Blog Archives
Matters of the Heart
Wrecking Ball centers around an environmental safety inspector recovering from a dead-end relationship whose life is jolted by a charming construction worker and a series of misunderstandings. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Many people have found themselves in a relationship where difficult decisions must be made. Is my partner good for my future? Are they dragging me down? What about my own dreams? Matters of the heart are never simple or easy. Although this story is a rom-com with exaggerated situations, there is an underlying theme about relationship choices that I believe many people can relate to, which became my inspiration for this work.
The novel blends romantic comedy with genuine emotional vulnerability. How did you find the balance between laughter and heartbreak?
The pain of heartbreak can be unbearable, but sometimes things happen for a reason. Whether you believe in fate, karma, destiny, or just plain luck, things have a way of working out. Later, we can laugh through our pain and occasionally discover that the new situation we find ourselves in turned out for the better.
The novel has a wonderfully playful sense of humor. Which scene made you laugh the most while writing it?
For those who work in an office setting, I believe everyone can relate to the “office gossip” and the people responsible for it. The Cluck Club from the story represents the group that likes to spread rumors and be the center of attention. I found it humorous writing about those ladies, especially when other people might find themselves wanting to be part of the gossip!
Can fans expect more stories set in this world or featuring some of the supporting characters?
Unfortunately, no. My novellas tend to be stand-alone tales across multiple genres. I very much loved getting to know Bethany, Leon, and even young Rosaline as I wrote Wrecking Ball and gave them their own world.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
*From the award-winning author of Naked Interview and The Uninvited Guest – Alice Re: Wonderland*
Love letters spark the heart, but when white lies smother the flame, Bethany and Leon encounter a mountain of trouble!
Bethany works in the office conducting safety inspections. Leon sweats it out in construction wielding heavy machinery. The two couldn’t be more different, and an initial encounter in a parking lot leaves both fuming.
However, pen and paper bring the awkward couple together in ways that surprise them both. From terms of endearment to shy feelings, Bethany and Leon explore an undefined relationship through the written word.
Unfortunately, secrets and misunderstandings shatter their connection before things really heat up. Add a smooth-talking, conniving ex into the picture and things really go south fast. Can Bethany and Leon sift through the madness and mistakes to salvage the delicate beginnings of love, or will a hypothetical wrecking ball leave their emotions in the dust for good?
This spicy romantic comedy follows Bethany and Leon’s story of miscues and mayhem. The romance is tense and the poor hearts sensitive as the lovers try to find common ground. This fun story contains the following tropes:
-Love letters
-Meet-cute…nah!
-Ex interference
-Troublesome white lies
-Enemies to friends to enemies to lovers (whew!)
-HEA
Wrecking Ball
Wrecking Ball, by Pamela Summers, follows Bethany, an environmental safety inspector trying to recover from a dead-end relationship with career-obsessed Joshua, only to have her orderly life jolted by Leon, a construction worker whose charm arrives with concrete dust, hard hats, and several spectacular misunderstandings. What begins as irritation over a filthy car and an awkward confrontation becomes a workplace-adjacent romance full of missed signals, handwritten notes, old emotional bruises, family complications, and the stubborn hope that two people can still build something solid after making a mess of the foundation.
I enjoyed how Bethany is written as both capable and gloriously fallible. She is not a glossy romance heroine gliding through conflict with perfect hair and perfect instincts; she overthinks, snaps back, spirals, embarrasses herself, and occasionally turns a small problem into a full civic emergency. That made her feel relatable. The humor works best when the book lets her private commentary run wild, especially around the “cluck club,” the construction crew, and her own unwilling attraction to Leon. The story has a bright, unruly energy, like a romantic comedy that wandered onto a job site and refused to wear proper protective gear.
Leon works because he brings warmth without becoming bland. His “Fuzzy Hero” hard hat, his devotion to Rosaline, and his careful attempts to reach Bethany give the romance a sweetness that balances the book’s steamier moments. I was most drawn to the sections where the comedy gives way to hurt pride, miscommunication, and second chances; those scenes give the novel its emotional ballast. The misunderstandings pile up in a way that feels almost theatrical, but that heightened quality is part of the book’s engine. It wants the chaos, the fluster, the door-slamming embarrassment, and then the catharsis of people finally saying the thing they should have said three chapters earlier.
