Jemma Larsen chewed on her pen and spun around in her desk chair as she tried to force new ideas for her blog into her head. She frowned. Unfortunately, ideas didn’t come as freely under pressure. Entertainment with Jem, had done really well the past few years. It had helped her pay the bills and supplemented her income when slinging fries didn’t cut it. Now, thanks to the world of video blogging her blog had taken a hit. People wanted to see faces and interesting videos. They were not into reading as much as they had been.
She pushed a long, black curl out of her face, tucking it back into the mess piled high on top of her head. She sighed as she looked back down at the chicken scratch on the note pad in front of her. Her to do list only had two things, and even those things weren’t that great.
1. Get an interview with a famous person
2. Start making videos
Targeted Age Group:: 18+
What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
I have a friend who is a blogger and enjoys writing about celebrities. She's always wanted to date a celebrity, which gave me the idea for this series.
How Did You Come up With Your Characters?
Loosely based on someone I actually know. Most of my characters just come to life once I start thinking and writing about them!
Book Sample
Jemma Larsen chewed on her pen and spun around in her desk chair as she tried to force new ideas for her blog into her head. She frowned. Unfortunately, ideas didn’t come as freely under pressure. Entertainment with Jem, had done really well the past few years. It had helped her pay the bills and supplemented her income when slinging fries didn’t cut it. Now, thanks to the world of video blogging her blog had taken a hit. People wanted to see faces and interesting videos. They were not into reading as much as they had been.
She pushed a long, black curl out of her face, tucking it back into the mess piled high on top of her head. She sighed as she looked back down at the chicken scratch on the note pad in front of her. Her to do list only had two things, and even those things weren’t that great.
1. Get an interview with a famous person
2. Start making videos
The first was kind of impossible because she hadn’t the first clue how to contact a famous person. The second was impossible because Jemma had severe anxiety and making a video thousands upon thousands of people would see made her sick. She had many loyal followers, but the only way for her blog to make money was continuing to grow. The larger she was, the more advertisers wanted to work with her and the more people wanted to collaborate with her. This in turn brought more people and the cycle continued.
She decided to check out the competition and see what she had that everyone was dying over. Recently, comments on all her posts had either told her she should make videos or she should watch videos of one girl Entertainment with Ali. The channel sounded similar to Jemma’s and her followers cried foul and said either Ali stole from her or Jemma should be more like her. That was of course mixed in with all the hateful messages about her opinion, her appearance, and anything else the trolls could say about her.
Jem’s picture on her blog wasn’t the clearest in the world. Her long black hair was obscuring part of her face, as if it would hide her from the world. One bright green eye was fringed with thick sooty lashes. The picture quality simply wasn’t the best. She could almost hear her mother’s nagging voice: “I really wish you would get that mess out of the way and show the world your beautiful face.”
“I know, Mom.” She sighed and scrolled through the different videos.
She finally clicked on a video and it came up with bright letters and swirls around Ali’s name. Ali—at least Jem assumed that’s who the girl was—popped into the video brightly smiling. Energetically, she talked about the newest celebrity couples. Her bouncing blonde curls were in direct contrast of Jemma’s black ones, and while she preferred to go with the natural look as far as makeup was concerned, Ali’s was bright and cheery. Jemma wanted to hate her instantly. She was simply too perky.
“Yikes,” she muttered, as the bubbly blonde spouted this and that about random celebrities. This was what people wanted?
She clicked through the videos, watching each one and trying to picture herself doing the same. It wasn’t something she thought would even be possible, but more was at stake besides her online persona. Jemma was the legal guardian of her seven-year-old brother. When she was eighteen her parents were killed in a car accident, and she took on the responsibility, caring for her brother, trying to make sure he led as normal of a life as he could.
Waiting tables wasn’t cutting it, so she had created her entertainment blog and learned everything she possibly could about being online. Jemma caught on fast, and she had quickly made enough money to support herself and her brother. She kept him fed and clothed so every time the social worker came, Jemma proved she could take care of him. The worst part was, if she didn’t keep everything in line for her brother, social services would take him.
