Month: April 2016

Hipmunk Hotels: Movie and Television Sets in Bar Harbor, Atlantic City, Albany, Ithaca and Stamford

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle3 Comments

I love it when I find items I want to scratch off my bucket list. Even better when they are located in amazing places I’ve never been. Going to the settings of some of my favorite movies and television shows is a bonus when they’re located in great cities, like these.

Bar Harbor, Maine

I had to watch the psychological thriller “Shutter Island” three times to understand all the nuances of this story set in Bar Harbor, Maine. Once I figured out what was real and what was in Leonardo DiCaprio’s character’s imagination, this movie scared me even more. I look forward to staying in the small seaside port and exploring where Leo lost his mind. The city and its weather are prevalent in the plot; in fact, I might consider visiting in the winter. The city offers several great hotels and bed-and-breakfasts, and none, as far as I can see, are like the place they stayed at in the movie, thank goodness.

Image provided by Gizmo Goes West via Trover.com

Atlantic City, New Jersey

I’ve been to Atlantic City, and I liked it. The boardwalk, casinos, and hotels on the Atlantic Ocean were great. I enjoyed it mostly because it was closer than Las Vegas and gave you a hint of the Vegas vibe. After watching it come to life during the Prohibition era in the HBO show “Boardwalk Empire,” I see Atlantic City in a whole new light. The show made the boardwalk, hotels, and nightclubs seem like an adult version of Disney Land. They had so much fun, in between the killing, illegal activity, and other bad stuff.

Image provided by Jackie Grenier via Trover.com

Ithaca, New York

Ithaca, New York, is a great college town. It has beautiful scenery and what you think of when you picture upstate New York. Besides Cornell University, Ithaca was the setting for the 1986 movie “The Manhattan Project.” The movie was about a kid who built an atomic bomb in his garage for a science fair to expose a plutonium plant in the city. I’m sure it is safe to stay in the many hotels and explore the countryside, free from plutonium, now. The unassuming city was the perfect backdrop to this thriller.

Albany, New York

Albany, the capital of New York, is a beautiful place to visit if you have a thing for state capitals, which I do. I plan to visit when the weather is nice. Find a great hotel, get some hiking in to check out the scenery, and then drive up and down Interstate 787 and relive the car chase made famous by Angelina Jolie in the movie “Salt.”

Image provided by Linda via Trover.com

Stamford, New York

I admit, before my research, I thought Stamford was located in Connecticut. It turns out there are two Stamfords. Stamford, New York, is a little village three hours north of New York City that sits between Cooperstown and Albany. It’s part of the Catskills area where movies like “Dirty Dancing,” “War of the Worlds,” “The Bourne Legacy” were shot. Several quaint hotels and B&Bs occupy the area. It’s known for having great hiking, jogging, and scenic walking trails.

Is there a movie set you would love to visit? 

H -Humor

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle2 Comments

H

I am not sure, but I think I might be funny. I mean, I have a sense of humor and my characters say funny things and I think it comes across on the page. Heck, I might be fooling myself, but you decide.

Excerpt from Anxious Love: 

“Will you step back? My neck’s getting sore looking up at you.”

He stepped back and gave me the sternest look. I couldn’t help it; I laughed. To his credit, he tried to maintain the seriousness the situation called for, but he laughed, too. I marched up three steps on my neighbor’s stoop.

“There.” I placed my hands on my hip. “Now, I can talk to you face-to-face. Freakin’ giant.” That last part, I whispered under my breath.

Ryan smirked and shook his head.

“Come here.”

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I concentrated on the nature so much that I didn’t hear Leah walked back into the bedroom. She came up behind me, her hand underneath my t-shirt, pushing it up.

“What are you doing?” I looked over my shoulder.

“Trying to get you naked.” She pushed my shirt up and laid small little kisses on my back. They tickled. “Are you going to help me or am I going to have to get a stepladder?”

I laughed as I spun around and grabbed her behind the legs and tossed her over my shoulder.

“Ryan put me down.” She giggled and squirmed as I stalked over to the king-size bed and tossed her down. She blew the hair out of her face and blinked.

