Fun Fact Friday ~ Her Imperfect Groom

• Sir Wallace has one of my husband’s many hobbies: woodcarving/whittling. Because of this, I asked him vague questions as I was writing the book to have an idea of what to write Wallace doing while he was carving wood and talking to Drake. When Bob read over the book, he was appalled at my “attempt” and insisted I re-write the scene, this time with direct help.
• Bob and I got out two dowel rods and had a mock duel in the living room for several hours to choreograph the duel between Alex and Wallace and how the end of the duel would happen (realistically). We had this huge thing worked out, but when the book was critiqued, everyone said the scene was too long so I had to practically cut it in half.
• I wrote about 15,000 words of this book on a trip to my parent’s house for Thanksgiving. Some was written in the car, some at the hotel, and because we decided to camp that Friday and Saturday night…some was written while laying on my stomach in a mummy sleeping bag with a massive tree root jabbing into my stomach. Good times.
• I wrote the tin soldiers scene in the car and had some fun asking my boys to help with the sound effects!
• I struggled to learn to read. I’m not dyslexic but my eyes don’t line up straight so reading across a line on a page was really difficult and I was nearly 15 before I could read without having to sound out words longer than about five letters and I still read with a bookmark or piece of paper under the line of text to help me keep my place. Oh and I detest reading aloud.
• The scene I posted for Wicked Wednesday this week where Sir Wallace isn’t wearing anything was the one I was trying to work on when I had my first horrid experience at the food court with the guy who sat down next to me and started being just plain gross.
• I loved Sir Wallace instantly in Her Reluctant Groom and wanted so badly to do a story about him but I was afraid that people wouldn’t want to read about a hero who isn’t the norm. After getting positive feedback via beta readers about him in Reluctant, I decided instantly he was getting his own book! And who better to pair him up with than Edwina who was used to Alex’s weirdness.
• I did NOT plan to duel, it just kind of happened when Alex walked in and saw Edwina and Sir Wallace kissing and issued the challenge. Before that, I thought Wallace’s injury would be that his hand slipped while he was carving and he put a knife in his own leg.
• Another surprise I got was the reappearance of Lady Bird’s Ladybird Memoir. I didn’t plan that one, either, but Emma just whipped it out of her reticule and I couldn’t very well tell her to put it back, could I?
• At the end of this book, we get a very short glimpse at the hero into my newest release: Lord Belgrave the hero from Secrets of a Viscount at the ball the night when both sets of characters find their happily-ever-after.
• New wrap around cover: