~ L.H. COSWAY ~

Hello LH and welcome back to Under the Covers.  I have to say first of all thank you for writing such wonderful stories.  I fall in love with every single one of them and STILL LIFE WITH STRINGS was no different.

I’m curious as to what inspired you to write this story.  It’s so unconventional in a way, especially with the living statue 🙂

I’ve always been fascinated by living statues, and even secretly planned on becoming one when I was in college. I suppose writing this story was my way of getting to do that without actually doing it, if that makes sense. I love the effort and attention to detail involved in the costumes and the discipline of remaining still, even when the people passing by do their best to try and get you to move. Classical music was also a big inspiration. Whenever I listen to it I’m often taken by flights of fancy, quite like Jade when she imagines weird and wonderful things are happening.

There are many things that come full circle in this book and show us how destiny meant for Jade and Shane to be together.  Did you plan all of that out before sitting down to write the book, or was it a bit more organic?

Yes and no. The idea came to me before I sat down to write, but then grew bigger as the story progressed. I felt that the coincidences which occur in the book were a great way to mirror Jade’s philosophies about life, to give her hope that they could be true. I never really plot stories out all the way because if I know how it ends, much like a reader, I tend to lose interest. I always have a vague idea of what’s going to happen at various points, but the blanks sort of fill themselves out as I go along.

I’m so in love with all of your characters!  You truly write heroes that I fall hard for and heroines that I want to be BFF with.  Do your characters come to you like some authors say, or do you take traits from people you know to form them?

All of my heroines have a particular voice that comes to me when I sit down to write. I like to think of each one as a certain corner of my own personality. Then there are the heroes. I don’t necessarily base them on real people, but I think I write characters from what I know of real personalities. So, an amalgamation of sorts.

What’s your favorite thing about Jade and about Shane?

My favourite thing about Jade is that she’s a survivor who doesn’t wallow in her past misfortunes. She’s always looking to the future. My favourite thing about Shane is that he’s got a shy side. I know confident, cocky guys are what most readers go for, but I’ve always had a soft spot for the shy ones.

What are the hardest scenes for you to write, and the easiest?

The hardest scenes are the ones that involve research. There’s a court case in the romance I’m writing at the moment, so I’ve had to read up a lot on procedures and such. The easiest scenes have lots of dialogue. I like letting the hero and heroine buzz off each other and see what kind of strange and funny things they might say.

If we were unforgivably rude and looked in your purse right now, what would we find?

Haha. Let me go check. My kindle, wallet, hairbrush, chocolate bar, a very seldom used gym membership card, napkins from Starbucks, a bunch of crumpled receipts, a deck of cards and a book of magic tricks.

What are you currently reading?

I just finished Karina Halle’s Love, In English and oh my God, what a rollercoaster of emotions that was. Brilliant book. I think it comes out later this month.

Who is your favorite book boyfriend at the moment?

Oh, I read Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover last week and Ridge was amazing. I was in book love.

What is next for LH Cosway and how soon can we get it?

At the moment I’ writing a romance novel about an illusionist, hence the reason why I have a book of magic tricks in my purse, lol. It’s called Six of Hearts and I’m hoping to have it ready for release in July.

STILL LIFE WITH STRINGS
by L.H. Cosway

My name is Jade Lennon and I stand still for money.

The night I saw Shane Arthur watching me everything changed. A man in a suit always catches my eye, but it was the way he looked at me that was different. Like he knew me or something. He didn’t know me, especially not in my costume. My sobriety rests on staying away from men, but there was something about him that made me throw caution to the wind.

After all, I was never going to see him again, right?

Wrong.

Standing still isn’t the only way I make my money. I also bartend at a concert hall. Never in my wildest dreams did I think Shane was going to show up there. Not only that, but he’s the most recent addition to the orchestra. So now on a daily basis I have to resist one of the most beautiful men I’ve ever met and he plays the violin. For me that’s one hell of a deadly cocktail.

He wants me to teach him how to live. I’m not sure how much a twenty-six year old recovering alcoholic who works in a bar and moonlights as a living statue can teach a world class concert violinist, but I’m sure going to try.

Still Life with Strings is a story of music, art, sex, magical realism, and romance that you will never forget.

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Excerpt

I remain seated even when the concerto is over, my eyes still closed. Minutes later I feel someone sit down beside me and take my hand in theirs. I can tell it’s Shane even before I open my eyes to look.

“You never told me you were coming to hear me play,” he says just as I lift my head to look at him. He’s closer than I expected him to be, his face hovering inches from mine.

“I’d hoped to remain incognito,” I reply, giving him a soft smile. “You’re amazing. The way you play is just — wow. I still have tingles.”

I lift my arm to show him how my hairs are standing on end.

He lets go of my hand and sits back in his chair with a satisfied look.

“I’d love to play for you alone sometime,” he says after several moments of quiet.

I breathe harshly just imagining it. I don’t think it would be humanly possible to sit in a room alone with Shane and have him play for me, and not want to fuck his brains out afterward. Even the way he holds the bow turns me on. For a brief moment I imagine him standing above me, reaching down and running it lightly down my naked abdomen.

“I’d give anything to know what you’re thinking right now,” Shane murmurs, breaking me from my dirty thoughts.

“Oh, nothing much.”

“It didn’t look like nothing. It looked like a whole lot of I’m thinking about sex.”

I smirk and try to deflect from the stone-cold truth of his words. “You wish I was thinking about sex.”

“Yeah, you’re right about that. So when are we next spending some time together, friend?” he asks, giving my arm a little nudge with his elbow.

I take several moments to think about it before giving him a considering look. “That depends. How do you feel about haircuts and Indian food?”

He shrugs and runs his hand over his head. “I’m in favour of both?” he replies like a question.

“Good. Come to my house tonight at six, and we’ll hang out.”

“Okay. You aren’t going to explain?” he asks with interest.

I stand up. “Nope. I have to get back to the bar now. See you tonight.”

“See you tonight, Bluebird,” he breathes, shaking his head and smiling as he watches me walk away.

 

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