I get inspiration for my stories from just about everywhere. Sometimes I'll base a novel's setting on a place I once lived in. Other tales have characters in them that are inspired by actual people I've met. Or, in the case of my newest Sapphic romance novel, During the Storm, the main plot point was inspired by a true event.
Last year, Texas went through one of the biggest natural disasters ever: the infamous winter storm of February 2021.
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| from krqe.com |
We Texans are not used to these types of snowstorms to begin with. To make matters worse, the state epically failed us when the power grid totally crapped out all across the state! This blunder put thousands and thousands of people, including many of my family members and friends, into days and days of no electricity and heat! Lucky for me, my power stayed on, and the biggest hassle I had to deal with was bundling up my old weenie dog and persuading him to go out into the ice-cold snow to potty. But forget traveling anywhere! The snow was thicker than I've ever seen it, and the roads were completely iced over.
A number of local public buildings that still had power offered warming stations where people could come and thaw out for a few hours and charge their phones, but I'm sad to report that 246 Texans died in the tragedy.
Although my house kept its power on, I did have to deal with the water being shut off for a day. Our pipes didn't freeze, but many of the mainline pipes in the Metroplex did, which made the cities have to shut off the lines so our water wouldn't come through our pipes contaminated. Some unfortunate towns had no running water for weeks!
The whole experience was so wild that it inspired the events that happened in During the Storm. I wondered, what would happen if a woman got caught at home in a snowstorm, and only had her grumpy (but totally sexy) neighbor to help her through it? Hmm!! Well, if you want to find out, then check out the story!
DURING THE STORM is now available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited!!!
Click the cover art below to check it out on Amazon!!
Blurb:
A new resident of Colorado, Willow has no idea how to survive in a snowstorm. She finds out just how unprepared she is when a blizzard hits. Snow and ice trap her alone in her home, and with it come unexpected complications. The only person available to help is her neighbor Joy. Hotter than hell on the outside but with a personality colder than ice, Joy has lived in the area for years but hasn’t said one word to Willow since she moved in next door. Initially, both women refuse to reach out to one another in the blizzard, but after the neighborhood loses electricity, everything changes. Joy is no stranger to surviving winter storms, and Willow quickly realizes she has a lot to learn from her, including how to start a fire. But as the two women spend more and more time together during the storm, a different sort of flame begins burning between them.
XoXO
Scarlett
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Well, friends, we have made it through another completely insane year. And we thought last year was nuts! Where 2020 dragged on forever at a snail pace in a horrid state limbo, 2021 brought us a different kind of chaos. And rather than drone on about politics or Covid, I'm dedicating this post to the most memorable events of 2021 in relation to my personal life and my writing, and at the end I'll share a couple of movie/book recommendations in relation to WLW.
So, without further ado, let's take a look back on 2021!
I'll begin by mentioning the loss of a dear uncle early in the year. He was an older man who had a lot of different health problems, (and his death was not due to Covid). But the loss was immense. It hit the family really hard because we'd all been isolating and not seeing one another. The last time I saw him was in the summer of 2019. The family was able to come together for a masked viewing of sorts, but we didn't get the kind of funeral that we wanted. I know we were among many families that have had to adapt to the times lately, and I'm just happy we got to gather for a few hours wearing our masks.
Another loss of note was the passing of the great modern writer Anne Rice. I'm still in shock that she's gone. Earlier this year, I wrote a blog post celebrating her 80th birthday, and in it, I talked about how much of an influence she was on me as a writer. If you're curious about that post, click --> here <--.
This year, I released Book 3 in The Neon Fishnets trilogy! Taking the Risk wraps up the series.
I was so excited to give this one to my readers as many of them had reached out to me over the past couple of years, hoping for a story about CJ and Trish. I promised them one was on the way because I'd planned it from the very beginning, and now it's here! By the way, I also reached a writing/publishing milestone with this novel when it officially became my first book to reach 100+ Reviews on Amazon!
Another release I'd like to mention is "Pleasure of the First Mark," which was my venture into paranormal lesfic! This contemporary faerie romance is a short story, and it was kind of fun to do something different and create a more fantastical world in addition to the usual contemporary stories I write. Also, this book won August 2021 Paranormal Book of the Month over at iheartlesfic.com!
I also read a book this year that isn't technically lesfic, but it's a memoir written by Cassandra Peterson, a longtime idol of mine (You may know her as Elvira). I've had this book on my radar ever since she announced she was working on it a couple of years ago. Anyway, I got it and read it, and I consider it to be in the WLW category because SHE CAME OUT OF THE CLOSET in this memoir!!! Imagine the queer community's collective glee when that happened! Sexy Elvira is a femme!! Her life story is totally wild and unbelievable, so I recommend the book to anyone who likes Elvira, Hollywood, celebrity tales, and overall wild and crazy true stories.
That about wraps up the highlights of 2021 for me! How about you? Got any favorite movies or books you'd like to recommend? Any personal experiences you'd like to share from the year? Leave them in the comments! And have a happy, healthy 2022, everyone!!
XoXo
Scarlett
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Mark your calendars for January 14, 2022! It's the official date that my new contemporary lesbian romance novel DURING THE STORM (Art of Love Book 1) will be available exclusively on Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited!
Blurb:
A new resident of Colorado, Willow has no idea how to survive in a snowstorm. She finds out just how unprepared she is when a blizzard hits. Snow and ice trap her alone in her home, and with it come unexpected complications. The only person available to help is her neighbor Joy. Hotter than hell on the outside but with a personality colder than ice, Joy has lived in the area for years but hasn’t said one word to Willow since she moved in next door. Initially, both women refuse to reach out to one another in the blizzard, but after the neighborhood loses electricity, everything changes. Joy is no stranger to surviving winter storms, and Willow quickly realizes she has a lot to learn from her, including how to start a fire. But as the two women spend more and more time together during the storm, a different sort of flame begins burning between them.
I can't wait to share this new story with you!
XoXo
Scarlett
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Coming January 2022, the first installment in a new contemporary WLW romance series...
Hey All!
I wanted to write a quick post to let you know that Episode 3 of Read Cute has been posted on Lily Seabrooke's website!
Along with several other amazing lesfic authors, I took part in a live reading of an excerpt from THE NEON FISHNETS BOOK 1: PLAYING WITH FIRE. All of the excerpts at this reading have an "enemies to lovers" theme, so if that tickles your fancy, definitely check it out. We all had so much fun doing this! Here's the link:
(Be sure to click on Episode 3 for the Enemies to Lovers reading!)
https://www.lilyseabrooke.com/readcute
As always, thanks for stopping by!
XoXo
Scarlett
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