Men of the sea and their ships hold a special place in my heart because I grew up in Navy country, had sailors as friends and dated officers.
My high school boyfriend's father was a naval commander, and one night, when his dad's ship was in port, we sat in silence on the bluffs watching its lights dance on the black water below. The poignancy of those moments are clear to me now that I'm older. In a way I didn't then, I realize how proud he was of his father, but, unlike mine, who was always home, his was away too much. The lights may have evoked feelings of pride, but the vastness of the dark waters reflected a hurtful longing to see more of his dad.
As news of the exploits of SEALs began to hit the news in recent years, I became enthralled with these superheroes, these elite of the elite Special Forces warriors. They make perfect heroes for a romance. As I thought about writing Awaking the Alpha--my January 2014 All Romance eBooks and Amber Allure best seller--I happened on a TV interview of a highly decorated SEAL who for all his twenty years in the service hid the fact his brain told him he was really female. I drew partly on this idea of hiding your real identity in creating a retired SEAL whose teammates never guessed he was gay, much less a werewolf. I also drew on the sense of loss my high school boyfriend was feeling because my retired naval officer misses his team.
As I began Amen To Love, I wasn't interested in doing another shifter story, but I was not quite through with the SEALs. This new release is part of a medical AmberPax, and since I have bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing, it was fun to step back into the medical field and create Bond Bergstrom, a closeted and retired Navy SEAL, the new chief of surgery at Weatherton Mountain Hospital. I hope you enjoy him and his retired Delta Force counterpart, Rory O'Shea.
I'm a member of the Los Angeles chapter of Sisters in Crime, and the murder mystery in the plot springs out of my interest in the crime genres. I once read that people who read crime fiction pretty much ignore other genres, while romance readers tend to enjoy a broad and diverse range of books. I hope combining genres adds to your reading pleasure.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
Love you all!
Carolina Valdez
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If you'd like the chance to win the entire pax collection, just leave a comment on today's post. On Saturday, a winner will be picked at random from all the comments made this week on the blog. Comment on all, and that's multiple chances to win!
Seasonal Greetings to all the authors and Amber Press and thank you for a chance to win final pax collection of the year :)
ReplyDeleteI come from a naval family myself, but the long chain going back to well before Queen Victoria was broken a number of years ago by my uncle (the only male relative on that side) who joined the army instead. I am intrigued to read more about your retired navy seal :)
How interesting, Sula! I'm glad to know this. May your holidays be wonderful ones.
DeleteThank you for sharing! Happy Holidays!
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays to you, too, Jen CW!
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