I received an email the other day asking me that very question.

As an author, I think it’s impossible to keep real life from seeping into my books, and I think most authors would agree. But just how much goes into books? Are characters based on real people? What about settings?

I can’t answer for all authors, but the more I contemplated this question, the more I realized that people who read my books actually get quite a glimpse into my “real life.”

In this post, I’ll cover the Six Saviors Series. In future posts, I’ll talk about how my life infiltrated the Dark Forces Series, and my contemporary romances.

Have I ever met any huge men with glowing eyes? No. But my husband is 6’5.

As fans of the Six Saviors know, the Saviors live in missile silos. I have been in a missile silo on a trip to Tucson, and it was where the idea for the Six Saviors took form.

The Light Within Me

The.Light.Within.Me.200x300Abby is someone who has never quite fit in anywhere. Guess what? Me too. I had a group of friends in college where I fit in perfectly. I was talking to one of them the other day, and she mentioned that we all got along so well because we were all a bunch of misfits. Remember the Island of Misfit Toys from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer? That was us.

Unfortunately for me, I don’t have the cool excuse of being part SR44ian. I had another friend recently describe me as “beautifully strange.” I’ll take that πŸ™‚

The Six Saviors Series takes place in Reno, Fernley and Phoenix. I grew up in Reno, ran a few track meets in Fernley, and live outside Phoenix today. In The Light Within Me, Noah and Abby go to a restaurant at Lake Tahoe called Gar Woods and have drinks called Wet Woodies. I got very, very drunk one wonderful afternoon many years ago with a girlfriend on Wet Woodies on that very deck. We had to call her boyfriend to come get us.

Finding My Faith

The hell raiser Faith was based on my brother when he was a kid – an absolute terror, always in Finding.My.Faith.200x300trouble. When he was a teenager, he would tell my mom that he was going to a friends house, but would actually spend the afternoon skydiving. She just found out about this a few years ago, and my brother is now 40.

Another time when he was little, no one could find him. He was located hanging from the chain link fence in the backyard by the hood of his coat that had gotten hung up as he tried to make his great escape.

To this day, he is still an adventurer. As I write this, he is in Idaho on backwoods skiing trip. An actual day at the slopes is a bore.

Both Rayner and I love bacon πŸ™‚

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REBORN

Addiction. It’s a difficult subject to write about. I had first hand experience with it with my first husband. It’s tragic and ugly. ‘Nuff said.

Hudson and Abby have dinner at a resort named the Wigwam. I love this place. It is a couple of miles from my house, and I’ve enjoyed many meals and happy hours there.

Unfortunately for my family and anyone else who comes to dinner, I don’t share Hudson’s love for cooking. That means meals pretty much suck around here. I’m a huge fan of takeout.

 

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Liberty reminds me of myself growing up. Obviously, I was never in servitude, but I did have a hard time finding my independence. I obviously don’t have blue hair or a diamond stud in my nose, but I did get a tattoo in college. πŸ™‚

I sometimes wish I could hear people’s thoughts, but other times I think its best that I can’t.

 

 

 

Tangled Fates

We’ll just have to save this one for later.Β  πŸ˜‰