I still can’t believe it. My debut novel is finally out in the wild! I can hold it in my hands. I can see it on my e-reader. I can finally say I’m a published writer. Because I’m so excited about his book, I felt it was time to do a little character introduction to my main chick, Emily Ayers. So far, I’ve talked about the setting and premise, but it’s time to tell you who we’re rooting for.
A little background first. I started writing this story in July 2017 when I was going through a rut. My life had gone through a major change (moved from Northeast to South again, started working remotely full-time again, and finally bought my first house). All of these things were great but I suddenly found myself with idle time. No longer was I stressing about coordinating everything, ensuring my finances were straight for the mortgage, and planning to pack. Everything was buttoned up. There were no fires to put out and nothing to look forward to.
Simply put: I was bored.
The Rebirth of My Writing Career
Idle time never bodes well for me. I’m fueled by the urgency of my to-do lists, so when things had become easy, I felt like I lacked drive and purpose.
One day, I was stomping around my house, dramatically letting out loud sighs. I flopped on the couch, scrolled through social media, and let out more sighs. At that point, my husband didn’t work from home, so only my doggo was around to deal with my adult tantrums. As much as I love her, I could only pet her so much before I got bored with that too (she’s cute, but not a great conversationalist).
My brain—always imaginative or so my parents say—started coming up with random stories to entertain myself. The first scene that popped in my head was a woman getting dumped by her long-time fiancé.
I know. Super positive. But I’ve been where she’s been before. Not the dumping, but that point in your life where everything you had worked for and planned for crashed and burned. Something about it resonated with me. Before I knew it, I was writing a story in my Notes app. No rhyme or reason. No plot or plan. I was just writing.
After going through a creative slump in which I wrote barely anything while living in Boston for three years, this was a breakthrough. I kept at it. I felt alive. And this was the rebirth of my writing career. I’ve come a long way in my writing these last two years, leaning into it hard. But I attribute this book to the jumpstart to my passion for writing again.
So, who is Emily Ayers?
This woman moved to Portland, ME with her fiancé for his law career. Although the move was for him, she found a way to pursue her own interests, starting a successful café with her BFF Joanna. She’s passionate about what she does. Level-headed, risk-averse, and extremely practical. She hates rocking the boat (which might be why her relationship failed to begin with).
But logic and practicality are thrown out the window when her fiancé’s mistress is found dead in the dumpster behind her café.
This is when we see the other side of her. Maybe it’s the stress or the shock or the hopelessness, but little Miss By-the-Books goes slightly off the rails. She’s a researcher by nature. A dog with a bone. And a little sassy when a certain someone (cough...handsome detective Ben Hunter) wrongfully accuses her of murder. Through the story, you’ll see her backbone strengthen, making her life blossom into something more positive, even if it’s a result of high stakes thanks to a cyberstalker.
When I blindly wrote the first draft of this story, I saw a piece of me in Emily. I also didn’t like to rock the boat, and that meant settling for a lot of things that didn’t match what I wanted for my life. It wasn’t until these last few years that I stood my ground, kept my voice steady, and went after what I wanted come hell or high water that I finally felt like I was coming into my own, just like she did.
If you like a relatable heroine that will give you the inspiration to take the lead, check out my romantic suspense No Place to Hide. It’s available in ebook version or print on Amazon, BN, Kobo, and iBooks! You can also download the first chapter for free here!
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