Phyllis Bourne, Author of #BigDumbSexyFun Stories

by Michelle Monkou

Romantic Comedy is not my cup of tea...usually. But, there are always delightful exceptions to any absolutes, which is why you should never say never. And I'm happy that the exception is in the form of stories by award-winning author Phyllis Bourne.

(Remember the hashtag: #bigdumbsexyfun because whenever you see it, Phyllis's books and author news are sure to follow. )

Phyllis is an avid schedule planner-bee and you can probably find her in a Michael's store devouring the latest planner accessories. With those planners, she sets her goals for the year, the week, even on a daily basis to produce those well-written stories. Focused is what got her to this point, but she started with several Romance Writers of America's (RWA) chapter contest wins and finaling in RWA's Golden Heart®  (unpublished author) contest TWICE and the RITA® (published author) contest.

Focused on her brand of romantic comedy with a chick lit vibe, Phyllis underscored her talent with two recent releases:

Between A Rock And A Hot Mess

Amazon: Kindle Unlimited or E-book/Paperback

Riley Sinclair has man problems. Trouble is, everyone has one but her. 

After years on the sidelines at weddings, the head of Sinclair Construction now sits home alone on what used to be girls' night. Her only companions are television, a bottle of wine and a crush on a stranger she doesn’t have the guts to approach. Too bad she isn’t more like the daring heroine of her favorite show Hot Mess. Men want to bed and wed the glamorous Delilah Cole, while rough-around-the-edges Riley is relegated to the friend zone. 

Enter the perfect solution - an interactive app where the star of Hot Mess dishes style, beauty and relationship advice guaranteed to transform any woman into a man magnet. 

Riley re-invents herself, and thanks to the app, is on the brink of landing her dream man…and another she didn’t count on. Soon Riley’s embroiled in her own hot mess and has to choose between the Cinderella fairytale with the man she wants or the soul deep passion found only in the arms of the man she needs.

and

Between A Honeymoon And A Hot Mess

Amazon: Kindle Unlimited or E-book/Paperback

If anybody deserves a drink, it’s Hope Sinclair.

After catching her fiancé cheating, all Hope wants is to get through her sister’s Las Vegas nuptials and then return home to cancel her own wedding.

But champagne and too many martinis screw up the straitlaced Sinclair sister’s best-laid plans. She wakes up the next day with a hangover, a ring on her finger and in the bed of a man from her past.

Hope’s new husband insists she’s always been the love of his life, but she won’t commit without trust. Twice-burned, will Hope go with her heart  - when her man and marriage are tested by a hot mess?

Here's Phyllis celebrating her first bike ride without the aid of her hubby aka "Mr. Phyllis."

Check out the video: First Bike Ride!!! Let's wish Phyllis a hearty congrats. :-) 

I Was Always a Writer

As early as age seven, I was a writer. Couldn't spell worth a damn, but boy could I write. I wrote religiously in my diary, starting every day with "I woke up." Later, I became the historian for our family vacations, writing a daily journal of the locations and activities, which was read at the end of the trip. This reading, in front of my family, was the positive feed back that feed my writing fever.

Entering writing contests and actually winning when I was in 7th and 8th grades, showed me the money side of writing, which was the frosting on the cake for a 14 year old. My love of writing moved into journalism in high school where I was one of the writers of the infamous spoof of our high school newspaper called Wow Wow, instead of Pow Wow. This was during the early 70s, so it makes sense that the satrical stories about drugs filled the pages. We wrote and published the newspaper off campus and distributed it during school. My first taste of pirate journalism.

In college I took more journalism classes and ended up with an internship at the L.A. Times, but not as a writer, but as a photojournalist. It is then that I discovered something pecular. When I was a photographer, editors would say, "Don't worry about the caption. We'll have a writer take care of that." When I was a writer, submitting to various magazines, the editor would say, "Don't worry about the pictures. We'll have a photographer take care of that." When I moved into freelance work, I would send in an article and then say I knew a photographer who could supply the photos for an additional fee! Worked like a charm.

It wasn't until I was divorced and the kids had grown up, that I moved into fiction. What a joy! Now I get to make up all the "facts" and put words in people's mouths. You can't imagine how many times I want to do that as a journalist when the person I'm interviewing is stumbling over their words.

My vision of the future will have me retired from my "real job" as a journalist and only writing romantic comedy. I'll be sitting in my new home office, looking out at the view of the front yard. My husband will be working in the garden as I type away. Sighhhhh. Can't wait. What is your writing fantasy?