Eve Gaddy: A Tale of Two Stories

Thank you so much, Lee, for asking me to blog with you.  

Have you ever wondered why a writer you enjoy reading suddenly stops putting out new books? There are as many reasons as there are writers. But I'd like to talk today about having brand new books published after a long break.

That's me. I thought I had retired from writing. I had a number of reasons for making that decision and I did retire, for a while. But nearly all my friends are writers and I found that I missed them and writing. Even though they were still my friends, it just isn't the same when you're not writing and your friends are.

Then, the wonderful Debra Dixon, president of Belle Books, reissued several of my backlist titles and asked me if I had something new I wanted to write for Belle Books. I did, and that book turned out to be Cry Love. Then earlier this year, the wonderful Jane Porter, founder of the Tule Publishing Group, asked me to write a novella for them and I very happily said yes. Both Cry Love and Sing Me Back Home have just been released. I went from not having anything brand new published in several years to having two new books come out at nearly the same time. Talk about exciting!

My two new books are completely different. Well, that's not quite true. They are both romances. Sing Me Back Home is the first in Tule Publishing Group's Homecoming Series. What a fun book to write! My heroine, Maya Parrish, returns home to Marietta, Montana, with her teenaged daughter, looking for a fresh start. Naturally, the first person she runs into is her old flame, Jack Gallagher, the man whose heart she broke many years before. Jack has a daughter too, the same age as Maya's. Before long Jack and Maya realize that those feelings of attraction they once had for each other have returned in full force. (Attraction is such a mild word. What flares between Jack and Maya sizzles, steams and explodes.)

Sing Me Back Home is pure romance. The course of true love doesn't run smoothly this time either. I had a blast writing it. Who doesn't like second chances? Coming home after a long absence? And let's not forget, who doesn't like a really hot hero?

My other new book is different. Cry Love is a contemporary romance. It's three love stories, one from 1859, just prior to the Civil War, one from 1968, and the last one in the present day, where we find they are all connected. Cry Love has mystery and suspense, good and evil, tragedy and triumph.  It's about a love that won't die. A love that has been reincarnated, now for a third time, in present day Fort Worth, Texas. Claire Westbrook is a trauma surgeon and Jonas Clark is a neurosurgeon. Two of the least likely people you'll find who would believe in reincarnation. Until they're forced to, that is.

I'm very glad I wrote Cry Love. It had been on my mind for many years. I did not have fun writing it, though. Oh, sure, parts of it were fun. (Again, what's not to like about a hot hero?) I also got a kick out of Jonas' attitude to the idea of reincarnation. I enjoyed writing Claire, who is a very strong character but whose vulnerabilities take her a bit by surprise. But running through the heart of the story is a subject that's not fun and in fact, is quite tragic. Don't worry, though. Remember, I am a romance writer.:)

I am so happy to be writing again. And I'm so happy to be working with two great publishers, dynamite editors and all of the people who have a part in both Tule Publishing and Belle Books/Bell Bridge Books. Most of all, it's good to feel like me again. As the saying goes, "I live in my own little world. But it's okay, they know me here."