KEEPING CONTROL - BIGELOW BAY SERIES

 

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Keeping Control

Bigelow Bay Book 3

by 

Jakki Frances

Genre: Contemporary Romance 

MICHAEL - He's the king and Bigelow Bay hospital is his domain.  A lifetime of single minded focus and self discipline has ensured his life is exactly the way he always wanted...  Until tragedy threatens
to disrupt his well ordered life.
SONNIE -  Her life is out of control, one moment changed everything. A new home, new school, new life with new challenges.  When your life is chaos you hang onto even a small shred of control all the harder.
MEL:  Offering guidance to those who need it most while battling the darkness that still lives inside her - it's a delicate balance between controlling her past of allowing her past to control her.
AS three lives collide, sometimes the only thing you can hope for is some order in the chaos, but sometimes the best outcome doesn't come from KEEPING CONTROL.


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Hey, can I ask you something without it coming across completely inappropriate and creepy?

Umm, I don’t know… If you have to ask, then it might actually be creepy. But consider me forewarned. 

Ahh, ok. So this is in no way a precursor to anything but I need to know… Is it normal for kids to know about sexting? 

Mel dropped her phone and gasped. Running through the dealings with the students at school she almost cried trying to hold back her giggle. Oh if only you knew. I bet they could teach you a thing or two Doc.

It's Complicated

Bigelow Bay Book 2 

Welcome to Bigelow Bay, where everyone has a story and gets their own, special, happy ending.

After years of being moved from place to place Greg has finally put down some roots and he likes his life just as it is. He works hard in his job and equally hard to avoid complications in life; especially the female kind.

Until he literally stumbles across Helene, a fun-loving free spirit without a home or a past who crashes into his life and complicates everything.

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It's Safer

Bigelow Bay Book 1 

Frank leads a quiet life and is dedicated to his job, but there is a redhead who keeps distracting him. He's seen her around town and at work and the more he sees the more curious he gets.

Kasey keeps to herself, hiding from the world. She loves her job and does it well, but after work hours she's alone in her home with a cat and books for company. It's a lonely existence but at least it's safe.

Until a stormy night changes everything and life no longer seems safe. Now it might become something more. Can Frank break through the walls around Kasey without breaking her completely? And is Kasey strong enough to let him in?

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Can you, for those who don't know you already, tell something about yourself and how you became an author? 

Hiya all, I’m Jakki Frances, Australian author, book dork, breakfast enthusiast… oh and in my everyday life – ER nurse and single mum of a fully grown and almost functional adult daughter. I’m relatively new to this whole author thing. It still blows my mind that people out there in the world are reading my words. I’ve always been a book dork. I grew up in a family of readers but I took it to the extreme at a young age – I won the school prize for reading the most amount of books at 12 beating out everyone even the 18 year olds. I’ve also always written short stories and poems for my eyes only. A few years ago, I started blogging reviews on books I enjoyed and events I went to. This gave me the confidence (together with some wonderful author mentors) to put my words out there for everyone else to read and in April 2019 I published my first book… And thus, Jakki Frances was born. 

Describe your writing style. I’m a total pantster… I know where the story starts and where it ends, how it gets there is a surprise until it hits the pages. I’m never sure what my characters are going to get up to until it happens. 

As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal? 

This is such a well timed question since I’ve just finished tweaking my author profile and branding. I’m not a spirit animal, etc. kind of girl but my logo of a book dandelion really speaks to my heart. You blow on the dandelion and instead of seeds/‘fairies’ – a million book dreams are set flight into the universe. 

Tell us something really interesting that's happened to you! 

I’m a traveller (well pre-covid I was) and you never know what’s going to happen when you travel… I’ve been lost in the jungles of Borneo, mugged by a taxi driver in Beunas Airies, hiked in the Andes, celebrated NYE under the norther lights in Iceland, been bitten by an venimous catterpiller, watched the sun rise in the Antarctic… oh and when I was 16 I won a speech competition with a speech translating 90’s teenage language. 

When did you first consider yourself a writer? 

I guess I first started actually calling myself a writer when people started reading my books… I still struggle with calling myself an author – I feel like the toddler wearing mums high heels for dress up. The first few books I signed for readers – I forgot I don’t write under my ‘real’ name… So one day when I’m JK Rolling big those books signed by the everyday me and not the author Jakki Frances, will be collector items worth $$$$$ LOL 

What can we expect from you in the future? 

One thing I can guarantee is you’ll never know what you’re going to get from me next… I write whatever crazy is most insistent in my head. I’m working on a stand alone book now that’s something that I have no idea where the idea came from but it’s talking loud and clear. 

What inspired you to write this series? 

Bigelow Bay began life with Kasey and Frank (IT’S SAFER) and the crew at Bigelow Bay hospital. They’re a combination of my own workmates and the hospital in my mind is the one I spend my days in. Once K & F had their happy ending, other friends I’d met in the story started telling me their stories too. Thus Greg & Nadine (IT’S COMPLICATED) and now Sonnie, Michael & Melissa (KEEPING CONTROL). Each book inspires a new story – I have plans for at least 2 more at this stage. 

What is your writing Kryptonite? 

