This month, I am in the Harlequin Blaze line up with a book
called MY SECRET
FANTASIES… a steamy title to a sexy read. But since the course of true love
never runs smooth, my heroine’s secret fantasies are thwarted by old hang ups.
She’s writing a “naughty” novel as a form of self-therapy, writing about what
she wants in bed and an in a relationship since she’s never had much luck
expressing herself… er… physically.
I loved writing this heroine and her quirky, can-do attitude
despite some major personal baggage. And in thinking about the title the other
day, I realized there are lot more “Secret Fantasies” at work in this book
beyond the obvious. Sure, Miranda Cortland daydreams about erotic encounters
with a guy who looks more and more like the hero as time passes. Yet there are
more secret fantasies just beneath the surface.
One of them is the fantasy of controlling your own destiny.
Miranda felt trapped in her upbringing and couldn’t wait to light out of her
Midwestern childhood home so she flipped a coin at seventeen to decide which
coast would be her destination and off she went to L.A. She found a paying job
and worked part-time at another in the hope of making it as an actress.
Surprise, surprise, she found she liked her day job in a tearoom more and her
dreams turned to opening her own tearoom.
Which brings me to another secret fantasy so many of us
harbor—being self-employed or owning our own business. Not quite the sexy stuff
the cover implies, but working independently is a real fantasy we can relate to!
Maybe you’ve dreamed of writing your own book, opening your own boutique, running
a restaurant or hosting a new and improved cooking show ala Ina Garten, but
certainly you’ve thought of some way that it would be more fun to carve out a
living, and chances are it would be a venue where you make your own hours.
The hero has a secret fantasy in this book, too. He runs a
thoroughbred farm in Sonoma County and had made it a thriving venture. But
having grown up in a wealthy, prominent family, Damien Fraser wants more than
financial success. He needs to give back. His private secondary venture isn’t a
money-maker at all. It’s a thoroughbred rescue that re-trains racehorses for adoption
and provides a place of retirement for others. In the beginning of the book, it
is this facet of his work that he’s expanding.
Seeing characters explore their goals and test their
strengths is a really rewarding part of writing romance. The pay-off in finding
love along the way is all happier when the hero and heroine have undergone a
transformation—not just as a couple but individually. I like to think that falling
in love forces us to be our best selves, to grow, change and adapt. Or maybe
that’s just my secret fantasy ;-).
What about you? Have you ever dreamed of opening your own
business? Being self-employed? Or maybe you’ve just fantasized about taking over
the company you work for so you can run things the right way! Tell me about it today on the boards and I’ll
give one random poster a copy of MY SECRET FANTASIES.
***Joanne's winner is Laney4! Please email totebag@authorsoundrelations.com with your mailing details!***
11 comments:
Congrats Joanne on the new release! My secret wish/dream is to open a small 2nd hand bookstore :) I'd love to be the proprietor that sits and reads :) Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Erin!! I love second hand bookstores with proprietors who sit and read :-). I will be your customer! Cathy Mann and I used to haunt a place like this in Shreveport when we were researching romance. We'd hunt down all our fav authors and study their openings. Or their endings. Or how soon the characters kissed . Best research spot ever!
When I was 13 years old, I realized that if I were trained as a "secretary" (the term in those days), I could work from home once I had a child/children. I excelled in all the secretarial courses offered in high school, then I signed up for "secretarial" in college, but the dean told me I shouldn't apply: I already HAD the qualifications (and more) that students strive to attain after two years of college training. He convinced me to take "business administration" instead, so I could learn how "business works". What it did was allow me the time to grow up, but I still retained a lot of the information taught and found it very helpful in understanding how businesses operate. Fast forward to meeting my husband and starting a family. I quit my full-time job to go on maternity leave, and then I began a typing business out of my home in Jan/86. Although I've had to return to work part-time and full-time off and on when my children were in school or college (so no babysitter was ever required), I've always held on to this dream and "worked it". This year, though, I am now looking for work outside the home again (in addition to my home business, of course).so that my husband can retire this summer. Fingers are crossed!
Anyway, dreams DO come true - especially if you plan and gear your life towards that goal.
I have wanted to start my own business for quite some time and have come up with all kinds of things to do. I'm at the point where things are about to start coming together and it is an entirely different feeling that makes me excited.
That is the thing about being the boss, seeing that things are done your way - the right way. I have never wanted my own business. I have seen family & friends hit a wall when the business hit the rocks.
Yes, I think about open a publishing but ofcourse i really need a lot money :D
Laney, that is wonderful! How fortunate your kids have been to have you nearby while they were growing up. Good luck to you as you job hunt again and cheers to your forward-thinking dean who helped you into a program that would pay off for years afterward!
Hi Leni! It is a thrill to be on the verge of something so special... I hope it's a big success for you!! Thank you so much for stopping by the blog today.
Hi Mary! You get all the rewards and all the blame as a business owner... very daunting, indeed!! I always land more on the optimist side of the scale though, so I think I tend to always focus on how much more I *might* achieve. Hope springs eternal, I guess ;-). So glad you checked out the blog today!
Hi Eli!! Wouldn't it be fun to be surrounded by books every day, all day? I think a lot of readers will identify with this dream :-). Thank you for stopping by the blog!
Congratulations, Laney :-). I'm mailing your prize tomorrow a.m.!! Thanks so much to everyone for visiting with me!
Post a Comment