Guest Post and Giveaway: Romantic Behavior by L.A. Witt and Cari Z.

Welcome to authors L.A. Witt and Cari Z. as they tour the web to celebrate their latest release in the Bad Behavior series, Romantic Behavior. L.A. is here to talk travel with us (and maybe a little karmic character justice?), and there’s also a giveaway, so be sure to check those details out below.

Enjoy and good luck!

When Travel Goes Wrong

So Romantic Behavior isn’t about traveling, but I’m currently traveling (I’m either in Finland or France as you’re reading this), so traveling is on my brain.  And, just for fun (and a little schadenfreude for all y’all), I thought I’d tell some stories of my travel-related disasters. Mostly because Andreas likes hearing about me suffering because he thinks I deserve it.

The Great Return from London of 2015.

It all started with a broken plane. We were onboard and settled in when there came talk of engine trouble. As someone with a deep fear of flying, I was like “Nope, nope, I want off.” So when they started letting people off, I went. But then they realized the plane wasn’t going anywhere at all. So everyone got off. And of course there were no more flights to Madrid that day. Yay.

Here’s the thing, though—once you’re on your plane, you’ve left the country even if your plane never leaves the gate. Which meant we had to clear customs, which is already an epic pain at Heathrow because the lines are SO LONG OMG. Sometimes you get lucky and it’s like 20 minutes. That day? Not so much. Because there was a big political protest on the runway over at Stanstead, and all of their flights were diverted to Heathrow.

3.5 hours later, I cleared customs, then had to stand in line for like 2 more hours to book my flight for the next day, then had to stand in line forever to get a taxi, which I then had to bribe to take me to my hotel because it was out of his usual zone. I arrived at my hotel at 11:30 pm, exhausted and starving, only to discover all the restaurants in the area closed at 11.

The Paris Boarding Pass Disaster of 2018.

This one happened just this week! We got to the airport in Paris with a tight connection. Tighter than I usually like, but manageable…until we discovered we had to go through security again. Also manageable…until we discovered Finnair’s ticket desk had closed, and since AirFrance hadn’t been able to print our boarding passes in Madrid, suddenly we found ourselves unable to go through security to get to our flight and with no one around to print us our boarding passes.

Fortunately, a kindly gentleman at another counter called the gate, got them to print the passes, took us to security, and handed the passes to us so we could continue to our gate. By the skin of our teeth, we made our flight.

The Time My Nap was Interrupted of 2015.

I was on my way home from GRL in San Diego, and had just gotten on the 14-hour Los Angeles-Madrid flight. I was tired, I had some nasty con crud, and I just wanted to sleep.

And sleep I did….right up until the seat in front of me started banging on my knee in an oddly steady rhythm. I opened my eyes to discover the two teenagers (or maybe 20-somethings) in front of me were enthusiastically joining the Mile High Club.

The Alaskan Tropical Storm Stranding of 2010.

Military flights. Let me tell y’all about military flights. They’re free (or in some cases, like $20), and flying on a cargo jet is soooooo much nicer than flying commercially (no, seriously). You just have to be flexible because they’re not very reliable and you don’t always get a seat.

There’s also the minor detail about taking, shall we say, indirect routes.

We came home to Seattle from Okinawa in 2010 to go to a concert (yes of course it was 30 Seconds to Mars). On the way back to Japan, we flew from Lewis-McChord near Seattle to a base in California, and from there to Elmendorf, Alaska….where we were promptly stranded for 48 hours. Because of a tropical storm.

Obviously the storm wasn’t in Alaska – it was actually in Yokota, Japan, which was where we needed to catch our flight to Okinawa. Still, you know it’s not your luckiest travel day when you get stuck in Alaska because of a tropical storm.

That Time My Bank Almost Stranded Me in Tokyo of 2008.

And finally, when I moved to Japan, there had to be a disaster of some sort. In this case, I made it to Tokyo, and during my transfer from international to domestic, was informed I needed to pay 6000 yen (about $60) for a luggage fee. I was annoyed, but whatever. Handed over my debit card. Declined.

Wait, what?

