Hello and welcome to Day 11 of 30 Days of Pride - Books and Authors!
For Pride Month 2023, I’m sharing some of the fabulous books and authors I’ve discovered featuring LGBTQ or LGBTQ-friendly characters or written by LGBTQ or LGBTQ-friendly authors.
Hey friends - so I'm engaging in a bit of self-indulgence this weekend. Yesterday, I introduced you to two LGBTQ couples in my book, WAYWARD GUILT Heroes of Grant's Crossing Book 1, and today... well - I'd like to celebrate Grant's Crossing's birthday!
This may not be an LGBTQ-specific post, but trust me, I don't limit sharing great LGBTQ books and authors to June. I'll be back with another post featuring terrific stories and authors tomorrow for Day 12!
Grant's Crossing likes chocolate, too.
Three years ago today, I was a month into reading romance novels - something I started while I was furloughed from work after the lockdown started. I'd read about six or so novels by this time, with the 5th and 6th being pretty awful. What did I do? I complained about it to my mom. Hey - I'm the kid. She's the mom. It's what we do.
So how did Mom respond? "Write your own romance novel."
Huh?
So this is what I came up with that night. I had no idea about a storyline or anything. Aside from a handful of romance novels, I'd been reading tons and tons of cozy mysteries, so I used that as a framework for brainstorming. Light stories that are fun, filled with likable characters, a small-town setting, female business owners, gotta have a detective in there somewhere... yep. Got it.
Small town? Check.
Quirky characters? Check.
Good story? Check.
I'm not a visual artist (See? I'm self-aware), but this is what I came up with.
So with all this in mind, happy ending, light, beach read, etc... I wrote my first scene.
What was it, you ask? Heh heh heh.
In a nutshell, it was a scene on an overcast day where an ambulance with two paramedics pulled up to an abandoned industrial complex only to find a barely-old-enough-to-drive kid hanging out the side of an old car, apparently overdosing on opioids. From a 2nd story window inside the dilapidated factory, a young girl watched from above through dirty windows. After the ambulance drove away with her friend, she returned outside and ran home as the rain began to fall.
Spoiler alert - the kid in the car makes it and will appear in a later book.
The two paramedics? They became Derek Mitchell and Kiro Marinov (Pronounced like Hero with a K and Marine + off). Derek's the main character in Wayward Guilt. As for Kiro, you meet him in this book but get to know him better in subsequent books like Safe Now, Warm Drink on a Cold Day, and End of a New Life.
This is my second attempt at creative writing, with the first being a total fluke - The Weaving Loom - a short story I wrote while serving in the Peace Corps in Bulgaria. My only question is why the heck did I not start writing earlier in my life? I absolutely love writing and bringing these characters to life.
I hope you love these stories and characters, too!
Take care, and happy reading!
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