Carol Ericson & Circumstantial Memories

Hi, today I'm featuring our very own Fierce Author, Carol Ericson and her latest book from Harlequin Intrigue.

Vonda: Congratulations on your new release, Carol! What a sexy cowboy on that cover! Please tell us about Circumstantial Memories.

Carol: All that remains of Julia's past are the necklace with her first name in gold script...and the child she’s carrying. After the car she’s driving plunges over an embankment on a mountain road in Colorado, erasing her memories, Julia must make a new life for herself and her daughter in the small town of Silverhill. But Julia can never shake the dread that steals over her from time to time, reminding her that the life she fled in a stolen car loaded with cash holds dangerous secrets. Then Julia meets Ryder McClintock, the one man who holds the key to those secrets.

Ryder has no idea what's awaiting him when he returns to his family’s ranch in Silverhill after completing his latest three-year assignment for the covert ops agency, Black Cobra. His shock at discovering Julia Rousseau, the woman he’d loved with a burning passion, is topped only by his shock at discovering that Julia has a daughter...and that daughter is his.

When a stalker begins to threaten Julia, Ryder must decide whether or not to reveal the details of Julia's past with her dangerous ex-husband, who's now dead. If he helps Julia regain her memories, he may lose her. If he keeps her in the dark about her past, he may lose her forever.

Vonda: Sounds very exciting, suspenseful and romantic! What inspired you to write this story?

Carol: Because this is a category romantic suspense for Harlequin Intrigue, the idea for this story began with the hooks. Amnesia is always a popular hook, as is the "secret baby" storyline--throw in a stalker, a cowboy/cover ops hero, a Colorado setting, and I pretty much have all the hooks covered. Of course, the challenge with incorporating hooks into your book is to make the story original, and to seamlessly weave the elements together into one edge-of-your-seat thriller with a simmering romance.

Vonda: Indeed a very clever way to get in lots of hooks! What was the most difficult thing about writing this story?

Carol: Probably writing about Colorado and a ranch and a cowboy--I'm a city girl through and through! It was also difficult writing about the amnesia aspect of the story, trying to make it believable.

Vonda: What is your writing process or method?

Carol: Usually an idea or a character or a particular scene comes to me in a flash. At that point, I just have to start writing the story. I can usually whip out a first chapter based on the kernel of an idea or character. Then I sit back and figure out where the story is going. I'm a big fan of Robin Perini's and Laura Baker's Discovering Story Magic. I took their online class, and their method really works for me. It's a character-based method where you start with the characters' inspiring moment, and then go onto their short-term goals, long-term goals, character flaws, black moment, and resolution. I use it as a road map, and then as I write, if the story veers off in another direction, I go with it. I also try to amp things up for my characters since this is romantic suspense. I just try to think of the worst thing that can happen to a character, and then make it even darker.

Vonda: Oooh very nice method! Sounds like something that might work for me. Thanks for telling us about your book, Carol!

Everyone, Carol will be giving away a copy of her book! All you have to do to enter this contest is leave a comment. You might want to ask her a question or you might want to comment on one of the two wonderful excerpts below.

Please click here to read an excerpt. This first one is suspenseful!

The second excerpt is exciting and romantic. I love the sexual tension in this one!


Please visit Carol's website at: http://www.carolericson.com/