Where do my stories come from?

People are always asking me where I get the inspiration for my books. They want to know how much of what I write is real and/or how they can help inspire my next one (that's usually from dumb guys. Shocking, I know. HA).

It's a simple question and I totally get the intrigue. Some books leave you desperate for all the non-fictional truth. I've sent numerous author friends emails before asking things like, "WAS THAT PART REAL?" "DID THAT REALLY HAPPEN?"  "TELL ME WHO THE REAL <insert character name here> IS RIGHT NOW!"

So see... I'm just like you.  :)

But to answer the question about where my inspiration comes from...
I write what I know.
I write what I've been through.
I write what I've seen.
I write what I've experienced.
I write what I wish would have happened.
I write entire stories based around one real life event.
I write what's in my heart.

There are plenty of authors who can create entire worlds from scratch just from the confines of their beautiful mind. I'm not really one of them. lol No really. I tend to draw my inspiration from things that have happened in my life. I base characters off of people I know and relationships I've had (even if they were a million years ago). Now that's not to say that there isn't a lot of fiction in my books because trust me, there is. It's just that what pulls me the most to write are the experiences I've gone through and the emotions I felt.

I think it's our human experiences that connect us. My biggest hope after I finish writing a book is that you'll read it and be able to relate to it on some level. I want my stories to feel like something that could either happen to you or someone you know.  I want them to feel real.

I really hope that they do. And I hope that you love them.

Do you have a favorite type of romance novel that you read? Do you like them to feel real, or do you like getting totally swept up in a fantasy world?

Chat soon,
Jenn