Guest Post–Diane Thorne’s Sisters of Lonewood

Hello, Fellow Readers! Joining us today is Diane Thorne and she brought along her Sisters of Lonewood Series. Read all about her writing inspiration and she’s also doing a giveaway! Don’t miss out.

Diane is a lifetime lover of the paranormal, sci-fi, and fantasy. Her mind constantly wanders into other worlds full of dark and mysterious creatures. Vampires, werewolves, demons, and other supernatural creatures are her friends. A few bite, others tempt, and some are hot as hell. Reader beware: She is not responsible for any titillation, increased temperatures, hormonal stirrings, or unusual bite marks. Besides writing, Diane enjoys sunny days, strong coffee in the morning, traveling, shopping with her daughter, laughter, and red wine. She dislikes taxes, slow drivers, cold weather, and cranky people.

Inspiration for Sisters of Lonewood

Do you ever wonder how people come up with ideas? I am one of those people who are curious to learn how authors come up with their stories, so I thought I'd share with you what inspired me to write the Sisters of Lonewood series.

I'm a huge fan of paranormal romance and I was reading a vampire series by Lyndsay Sands. The family of vampires intrigued me. Each book is about a member of the family and he or she finds their mate. Three books in the series involved three human sisters. They were single and very close. Vampires from the main family fell in love with each one, and the sisters couldn't tell each other. Eventually they found out and were able to stay together.

After reading the last book with the sister, I put on my thinking cap. I thought it would be great to have a series about sisters trying to find love in a contemporary setting. I hadn't written contemporary before, so the challenge intrigued me.

First, I came up with a number of sisters. Seven seemed like a good number. I gave them names and determined how far apart they were in age. Then, I gave them characteristics to set them apart. With the cast finished, I set to work on a location.

I created Lonewood. It is a mid-sized town in Southern Illinois. It's not real. Lonewood sits off I-24 by Shawnee National Forest and between Metropolis and Vienna. Evansville is a little over two hours away. From Chicago, it's a seven-hour drive. Yes, I checked Google maps. I wanted a Midwest town because I'm from the Midwest.

With my characters and location complete, I started to write.

Nikki's Story is the first. I don't have a reason why I chose her. I simply needed someone to be the first and to offer some history about the family. What better way than to plan a wedding and everything fall apart a few days before the event? She doesn't fall in love in the story, but she certainly questions if she should marry given the string of bad luck.

The next story involves a teacher, Kate. She thinks she will never meet Mr. Right, then some hottie moves to town and takes a position teaching at the school she works at. Ah, sweet love.

Heather is next and she is a waitress. Penny is the 4th sister to find love. She's a busy young girl working, going to school, and volunteering. The 5th sister is Alison, and her taste in men is different from the others. The cover says plenty. Lisa is the oldest sister and her story will be the 6th one. Love was in front of her since her high school days, but she never saw it. The final story (set for release in early April) is from Brenda and she's the tomboy of all the sisters. When an Indy 500 racecar driver visits Lonewood and meets Brenda, she feels sensations stirring within her that she never felt before.

Writing such a long series in a short format is all new territory for me. I'd never written contemporary before either. But, I wanted to take a chance on a different type of erotic romance. I still love my paranormal, and if it weren't for those sisters in Ms. Sands' vampire books, I never would have thought of creating my own romance series with sisters.

Cover art, blurbs, and buy links for the series can be found here: http://dianethorne.com/books-by-diane-thorne/contemporary/

 

 

Where to find Diane Thorne:
Blog:
http://www.dianethorne.com

Twitter:
http://twitter.com/DThorne_author

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/DianeThorneAuthor

Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/dianethorne

 

Other books by Diane:

• Demon in Disguise (Playful Demons 1)
• The Deadly Stripper (Sexy & Damned 1)
• The Complicated Stripper (Sexy & Damned 2)
• Destined for Love
• Nikki's Story (Sisters of Lonewood 1)
• Kate's Story (Sisters of Lonewood 2)
• Heather's Story (Sisters of Lonewood 3)
• Penny's Story (Sisters of Lonewood 4)
• Alison's Story (Sisters of Lonewood 5)
• Lisa's Story (Sisters of Lonewood 6, March 22 release)
• Brenda's Story (Sisters of Lonewood 7, April release)

 

Diane is giving away one e-book from her Sisters of Lonewood Series, winner’s choice.

All you have to do is:

1) Follow us
2) Leave a comment: What most intrigues you about this series?

Good luck! Contest ends April 5, 2013.