Guest Blog: Sandy Loyd

Every once in a while I get asked where I get ideas for my stories. As a writer, I’m always trying to come up with interesting characters and unique situations. That’s not an easy endeavor. Yet one thing I’ve noticed over the eleven years I’ve been writing. My best books have come from everyday happenings that I experience.

For example, I outlined one of my romantic suspense stories while on a plane going on a trip with my son and husband. My son was 15 at the time and was (and still is) an aviation buff. He was excited and talking to his father about taking flying lessons. It’s one thing to fly as a family to a vacation destination. As morose as it sounds, if the plane crashed, I’d at least be with my loved ones. But when the situation is turned around and my only child is talking about soloing in a tiny plane it’s beyond scary. I kept my fears to myself and encouraged him to follow his dream. At the same time, I took the fearful emotions and added them to a story. Of course, I didn’t follow my outline, but at least I had an idea of where to start. From there my characters emerged and so did the story.

I’m definitely a pantser.

I’ll even admit to getting one idea for a romantic suspense from watching the Dr. Phil show about a mother who was a drug addict and turned her life around to be the mother her daughter deserved. I thought that would make an interesting character. Only my character died in the first scene. Another idea came from listening to my son’s friends talk about sex. To some of those kids it’s like eating or exercising. A very different attitude from my generation. I thought it interesting, and ran with the idea.

The idea for the last book I wrote, The Promise of Tomorrow, began during a KOD (Kiss Of Death) tour I took at the Romance Writers of America’s national conference in San Antonio last July. We visited Ft. Sam Houston where the US Army trains their field medics. One medic’s experiences touched me enough to create a story based on a character who suffered a similar experience. I even got to witness a simulated attack that was totally realistic and put it in my first chapter. I believe the story is relevant to some of the issues Vets, and their loved ones, face today when they serve their country. It’s personal for me because my son has just been given a pilot slot in the US Air Force. In two years I will be one of those I wrote about. Who knows? Maybe deep down inside I wrote that book as a way of dealing with future fears. Hmm. I just came up with an idea for a new book featuring a crazy mom.

What about you? Have you had any experiences that might be the beginning of a great story? Or a great character? Leave a comment and you’ll be entered into a drawing for an e-copy of The Promise of Tomorrow.

BLURB:
War is hell, especially for those left behind. When an IED explosion devastates the lives of Roberto ‘Cam’ Camareno and Nicole Murphy, both believe their promise of tomorrow has been shattered.

Field medic Cam helplessly watches his fatally wounded friend die in his arms, wishing he could take his place. Cam is the one who should have died, not his friend with a fiancée waiting back home. Instead of getting his wish, Cam promises to watch over Nicole. How on earth can he do that when survivor guilt paralyzes him?

After losing the love of her life and having her future blown away with his death, Nicole fears her broken heart will never heal. Even now, a year later, she still grieves. Then she meets Cam and her life changes for the better. Love has the ability to heal, but only if the heart is open to accepting love.

As these two struggle to come to grips with the past, can they find the promise of tomorrow with each other?
 
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BIO:
Sandy Loyd is a Western girl through and through. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, she's worked and lived in some fabulous places in the US, including South Florida. She now resides in Kentucky. As much as she loves her current hometown, she misses the mountains and has to go back to her roots to get her mountain and skiing fix at least once a year.

As a former sales rep for a major manufacturer, she’s traveled extensively and has a million stored memories to draw from for her stories. She spent her single years in San Francisco and considers that city one of America's treasures, comparable to no other city in the world. Her California Series, starting out with Winter Interlude, are all set in the Bay Area. The Promise of Tomorrow is the fifth book in the series.

Sandy is now an empty nester and writes full time. With almost two dozen books published in several genres including contemporary romance, romantic suspense, time travel romance and historical romance, she strives to come up with fun characters—people you would love to call friends. And we all know friends have their baggage and when we discover what makes them tick, we come to love them even more. She doesn't skimp on the romance. And because she loves puzzles, she doesn't skimp on intrigue, either. Yet whether romantic suspense, contemporary romance, or historical romance, she always tries to weave a warm love story into her work, while providing enough twists and turns to entertain any reader.

Guest Blog: Sandy Loyd: A Trip Back in Time!

