As readers of romance, we’ve all experienced the eager
anticipation of actually meeting one of our favorite authors. Some of us have
stood in line for hours just to hear them speak.
I recently had an incident that made all the hours of writing, all the
rejection letters, and all the rewrites worth every minute. I had a book signing
where there were at least fifty people. This in itself thrilled me. As people began to line up in front of my table for me to sign my
books, an excited reader stopped and told me how much she loved my
books and couldn’t wait for my next one. I can’t express the emotion I felt.
I’m a newly published author and here
was this person acting as excited to meet me as I do when I go to see one of my
favorite authors. Not only did I feel
immense pleasure knowing something I’ve written has given someone such
enjoyment, they inspired me to continue writing.
She asked me a
number of questions, one being where do I get the ideas for my books? They can
come from a number of places. For instance, I got the idea for my paranormal
romance, The Silver Crescent, from an experience friends of mine had. They were
on a tour of historic homes where one couple had actually made their patio out
of old tombstones. Cities I love to visit are always inspiring, such as New
Orleans, my setting for Rue Toulouse. I
love reading historical romances. I plan on writing a time travel story set
during regency England, and being a huge Downton Abbey fan, I decided to set Destined to Die, a romance
and mystery that I have recently started work on, in the nineteen- twenties.
Ghosts and people with magical powers are always fun to write about. Let’s not
forget the old west and hunky cowboys. And
turquoise water and an expanse of golden beach can conjure up all kinds
of possibilities.
People are fascinating to watch and a great source for
developing characters. In fact, in my first manuscript, a mystery cozy as yet
unpublished, the murdered victim was actually based on a truly hateful person I
had the misfortune to know. Other
characters were based on friends from my old neighborhood.
For me the ability to create stories and allow others to
escape into the fantasy world I’ve spun is a wonderful gift I’ll always
cherish.
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