Why I wrote Full of Fire

You know when you wake up from a dream and you can't stop thinking about it? That's what happened on April 26th, 2014. At 5a.m., of course. I grabbed my phone and wrote down every detail I could remember, including how I felt upon waking. And then I spent the rest of the day unable to think about anything else. When I looked back at my notes, riddled with sleepy fingers typos, I saw something more in them. I saw a story. What-if's were running amok in my brain.

I needed to know about this self-possessed brunette who stood in the center of a lavish hotel room with the lights of Vegas pouring into the window. I needed other people to read about her, to know how she has high ideals and won't let anyone walk all over her. How she loves herself enough to demand respect. How she will ultimately learn that someone completely different from her can teach her about herself. (Yes, I got all that from the dream. I told you, it was INTENSE.)

And you know what's funny about the setting? I don't like Vegas. So guess what? Neither did my protagonist.

I had fun writing Full of Fire. By that point I'd been working on The Day He Went Away for seven years and I had not yet found the freedom to write the deeply personal story in a mostly fictitious way. Full of Fire became my creative outlet. These characters could do and say what they wanted. So they did. Lila became a confident woman with high expectations. Xavier was a reformed womanizer just looking for the right woman to love. And Gigi... poor, grieving Gigi needed to allow herself to feel the loss and recognize her part in it. I love Gigi. I love her badass attitude, her unabashed over-confidence, her willingness to go after what she wants. Which is, of course, what creates the conflict that sustains the story. And since I loved her so much, I gave her a novella. Sign up for my mailing list to receive her story for free. It's not available anywhere else but here on my website.

Now, as I approach the November 10th release date of The Day He Went Away, I am beyond thankful that Full of Fire was my debut novel. Whatever magical muse put that dream in my head, I am grateful for it. What I learned about the publishing process was invaluable, and I don't believe I could have learned that while also handling the emotions of letting my passion project into the world.

I'll remember Full of Fire the same way I remember my first love. Nostalgia for the innocence, furious heartbeats, and euphoria of discovery.