“If you want me to take my clothes off, all you had to do was ask, little one.” I pulled my shirt over my head and threw it at her. It covered her eye. She pulled it off her and discarded it on the floor. I reached in my back pocket and fished out a condom and threw on the bed.

“Way to be prepared, big guy,” she said and giggled.

Do you think you are funny? 

G – The Game

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle2 Comments

G

I say I’m a sports romance writers, but up until now, I’ve only written about football. That is my GAME. I love it. Every aspect of it, the stories on and off the field. I love the drama, triumph, tragedy, and emotion of it all. It is such a microcosm of our society, but every scandal draws attention because they are in the spotlight.

Football has it bad guys (Rice, Hardy, A. Smith) and its good guys (Aikman, E. Smith, Johnston) – I’m a Cowboy fan if you can’t tell. 

It has its characters and its all about second chances, or third or sometimes four.

In most occupations, there is a separation between work life and personal life, but I think to be a good professional athlete, to be a good football player, the game has to be your life.

I think that’s why I write about these complex characters because to be good, the game has to be their life, but if something is above the game, it’s love.

Love will throw anyone off their game.

Excerpt from Anxious Love: 

I wasn’t sure how she did it; she didn’t offer advice, she listened and asked questions and I didn’t feel weird about telling her my insecurities.

“Nothing is going to make him feel good about you taking his job.” Her little face scrunched up as she thought about how to help me.

My bad mood was gone. The killer blowjob helped, but what sealed it was lying in bed next to this beautiful woman. She might be cute and little, but she was wise and she understood me.

“Yeah, I could learn right tackle if I have to, but I am always looking at what’s best for the team. In three practices, it’s a little disillusioning to find out not everyone feels the same.”

“It’s weird when you all of sudden discover the world is different than you would like it to be.”

I smirked.

See what I mean about wise.

What is your favorite GAME and why? 

F-French Quarter

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle8 Comments

F

I lived in New Orleans for two years. It’s one of those cities that great to visit but hard to live in, especially if you have obligations like a school or a job.

It remains one of my favorite places on earth.

Anxious Love will be the first of many (I hope) novels set in New Orleans. The city is a character in itself and it main character trait is found in the French Quarter.

Depositphotos_40084997_s-2015Top 5 coolest things to do in the French Quarter:

  1. People watch in Jackson Square.
  2. Eat at Acme Oyster House.
  3. Ride the river front street car down the Mississippi River.
  4. Listen to jazz at the Preservation Hall.
  5. Take a book tour and see where Tennessee Williams and Truman Capote wrote.

This list could have been 100 items long. These are just the highlights.

Have you been to New Orleans? 

E – Elle Kennedy

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah MichelleLeave a comment

E

I am a huge fan of hockey. Every since I stayed up until 2:00 am back in 1999 and watched my Dallas Stars win the Stanley Cup, I’ve been hooked. When I found Elle’s books, I devoured them. Couldn’t wait to see her take on what went on in the room (locker room) as the guys put on their sweaters (jerseys) and got ready to put the biscuit in the oven (goal in the net). I love talking hockey. 🙂

One of my favorite writers is joining me today and she writes about HOCKEY!

Welcome Elle …

  1. What is it about sports that inspired you to include them in your romance books?

I’ve always been a big sports fan. I watch a LOT of football—every Sunday during the season I watch all the games with friends, so to me, it’s one of those things that brings people together. I thought it would be fun to write a series in a sports setting, and I chose hockey because I love it as much as football.

  1. Are your sports heroes based on real life sports figures? If so, who and why?

They’re not, sadly. Though I’d welcome some hot athletes to inspire me LOL

  1. What kind of research did you do for the sports in your romances?

Not a lot. Hockey’s pretty big here in Canada so there’s always someone who has all the answers if I don’t.

  1. Best advice for other authors who want to write sports romance?

Make sure you know the sport you’re writing about! Watch games, understand the rules, and it helps if you love the sport because then it’s more fun to write about.

  1. What sports romance are you working on next?

I’m working on a couple actually! The Goal (Off-Campus #4), and Him #3 with Sarina Bowen. Both are hockey-focused.

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To win an ecopy of Elle’s book, tell me who your favorite hockey player is and why? I’ll pick a comment at random to win.