I was starting to panic at this point because I had less than 45 minutes to get to my gate, there was plenty of money on that card, and I had put a travel advisory on the account, so WTF? I went to the ATM only to discover my account was locked. I tried to call my parents back in the US, but couldn’t because you had to use a card to call internationally and, well, my card was locked. I had nothing, and I couldn’t call anyone – including my bank, which I won’t name but rhymes with Shank of Shamerica.

Ultimately, the customer service manager took pity on me, put my bag on the belt, and sent me to catch my flight. Crisis averted.

It turned out my husband was at the commissary on Okinawa and had swiped his card right around the same time, which flagged the bank as odd, prompting me to ask the phone rep in all seriousness if she thought my husband and I were conjoined twins. But at least I finally made it.

So there you have it – my travel disasters.

Andreas thinks it’s karma for all the things Cari and I have done to him and Darren. He might be right.

About the Book

Detective Andreas Ruffner is no fool—he’s found a man who loves him, puts up with him, and has stuck with him through hell and back, and it’s time to put a ring on it. Darren Corliss is the love of his life, and he wants the whole world to know it.

Now the fun part—the wedding!

Well, after the not-so-fun part of planning the wedding in between dealing with overbearing and impossible-to-please family members. With future mothers-in-law driving them both up a wall, the guest list growing out of control, and the wedding getting ever more complicated, Darren and Andreas have to wonder if they’re in over their heads.

But they’re going to make it to the altar if it kills them . . . and at this rate, it just might.

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About the Series

It’s “hell no” at first sight for newly partnered detectives Andreas Ruffner and Darren Corliss. Darren is too chipper, Andreas is too gruff, and that whole “IA wants me to prove you’re a dirty cop” thing really doesn’t get them off on the right foot.

It doesn’t matter if they like each other. They’re partners and that’s final. Though Andreas is easy on the eyes. And Darren is kind of cute. And . . . okay, maybe they can make this work.

They’d better, because as their cases get more horrifying—and more personal—they’ll have to trust each other with their lives, and with their hearts.

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About the Authors

Cari Z was a bookworm as a child and remains one to this day. In an effort to combat her antisocial reading behavior, she did all sorts of crazy things, from competitive gymnastics to alligator wresting (who even knew that was legal!) to finally joining the Peace Corps, which promptly sent her and her husband to the wilds of West Africa, stuck them in a hut, and said, “See ya!” She also started writing, because some things she just thought she could do better. She’s still climbing that ladder, but can’t stop herself from writing, or from sharing what she creates.

Cari enjoys a wide range of literary genres, from the classics (get ‘im, Ahab) to science fiction and fantasy of all types, to historical fiction and reference materials (no, seriously, there are so many great encyclopedias out there). She writes in a wide range of genres as well, but somehow 90% of what she produces ends up falling into the broad and exciting category of m/m erotica. There’s a sprinkling of f/m and f/f and even m/f/m in her repertoire, but her true love is man love. And there’s a lot of love to go around.

Cari has published short stories, novellas, and novels with numerous print and e-presses, and she also offers up a tremendous amount of free content on Literotica.com, under the name Carizabeth.

Connect with Cari at her website or via her blog.

L.A. Witt is an abnormal M/M romance writer who has finally been released from the purgatorial corn maze of Omaha, Nebraska, and now spends her time on the southwestern coast of Spain. In between wondering how she didn’t lose her mind in Omaha, she explores the country with her husband, several clairvoyant hamsters, and an ever-growing herd of rabid plot bunnies. She also has substantially more time on her hands these days, as she has recruited a small army of mercenaries to search South America for her nemesis, romance author Lauren Gallagher, but don’t tell Lauren. And definitely don’t tell Lori A. Witt or Ann Gallagher. Neither of those twits can keep their mouths shut . . .

L. A.’s backlist is available on her website, and updates (as well as random thoughts and the odd snarky comment) can be found on her blog or on Twitter (@GallagherWitt).

The Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Romantic Behavior, one lucky winner will receive a $10 Riptide credit and their choice in an ebook from each of Cari and L.A.’s backlist! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on January 20, 2018. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!