Writing About What You Know

While ARRESTED PLEASURE is not my first book, I must admit I still have to pinch myself and tell myself that I’m a published author. When I was a child, I used to daydream a lot and made up my own stories. Romances of course, now that I look back. I tried to write—by hand—my first romance when I was thirteen or fourteen years old. After many pages of painstakingly writing out my tale of woman meets man, it came to a grinding halt. Where do I go from here? Looking back, I realized I had no conflict. It was just a love story about love at first sight. Ah, the wonder of it all. Now I sit down and plot, including devising what the conflict is.


Writers are generally told to write what you know, yet the truth of the matter is that if we limited our plots to what we’ve experienced, we’d have a small amount of plots to choose from. Instead, we can expand on an idea we might have and work our way forward, which of course means research. While some writers do extensive research (you can rarely write a historical novel without doing detailed research of the times), I must admit I dislike having to spend a lot of time researching. So, I end up taking the words of wisdom to writers and “write what you know and then ask the right questions.”

In ARRESTED PLEASURE, which came out September 26th from Noble Romance, I based the location in Portland, Oregon. While I have spent some time in the Rose City, it has been limited. I didn’t know what parts would be considered “seedy” enough to warrant caution for most folks living in Portland. I called upon a fellow writer who lives in the Portland area and asked her. She was very helpful and helped me get some insight into the city. My heroine, Cassie, is a massage therapist. I’m not one, but have received the services of one over the years, so I asked her a little about what it took to be one and how she ran her business. Again, she was helpful. Now for the hardest part. My hero, Gabe, is a vice squad detective. I didn’t have any inside knowledge into how they worked, so I had to check online and gather what information I knew. Working up his job description was probably one of the hardest things I’ve done, but I think it worked well in ARRESTED PLEASURE. Readers will get the feel of life in Portland, Oregon and within a massage therapists life. I had fun writing it and I hope readers enjoy reading it.

Here’s a blurb:

On the brink of ruin . . . .






Spa owner Cassie Nichols can't afford any distractions right now. Hell, she can't afford much at all, which makes contending with the miserable landlord who wants her out her sole focus. Until a handsome stranger threatens to wreck—and rock—her world. He leaves her feeling out of control. Determined not cave in to the carnal hunger within her, Cassie finds herself in a fight for everything she holds dear.






On the edge of uncertainty . . . .






Portland Detective Gabe Banks never mixes business with pleasure, but the vixen masseuse is a mystery he must unravel. Her passion tantalizes him and has him craving more. Battling between a duty to investigate and a need to protect, he finds himself questioning everything he believes in.






For both, they are fighting an obsession they may never want to give up.

You can purchase the book and read an excerpt by clicking this link:

https://www.nobleromance.com/Books/334/Arrested-Pleasure

To help celebrate the release of ARRESTED PLEASURE, I have a contest going on at my website for a $25 Amazon gift card. Please check out http://www.holliwinters.com/  for more information. I try to hold several contests a year, so keep checking back!