"WHAT IF" IS THE WRITER'S SPARK!

What sparked my story idea for BRAZOS BRIDE? So glad you asked. The answer is several things.

I love family series and trilogies. So, I wanted to write about brothers who’d shared tragedy and good times that strengthened an already strong bond between them. What I came up with is the three Stone brothers and the Men of Stone Mountain trilogy. I'm a gentle soul, really I am, but I prefer murder, kidnapping, or some sort of intrigue even in romances.

While researching my contemporary time travel romantic suspense, OUT OF THE BLUE (available from The Wild Rose Press at www.thewildrosepress.com/caroline-clemmons-m-638.html), I came across a couple of historic events that sparked “what if” thoughts. “What if” is a writer’s blessing because the question launches us into characters and plots.

Over the years, I’ve read a lot of books with poison as the murder weapon (especially in Agatha Christie’s books), and wanted at least two of the books to include poisons found growing naturally in the Southwest. I had needed a natural poison for a cozy mystery I’m soon to publish on Kindle, DIGGING FOR DEATH. In that book, I did quite a bit of research and discovered the plant I needed to fit the story, but also discovered many other native poisonous plants.

Foxglove, from which digitalis comes, is an example
of a plant that can heal or kill. Foxglove grows wild near
where I live in Texas.

Research is never wasted for writers, and I loved playing around with those plants. Mentally, that is, not the actual poison! Naturally I couldn’t use the same poison in each book or there would be no suspense. I need not have worried because there are many Texas plants that are harmful or lethal. Even some healing plants are lethal when misused or given in too large a dose.

Oleander, a deadly plant when any part is ingested.

As a result, I came up with three very different stories (in my opinion) for the Men of Stone Mountain that contain different native plant poisons used in BRAZOS BRIDE, HIGH STAKES BRIDE, and BLUEBONNET BRIDE. The first book, BRAZOS BRIDE, is Micah Stone’s story and is on sale now for only 99 cents at Amazon Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/Brazos-Bride-Stone-Mountain-ebook/dp/B007HS10SY/ref=sr_1_18?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1331156267&sr=1-18 (Soon, I'll have a print version available from CreateSpace.) I’m writing HIGH STAKES BRIDE now, which is Zach Stone’s story with Mary Alice Price as the heroine.  Joel’s story, BLUEBONNET BRIDE, will be the final for this trilogy. Then I will have Storm Kincaid’s book to write. Of course, my muse is busy conjuring up the next series. I just love writing and hope never to stop.

What kind of romances do you enjoy? I'll give away a copy of BRAZOS BRIDE to one person who answers this question in a comment.

Thanks for stopping by! Y'all come back.