Q & A with Katie Lane and Hope Ramsay!

Ashley Winters 12/9: Katie Lane

How do you come up with the ideas for your book? 

It usually starts with something thought provoking.  For Hunk for the Holidays, my husband and I were visiting Denver, Colorado, and we saw this ad for male escorts and these questions popped into my head:  Why would a woman hire an escort?  What kind of sexual freedom would it give you?  And after indulging in a little sexual freedom, wouldn’t you die of embarrassment the next morning?  Would you have to tip them?  How much?  And what would happen if you found yourself falling for this hunka-hunka-burnin’ love?  As I answered these questions, a story was born.    

How 'real' do your characters feel to you? 

Very real.  But I’m the type of writer that needs to get into a book for a few chapters (like six) before the characters fully take shape.  At that point, I’m pretty consumed with them.  I’ve even had a dream where I was one of my characters.  Weird, but true.  So yes, to me (and hopefully my readers), they are very real.

Are you sad when a series ends because you are done with those characters? 

So far, I’m still coming up with ideas for my Deep in the Heart of Texas series.  But I’m sure I’ll be sad when it does end.  My Bramble, Texas, characters have become family.

Thanks, Ashley!  And Happy Holidays Everyone! 

Love, Katie Lane

Ashley Winters 12/9: Hope Ramsay

How do you come up with the ideas for your book?

Music is my muse.  Whole stories will come to me sometimes when I hear a song that connects.  And I always have a playlist for every book.  In the case of Last Chance Christmas, the song that triggered the story was Allen Jackson’s “Monday Morning Church.”  It’s a haunting country ballad about a man who is unable to let go of his deceased wife.  And that describes Stone Rhodes, the book’s hero.  There are other songs that are important to Last Chance Christmas, and I blogged about this a number of months ago.  Follow this link to listen to some of the book’s playlist songs: http://hoperamsay.com/home.php/odds-ends/stones-playlist/

How 'real' do your characters feel to you?

If I’m successful the hero and heroine of a book will become completely real by the time I’ve finished a first draft.  That’s usually not the case when I’m first starting a story, even one that has been well plotted beforehand.  I have to spend weeks, sometimes, writing and revising before suddenly something clicks.  And then the characters move into some special place where they live and breathe inside my head.  Last Chance has a lot of minor characters, too, and they’ve been occupying space in my brain for so long, that they are like old friends.  Miriam Randall, the matchmaker in town, might as well be my great aunt.  And there are times I wish I could just drop everything and go visit.  For real.

Are you sad when a series ends because you are done with those characters?

Usually I’m not sad at all.  By the time I’m finished with revisions and edits I am tired of my hero and heroine and I’m glad to retire them to their pages and move on to something new.  Of course I will pop in from time to time to see how couples from previous books are doing.  And it’s fun to visit with them, but I never overstay my welcome.

Best,

Jihan