Hi, all! I’m so pleased to be back at Romancebooks4us. Thanks for hosting me again. I feel honored to be among some great writers. For those who don’t know me, my name is Sandy Loyd and I’m a romance writer. Today, I’d like to talk about one of my latest romances, Time Will Tell, and my inspiration for writing it.

When friends ask me what I love best about living in Kentucky, the list is long. The people are warm and welcoming. The weather isn’t too bad, although this year it’s like living in Minnesota with all the snow and ice we’ve gotten. Still, Louisville is big enough to provide a cosmopolitan feel without the downside of larger cities like congestion and traffic. But what I love most about living here is having a thoroughbred racetrack right in my back yard. Not just any racetrack, mind you, but Churchill Downs, home to the Kentucky Derby, a horserace that’s run every first Saturday in May and is the beginning leg of the triple crown of thoroughbred horse racing. Despite a brutal winter, Louisville is already gearing up for another Kentucky Derby celebration lasting two weeks starting in mid-April.

Back when I was a newcomer to Louisville, Churchill Down’s beginning interested me, so I researched it never realizing how difficult the early 1870s were in US history. Citizens were still recovering from the War between the States as well as a recession. In my opinion, the country needed a reason to celebrate and Louisville gave it to them in the form of the Kentucky Derby. It’s been a big party from that first race when an estimated 10,000 people watched fifteen horses compete for the win that has only grown in size and popularity. 2012 was a record breaking year for the Derby when nineteen thoroughbreds raced for a crowd of over 165,000. It’s been touted as being the most exciting two minutes in sports and anyone who has watched those fast majestic animals race can surely understand why.

As a romance writer, I became more intrigued. I decided it would be a fun topic to write a story about. My main goal was to show that time through today’s eyes, so the reader can appreciate the vision a few men had for their city and that of the racetrack they built. Time Will Tell is a heartwarming romance that gives the reader a glimpse of what went on in the summer of 1874, when visionaries put their dreams into motion.

How about you? Is there a historical event you feel strongly about, something that you’d like to research and write about? If you don’t write, is there some time in history you’d like to relive through a book?

GIVEAWAY ALERT!
I’d love to read your comments so feel free to share. If you do, you’ll be entered for a drawing to win an e-copy of Time Will Tell. Put your email address in the text box with your comment!

BLURB:
Romance and adventure...and a trip to where an American tradition began…

Libby Edwards, a gifted horsewoman, unwittingly wishes herself back in time to Louisville, Kentucky just before Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby become a reality. During Libby’s journey in the past, she stumbles upon her destiny. Unfortunately, he’s in the wrong century. In 1874, there’s no electricity, no internet, no modern medicine, no antibiotics—no Starbucks! And even worse than that, women have no rights. Libby has no desire to stay.

Widower, Colin Thorpe, a renaissance man of his time, has big dreams. He is a horse breeder who names his thoroughbreds after Mythological Gods because he has a reverence for past cultures and an appreciation for the unexplainable.

Libby and Colin can’t resist falling in love with each other. After all, Colin accepts Libby for who she is and she understands Colin’s dreams better than his deceased wife ever did. Yet he grasps early on that Libby doesn’t belong in 1874. And because his wife never adapted to the move from Virginia to Kentucky, becoming bitter and unhappy in the process, he won’t take the chance of the same thing happening to Libby. Can these two lovers find a way to be together despite their challenges?

Amazon – http://amzn.to/10zmPM0
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BIO:
As a Sales Manager for a jewelry manufacturer in her previous profession, Sandy Loyd has worked and lived in some of the most fabulous places in the US, including Northern California and South Florida. Every place she’s visited or lived over the years has given her memories on which to draw from for the stories she create. She now calls the blue grass state of Kentucky home, where she writes romances full time. As much as she loves her current hometown, she misses the mountains and has to go back to her Utah roots to get her mountain and skiing fix at least once a year, otherwise her muse suffers.

Sandy is a recent empty nester who has published fifteen books in several genres – Contemporary Romance, Romantic Mystery &Suspense, Time-Travel and Historical. All of her heartwarming stories consist of fun characters, who, like single people everywhere, are seeking that someone special to share their lives with among thousands of eligible candidates. She always tries to weave a warm love story into her work, while providing enough twists and turns to entertain any reader.

Currently, she’s working on the fifth book in her California Series about a group of friends in the San Francisco Bay Area who are looking for love in all the wrong places. To see a list of her current books, check out her website at http://www.sandyloyd.com.