Let the Celebration Begin
By
Imari Jade
I want to start this celebration off by saying Happy Birthday to the love of my life Micky Yoochun. Twenty-five years old today. Boy I am going to hell (growl). But that’s okay. I’ll gladly endure the flames for him or with him, whatever happens first. (Smile). I’ll be celebrating for two days with him since it’s actually just the third of June here in the United States but the 4th in South Korea. Here’s to celebrating it in person with him next year.
Secondly, I’m celebrating finishing the first edits of my upcoming book with MoonGypsy Press, “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.” You guess it. I’ve written another paranormal and this one is set in New Orleans, the fifth scariest place in the world. It’s got three sexy master vampires, a kick-ass fine vampire slayer, a drop dead gorgeous werewolf and a host of other freaky paranormals. I mean something for everyone.
Lastly and certainly not least, I’m celebrating tomorrow’s release of my second book in the Asian Romance series, “Saranghae, (I Love You)” with Sugar and Spice Press. So get those Kindles, Nooks, Pandigitals and all other readers ready. It’s coming out in a format to please everyone.
I can’t believe that six months have passed since the first book “In Deep Kimchi” was published. It has met with great reviews and has received several five star ratings at Amazon.com. I’d like to take this time to thank my fans for receiving, “In Deep Kimchi” so warmly. And to the few that didn’t like the book, well, I still value your opinion. You gave me some great ideas for the second book. Yes, this one has lots of sex, so open up your hearts and wallets and buy the second book.
Now back to the sex thing. Everyone knows that I write erotica and no one was expecting such a sweet book. The only explanation I can give you is that I wanted to write a love story and that’s exactly what “In Deep Kimchi” is. It’s the love story. These are twenty-four year old male characters and she’s a very young looking and acting fifty year old woman. How could I write it any differently? Shaundra is not a slut and most people don’t fall into bed with a person they barely know and from a different country no less. If you don’t know by now I’m a romantic. I love when two people from completely different worlds meet and fall in love with each other, defying obstacles and setbacks. That’s what makes us human and if you sleep with a person just for sex, more power to you. My characters have more substance than that.
So let’s revisit them.
Shaundra Love Morrison is a fifty year old African American writer. Her husband is dead, her kids are grown and she’s the grandmother of two young boys. Shaundra works for a publisher named Harper Kehoe. He’s a forty year old divorced white man who is in love with Shaundra and asks her to accompany him to Japan to help open a new publishing company in a partnership he’s formed with Mr. Niigata, an entertainment mogul. Shaundra wants to help Harper out but she’s afraid to fly. Then she sees a picture of four long haired Asian pop singers that Mr. Niigata manages and something awakens in Shaundra. She agrees to the trip and accompanies Harper and three other zany writers to Japan with the aid of the drug Valium to help her endure the long trip.
Shaundra survives the trip but is nearly run over in the hotel lobby by a group of young people as soon as she arrives. She is caught by a young man with a beautiful face and long dark hair. Shaundra doesn’t think anything of it at first and then realizes later on in a hotel bar that he is the lead singer of the group Aomori represented by Mr. Niigata. His name is Yori Morika, an arrogant, no sense of humor young man who asks her to dance through one of the other singers, the piano man, Satoshi Hayashi. Shaundra turns Yori down at first because she finds him rude and obnoxious but later discovers that he’s also downright sexy. The next day she is formally introduced to the rest of the group, Ichiro Yoshida and Takumijo Yamazaki, along with four Japanese writers who are also helping Mr. Niigata with his new publishing company.
Through the story Shaundra meets a lot of people, gets blasted on YouTube having fun with the young guys and drive her grown children crazy with what they perceive as uncharacteristic behavior from their mother. They, like some fans I’ve heard from think Shaundra, at fifty should be home helping raise the grandchildren. Wrong. Shaundra devoted her life to raising her kids, working and now she’s finally given a chance to kick back and have some fun. And it’s not her fault that men are starting to come out of the woodworks. One fan didn’t think that all these men can be attractive to this one woman. Why the heck not? Go back and read the book. They do not fall in love with her because she’s a sex kitten, they like her because she honest about her feelings and her sexuality and she’s nothing like anyone they’ve ever met. Typical, no, possible, yes. True, heck yes. Fifty percent of this book is fiction, the other fifty is true. I’ll just leave up to you to guess which part of it is true. Throughout the story Shaundra is posed with the question what would she do if one of these young men actually fell in love with her. You have to read the end of the book to find out. I surprised everyone including my kids with the ending. Sometimes one has to live for themselves and screw everything else.
Now let me tell you about Saranghae (I Love You), it picks up where In Deep Kimchi left off. Shaundra is still involved with Aomori, but I’ve introduced a couple of new characters, Cristal Gentry, Aomori’s new publicist, and Yi-jun Lee a handsome Korean actor and Satoshi’s best friend. The guys of Aomori are still as crazy as ever and are getting crazier. I tried to give them some redeeming qualities but failed horribly. They are what they are, hot Asian guys with gorgeous bodies and faces. And surprisingly enough Cristal and Yi-jun fits right in with the craziness. Its set not only in Osaka, but I’ve dropped them in China, Korea and Paris, France.
I really feel good about this book and book three in the series is nearly finished. It started talking to me before I finished book two. I’m a little nervous hoping that “Saranghae” lives up to and surpasses “In Deep Kimchi”. So please write a review if you like it.
Here’s to the good times. Saranghae everyone. I Love You, Micky.
Imari Jade
http://imarijade.com/
