Romance Books '4' Us: True Navy Blue

Thursday, November 19, 2015

THANK YOU FOR THE CHARACTERS! BOX OF YUMMY DELIGHTS AHEAD!

Just finished my new novella, Nashville SEAL, for our December boxed set, Holding Out For A Hero. Just so happens I've been writing short pieces for anthologies, and then publishing the print and audio versions while the anthology is out. These novellas get pregnant and birth bigger books several months later. Well, I've got 3 very pregnant series going on right now. Somehow, it is a perfect fit for me. I never get bored, and I can bedroom hop.

My contribution to Anthology

I love the variety of my characters. With a shorter book, you date them, sleep with them, and then can leave them (I'm such a fickle lover) quicker. My younger years were never like that: lots of drama and BIG DEALS, so I find this type of writing refreshing, enlivens my spirit and is just plain fun. I get to do something I never did in real life. I think that's why I love to write so much!

Nashville SEAL (novella) begins in a bar, with my hero, Jameson Daniels, crooning on stage to a crowd of mostly women, and loving every part of his life. From the quickies in the dressing room to the steady flow of "10s" that come knocking on his hotel room door, Jameson gets to play all night, and then literally play all night. He might get up and write some tunes, but his life is pretty perfect and the envy of many.

I used real Nashville performers as my basis for this book, which is FICTION, by the way. But part of writing I love the best is hearing the stories. I've always been fascinated with the whole rock star phenomenon but didn't think I could write one. I met an author at a signing this summer who said she wrote rock stars, and that the rock band was coming to her signing! I was impressed! And then when they showed up, they looked about 16 and skinny, and didn't fit the mold I expected.

Available now

But it doesn't take much imagination to create a fantasy hero as a muscled, handsome man of about 25 in a cowboy hat and boots (which is the closest thing I'll have to cowboys), tall, jeans he fills out nicely in, has a raspy, sexy singing voice and bright blue eyes. You throw in about 1000 females removing all manner of intimate garb and throwing it at the young singer, a bar owner who is in lust with his biker gal bouncer, an old crooner at 45 still looking for his first record deal, and a bunch of Navy SEALs, and we have a party!

I've learned a lot about the way the music business works. If we think we have it tough as writers, getting a big producer to buy your music or sign you to a label isn't as easy as they make it seem on Nashville. You have to be seen, which means you have to play. But if you play too much in bars and clubs, you are playing for whisky and not fans. The rejection is horrible, and the temptations everywhere, so if a person wasn't the strongest of character, they could be brought down by the whole scene before they had the strength to leave it behind.

My Jameson is a very good man, one that nearly every woman could imagine spending a wonderful evening with. He's like the Love Doctor. He can't help it if those handsome blue eyes make women forget their names. I wanted to write him such that women could walk away from a brief, intimate encounter with him, feeling cherished, have a smile on their face and a memory to last a lifetime. He was such a fun character to spend time with. I can't wait until I tell his longer story next year.

Sharon Hamilton is a NYT and USA/Today bestselling author most known for her SEAL Brotherhood series. She also writes a Golden Vampire and Guardian Angel series.

A lifelong organic gardener, Sharon lives with her husband in the Wine Country of Northern California, where most of her stories take place. When she’s not writing, she’s getting verra verra dirty in the mud, or wandering Farmer’s Markets looking for new Heirloom varieties of vegetables and flowers.