I’m hosting a guest post for the book tour for “Married One Night”. Enjoy the guest post!

Fiction vs. Reality

by

Amber Leigh Williams

Do you ever wonder how much of what an author writes is informed by his/her real lives? It’s the age-old quest to figure out how much reality informs fiction. After Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was published, J.K. Rowling revealed that the book’s dementors were inspired by her struggles with depression. Even in the fantastical world of magic, it seems that the influence of reality isn’t far behind.

I write contemporary romance novels for Harlequin Superromance so it’s easy for me to draw comparisons between what winds up on the page and what I’ve experienced in real life. It’s important to note that none of my characters are based on real-life people. They’re their own individuals; they all have minds and hearts of their own. That’s part of what I love most about writing: exploring and discovering the characters as well as figuring out how they complement and contrast one another. However, the three books I’ve written for the Superromance series take place in a real place, Fairhope, Alabama. I know Fairhope pretty well – I grew up there! The books were inspired largely by my feelings for Fairhope, which to me means peace and tranquility and, most of all, HOME. If my characters don’t think of Fairhope as the place their heart lies in the beginning of the book, they’re sure to by the end. RT Book Reviews gave MARRIED ONE NIGHT 4-½ stars. The review makes note of Fairhope as a charming setting and one of the best elements of the book. Recreating Fairhope on the page was a bit intimidating. I can only hope I’ve done the place justice. It means so much to me and many other people who have lived and visited the Eastern Shore where it rests….

A lot of the time, I don’t even notice when I place personal touches in my stories. Recently while my mother was reading my latest Superromance novel, MARRIED ONE NIGHT, she pointed out several that I previously hadn’t known about, simple things like a scene in which the heroine and her friend are having a morning drink on the terrace overlooking the bay. They’re discussing the hero many attributes. It’s one of my favorite scenes of the book. The thing my mother loved most about the scene was the fact that the heroine and her friend were drinking bloody mary’s, something my mother and sister often did when they lived on the bay in Fairhope. I didn’t notice the significance of this personal tidbit until she pointed it out to me. Also the heroine, Olivia, runs every morning along the Eastern Shore. The route she takes to the Fairhope pier and back to her family’s tavern is the same one my mother and sister often walked or ran on weekends when they lived there. My husband and I would often ride our bicycles alongside them when we visited….

The hero of MARRIED ONE NIGHT, Gerald, is a sexy British novelist. He was a pleasure to write, largely because he was inspired in part by charming and handsome English actor, Tom Hiddleston. I loved writing Gerald’s character so much that when it came time for him to share parts of his heritage with the heroine, Olivia, I felt compelled to delve a bit into my own ancestry and lend him a few of my own family footnotes. For example, Gerald’s family ties show some deeply aristocratic lineage (interestingly enough, he’s a twenty-first century renegade earl), though not royal…unless you count a distant Scottish ancestor who claimed to be the son of the Duke of Berwick who was the illegitimate son of King James II. Not only was the Duke of Berwick a real person; if you look back far enough into my father’s family tree, you’ll find him! In addition, Gerald reveals at one point that he is 1/4^th Scottish. His mother’s maiden name is MacLeod and he spent part of his childhood on the Isle of Skye. My mother’s family is descended from the mighty MacLeod clan and their stronghold on the Isle of Skye, a castle called DunVegan that is still in use by the MacLeod laird and his family today. In one of my favorite scenes in the book, Gerald shows up to a formal event wearing a kilt – the MacLeod tartan. Because I include all these personal details in the story, the book is dedicated to the various branches of my family tree and I give a shout-out to those MacLeod cousins with the clan motto: “Hold fast!”

These personal touches are just a few reasons why I loved writing MARRIED ONE NIGHT and why I hope you’ll love it just as much! Happy reading and, on behalf of my Scottish bloodline, “Hold fast!”

About the Author

Amber Leigh Williams lives on the Gulf Coast. A southern girl at heart, she loves beach days, the smell of real books, relaxing at her family’s lakehouse, and spending time with her husband, Jacob, and their sweet, blue-eyed boy. When she’s not running after her young son and three, large dogs, she can usually be found reading a good romance or cooking up a new dish in her kitchen. She is represented by Joyce Holland of the D4EO Literary Agency.

Her latest book is the contemporary romance, Married One Night.

For More Information

• Visit Amber Leigh Williams’ website.
• Connect with Amber on Facebook and Twitter.
• Visit Amber’s blog.
• More books by Amber Williams.
• Contact Amber.

About the Book

What happened in Vegas…followed her home! 

Olivia Lewis is not the marrying type. So when a wild weekend in Vegas leaves her with a surprise husband, she’s happy to sign anything to erase her mistake—even if that mistake is handsome, charming and comes with an English accent. Fortunately, her groom has other plans.

Bestselling author Gerald Leighton knows he can make his new bride fall in love with him—he just needs time. In exchange for a quickie divorce, Olivia grudgingly gives him a few weeks to attempt to woo her. And whether Olivia likes it or not, Gerald plans on using every second to win her heart!

For More Information

• Married One Night is available at Amazon.
• Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.
• Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.

I’m hosting a guest post today for the book tour for “Finding Zoë”. Enjoy the guest post.

