illucidation

I’m excited to announce the publication of my first novel, a romance/coming of age story about a young woman.  It’s available on Amazon and Kindle.  The title is the same as the title of this post.

Here is a teaser:

“The moment his chocolate-brown eyes met hers, Sage Claremont felt her insides melt along with her reservations. Cade Lofton knew when he saw the voluptuous strawberry blonde that he had to explore every inch of her delicious body. Of course, he never dreamed she was so innocent, but that made him want her even more. Sage couldn’t resist the dark-eyed cowboy with a secret background, and when his hands and mouth explored her curves, resistance wasn’t even an option. What neither of them expected was that they’d fall in love. What neither of them counted on was that life throws curve balls. Could a city girl with big dreams for her future find happiness with a cowboy whose secret past threatens their chance for a life together?”

As  you can tell from the teaser, it is the story of a young woman growing into herself, falling in love, and exploring her sexuality.  It is also the story of a young woman who follows her dreams and believes in herself, who builds her life around her work and family.  In writing this story, I hoped to make it more than just a romance novel, but after all, love is the basis of much that we strive for in our lives.  So if it is only a story of love, then maybe that is not so bad.  Reading is an escape, and my hope for those who read my novel is that they may escape for a few hours from their worries and experience the world that I created.  Enjoy!

This book has been a work in progress for about 15 years.  It feels really good to have finally completed it.  It was written in fits and starts, sometimes setting idle for a couple of years, then I would go back to it and feel compelled to continue.  The characters become real to me when I am writing, and I feel the need to finish telling their story.  My heroine, Sage Claremont, seems like an old friend; someone I knew in a past life, or even a part of myself.  Something I once read about how to get started writing a novel, said to write what you know.  That is what I did.  The setting and plot are based on parts of my life or, and the characters are built from parts of different people I knew.  While it is all completely fiction, I’m sure those of you who know me will recognize parts of myself in the story.  I love the process of writing, and revisions are my favorite part.  My next book is already in the process.  I can move on with it, and imagine another place based on what I know now.