Friday, April 17, 2015

Worldbuilding from Childhood Memories

By Sara Daniel

My grandparents spent their entire lives on a farm in Iowa that had been in our family for over a century. Every Christmas and summer, I would stay there for a few days or weeks, raking in idyllic childhood memories from the simple, old-fashioned, hardworking farm life.
My book centers on a dairy farm. My grandparents were never dairy farmers. However, the farmer who lived across the gravel road was. I remember walking into his barn and watching him hook up the milking machines as each cow took a turn, the contrast between the modern equipment and the old rundown barn striking even through my eleven-year-old eyes. I remember my grandparents talking about how tied to the operation a dairy farmer was with the constant twice a day, 365 days a year milking the cows required. I never considered using any of this in a story, but years later the details I needed were there in my memories, perfect for setting the scene and creating character motivations.
One Night with the Best Man is set on an Iowa farm the hero grew up on and can’t wait to leave in the dust. He must confront his memories of the farm, both the good and the bad. And then he must do something else—see the farm, not just for the memories of what it was but what it has become through the heroine’s vision for its future.


Excerpt:
Susie clasped his palm. “Nice job on conquering your demons. Even better, we have time for a tour of the barn before you have to report to the tent for the rehearsal.”
“I already told you I’m not stepping foot in there. If we have time to kill, this bed is now conveniently bare and available.”
She didn’t take the bait. “You can stand in the barn doorway if you’re too chickenshit to go inside.”
Alex tugged her hand, pulling her flush with his chest. He could seriously get into her body rubbing against his. “You don’t call a Marine chickenshit.”
She smirked. “Prove it, and I’ll take it back.”
Hell if he didn’t swallow her bait whole. “You play dirty. I like that in a woman.”
“I’ve seen the kind of women you like. If you’re attracted to me, I won’t take it as a compliment.”
Alex laughed. If she wasn’t tied to the one piece of property he refused to have anything to do with, she would be damn near perfect. In addition to being witty and intelligent, she had a compassionate side that threatened to drown him in sweetness. Maybe if he concentrated on the sweetness of her ass again, he’d forget about their destination as she dragged him across the back lot.
The sexy professor had turned everything he’d thought he’d known about farm work on its head. What other surprises would she reveal if he took the time to uncover them?


Author Bio: Sara Daniel writes what she loves to read—irresistible romance, from sweet to erotic and everything in between. She battles a serious NASCAR addiction, was once a landlord of two uninvited squirrels, and loses her car keys several times a day. One Night with the Best Man is the latest book in her One Night with the Bridal Party series

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1 comment:

  1. I have never read one of the One Night Stand books. YET!!

    ReplyDelete