Loving You Is Easy by Wendy S. Marcus #Giveaway

Today we are talking to author Wendy S. Marcus about her latest release Loving You Is Easy... 

Wendy S. Marcus on the Web:


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Hi Nas! Thank you for inviting me here today to talk about my Loveswept Contemporary Romance, Loving You Is Easy!


In Loving You Is Easy, the heroine, Brooke, a seventh grade math teacher, is introduced to the hero, Shane, a soldier in the U.S. army serving his fourth tour of combat duty in Afghanastan, as part of a ‘Support Our Troops’ initiative that matches active duty soldiers serving overseas with pen pals from back home.


Aaaahhhh. The word ‘pen pal’ brings me back to my childhood, to letters – actual hand written letters - sealed with a kiss and decorated with stickers. I remember how excited I’d get to receive news from friends back home while I was at summer sleep away camp and from summer camp friends during the school year.


Then there was my Canadian pen pal through French class in junior high school. Although that friendship was doomed to fail from the start, because my assigned pen pal was just as bad at conversational English and I was at conversational French.

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When I got older, letters took on new meaning. Sitting alone somewhere, as opposed to standing in another person’s presence, made me bold, gave me the confidence to put things on paper that I didn’t feel comfortable saying out loud, face to face. Of course sometimes that led to the over-share. Take the unfortunate letter I mailed to a college crush – after a dinner where much too much wine had been consumed - while I was in Europe for a few weeks over the summer. To this day I’m not exactly sure what I wrote in that letter, but when I returned to campus my crush wouldn’t look me in the eye and went out of his way to avoid me.


But when you’re on the receiving end, the over-share can be quite enjoyable. Take the letter I received from a boy I’d met once, at a frat party, while visiting my friend at her college five hours away. A few kisses were exchanged. That’s it, I swear! Two weeks later I received a three page letter detailing how much he liked me and how I was perfect for him. I’m pretty sure I still have that letter. A girl doesn’t throw something like that out!


Before I met my husband I used to wonder what might have happened if I’d written that boy back? Would we have gotten to know each other through a deep, revealing, heart to heart exchange of letters like Shane and Brooke from Loving You Is Easy? Would we have confided in each other and shared secrets we didn’t share with anyone else? Would we have fallen deeply in love and gotten married?  


Luckily for Shane, when Brooke sent him an introduction letter, he replied. And though they come from different backgrounds, Brooke from an upper class, Jewish family while Shane was a blue collar bad boy, through their exchange of letters and e-mails they each revealed their true character, core values, and caring natures. And learned they weren’t so different after all.  


But falling in love through correspondence and a few phone calls and Skype sessions is risky business. What will happen when Brooke and Shane meet in person? Will they still be as perfect for one another as Brooke thinks they’ll be? Well….you’ll have to read Loving You Is Easy to find out.  


Now that I’ve shared some of my letter writing/pen pal experiences, it’s your turn. Did you ever have a pen pal? How’d it go? Do you think it’s possible to start off as pen pals and wind up happily-ever-after married? Any embarrassing letters from your past you’d like to share?


One lucky commenter will win an e-book copy of Loving You Is Easy.

28 comments:

  1. How I wish love was easy. There simply isn't enough of it in this world...

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    1. Well Elephant's Child, my dad would say, "Nothing good comes easy." And over the years I've found him to be right. And I agree, there isn't enough love in the world. I try to do my party with my stories...

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. I never had a pen pal, but I did have a few online boyfriends. Some we met in person. Some the relationship fizzled before we did. Getting to know each other by letter/email is a good way to learn about someone and can make seeing them in real life a bit easier.

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    1. Congrats on your book, Wendy! I do love the premise for it. :)

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    2. Hi Cherie,
      I think people are quicker to share parts of themselves when they're not dealing with a person face to face. At least that's what happened with Brooke and Shane in Loving You Is Easy. Did you find that in your online relationships?

      Thanks for the congrats and for stopping by!

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  3. I had several pen pals growing up--I loved writer and receiving letters. Originally they were through snail-mail and then progressed to online. Several of them I still keep in touch with :) Brings back some fun memories!

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    1. Hi Meradeth,
      I used to love running to the mail box whenever I was expecting a letter. Actually, to this day, I still love getting the mail, always hopeful there will be something special in there!

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  4. What a lovely story. I did have a pen-pal when I was a kid. His name was Carlos. We were 12. Haha, he obviously forgot about me. Note, I still remember his name.

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    1. Hi Joylene!
      I think it's nice that you still remember his name. I bet he still remembers yours, too!

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  5. I had an Australian penpal through high school when Australian soaps were all the rage in the UK. We lost touch over the years but reconnected over Facebook, where he promptly uploaded the photos I'd sent him of me as a teenager. Curly 90's perm anyone? :D

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    1. Hi Karin!
      You made me laugh! I had a curly 80's perm! And as much as I enjoy catching up with old friends on FB, I have no desire to be reminded of those days in pictures. And hmmmm. Interesting that he's held on to your pictures all these years!!!

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  6. I had pen pals as a child. It was great to receive snail mail and view someone's pictures.

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    1. Hi Medeia!
      I'm still a fan of snail mail. I look forward to the mail every day...even though now I mostly get junk!

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  7. Hi Nas and Wendy .. what a fun post to read .. bringing back some unfortunate letters - still they've gone the way of all things and that's definitely a good thing. I write a lot of snail mail .. and I really use my blog as such too .. though it may not be that obvious.

    I think I'm glad most of my 'stuff' has gone ... I had girl penpals ... I'm not sure what I'd have done in this era .. thankfully I'm wiser now!! Cheers to you both - Hilary

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    1. Hi Hilary! I'm glad you enjoyed my post...and hopefully some of the memories it brought back.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  8. A love cliff-hanger. Ha
    It seemed to work out for Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning.

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  9. I had a lot of penpals when I was younger. It's a special relationship.
    Congratulations and much success with your book, Wendy.

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    1. Thank you Rawknrobyn! And thanks for stopping by!

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  10. I also had a pen-pal, and it was a wonderful experience! Wishing you much success with your book, Wendy! Thanks Nas!

    Julie

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    1. Thank you Empty Nest Insider! And thanks for stopping by!

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  11. I had a British pen pal when I was a teen. I have no idea how we found each other, but we shared a mutual love of Duran Duran. It was cool to write someone overseas at that age. The internet has kind of changed all that, sadly.

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    1. My daughter maintains close online friendships with kids she's spent summers with at sleepaway camp and many she met while traveling abroad. The Internet makes all that possible. But it's not the same as running to the mailbox and finding a letter waiting for you!!!

      Thanks for stopping by Stephanie!

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  12. I have been seeing this one around and I am curious! I had a pen pal from Sweden back in elementary school. I think my teacher set the whole thing up. It was lots of fun! :)
    ~Jess

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    1. Hi DMS! Yes, Loving You Is Easy is making the blog rounds right now. Thanks for stopping by!!!

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  13. You always know how to pick the cute and sexy books.

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