Her brother was her top priority, and it didn’t matter what it took, she would do anything to make sure he was well taken care of. If that meant stepping out of her comfort zone and in front of the camera to do videos, then so be it. If something didn’t change soon, they were going to be faced with some tough decisions, like putting food on the table or living without power. It was a decision that no one should have to deal with and yet, if she didn’t make this work, that would be exactly what would happen to her.
If she were to lose power because she couldn’t afford to pay the utility bill, she was most certain that child protective services would come sniffing around. The thought of losing her Robbie to the system made her stomach clench painfully. Her eyes watered as they looked at the screen. He was the only family she had left. She’d promised to keep him at his current school so he wouldn’t have to be ripped away from his friends and forced to start all over again. However, the cost of his tuition was through the roof and picking up extra shifts at the diner simply wasn’t cutting it. The blog had made her the money she needed up to this point, but for the last several months the profit had been declining.
As she clicked through the comment threads on Ali’s videos, one name kept coming up over and over again. Daniel Starke. Jemma’s brows drew together in a frown. She had written some fluff pieces on him and the reality show he was on. She hadn’t realized people were that into him. It was becoming more and more apparent: he was rather popular. The farther down she went, the more people begged for Ali to do an interview, to which Ali responded in kind that she would do her best to set up an interview. She repeatedly said the same thing to her fans, “Anything for you my darlings.” It was horrible, and left a bad taste in Jemma’s mouth.
Considering the fact that Jemma had enough bills, she didn’t have any kind of cable or satellite television. She had Netflix and that was about it. So she couldn’t watch reruns of the reality show, she would have to research him online and find clips of him doing interviews to see what he was like.
Jemma decided that was how she would get her foot in the door. This Daniel Starke would be the one interview that would revive her blog.
Now, she just had to figure out how she was going to get him to agree to an interview. If she could get that, it would be the golden ticket to getting traffic back to her blog. It wouldn’t be just a regular interview. No, she would interview him on camera. It was perfect. But she broke out in a cold sweat as she thought of the possibility of trying to interview him on camera.
Not sure of how the process of video blogs went, Jemma wondered exactly how much time it would take to put something together like that. She knew her way inside and out of a standard blog; however, the thought of adding a video component was a bit intimidating.
Thankfully, over the years, Jem had made several friends who worked for the different news and media outlets. She’d even made friends with some of the dreaded paparazzi in town. Perhaps, if she pulled one of those strings, she could get close enough to Daniel to get an interview.
Excited by the prospect of a new idea brewing, she eagerly picked up her phone and dialed a number she knew by heart. It rang twice before a chipper voice sounded on the other end.
“AMB, we find ambiguous men bearable.”
“Don't joke silly man, you knew it was me.” She laughed.
“I did,” Jack told her. He had worked for All Media Babes for years and tried a new slogan on her every time she called.
They were basically the Perez Hilton of their little slice of New York.
“What's good with you?” she asked, as she cradled the phone between her shoulder and ear. Jack and her had actually become pretty good friends, despite their vastly different personalities.
“I am stalking and living the dream, you know just the usual, how about you?” In the background, he typed on a keyboard.
“I'm looking to get into video interviews. I was thinking about trying to catch one particular reality star, Daniel Starke. I heard he’s on the market again.”
“Daniel!” Jack screeched into her ear. “You would be so lucky.”
She laughed at his dramatics. “Do you think you could help me out?” She eagerly tapped her pen on the top of her desk.
“He might be doing some press around here soon. There is some buzz that a network wants to offer him his own reality show, but that’s all I’m at liberty to say.”
“There’s a couple of delicious cherry bombs in it for you if you get me the details, Jack,” she bribed. Getting to him with his favorite alcoholic drink was playing dirty. Desperate times called for desperate measures and needing money meant she was definitely pulling out all the stops.
