenly his life is on the line…

You can see another excerpt on my website, www.JudiFennell.com and over the next few weeks I'll be putting up deleted scenes as well. And while you're there, go ahead and register for the chance to win the last romantic beach getaway weekend, this one at the Hibiscus House (www.HibiscusHouse.com) in West Palm Beach, FL.

What people are saying:

"Fennell's got detailed worldbuilding, creative secondary characters and an impressive use of mythology in this great read. While this title is part of a series, it works well as a stand-alone. Angel and Logan are both incredibly textured characters.
-RT BookReview Magazine 4 Stars

"Judi Fennell has extraordinary imagination and has certainly used it in creating this exciting and colorful story. Her characters are wonderful."
Fresh Fiction

"The best blend of both worlds. I... love each and every character in Catch of A Lifetime (and) found (it) well worth diving into."
Long And Short Reviews 4.5 Books

4 Stars!
Affair de Coeur Magazine

"Catch of a Lifetime is a heart warming tale. Ms. Fennell has created a delightful world that, I have enjoyed escaping to. It is both dangerous and fun."
Anna's Book Blog

About The Author:
Judi Fennell has had her nose in a book and her head in some celestial realm all her life, including those early years when her mom would exhort her to “get outside!” instead of watching Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie on television. So she did--right into Dad’s hammock with her Nancy Drew books.

These days she’s more likely to have her nose in her laptop and her head (and the rest of her body) at her favorite bookstore, but she’s still reading, whether it be her latest manuscript or friends’ books.

A three-time finalist in online contests, Judi has enjoyed the reader feedback she’s received and would love to hear what you think about her Mer series. Check out her website at www.JudiFennell.com for excerpts, reviews and fun pictures from reader and writer conferences, and the chance to “dive in” to her stories.