This book is a good fit for readers who like contemporary romance, workplace romance, romantic comedy, and second-chance-adjacent love stories with open-door heat and a lively heroine. Fans of Tessa Bailey’s blend of blue-collar attraction, humor, and emotional sincerity may find a familiar kind of pleasure here, though Pamela Summers gives the story her own chatty, combustible rhythm. Wrecking Ball is a romance about demolition, repair, and the reckless little miracle of trusting someone near the scaffolding of your heart.
Pages: 114 | ASIN : B0FNKZ9H5K
Less-Than-Perfect Lives
Under Brambles is a collection of short stories and poems centered around the raw beauty that exists in the forgotten, the broken, and the misunderstood. Why was this an important collection for you to write?
Many of these stories are quite personal, including the one about my mother, whilst others are a shadow of people I have known. I think that many people have less-than-perfect lives–imperfect love stories and life events that don’t get a neat resolution. I hope that readers can gain some reassurance in a world where everyone carefully curates their lives on social media.
Can you share a bit about your writing process? Do you have any rituals or routines when writing?
If I have an inspiration, be it a word, an idea, or a paragraph, I write it in Samsung Notes on my phone. Most of my books start off as short stories. My children’s book The Dragon Way Home was borne out of the short story “There Be Dragons” in Under Brambles.
Do you have a favorite selection in the book, and if so, why does it hold special meaning for you?
I feel that “Waiting for the Gate” resonates strongly because it captures all the joy, beauty, madness, and struggle that makes up modern China. I loved my decade living there and this is one of my favorite memories.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
I am working on two novels at present–one for children, one for adults. My children’s novel is called Yowie Dreaming and it will be available in March. It has been inspired by the town of Kilcoy which has a Yowie statue. My adult novel is set in a south-east Queensland town and it will be available later in the year.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website | Amazon
Under Brambles: A Short Story Collection
Under Brambles is a tapestry of vignettes, poems, and narratives that unravel the raw beauty found in the broken, the forgotten, and the misunderstood. Margaretta James takes us through fragments of lives—of people on the margins, of unspoken pain, of longing, and fleeting moments of connection. The stories don’t follow a linear structure; instead, they pull the reader through waves of emotion, leaving behind echoes of regret, defiance, and tenderness.
James’s writing is poetic and immersive, painting scenes with words that feel almost cinematic. The opening piece, There Be Dragons, transports us to a bustling night market, where a sand-sculpted dragon silently witnesses human cruelty and kindness. The sensory details—jasmine, salt air, the flickering light of candles—make the setting almost tangible. But beyond the lush descriptions, the story carries an undercurrent of sorrow, of destruction, of the transient nature of beauty. The dragon, lovingly crafted and then desecrated, becomes a metaphor for the fragility of creation in the face of careless violence.
One of the most gut-wrenching entries, My Mother Who Danced, is written as a letter from a daughter to a mother she spent her whole life resisting, only to understand too late. The honesty in this piece is brutal. The resentment, the love, the guilt—it’s all there, tangled up in a raw confession that is both personal and relatable. The narrator’s realization that she has inherited some of her mother’s traits and that she has failed to appreciate her mother’s sacrifices hits hard. This isn’t just a story about a complicated mother-daughter relationship; it’s about the passage of time, about regret, about how we often only recognize love in hindsight.
Then there’s Hallelujah, a darkly satirical take on faith, miracles, and commercialism. A statue of the Madonna in a failing church begins bleeding, and the reaction is swift. What starts as a seemingly divine event is quickly swallowed by human greed, morphing into a spectacle that loses all meaning. James expertly balances humor and cynicism here, crafting a sharp critique of the way society exploits faith for gain.
The book doesn’t shy away from pain. In Story from a Quilt, James presents a heartbreaking tribute to a friend lost to illness and societal rejection. The imagery of a memorial quilt, each patch a piece of a life cut short, is devastatingly beautiful. The contrast between the vibrant, rebellious life of the protagonist and the cold indifference of the institutions that shunned him makes for an emotional gut-punch. The writing here is particularly poignant, moving between nostalgia and grief in a way that feels personal.
Under Brambles is not for readers looking for a conventional story with clear resolutions. It’s for those who appreciate writing that makes them feel something raw and unfiltered. This book is for lovers of poetic prose, for those who find beauty in imperfection, for anyone who has ever looked back and wished they had understood sooner.
Pages: 85 | ASIN : B0DSW98NXT
