Release Party Day 4- Fun Facts

Today is FUN FACT DAY! I'll be sharing facts with you about myself, my characters, and the story behind the story. We'll start off with facts about me and the story behind the story.


Alexa
*I have to write out of sequence. I tried writing a book (that I had plotted/outlined) from page one once, and I got bored by page 20.

*My very first completed romance was about a singer and a football player. I finished it in the late 90s. It's been buried deep in my storage unit since.

*The characters from Her Highland Champion first came to life in 1998, when I wrote my 1st suspense story. I had visited the Highlands for the 1st time in the fall of '97, which had sparked the story to life for me.

*In 2009, I got to the UK twice. 1st was in March to bury my grandfather. 2nd was in June. It was the first time I'd made one of my dreams come true. I'd always said I wanted to go to Sunderland, write during the day, take a stroll through town, visit the local pubs, and write some more. I actually got to do that. It was perfect.

*If I could support myself with my writing and editing, I'd move to the UK tomorrow.

*The heroine's original lst name didn't work in this version. I was scrambling to find something that fit and felt right. Winchester was inspired by Sam and Dean Winchester of Supernatural.

*I have to listen to music most of the time while I write/rewrite. What type of music depends on which manuscript and what type of scene I'm working on.

*Each story/couple gets its own theme song.

*My favorite snack to eat during my writing is peanut M & Ms.

*I need to know the cast of my story before I can truly get into the writing. I usually print pictures of the actors and post them on my cork board above my computer while I'm writing.

The Story Behind the Story
In 1997, I made my first long trip into Scotland and instantly fell in love with it. When I got back to the States, I began writing my 2nd romance, Treasures of the Heart. It was a fabulous story...to me. In reality, it sucked. It had 2 heroes (Malcolm and Ian) and a hundred other things wrong with it. But I didn't know any better, so I sent it out to agents and editors and quickly began gathering rejections.

Eventually, I put the story under the bed to collect dust bunnies, but I always believed I would bring those characters back to life when I learned more about writing. They were near and dear to my heart, and I can still remember working on the story in my bedroom with my Celtic music playing softly enough so I wouldn't disturb my 2 roommates. I believed I just had to find the right moment and story for each of the characters.

Fast forward to the fall of 2011. My good friend Camryn Rhys emailed me with news that one of her publishers was starting a new line of novella stories and she thought I'd be perfect. The line, Decadent's Honor Guard Series, has alpha males with international settings and local flavor. Camryn knew I was a traveler, knew I had several books from my earlier years of writing, and suggested I submit something to Decadent Publishing. And the rest, as they say, is history!

So, did you learn anything new about me? **wink, wink**

Come back later today and I'll have FUN FACTS for my characters.