My Midnight fantasies: Guest Post- Desired by Anna Jeffrey

Desired by Anna Jeffrey

Series: Miranda's Chronicles Book 1

Published: August 4, 2015

In DESIRED, the newest novel by award-winning author Anna Jeffrey, Miranda March is committed to taking care of her ailing mother. But when handsome and rich Harvey (Tack) Tackett reappears in her life after a passionate one-night stand, Miranda’s world is turned upside down. Trying to have a romantic relationship with Tack or any man would be as hard as mixing oil and water. Can she solve the conundrum and find a happy-ever-after with Tack?

Miranda March wears her extraordinary beauty like a mask to conceal her emotional vulnerability. A successful small businesswoman, she might appear to be in control of her universe, but ever in the back of her mind is the one thing that can yank the rug out from under her at any moment: Her mother who suffers from mental illness.

Enter handsome, sensual—and rich—Harvey (Tack) Tackett, a friend of a friend, in town overnight on business. The instant they meet, Miranda feels a connection that stirs her to break one of the rules she lives by—no foolish flings with men passing in the night. After a night of passionate lovemaking like she’s never known, profound emotions emerge. She believes the feeling is mutual. But Tack leaves town without so much as a call and she hears no more from him. As she struggles to overcome her disappointment, she learns her mother has sunk into a depression that calls for immediate attention. Miranda has no choice but to move Mom in to live with her. Her life will never be the same.

From out of the blue, Tack reappears. But it’s too late. Miranda is committed to her duty to her mother. Trying to have a romantic relationship with Tack or any man would be as hard as mixing oil and water. She has already tried and failed at that. Can she solve the conundrum and find a happy-ever-after with Tack?

Available at: Amazon | Goodreads

Topic: The process of writing books, choosing names and plots

Character names. People’s names are an important part of who they are. My favorite what’s-in-a-name story is the one about Adolph Hitler. The story, widely propagated by the World War II Psychological Warefare experts, was that Hitler was born with the last name of Schicklegruber and that he became Hitler after he was grown. That story has been debunked, but thinking about what difference the Schicklegruber name might have made in Hitler’s rise to power is interesting to think about.

I try to choose names that have a poetic rhythm, i.e.,Miranda March. Tack Tackett. The first name has two syllables, the last name has one. And vice versa in Tack Tackett. With Tack being a nickname, I came up with Harvey O. Tackett for his real name, having the middle initial offset the two-syllable first and last names. Since we know from the beginning that Miranda and Tack are going to end up together and spend the rest of their lives together, their names need to go together well also.

This might seem like time-consuming gobbledy-gook to some, but the character names appear on every single page of a character-driven novel. They need a rhythm that is easy to read, easy to remember and pleasant to the mind. Just my 2-cents.

As for the plot, I start out with a premise and a skeleton of a plot and let things develop as I go along. In romance novels, to be labeled “romance novel,” all of them have to have happy-ever-after endings. So, from the get-go, that idea has to be the theme of the story. No matter what happens between the beginning and the end, romance readers already know that the hero and heroine are going to be together forever. The challenge is to make the middle interesting and fun to read. I try to follow 3-act structure (loosely, I’ll admit), so I mark high and low points that have to be met and think of incidents that will accomplish this.

Anna Jeffrey is an award-winning author of mainstream romance novels as well as romantic comedy/mystery. She has authored and published 11 romance novels under the pseudonym of Anna Jeffrey and co-authored 7 as USA Today Bestselling author, Dixie Cash.

Anna Jeffrey's books have won the Write Touch Readers' Award, the Aspen Gold, and the More Than Magic awards. Her books have placed or finaled in the Colorado Romance Writers award, the Golden Quill and Southern Magic as well as the Write Touch Readers' Award, the Aspen Gold, the More than Magic awards and the NEC Readers’ Choice Award. She is a member of Romance Writers of America.

Anna is a fifth generation Texan. She was born and grew up in West Texas, where most of her family members were farmers and ranchers or worked in the oil fields.

She has always been a voracious reader. As a child, she participated in storytelling competitions. As she grew older, she competed in writing contests. At some point, she developed an ambition to write fiction, but life got in the way. She left Texas for many years and lived in four of the western states, a rich experience she’ll never forget. Only after she returned to Texas, did she sit down and try her hand at fiction. Most of her stories begin with the premise of ordinary people facing unexpected life events and handling them in an honorable, courageous way.

She loves most things western, from the customs and culture to the philosophy of life. She enjoys many hobbies, i.e., reading, painting and drawing, crafting, needlework and beading among others.

These days, she’s back home in Texas. She and her husband currently live in a small town not far from the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.