Jack sighed dramatically into the receiver but finally relented. “I hate you, that’s just wrong praying on my weakness. Okay, I’ll dig up some more information.”
“It would really mean a lot,” she added.
In the background, Jemma heard the wailing of another phone.
“I promise I’ll see what I can do, but right now I gotta grab that phone. Later bitch.”
Jack hung up, and as soon as she placed the phone back in its cradle, the butterflies in her stomach turned into bats. Was she seriously about to do this? What if she failed? What if her brother was taken from her and given to a family that didn’t want him and would treat him…
“You seriously need to get yourself under control,” she said, and shook away the threat of failure trying to drown her. Leaning forward, she rested her elbows on her desk. Jemma placed her fingers against her temples and slowly moved them in circular motions, trying to ease the headache her anxiety was rapidly bringing on. If she was going to step out from behind the screen of a computer and in front of the camera, she was going to have to find a way to get over her nerve issues.
Deciding it would be best if she were prepared, she needed to do her homework. Better to be prepared than not. She clicked through the open tabs on her screen until all she was left with was one. She typed in the address to her favorite search engine and pulled up the information she needed.
Almost immediately, her screen filled with images of a ridiculously sexy man. Jem’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. Staring back at her through the screen was the picture of a perfect male species. He was the golden boy. Bright blue eyes twinkled with a hint of mischief as blond hair was neatly tousled around his head. A deep dimple dug into his cheek, and Jem’s heart fluttered nervously. When she saw pictures of him before and when she’d watched the television show, she didn’t notice how attractive he was. One of the photos was of Daniel standing beside the pool with his hands on lean hips. Seriously, was this the same guy she had seen before? Had she just not been paying attention? How the hell was she going to interview that without fainting?
“Whoa.” She whistled low as her eyes took in the swimming trunk clad hunk. Every inch of the man looked to be cut out of marble. His bright orange trunks were slung low on his hips, revealing the beautiful V of the Adonis cut that disappeared beneath his trunks. There was no doubt that he took care of himself. He looked like he belonged on a beach somewhere in Maui instead of in Manhattan. He must have started working out more since the show began. That was probably what happened, he became famous and had to get those cuts.
Okay, Jem’s love life had been less than stellar over the past three years. There had been a few men here and there, but somehow, they’d all been lacking. She’d chosen to remain single because, honestly, she just didn’t have time to date.
Her curiosity grew as she scrolled through the numerous articles and pictures of Daniel. There was a beautiful redhead on his arm in most of the pictures. She assumed the woman was Lexi. The woman was freaking gorgeous.
She clicked on a link that immediately grabbed her attention. The funny thing about Daniel was he hadn’t even ended up with the winner of the hit reality show, Date me Now. The girl he’d originally chosen to be his date hadn’t worked out at all, so he had later—after the show ended—ended up with Lexi Rockford, Victoria Secret model and some heiress to a fortune of one of Wall Street’s finest. She was the runner up in the show because he felt like the other girl had more substance according to the show notes. The article gave a few details about his rumored break up with Lexi Rockford, but nothing really passed speculation and rumors.
“What on earth have I gotten myself into?”
Links to Purchase eBooks
Link To Buy Jemma 1: Entertainment with Jem, Book 1 (A Celebrity Romance) On Amazon
Link to Jemma 1: Entertainment with Jem, Book 1 (A Celebrity Romance) on Barnes and Noble
Link to Jemma 1: Entertainment with Jem, Book 1 (A Celebrity Romance) for sale on iBooks
Link to Jemma 1: Entertainment with Jem, Book 1 (A Celebrity Romance) eBook for sale on Kobo
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Author Bio:
New Adult Romance author. Reading was my earliest passion, often seeking the sanctuary of my room or the library to read everything I could get my hands on.
I probably drink too much coffee and eat too much junk food, but to compensate do like running and rollerblading outdoors when the weather is nice. I'm a hopeful romantic who prefers stories with a happy ending. You can often find me in a library or coffee shop working on my next story, or with my nose in a book.
