Inspiration…From Everywhere. By Brooke Moss Hi, and thanks for hosting me here on the Pocketful of Books Blog today. I’ve decided to talk about my inspiration for my latest release from InkSpell Publishing, The Carny.
As an author of contemporary romance, I draw inspiration from everywhere. The couple sitting in front of me at church. The teenagers walking hand-in-hand down my street. The old couple bickering the next booth over at a restaurant. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again…every couple has a love story.
For some reason, though, I am drawn to couples that come from opposite worlds. I have friends who are married to men that are their complete opposite, and I love hearing their stories. My parents were from different worlds, and I always loved hearing the tale of their courtship when I was a teenager. And my husband and me? Well, let’s just say…two people couldn’t have come from worlds any different. But we work.
Why? Because we love each other. And despite how cheesy it is…love conquers all.
Let’s look at my hero and heroine, for example. Charlotte Davenport was raised in a wealthy home, with pretentious parents, and a heaping dose of high expectations on her shoulders. Vincent “Vin” Youngblood was raised by a single mom, and an absentee father whose income from his ramshackle traveling carnival barely made ends meet. Charlotte is mousy and self conscious. Vin is confident and cheerful.
The common bond? When they are with each other, each one becomes a better person. The slightest touch between these two could ignite a stack of firewood in an instant. The bottom line: they love each other.
My inspiration for Charlotte and Vin’s story originated in watching my brother and his wife. They, like my characters, are an interracial couple, who have faced prejudice, both bold and subtle. This hasn’t hindered their love for each other, though. They’ve managed to make it twenty years. And in this day and age, that’s pretty impressive. In my mind, Vin and Charlotte go on to stay happily stay married for twenty…thirty…maybe even forty years. Their love in unshakable, like my brother and his wife.
Want to know more about The Carny? Sure you do, here it goes:
“At a
town fair on the coast of Oregon, handsome Native American carny, Vincent
Youngblood, bestows an unforgettable kiss on shy, awkward teenager, Charlotte
Davenport. Then he disappears without another word, leaving her baffled and
enamored.Ten years later, Charlotte is still living in the small fishing town of Astoria, while being trained to--reluctantly--take over for her philandering hotelier father when he retires. After all, who else will do it? Her two perfect sisters are busy being married to their flawless husbands and having cookie cutter children, while Charlotte remains single, childless, and every bit as mousy as she was a decade ago.
As Charlotte struggles to climb out from underneath her judgmental parents thumb, the carnival rolls back into town, and Charlotte finds herself face to face with Vin again. He's back to run his father's carnival, walking away from a promising career in medicine he started in Chicago. Will her biased and judgmental family accept her relationship with a man who is not only a Native American, but works as a carny for a living? And what unsavory secrets bind the well-educated and seemingly superlative Vin to that ramshackle carnival?
After all, you can’t judge a carny by its cover.”
Again, thanks for hosting me here on the blog today. I can’t wait to hear what each of your readers think about The Carny. Here’s a little more about me:
“Brooke writes
complex, character-driven stories about kismet, reunited lovers, first love,
and the kind of romance that we should all have the chance at finding. She
prefers her stories laced with some humor just for fun, and enough drama to
keep her readers flipping the pages, and begging for more! When Brooke isn't
spinning tales, she spends her time drawing/cartooning, reading two books a
week (ask her who her faves are), watching movies then comparing them to books,
and, of course, wrangling four kids, one hubby she lovingly refers to as her
"nerd", and attempting to conquer the Mount Everest of laundry that
is the bane of her existence.” Find me elsewhere on the web here: www.brookemoss.com and
order your copy of The Carny here: www.inkspellpublishing.com
