Last week author Lois Winston wrote a blog post about
her home state of New Jersey and why she sets many of her books there. Before she turned to writing mysteries about me and that other New Jersey sleuth, wrote romance and romantic suspense. One of those
books, Finding Hope, is also set, not
only in New Jersey, but in the same town where she sets the Anastasia Pollack
Crafting Mysteries and the Empty Nest Mysteries.
Another NJ Heroine
I'm
often asked where I get the ideas for my books. I’m a news junkie. Most of my
plots have arisen in part from newspaper article I’ve read. I start playing the
“what if” game, adding elements from my own personal experiences or those of
others I know. Such was the case with Finding
Hope.
The
idea for Finding Hope came to me
after reading about a fertility doctor in Virginia who had used his own sperm
to impregnate the eggs of his in vitro patients. My cousin had gone through
many years of unsuccessful fertility treatments at that point. When her insurance
refused to pay for another treatment, she and her husband adopted a baby from
China.
But
what if my cousin had become pregnant and years later she and her husband
discovered he wasn’t the biological father? That “what if” led to other “what
if’s” which I won’t give away here because I don’t want to include any plot
spoilers. Let’s just say, I gave the factual story a few very unique fictional
twists.
I’ve
also been deeply touched by our troops overseas, especially those who have
given their lives to keep us safe. I’ve often wondered about how their young
widows have coped with the loss. So I sent Hope’s husband off to war where he’s
killed in action.
In
addition, I put some of my own experiences into the book. I have a degree in
graphic design and illustration. My husband is an architect. I made Hope an
artist and Ben, my hero, an architect. Write what you know, right?
Finding Hope in
not your traditional romance. My hero is still married to someone else at the
beginning of the book. It’s also a first person narrative. That made for a hard
sell back when the book was written. Editors loved it but didn’t know what to
do with it. The book didn’t fit their concept of what a romance should be, but
it also didn’t quite work for their women’s fiction lines. No one was willing
to take a leap of faith and give the book a chance. So it spent years gathering
virtual cobwebs in my computer. Thankfully, we authors who have gone indie now have
more options and are able to bend the rules—or even ignore them totally.
For
me, Finding Hope was an extremely
emotional book to write. Even though I’ve infused it with touches of humor (how
can you not have humor when you’ve got three-year-old triplets in a book?)
there were many places in the book where I cried as I wrote the scenes. I still
get teary-eyed when I reread parts of the book.
Finding Hope is
one of the ten romances you’ll find in Super
Bundle 4: Endless Love.
Finding Hope
Hope Morgan was always the good girl, doing
what her conservative parents expected: she gave up her dream of going to
college, became a secretary right out of high school, and married the boy next
door. When Hope is suddenly widowed, she finds the courage to pursue her own
dreams. Twelve years later, after working full-time and going to school at
night, she obtains her degree and is offered a position at a prestigious
architectural firm.
That’s when her long-exiled libido decides to
resurface, and Hope finds herself falling head-over-heels for Ben Schaffer, her
married boss. What Hope doesn’t realize is that Ben’s marriage is less than
ideal. Within days of Hope starting her new job, Ben’s wife walks out on him and
their three-year-old triplets—the same day the nanny lands in the hospital.
When Ben can’t find a last-minute replacement, Hope agrees to step in as a
temporary nanny—not the best decision she’s ever made, given her raging hormones.
Ben is fighting a battle with his own hormones,
but an office romance is the last thing he needs or wants. However he and Hope
are no match for three very determined three-year-olds on a mission to find a
happy ending.
Super Bundle 4: Endless Love Buy Links
~*~
USA Today bestselling
and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic
suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction
under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus
Reviews dubbed her critically
acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more
mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is an award-winning craft
and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both
her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Visit her
at her website and follow her on Twitter and Pinterest. Sign up for her newsletter for special features and
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