Publication Date: August 25th, 2015
Muse Alexandra has had it with the arrogant, ungrateful humans she is obligated to inspire. When the internal ranting of her latest charge pushes her past reason, she disregards the rules and forces her own words through his fingers, and is instantly entrapped in mortal form. With no magic, no identity, and no resources, Allie has no alternative but to navigate the mortal realm, depending entirely on her reluctant host while discerning what exactly caused her transformation — and how to reverse it.
Brett doesn’t have a chance to consider the words that mysteriously showed up on his screen; he’s too distracted by the stunning woman who appeared in his office out of nowhere. Before his brain can catch up, Brett’s uninvited guest becomes enmeshed in his everyday life. Her artless innocence gradually lessens his suspicions. Most importantly, the writer’s block that’s been plaguing him dissolves under the fantasies the naively beguiling Alexandra inspires.
All too soon, the forced proximity sparks a confounding awareness neither writer nor muse are able to resist.
GUEST POST
Writing What You Don't Know
How many times have you encountered the advice: "Write what you know"? Even those with no relation to the writing community have likely heard this touted as the cardinal rule of writing.
It's true, writers spend an inordinate amount of time and effort on observing the world around us to amass a solid basis of that which we know. And yet, if we were merely to transcribe the events around us, it would make for some extremely dry reading. No one would read past the first couple pages, if that.
In reality, what we write is a combination of observation, knowledge, and imagination.
If I wrote only what I knew, I couldn't have set Mending Heartstrings in Nashville and Portland, or Mortal Musings in Colorado. I hate to disillusion anyone, but I've never been to any of these places. Neither have I met a muse that took corporeal form (though that would have been cool).
The thing is, what writers "know" isn't limited to our direct experiences thanks to others' shared stories, research (the amount of information available online is truly astounding), and our imaginations. All of those weave together into a wealth of material from which we can pick and choose pieces that we can recombine into (hopefully) evocative works of fiction.
Fantasy and paranormal novels are of course the best example of this Ñ all these worlds and creatures painstakingly crafted not from something the writer "knows" but from imagination, and often collaboration. These stories remodel the fabric of reality, melding what the author knows--whether from observation or lore--with the plasticity of the imagined. And really, every effective story must do the same.
So don't write only what you know. Observe everything, learn what you can, then tear it apart and reimagine it all into something incredible.
About the author:
Aria’s writing story started when her seventh-grade English teacher encouraged her to submit a class assignment for publication. That piece was printed, and let’s just say, she was hooked!
Since then, Aria has run a literary magazine, earned her degree in Creative Writing (as well as in French and Russian literatures), and been published in a few collections. Though her first kiss technically came from a bear cub, and no fairytale transformation followed, Aria still believes magic can happen when the right people come together – if they don’t get in their own way, that is.
Other than all things literary, Aria loves spending time with her family, including her two unbearably adorable nieces. She also dabbles in painting, dancing, playing violin, and, given the opportunity, Epicureanism.
Thanks so much for participating in this tour and helping with this release!
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