The books that inspired me to be a writer.

Once upon a time.....

 

That is how it all begins. We first fall in love with fairy tales and happily ever after. Our love for story telling grows into "it was a dark and stormy night". 

From fairy tales we branch out to our favorite genre. Mystery, Paranormal, Romance, and more. I fell in love with romance. Western romance specifically.

   The very first romance book I read was Apachee Caress when I was about 12. Took it from my mom's shelf (she said I was too young to read romance books) and snuck to my room to read it. Loved it. And I read the rest of Georgina Genty's Panorama of the West Series. This was where my love for romance books began. Each story was great on its own but I loved the way the author wove the characters from other books into new stories. I liked reading about the familiar characters and getting a glimpse of their continued story in a small way.

Then came Betty Brooks. I loved her books as well and read them all. (Exept one that I am searching for) Again I loved that her books connected together by the characters.

Then I discovered Victotia Thompson and Jodi Thomas. And my own desire to write took over. I was passionate about telling stories of strong people in the Wild West.

 

   What I loved most about these authors and the way they wrote their books is that they all tie together in some way. Characters from other books appear throughout the series. Each title is a stand alone but reading them in order gives the sense of knowing the characters on a deeper level. Several authors added Paranormal elements to their books and I loved it. My books all tie together and many have paranormal elements.

    These amazing authors were my inspiration to start my own writing.

    I've read many, many books since those teenage years, but those books published over 30 years ago are still my favorite ones. I have every book of every series (except that one elusive Betty Brooks book) on my shelves in my office. A constant reminder of my original inspiration. 

      Outlaw’s Redemption is the first book in the Wild Love Series. The second generation of my Rimrock characters. The families of the Rimrock Series span three generations so far. I love the familiarity of the characters I’ve spent the last 25ish years writing about.