Thank you, Pearls and Tink, for
the chance to share a little of myself with your members.
The book I have in the works right
now, Tangled in Divine, has been an
experience I won’t forget. In my writing process, I usually have the groupings
or couples for subsequent stories planned out two or three books ahead. By
doing this, I have a clear idea of where the series is headed, and I enjoy
giving my readers a peek at who might possibly have their story told next.
There are times when secondary
characters get introduced that I didn’t necessarily intend to write a book for.
Gwen Henderson from Heavenly Angel was one of those characters. Gwen charmed
readers but she went on the back burner for ten books. I knew if she was meant
to be, then my muse would let me know. With characters like this, it usually
happens that their heroes or heroine present themselves and I clue into the
connection.
Hero number one was Julian
Alvarez, from Lusty, Texas. (See Julian’s crossover from Cara Covington’s Lusty
Texas here: http://www.bookstrand.com/love-under-two-cowboys ). Julian was made
for Gwen. I already knew exactly where I was going with him. But I write ménage.
My heart kept telling me that
Chris Potter was Gwen’s other lover. But I knew nothing about him at all. Nada.
It was as though he was hiding, which irritated the crap out of me. I couldn’t
hear his voice, and he wouldn’t show himself. Then I met him one day and
realized why.
During an unrelated Google image
search, a picture of this random muscle-bound guy, in flowery swim trunks,
making this ridiculous kissie-face for the camera popped up in the search
results. He looked like a Jersey Shore cast member. Thick neck. Big, broad
shoulders and chest. Clearly of Italian descent. I said, “No, thank you. No
way. Nope. Can’t be.” Then he started talking and I knew it. Damn it. It was
Chris Potter.
I showed my husband and the first
words out of his mouth were, “I bet you ten bucks his name is Guido.”
I showed my critique partner,
Corinne Davies, the picture and she said, “Huh?” Not one to pat my head, she
was pretty clear. “WTF are you thinking?”
Every time I looked at his
picture, I felt challenged. I started listening to Chris. I’d look at his silly
kissie-face and I could almost hear him saying it. “I dare you. I
double-fucking dare you to write me and convince readers to love me.”
“Challenge accepted, Guido.”
I put the picture in the book file
and I have to be honest—I got a little defensive about Chris. I didn’t share
the picture or even want to talk about him. He’d revealed some of his flaws to
me by that time, and I was getting attached, but there was another problem. He
had the body, but he’s not handsome. Not every hero has to look like a Greek
god so I didn’t let that deter me…much. I began writing the book still thinking
that I was screwed if I couldn’t come up with believable characterization for
him. His enormous family had roots in New Jersey but I didn’t want him to
become stereotypically predictable.
My husband and Corinne both
thought I was insane when I sat down to watch a few episodes of Jersey Shore.
Not to develop the story but because I’m from the South, and can’t relate in a
family or among peers the way a Jersey boy would.
I got totally sucked in on Netflix.
I had to find out what happened to the big jerk who hit Snooki! WTF? Anyway,
once the marathon of shame was over, I came away with some great imagery and I knew
a few new words.
As if he knew I was committed,
Chris started peeling back layers for me, and to quote him in one scene from
the book, “Holy fuckity fuck!”
As the story developed, he shared
his tender side with me and gradually became a classic example of what happens
when a plain-looking man practically oozes personality. Looks don’t matter. I knew I was on the right track when Chris won
Corinne over during one of our sprinting exercises. I shared a bit of the story
with her and she flipped.
In a recent conversation regarding
his nearly over the top personality, Corinne compared Chris with one of the
characters I got to know in my “foray” to the Jersey Shore. I’m paraphrasing
here…
Corinne: Remember, the picture you showed me of Chris? I said,
“huh?” And now I want to hug him every time I see his name.
Heather: Yeah, if I was single I’d climb him like a tree.
Corinne: It’s his
personality that makes you want to climb him like a tree. That “Situation” guy
from Jersey Shore should be dropped in the Atlantic with cement overshoes.
Heather: Yeah, I remember liking him at first but then he screwed
up, going for the “easy lay” and I hated him.
Corinne: That’s my point. You have two men who have the same look
but one makes your panties wet and the other makes you wish you had a gun
license.
