From Fiorella's Next Book

   The head coach, an old high-school football buddy, spotted him as he drove up and called out to Marco, who kicked the soccer ball to one of his friends and ran over to climb into the back seat of the truck. As usual, he was bursting with enthusiasm and had plenty to talk about.

   “Dad, do you think I can get on the third-grade soccer team this summer?  After all, I’m big for my age, and I’ll turn eight in November.”

   Bram pulled away from the curb and turned the truck toward town.

   “Sorry son, I think you’ll have to stay with your own grade level. Those guys will be glad to have a guy your size on their side.”

   As soon as it had become evident that Marco would be another overgrown, overactive chip off the ol’ Chandler block, Bram signed him up for every activity Lynnwood Elementary’s after-school sports program had to offer. That strength and energy had to be channeled. He didn’t want Marco getting into the kind of trouble he’d gotten into when he was growing up. Nothing serious. Just teen-age high jinks.

   Most of it.

   His mind veered away from what he didn’t want to remember.

Howard and Heyer

Fiorella has been concentrating so much on her writing lately that she hasn't done much reading, which she decided was as a mistake, so she revisited at couple of her old favorites--Linda Howard and Georgette Heyer.  Linda Howard wrote contemporary and Georgette Heyer wrote historical--in fact, she was the mother of the historical romance genre. But Fio digresses.  What she wants to tell you is that, now that she reads more analytically, she realized how much her own writing style has been influenced by Howard's use of inner dialogue and Heyer's subtle humor.

For a a good read, pick up a copy of these ladies' romances.  They've stood the test of time.

Literary Research

Fiorella will tell you that the reason she writes contemporary romances is because she doesn't want to bother with research, but don't believe her.  She might not have to research petticoats and bloomers, but she does have to learn about such things as the places her characters live, what they do for a living, what cars are  appropriate for them, and their supposed backgrounds and life experiences.

For Where the Heart Leads, which will come out on November 11, Fio peppered five rancher friends with endless lists  of questions about life among the cows.  She also consulted an architect, a nurse, a firearms expert, two friends with Master's degrees in theater,  a high school principal, a foodie, an expert on Britishisms, a fire builder, and a wine expert.

And tomorrow, for Phillipa's unnamed novella, she's going to sally forth and visit a place that sells landscaping materials, drop by Dairy Queen to check out how a Blizzard and a small ice cream cone would be eaten, and stop at Walgreens to pick up a home pregnancy test.

Don't ask.