Story Behind the Story: The Inspiration for The Kiss of Night
It may seem odd that “American Heart Month” was the inspiration for a suspenseful romance. The truth is, I was invited to participate in a contest to write a romantic short story which would become part of an anthology, the sales of which would benefit the American Heart Association. The hitch was: it had to be loaded with sex.
Many people dear to me have had, and still have, heart disease. Some have died from it. So I figured this was a worthy undertaking.
I was planning on including snippets of Special Agent Kathrin Night’s origin through flashbacks in sequels to Lust for Danger. This novella became an opportunity to tell the story of how she became an efficient, ruthless anti-terrorist agent all in one place. I then tied that in with her future -- the end of her career with the BITA (Bureau of International Trauma Analysts, a division of the United Nations). Injured, and prematurely retired, with nothing but time on her hands, the painful past she had spent her life blocking out forces its way back into her head, and ends up being a most valuable life lesson.
As the entire story progressed, I became very endeared to it. Thoughts for a new series based on Agent Night’s “post retirement” career began creeping into my mind. I decided that I didn’t want to cram gratuitous sex scenes into the story and that I would take it to the good people at Cambridge Books to see if they would publish another Agent Night tale.
Since “American Heart Month” was the spark that lit the fire beneath me to write this story, it is only fitting to release The Kiss of Night on February 1, 2010. I hope that tying these two events together will help raise awareness of the number one killer of Americans: heart disease. I will be making a donation to the American Heart Association at the end of the month.
More than a romance, more than suspense, The Kiss of Night is the prequel to Lust for Danger, and the set-up for a new series to follow. I’m really happy with it, and I hope you are too.
Creations:
