Random Ramblings
Yes, it's getting to be that time again. The time when the earth becomes cooler and the days become shorter; when the trees become less green and the smell of pumpkins growing on the vine encompasses the air...Or am I getting ahead of myself? Is it really still only August when the days are just as hot as before and the sun never seems to go down; when the trees are full and the smell of lawns being mowed makes its way into each house with windows open? No, it's not getting to that time again, but thank heavens there is still good to be found in the little month of August!
School begins next week, the last time for me. It's sad in a way, I enjoy learning and receiving an education, but I suppose it's time for a new chapter of my life. One as a college graduate!
My Summer
The summer has been a busy one, and it'll be sad to see its end. We started out by completing a journey of a lifetime for me. My husband, Christian, is from England, and we were blessed enough to be able to travel there for a month. We got to see everything from Mr. Darcy's home in Pride and Prejudice, to Ireland's coast, from Scotland's rugged mountains to London, Bath, and Stratford-Upon-Avon. It is a beautiful country with so much rich history that I didn't want to leave! Not only did it inspire me in my writing, but in so many other ways, as well, and I hope to go back one day soon.
After England, life slowed down drastically. Christian worked every day from sun up to sun down, so with that time, I was able to write, coming up with new ideas for new stories every day. Last summer was the polar opposite for me, as I wrote one story, writing about those characters I have grown so close to that they seem real. But instead of that story going in my box of writings like all the other work I've written, I was able to get it published. And that story with those dear characters of mine turned into A Secret Fire, my first published novel.
The Makings of A Secret Fire
A Secret Fire is a historical, clean romance set in the old west. It is filled with handsome cowboys, barn raisings, and, of course, romance! I love the story of the main characters, Emma Marchant and Thatcher Deakon, for to me, their's is as real as my own love story. The obstacles they have to overcome to get to each other, the insecurities Emma feels, the trepidation Thatcher experiences, all are so real and vivid to me.
I had been thinking about the main points of A Secret Fire for years and years, ever since I received my love of romance novels at the ripe young age of twelve. Although I'm sure I've read books before that have been romantic, the first I remember was Charlotte's Rose by A.E. Cannon. That young adult novel about a young girl crossing the plains and falling in love grew on me from the very start! I loved everything about it, especially the main character! Now, I've loved to write my entire life. I can't remember a time where I didn't have a pencil or keyboard glued to my finger tips. And, as I finished reading Charlotte's Rose, I couldn't help but want to write something like it! My mother helped me write a message to the author, expressing my joy in reading her wonderful novel, and to my great joy and surprise, she wrote back! I was completely flattered that a real author had taken the time out of her day to write back a random twelve-year-old girl. I knew right then and there as I read her responding email over and over again that I wanted to make writing, not only a greater passion of mine than it already was, but my career.
A Real Author
And that started my dream of becoming a "real" author, just like A. E. Cannon. With that desire came my love of all things cowboy or englishman. I've loved horses as long as I've loved to write, and I've loved the UK (and the delightful accents they provide to the world) as long as I've loved both! So, with those loves, A Secret Fire blossomed somewhere in my subconscious.
But it wasn't so easy as to write it all out and have the story take form itself. No, I had to wait years and years for Emma and Thatcher's story to really shine through my busy schedule and bogged down life. Still, their story remained in the back of my mind, unnamed just as the characters, a few scenes popping up in the forefront every once in awhile, but nothing concrete.
That is, until I was twenty-one and visited the American West Heritage Center in Logan, Utah. That place was astounding. The atmosphere of the cowboys dressed up in full garb, of the women in beautiful red and blue, full-length dresses, of the horses chomping down on hay handed to them by the cowboys themselves, was enough to bring Emma and Thatcher out of the dark for good!
I came home that night and wrote down every single thought that had entered my mind that day at the Heritage Center. I had everything from romance and horses, to cowboys and kissing, and I couldn't stop! For four months straight I wrote their story, finding time between my busy class schedule and everything else going on in my life then. I couldn't stop! I was having the time of my life finally writing what had been in me for years.
And so, A Secret Fire was born from the recesses of my mind, heart, and soul, and here it is today, published and bookshelved, ready for any and all to read the story that captured my heart so long ago. I hope you can take the time to read it someday, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I've loved writing it.
Until next time,
Deborah
You can find A Secret Fire at http://www.asecretfire.com/
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