I’m so excited! Today I am hosting just one leg of a blog tour for Melissa Keir!

Me: Hi, Melissa! Welcome!

Melissa: Thank you for having me visit your blog today. Authors are often asked about how they come up with ideas for their stories. It is probably the most asked question. While I’m sure that each author has their own tricks, my ideas come from my life and the people around me. I love to take small snipets of things that have happened in my life and use them in a story. For example, my series- The Wilder Sisters Series- is set in my hometown. This allows me to share the love of my hometown with the world. I also can still feel, smell, taste and hear life in Amherst as if I was there, even though I haven’t lived there since I was eighteen.

I’ve also used family and friend’s names when I’m writing. Alex Hunter is the combination of two different students in my class. I took their first names and put them together to create a strong male character. Lissa Vincent’s name came from a friend’s last name and the nickname that someone called me when I first started as a teacher. I find that names are a struggle for me, so using real names allows me to focus on the story, rather than worry about the names.

When I do pull ideas from my life, I don’t use the whole situation but pull pieces that fit the story. Using only small parts allows me to tailor the storyline and help move it forward. But not everything in my story is based on real-life. For example in “Three’s a Crowd”, I don’t have a best friend who set me up with her ex-husband. Chloe is a figment of my imagination. So while I’m remarried to a wonderful guy, we found each other on our own, not through the help of my best friend or his ex-wife.

Do you have an event that you’ve thought would make a great story?

Three’s a Crowd by Melissa Keir

Blurb:

For Lissa, the second time at love was a charm but in marriage, three’s a crowd.

Single mother Lissa Vincent found her soul mate in her best friend’s ex-husband. Alex Hunter couldn’t believe his fortune when his ex-wife told him her best friend was available. After divorce, finding love again could be a challenge but it appeared Alex and Lissa had gotten lucky. Yet as they start their lives as newlyweds, Alex and Lissa don’t realize just how difficult it might be to blend a family.

When Alex’s ex new marriage begins to unravel, she sets her sights again on Alex. Does Alex still have feelings for the mother of his child? Will Lissa keep her best friend or lose her husband?

Fairytales promise a happily-ever-after. But what really happens after the after.

“Hi, honey. I’m home.” I called as I entered the house. The boys were spending the night with their father but I could see Alex was on the phone and he quickly waved me toward him. Sitting down next to him on the couch, I listened patiently, curious as to what was going on.

“Yes, I suppose we can switch days for Joe to come over. I’m sorry things are that way at your house. Joe’s always welcome here. Just let me know what I can do to help.” Chloe. Frowning, I listened for more. “Mike seems like a great guy. If you two are having issues, maybe you can talk to a counselor or something. Let me know what I can do to help. I’m always willing to listen. Bye.”

“What’s going on? Your conversation seemed pretty edgy.”

“She and Mike are having issues. She thinks he might be having an affair. She wants us to get Joe early and maybe keep him a few days extra so she can spend some time with Mike and try to talk things through. She doesn’t want to put Joe in the middle. You know how he feels about Mike.”

“I’m sorry to hear it. She mentioned the stress to me at lunch yesterday but nothing about an affair. I didn’t want to bring it up to you or share things I shouldn’t. The boys love spending time with him and it’ll be good for Joe to spend more time with you.”

Alex put his arm around me and kissed me softly. “You’re wonderful, Lissa. I know this will take more work on your part, but I really appreciate how you’re willing to do anything for my son.”

“I love Joe, you know that. But honestly, I’m worried about something. Chloe seems to want to rely on you for support. I don’t want you to get caught in the middle of their issues. The other day at lunch, she told me how much she still cares for you and warned me away from you. It was uncomfortable.”

“Lissa, I love you. Not Chloe. You have nothing to worry about.” Taking my face in his hands, he kissed me deeply and made me forget all of my worries. “Let me show you how much you mean to me.” Alex picked me up and carried me to the couch. Undressing me slowly, he worshiped my figure with his mouth, making me cry out in passion. Then he moved me to our bed and showed me again, this time with his hard body, just how much he loved me.

Buy Link:

Will send when ready: Will be available on B&N, Amazon, ARE.

Bio:

As a writer, Melissa likes to keep current on topics of interest in the world of writing.  She’s a member of the Romance Writers of America and EPIC.  Melissa is always interested in improving her writing through classes and seminars.  She also believes in helping other authors and features authors and their books on her blog.

Melissa doesn’t believe in down time.  She’s always keeping busy.  Melissa is a wife and mother, an elementary school teacher, a book reviewer, an editor for a publishing company as well as an author. Her home blends two families and is a lot like the Brady Bunch, without Alice- a large grocery bill, tons of dirty dishes and a mound of laundry. She loves to write stories that feature “happy endings” and is often found plotting her next story.

This is what readers are saying about Melissa’s books:

Amazon 5 star review for Second Time’s the Charm- “Such a sweet and heart warming story. As I read it, and the details unfolded, I was engrossed to see if that I thought was going to happen, would really happen.” – Lacey Wolfe, Romance Author.

Barnes and Nobel 5 star review for Protecting His Wolfe- “Great read. I couldn’t put it down. I really liked the characters, especially Betsie and the Pigg brothers. A love story with suspense and surprise.” – Anonymous

Melissa loves hearing from readers!

www.melissakeir.com

http://www.facebook.com/melissaakeir

http://www.facebook.com/AuthorMelissaKeir (fan page)

www.twitter/melissa_keir

At the end of the tour we will be giving away a 40.00 gift card to Amazon or B&N. This will be decided by the winner.

There is more than one way to get entries to the contest.

You will get an entry for each blog you join, and one for leaving a comment.

So for each blog stop you can get two entries.

At each blog be sure and leave your email and mention in the comment if you joined the blog.

If you don’t want to leave an email just contact Safari Heat personally but be sure and still leave a comment without the email address.

You can visit Safari Heat for more details!