Have you ever bought a book just because you liked the cover? Maybe it wrapped you in its magic and walked you to the check-out counter. Maybe it called your name and the next thing you knew you were hitting “Buy now with 1-click.” As a reader, I have done just that. For example, one cover that captured me was this classic cover of The Great Gatsby. I’ve had readers tell me they bought The Cavanaugh House because of the cover. My husband Rich created that cover from a photograph he took of the actual Cavanaugh House . . Read More
Category: Historical Saga
3 Inspirations that Did Not Lead to a Sparkly Vampire
Don’t you wonder how Stephenie Meyer came up with the idea of a sparkly vampire? How did Diana Gabaldon decide on a portal in a standing stone that whisked Claire off to a Highlander hunk named Jamie? And Hobbits? Really? Where do authors get their ideas? Well, I can only speak to what’s worked for me with Love’s Courage: a word, a photo, and a visit. A Word Rich and I are word nerds. Okay, I’m a word nerd and Rich indulges me. Every morning at breakfast, we look up Merriam Webster’s Word of the Day. On Feb. 26, 2016, Read More
Love’s Courage: Square Peg in a Round Hole?
Most romance readers prefer a particular heat level in romance. These levels range from inspirational, where there is no intimate contact below the neck, to sweet, aka “behind closed doors,” where intimacy occurs, but the reader uses her imagination. Next is sensual where romantic scenes are more detailed, but not as numerous as spicy, where heat level is high and intimate scenes are frequent. Finally, erotica, which burns up the pages (and the romance market). When I was having coffee with my editor, Julie Sturgeon, we had a conversation about these levels. She suggested that readers will read “down” according Read More
Love’s Destiny: Book One in The Brentwood Saga Is On Sale for 99 Cents
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, my publisher, Crimson Romance/Simon & Schuster has put my first book, Love’s Destiny on sale for 99 cents. When I wrote this book, I didn’t know there would be a trilogy called The Brentwood Saga. My dream was to simply publish Emily and Jonathon’s beautiful love story. I thought the story was finished with their HEA, but no, there were some loose ends, and we needed a sequel. Enter Love’s Spirit. Danger heats up for both Emily and Jonathon in the second book, and when it was finished, Read More
Showing Characters Who’s in Charge (Hint: They Are) Part 2
As I told you in my previous post, I had to have a sit-down with Jenny Sutton to talk about how she was behaving. She had changed from brave and intrepid Jenny in Love’s Spirit to cry-baby, poor-me Jenny in Love’s Courage. Once we straightened that out and I did what she told me to do—go back and reread Love’s Spirit to see what she was really like—her character shaped right up. I had to have a heart-to-heart with another character in Love’s Courage: British Lieutenant Nigel Ashby. I don’t usually share my conversations with the voices in my head Read More