Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, where I share snippets from new and past releases and works-in-progress and occasionally twist the arms of author buddies to do the same.

It’s been a quiet week in the Hein house. I had a nasty bout of vertigo last Tuesday that left me a bit fragile for a few days. I hate vertigo. It’s so debilitating. My first episodes came in 2018 after a bout of vestibular neuritis. When they trailed off in 2019 I’d really thought I’d conquered it, so it was annoying to have a recurrence. Never mind. It seems 2020 just wants to be that kind of year, doesn’t it? Rotten thing.

A few of my new basil seedlings.

I did manage to do some more gardening on the weekend and now have new basil plants in, along with some cherry tomatoes, strawberries and Thai basil, which I’ve never grown before. We use Thai basil a lot, so I hope it’s a success. The plan over the next few weeks is to add capsicums, cucumbers, more tomatoes, and I might stick in an eggplant for fun too. And lemongrass. We definitely need lemongrass. And coriander, although I’ve never had much success with that.

I love growing my own veg, but we’ve been very slack since we moved to Newcastle, only planting herbs, carrots and radishes. This is the year to get serious.

Speaking of which, it’s time to get serious about this week’s Teaser Tuesday excerpt!

It’s been quite some time since we’ve had a teaser from Chrissy and the Burroughs Boy. I adore this story. Nick’s efforts to win Chrissy over are very cute. Got to admire a man willing to embarrass himself in front of his mates for love.

The Levenham Love Stories are on hold for the moment while I concentrate on a big project, but I still have plenty of ideas I’d like to see through. One idea features a minor character we meet in Chrissy and the Burroughs Boy – Nick’s housemate Chops. I think it’d be a blast to give him a story. He’s so… unique!

Here’s a taste of Chops as he appears in Chrissy and the Burroughs Boy.

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‘Dude,’ said Chops, walking in and throwing his keys on the table before heading straight for the fridge, as was his habit. A waft of cow shit and milk from his dad’s dairy farm, where Chops worked, followed. He shoved a container of fresh milk in the door shelf and peered around inside, then suddenly turned to Nick with a stunned-mullet look on his face. ‘Is that …’

‘Yeah, it’s a wine rack.’

Chops shut the fridge door and scratched his scruffy brown hair. ‘Dude?’

‘Long story.’

Chops stared at the rack, then the boxes, then at Nick. ‘Ryan’s.’

Conversation had never been his housemate’s forte.

‘Yeah, Ryan’s. Where Chrissy works.’

‘And she …’ He waved at the rack with a slightly horrified expression, as if to ask, ‘A girl made you do this?’ Which was a bit rich when Stacey had Chops twisted so tight around her finger she had him doing far dumber things than buying wine and furniture to store it on, but that was love for you.

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He he. That’s love indeed, and Nick ends up doing a whole lot more than buying wine in his efforts to impress Chrissy. You’ll have to read the whole book to find out what they are. I promise much cuteness!

Chrissy and the Burroughs Boy is available now in ebook and print from these stores:

Amazon US |Amazon AU |Amazon UK  |  Kobo | Apple Books | Google Play | Nook  |  Booktopia | Angus & Robertson | Bookdepository

Or purchase a personally signed copy from my online store (Australian postal addresses only).

Discover more about Chrissy and the Burroughs Boy on its book page or learn how the book came about in Crushing It, the story behind Chrissy and the Burroughs Boy.

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