MUSE MONDAY
Please welcome back one of my favorite guests, Rachel Brimble. She's always a good read!
So
many readers and aspiring writers ask authors where they get their ideas from
and I find this a really hard question to answer. For me, ideas are
everywhere…but never more so than when I listen to the way I feel about something
or, better still, how I react to it.
Every
day we experience a whole host of emotions – if you stop and listen to your
head and heart, you’ll be surprised just how often your day will be a mix of
happiness, disappointment, fear, laughter, love and frustration. My advice?
Hone those feelings into your work and your readers will be able to relate to
your story and, hopefully, become wholly invested in it.
As
I write romance, emotion is key and so is that all-important Happy Ever After.
My
first book was published in 2007 and since then I have written at least two
books a year. Today, I’m starting to plan my twenty-second and third novels. To
say I am running out of ideas would be a lie. That’s not to say I don’t
experience the same panic of stretching an idea into an 80,000 word novel!
So
how do I ensure I provide my readers with an emotional ride and a satisfying
ending?
I
look deep inside of myself and think of something that bothers me, makes me
happy or scares me. That’s the beginning. That’s the emotion I will run through
the entirety of the book and not let go until I type ‘The End’.
My
latest release, Saved By The Firefighter, was due to my editor at the end of
2015. I had no intention of writing a firefighting hero when this book was
contracted, but at the time I was due to start planning the book, I lost my
beloved black Lab, Max.
I
was devastated. Distraught. Depressed…unable to climb out of my all-consuming
grief. This dog had been my constant companion for ten beautiful years. I,
literally, didn’t know what to do with myself.
Then
I stopped.
I
allowed what I was feeling to wash over me instead of fighting it.
I
knew I had to write a book about bereavement, grief, climbing out of the black
hole to invite love back into your life…to put your heart on the line once
again despite knowing the risks.
Writing
Saved By The Firefighter became my therapy, my solace, my healing and readers
and reviewers have been so lovely about the result. So many people have told me
that I was brave to tackle this subject, even braver to tackle it in a romance
novel.
I
couldn’t disagree more – what better gift to a grieving reader than to provide
them with a story where two characters have experienced heartbreak and through
their love for one another found true happiness and love again. This book fixed
me! I hope it will you, too :D
Happy
Reading!
Rachel
x
Saved
by The Firefighter (Harlequin) is out now – this is book 6 in Rachel’s popular
Templeton Cove series (all books can be read stand-alone)…
Blurb
& buy links:
How can she forgive him for what he didn't
do?
Photographer Izzy Cooper feels as frozen as her pictures.
Trent Palmer might be the hottest firefighter in Templeton Cove, but she can
never face him again. Not after he failed to save her brother. But when they're
forced together by a calendar shoot, the sparks between them are
undeniable.
Izzy knows it's not fair to blame Trent for the tragedy,
but opening herself up to loss again isn't something she's prepared to do, no
matter how determined Trent is to show her that pain is part of life and that
love—their love—can make any suffering bearable.
Buy
Links:
Amazon
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01JFHYGQW
Amazon
US: https://amzn.com/B01FQX473Q
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/saved-by-the-firefighter-rachel-brimble/1123750035?ean=9781488006906
Bio/links:
Rachel lives with her husband and two teenage daughters in a small town
near Bath in the UK. After having several novels published by small US presses,
she secured agent representation in 2011. Since 2013, she has had six books
published by Harlequin Superromance (Templeton Cove Stories) and recently
signed a contract for two more. She also has four Victorian romances with eKensington/Lyrical
Press.
Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and Romance
Writers of America, and was selected to mentor the Superromance finalist of So
You Think You Can Write 2014 contest. When she isn’t writing, you’ll find
Rachel with her head in a book or walking the beautiful English countryside
with her family. Her dream place to live is Bourton-on-the-Water in South West
England.
She likes nothing more than connecting and chatting with her readers and
fellow romance writers. Rachel would love to hear from you!
Links:
Can't wait to read it, Rachel. Often, experiencing those raw emotions makes our writing of them much more realistic. Good luck with the book!
ReplyDeleteHi, Jennifer! It was a hard book to write when I was feeling sad, but I really think it sometimes takes experiencing joy, grief, shock & every other emotion to write well...it's just painful sometimes!
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