While I was writing Cedar Ridge, one of my writing partners commented that I’d created the perfect villain in Warner Barkley. “I love to hate him!” she said with a wicked chuckle, and I so appreciated that. It meant I’d done my job. I’d created a character using words in such a way as to affect how the reader felt about him. That’s powerful stuff!
Recently, in not totally unrelated news, I was informed that Billionaires are hot storylines for romance novels of all subgenres, including rom-coms, as the Cedar Ridge series is. AND! I was further advised to steer my series in that direction. I gotta be honest. As small as Cedar Ridge is, there aren’t a whole lot of billionaires in the area. Okay, there aren’t any. As I was mulling over the idea of how to work an ultra-rich guy into the mix, Warner popped in to remind me of how wealthy he is. In fact, I guess it turns out his net-worth has grown over the last couple of months.
Sounds like a solution to my dilemma, yeah? Maybe. But now there’s a new one. I need to use the power of words and language to turn him from a guy you love to hate into a leading man you could love. Stay tuned…
Want to get a glimpse of Warner? Read an excerpt from Cedar Ridge in the Book Bubble!
