My guest today is an award-winning author who loves to read and write romantic comedies. Please help me welcome Brenda Lowder! Let’s take a look at her bio and then find out more about her inspiration and writing process.
Brenda Lowder is an award-winning author of lighthearted women’s fiction and romantic comedy novels. She lives in Atlanta and loves international travel, fine dining, and air conditioning. She’s a big fan of fiction in all its forms–books, films, television, and the lies we tell ourselves. Her brilliant and smoking-hot husband and two princess-scientist daughters love her enough to insist she’s still twenty-nine.
Author Social Links: Website * Facebook * BookBub
Betty: What inspired you to write the story you’re sharing with us today?
Brenda: I was inspired by the Disney movie The Parent Trap. I loved that movie when I was a kid. I loved the idea of a child having the power to bring their parents back together. I wondered, what if a kid brought their divorcing parents back together and then developed the belief that they could really reconcile people? What if she held onto that belief, even as an adult, and made that her career? What problems would that bring about for that person? I wanted to write the book to find out.
Betty: What, if any, new writing skill did you develop while working on this story?
Brenda: I think I developed more ways to have my characters say things without actually saying them. I tend to be a very literal person, so I’m working toward subtlety, and I think my skills grew with that in this book.
Betty: Did you struggle with any part of this story? What and how?
Brenda: I struggled a bit with my main character Sasha’s naivety and absolute conviction that she’s right. She has to have some major confidence to go after what she wants and to believe that she can remake the world and the relationships around her as she would have them.
Betty: Which character(s) were the easiest to get to know? Why do you think?
Brenda: Cole Chase, Sasha’s love interest and professional sparring partner was the easiest to get to know. He appears in my previous book Keeping the Pieces, and is the younger brother of the main character so I knew him very well already and was excited to find out what it would take for him to fall in love. Readers kept asking when Cole was going to get his book, and here he is!
Betty: What kind of research did you need to do to write this story?
Brenda: I researched match-making, divorce proceedings, and arbitration. A rewatch of The Parent Trap kept me inspired.
Betty: How many drafts of the story did you write before you felt the story was complete?
Brenda: Too many! Probably around ten.
Betty: How long did it take for you to write the story you’re sharing with us? Is that a typical length of time for you? Why or why not?
Brenda: A year. Unfortunately, it is typical for me. I can write a book in three or four months, but then it takes me eight or nine months to edit it.
Betty: What rituals or habits do you have while writing?
Brenda: I don’t know that I have any rituals that work, but I stare off into space a lot, and I wish I did less of that!
Betty: Every author has a tendency to overuse certain words or phrases in drafts, such as just, once, smile, nod, etc. What are yours?
Brenda: I don’t want to say in case I missed any of them!
Betty: Do you have any role models? If so, why do you look up to them?
Brenda: My mom. She was awesome. I miss her every day.
Betty: Do you have a special place to write? Revise? Read?
Brenda: I write, revise, and read in my easy chair with my feet up. I need all the blood to go to my head for thinking.
Betty: Many authors have a day job. Do you? If so, what is it and do you enjoy it?
Brenda: My day job is being a stay-at-home mom, and I love it!
Betty: As an author, what do you feel is your greatest achievement?
Brenda: As an author, I feel my greatest achievement is having two of my books hit #1 in Romantic Comedy in Amazon and four of them hit #1 in multiple categories. Winning the Maggie Award for Excellence for my book Keeping the Pieces was another great achievement for me.
Betty: What is your favorite genre to read?
Brenda: Romantic Comedy! I started writing rom-com because I wished there were more of them out there for me to read! I LOVE rom-coms—books and movies—and real life!
Betty: Success looks different to different people. It could be wealth, or fame, or an inner joy at reaching a certain level. How do you define success in terms of your writing career?
Brenda: I think success is loving what you do and being able to have a meaningful connection with people. By that definition, I’m living my dream!
Sasha Timmerman’s purpose in life is not to find love for herself, but to help divorcing couples get back together—like she did for her mom and dad. Which is why she’s willing to don last-minute disguises and chase people down in frozen foods. By rekindling the sparks between couples experiencing a relationship hiccup, she enables them to continue their happily ever afters.
Contented bachelor Cole Chase is one of Atlanta’s top divorce attorneys. He scores the best settlements with the least amount of emotional fallout—until all his biggest cases start unraveling. Suddenly his promotion to partner isn’t looking like a done deal, and the mysterious Sasha Timmerman is at the center of every one of his cases-gone-wrong.
The world’s biggest action star hires Cole to handle his divorce, and the star’s wife secretly hires Sasha to reconcile them. When everyone gets stuck on the movie star’s private island, Sasha and Cole must fight their growing feelings for each other in order to battle on opposing sides in the bigger game of love.
Buy Links: Amazon * Free in Kindle Unlimited
Sounds like a fun story, Brenda! Thanks for stopping by and sharing it with us!
Happy reading!
Betty
Award-winning Author of Historical Fiction with Heart, and Haunting, Bewitching Love Stories
Visit www.bettybolte.com for a complete list of my books and appearances.
Subscribe to My Newsletter to learn the inside scoop about releases and more!
Betty Bolte's Musings 