Friday Fun Facts: Where Stories Begin...

So I thought it might be kind of cool today to talk about how and where and when stories emerge. Of course, everyone has a different process. Sometimes every book is a different process. I remember when I first started thinking about the story that would eventually become my newest release, Between the Sheets. I had just started going to Zumba classes at my local gym, and I soon became friends with a group of women in the class.

One night we all went out to dinner, along with our instructor, and I mentioned that I should write a book about our adventures. They all wanted to have input on character names, so I grabbed the closest thing I had and started scribbling. 5 years later, I still have the napkin:

The final book changed shape MANY times over the years, and it's a lot different today than where it started. But I did keep two names from this original napkin, Roxy (friend of the heroine) and Sebastian, the hero. I love looking back at this and remembering where it all began!

Sneak peek for all you blog readers (no one else knows this yet!!): I'm hard at work right now on the prequel to the Cocktail Cruise series, and while I didn't write my first notes for that one on a napkin, I did use long-hand to start drafting:

If you look closely, you can see the names of some of my characters from the Cocktail Cruise books...yes, they'll be appearing in the prequel! Stay tuned to find out more...