Choosing Open Adoption

I am the proud mother of three biological sons. After three pregnancies, I still had a deep desire for a daughter and the only way to guarantee that seemed to be to pursue adoption. My husband and I are both deaf and after we started the adoption process, we learned about a deaf baby girl named Zoe who was available for adoption. It was perfect.
As part of the adoption process, I had to fill out paperwork that identified the amount of contact I was willing to have with her birth parents. I agreed through this paperwork to provide them with updates and a photo every year on her birthday. That was to be the extent of our contact- and that was what was drawn up in our legal papers. Those updates would be made through the agency—and although I had her birth parents first names and medical history, I did not have their last names or know where they lived.
At first, it was never about whether the adoption would be open or closed. I did not give it much thought. I was more concerned with her birth mother reading my profile and selecting our family as the family to raise her daughter. I waited impatiently for word as to whether we had been selected. The agency finally called after a six-week wait and said the birth mother wanted to meet us. We quickly arranged that meeting. The day after we met, I was notified that we were chosen to adopt Zoe. I was overjoyed.
Slowly, through that process, Zoe’s birth mother became a real person and not just a name on paper. Her name was Jess. She was 17 years old, a senior in High School and while it really pained her to have to place Zoe for adoption, she believed it was the best thing for her daughter. She wanted to go to college and study social work. She had dreams for herself and bigger dreams for Zoe. She was also extremely worried about Zoe and her hearing loss. What would that mean for Zoe? Would Zoe be all right?
On placement day, we drove to the adoption agency where Jess was waiting with Zoe. It was a very powerful moment when she handed me our daughter. I was filled with such gratitude. I slipped her a note that read…
“…Thank you for selecting Tim and I to be her parents. Thank you for giving me the chance to be her mother. You will always be her mother, too—and when she is old enough to understand, I will tell her she is lucky because she has two.”
Six months later I made good on that letter and contacted the adoption agency and asked if Jess would like to see Zoe again—because if she wanted to, I would drive her back. Jess said yes. I did this—most of all—because I wanted Jess to see that despite Zoe being deaf, it was not going to define her. I wanted her to see a thriving child who was starting to communicate in sign language—so she would know in her heart of all hearts that Zoe was doing well. I wanted her to see that Zoe was in the right home.
At that meeting something happened to me inside. When Jess saw Zoe for the first time since she handed her to me at the adoption agency, she leaped towards her and scooped her up. It was an automatic reaction–biological if you will, of a mother leaping towards her child. I saw that leap as pure unconditional love–the kind of love I, as a mother, have for my children. Who was I to deny this girl–who had already experienced so much pain in order to give me such joy–the opportunity to know and love her child?
And, who was I to deny my daughter the opportunity to know who she was and where she came from? I was not going to deny Zoe the chance to know the people who loved her so greatly that they sacrificed a piece of themselves so she would have a better life. I decided right then and there that Zoe was going to know them.
And, they were going to know her.
I wrote my memoir, Finding Zoe, because I so believe in the lessons that I took from my journey of adopting Zoe. There are many life lessons you will find when reading the book. As in the case of choosing open adoption, what I learned very quickly is that there is enough love for all of us.
And, there is.

About the Author

Deaf since age six after contracting spinal meningitis, Brandi Rarus could speak and read lips, but felt caught between the deaf and hearing world—fitting into neither. When she realized you don’t need to hear to live a fulfilled life, she became empowered and was chosen as Miss Deaf America. From signing the National Anthem at a Chicago Cubs game to speaking at corporate conferences, Brandi traveled the country speaking out for deaf children and building awareness of what it means to be Deaf.

She married Tim Rarus, an advocate for Deaf people whose work inspired the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act. Together, they have paved the way to bring new technologies that promote equal access in communication. Brandi and Tim live in Austin, Texas, with their four children: three hearing boys and the youngest, Zoe, a Deaf girl they adopted. Today, Brandi and her family are tirelessly dedicated to ensuring all children find their rightful place in our world.

Her latest book is the biography/autobiography/personal memoir, Finding Zoe: A Deaf Woman’s Story of Identity, Love, and Adoption.

For More Information

• Visit Brandi Rarus’ website.
• Connect with Brandi on Facebook and Twitter.
• Contact Brandi.

About the Book

In Finding Zoe, Brandi Rarus shares the story of her very personal path of self-discovery and the struggle of being caught between two worlds—the hearing and the Deaf. We travel with her through her mainstreamed younger years and later on to college at The National Technical Institute for the Deaf where she embraces Deaf culture and realizes that being Deaf is not a handicap, but a passport to a whole new and exciting world.

Brandi brings us behind the scenes as she takes on the world advocating for her Deaf Community as Miss Deaf America; meeting and falling in love with Tim, a Gallaudet University student leader who later helped write the landmark Americans with Disability Act on Capitol Hill. The two married and had three hearing boys—the first non-deaf children born in Tim’s family in 125 years, but with all their blessings something was still missing.

With a powerful foreword provided by Marlee Matlin, an Academy Award-winning actress and member of the National Association of the Deaf, Finding Zoe is an inspiring recollection of how two individuals who, already bonded by their diversity, come together as an unbreakable mother-daughter pair to navigate a silent world and shed light the adoption/foster care system.

For More Information

• Finding Zoe is available at Amazon.
• Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.
• Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.