Chris Potter is one of the biggest,
most multi-faceted heroes I’ve ever written. He’s tough as iron until he sets
eyes on his woman, and then he melts like a marshmallow at a Homecoming
bonfire. I love all my heroes, but when they show me as much of themselves as
he did, I’m their willing captive at the keyboard. I know. I say that about all
of them.
Let me show you just a little of
what I’m talking about…from Tangled in
Divine:
_______
EXCERPT
Chris hummed along with Gary Allan
as he sang “Right Where I Need To Be” on the radio, while pulling into the
drive-thru at Divine Drip. He had a hankering for a snack, and one of Cassie’s
kolaches and a fresh cup of coffee would do the trick. He eased past the
decrepit horse trailer and truck that were double-parked in the parking lot and
shook his head. It looked like moving day for someone, since the horse trailer
was filled to the roof with plastic bags, boxes and dropcloth-covered
furniture.
“Damn, I’d hate to be moving on
Christmas Eve.”
The rig had crud caked to the
wheel wells and fenders like it had come a great distance through snow, salt,
mud, and ice, which was slowly melting into great clods on the ground around
the tires. It was cold as a well digger’s ass in Divine but wherever that rig
had come from it was even colder.
He pulled up to the drive-thru
window and greeted Cassie when she ran up and opened it, gathering her sweater
around her to ward of the frigid blast of air.
“Hey, Chris! I just pulled some
fresh sausage kolaches from the oven! Want some coffee too?”
Chris grinned at the vivacious
woman. “How you doin’, Cass? I’ll take a couple of those kolaches and the
biggest cup of coffee you got.”
Cassie blushed as she set to work
putting his order together and called out, “Cream and four sugars, coming up!
You all ready for Christmas? Seeing family tomorrow?”
“No, I spent Saturday night at
home with them and came back yesterday. Got to see my folks, my brothers and
sisters, cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles—you name it, I saw it.”
“You’re from Junction, right? That
must be nice to have so much family, and for them to be not too far away.”
“Yeah, it’s nice,” he said with a
nod as she handed him his order of kolaches in a white paper bag. “But a little
loud when we’re all talking, which is all the time. My ears are still ringing.”
“I can imagine! I put an extra
kolache in there for you. Merry Christmas!” He returned her wishes and began to
roll forward as Cassie called out. “Wait, Chris! Don’t forget your coffee!”
Chris stopped the truck with a
jolt, and laughed as Cassie leaned out of the window with his big cup of coffee
and he met her in the middle. “Merry Christmas to you too, Cass!”
He winked and rolled forward as
she blew him a cheeky kiss. He heard a frightened yelp and a soft thump on the
hood of the Dodge, and his heart lurched with fear.
Holy shit! Engage brain before accelerator!
He squinted out the windshield and
his heart did a double take when he saw the frightened little face peeking out
from the fuzzy Elmer Fudd hat that was just inches above the truck hood.
Oh God! Did I hit her?
He shifted into park and sat
there, glued to his seat, staring like a dumbass, watching as the fear and pain
left her deep blue eyes and was replaced by absolute fury.
She slammed her bare hand down on
the hood and began shouting at him. Firing obscenities at him until the air
practically turned blue, she was the most stupendously, majestically beautiful
angry woman he’d ever seen in his life.
________
How to Find Heather Rainier books
Heather Rainier writes erotic
romance exclusively for Siren Publishing at http://www.bookstrand.com/heather-rainier Tangled in Divine, the fourteenth book in The
Divine Creek Ranch Collection, is scheduled for release on April 19, 2013.
Visit her website and blog at www.heatherrainier.com and on Facebook.
_________
Contest
Thanks for visiting Divine with me
and thanks again, Pearls and Tink, for welcoming me at Inner Goddess. I love
hearing from readers.
Leave a comment here sharing a memory of someone you’ve
known who was the classic Teddy bear or Gentle Giant type and I’ll enter your
name in a drawing to take place at the end of this week, on March 30th.
The winner will receive a free
digital copy of Tangled in Divine
when it releases on April 19, 2013. **Make sure to leave an e-mail address so I
can contact the winner.**