SEX! What can I say, my first book Destroying Laura was full of sex and that’s how I realised I don’t write good sex. My friends say it’s because you need to write what you know… So my stories are more love and relationship rather than sweating and pussy pounding. And apostrophies - I hate those suckers. I’m never sure where they go. Thank god for my editor. 

When/where do you write? 

I do my best writing at night and for some reason can’t get any words out in the morning at all. I need noise to write – when I’m at home I’m in my library with my earpods and my fave playlist, but a good 50% of my writing is done between patient care at work on nightshift, usually between 2 & 5am with the bustle of the ER around me. 

Do you write one book at a time or do you have several going at a time? 

I only ‘write’ one at a time, but I’m always jotting down ideas, conversations, entire paragraphs in my notebooks for future books. But the actual ‘writing ‘book process is one at a time. 

Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination? They all come from my imagination of course, but everyone in my books is based on someone in my life – some in physical look and others in character. Some characters are mash-ups of a few people and I am in each and every story I’ve written. 

Anything specific you want to tell your readers? My new release KEEPING CONTROL is a very personal story for me. I cried writing it, I cried editing it, I cried as I read and formatted it. The feels are very real to me – here’s hoping they are for readers too. 

Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in KEEPING CONTROL? 

Michael is my perfect man – the one I wish was walking the halls of my hospital. He’s alpha and confident and hot and over 40… but at the same time he’s flawed and unsure of himself and feeling in over his head. He’s just lovely. Sonnie breaks my heart. She’s a teenager who’s lost everything and is just trying to find her place in the world. Plus she’s attempting to teach her Uncle how to parent her. Melissa is me. What can I say, she’s me through and through. Most days she’s a fully functional adult but every now and then life overwhelms her. It really is hard to shut out the voices inside you and just eat in public. 

If KEEPING CONTROL was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead? 

Amy Schumer would be the perfect Melissa in my mind. Physically and character wise – I don’t see it being a ‘stretch’ for her. As for Michael and Sonnie? No idea really. Maybe Wentworth Miller for Michael – simply because I have a big crush on him. Sonnie – no idea, I don’t actually know any child actors. Are there any more Fanning sisters out there? I will say I already know the main soundtrack/theme song. I don’t have playlists to go with books but this book from the first moment it started growing in my mind had one song that matched it perfectly. So the theme song for KEEPING CONTROL is absolutely The Chainsmokers & Coldplay - Something Just Like This. 

What literary pilgrimages have you gone on? 

4 years ago I visited Anne Frank house in Amsterdam and one of my prized possessions is the copy of her diary I purchased there. Margaret Mitchell (Gone With the Wind) is my all time favourite author and last year when I was in the USA I visited Atlanta specifically to go to Margaret Mitchell house – and I was able to replace my old battered GWTW while there, another prized possession. And covid travel willing in 2021 I’ll be visiting Concord, Massachusetts to visit Louisa May Alcott’s house (Little Women – the first book I fell in love with as a child), and the graveyard where Louisa is buried along with Nathanial Hawthorne and Edgar Allen Poe. What can I say, total book dork here. 

What do you do to unwind and relax? 

I read of course. I read on average 5+ hours at day. If it’s a day off I could read for 12+. It’s my relaxation and recharge activity. I also love my gym… I miss my gym! We’re banned from gyms here due to covid and I miss my daily workout. I get the best book ideas when I’m zoned out on the treadmill. 

What is something unique/quirky about you? I really hate to wear socks and shoes. Socks are for work only and shoes are only when necessary. I’d live barefoot if the hospital floor wasn’t so disgusting. I’d rather eat breakfast than anything else and when my daughter moves out (hopefully within the next month) I’ll be giving up cooking and surviving on breakfast day round. When I travel I only eat 1-2 meals a day and they always include dessert. Travelling I workout extra just so I can eat pancakes and cheesecake for brunch. 

Do you see writing as a career? 

WOW that would be living the ultimate dream!!! I started writing for just myself, I started publishing happy that if only one person ever read my first book then that was ok by me. Now 7 books later I have a small but dedicated reader following and people who have been know to bug me as to when the next book is coming. After my first book I worked out how many per year I’d have to sell to quit nursing… suffice to say I doubt I’ll ever be a full time author but that’s ok. I write because I love it and I have stories to share. Of course if someone wants to buy 35,000 copies of my books that’s ok by me too. LOL

A life long book dork, voracious reader, book blogger, regular dreamer and slightly crazy cat lady, living in small town southern Australia. Cheat days are the best days because they involve pancakes and tacos.

A lifesaving superhero by day and putting whatever crazy is running through her head into words by night. Dreaming of love and creating different versions of the perfect book boyfriend... all with a little Aussie spin.

Everyday life is weaved through each story, a roadtrip I took, a person I once knew, a friends quirks - every character you read you are meeting someone in my life... see if you can find yourself. I write whatever crazy happens to be in my head at any given moment. Whether a friends to lovers, a fairy tale, a fun escapade, a filthy good girl gone wrong or a sweet shifter love, you never know what you're going to get. Why limit yourself to a single genre right? The only guarantee is that love wins in the end; I don't promise happily ever after but I do promise the perfect love for the story.

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