I started writing when I was a kid. I always loved to read and would get lost in worlds that were so vivid in my imagination. When I was in fourth grade, I entered a young writers’ conference and placed second. After that, I started writing short stories in spiral notebooks and eventually had too many to count. Those were stories that I kept just for me. Now I’m so excited to share The Boss’s Daughter and The Black Rose series with y’all – the one I have been dreaming of bringing to light for too many years.
imagination, pixabay
My inspiration for the story of the daughter of a mob boss comes from years of an obsession with organized crime and the mob. With everything I’ve watched and read, I found that the stories usually revolve around the men running the business and the organization itself. I started to wonder what it would be like to be a woman who grew up in the life, and my imagination took off from there. Admittedly, the story was in my head for nearly twenty years. This book wouldn’t have been written without the urging of my son, who finally told me to stop talking about it and just write it. The finished product is completely different from where the first seed began, but I couldn’t be more proud.
When I sit down to write, I don’t take notes or write something down to save for later. I literally shoot from the hip once my muse starts smacking me around. Anything can be inspiration for me, whether it’s a passing comment or something I see on TV. I have had more than one person make the comment they think the book is based on real life. I can assure you it’s not. Although, part of me thinks it would be pretty awesome if it were. Are a few of the characters based on people I have encountered? Sure, but very loosely.
I wanted a story that had some kind of major prop—something that would make the main character Renee/Chloe stand out. In the first book, the tattoo represents ownership, loyalty, and fear. In subsequent books, the tattoo will come to be a representation of the main character’s past and the adversity she had to overcome to truly embrace her life. I came up with the tattoo idea while getting a tattoo done myself. After many years, and a few more tattoos, I now bear the Black Rose myself, although not on the back of my shoulder. I had to get it on the front of my shoulder due to the fact the back of my shoulder already had ink in place.
The character Renee Parnell/Chloe Riggs was so much fun to conjure. When writing the story, I could see her in my head and imagine everything she was about. She’s strong-willed and fiercely independent with deep-rooted survival instincts. At the same time, she’s also a woman who has compassion, the ability to love and be vulnerable.
Her father, Matthew, was actually a lot of fun to write. I firmly believe that to have a good story there has to be at least one character that everybody hates and, from the feedback I’ve been getting, everybody hates Matthew. Score!
When it comes to books I read, I’m not one to stick to one kind of genre. My favorite book series is the Wilderness series by Sara Donati (which I re-read at least once a year), but if I pick up The Bad Place by Dean Koontz, it’s guaranteed you won’t see or hear from me for a few hours until I finish it. Since I read a variety of books, I don’t think I’d be happy unless I try new things.
I am currently pounding away at book two in the series with the hope to have it released by June 2018. There are three planned books in the series, together with a novella in-between books two and three. After that, I have plans for other books outside of the suspense genre. I want to try to keep my options open as much as possible. Until then, thank you for allowing me to bring The Boss’s Daughter and the entire Black Rose series into your world. I hope you love it as much as I do.
Recommended Article: The Boss’s Daughter (The Black Rose Series, Book 1) – a Review
