People always ask where I get my ideas.  The answer is, everywhere!  Something will spark my interest, and the next thing I know, a bunch of “what-if” questions start spinning in my brain.  You might say I have an enquiring mind—which probably explains why my latest romantic comedy, Between the Sheets, was inspired by the tabloids.

 

           I was standing in line at the grocery store, looking at the headlines of The Globe and The National Enquirer by the checkout counter, when I suddenly broke out in a mental rash of “what –ifs.”   What if a totally innocent woman suddenly found herself on the front page of one of these scandal sheets?   What if she had simply been at the wrong place at the wrong time, but the whole world thought she had done something awful —something, like, say, give the president-elect a heart attack in the sack during an illicit tryst in New Orleans?  And what if she tried to rebuild her life by moving to the small Louisiana town where her grandmother lived, and fell for the handsome, straight-arrow D.A. —a man who was up for election and absolutely, positively could not afford to have his name tainted by scandal?

           The story was off and running!   To see a video trailer about it, visit my website at www.robinwells.com.

             Unfortunately, I was only three chapters into the book when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana.  I live across the lake from New Orleans, so the novel came to a screeching halt while I dealt with the storm’s aftermath.  Once I resumed writing, I realized that the catastrophe had impacted the story as well as my life.  Questions loomed at every turn.   Could I mention the St. Charles streetcar, or would it still be out of commission when the book came out? (It started running just seven weeks ago).  Where would my secondary characters get their marriage license since New Orleans’ city hall was destroyed?  Katrina wasn’t just a part of my history; it was also part of my characters’ back story.  How much should I put in about it?   And most importantly, how could I write a humorous story when nothing seemed the least bit funny?

            It took a while, but the story finally started flowing again – and when it did, the characters took over.  Emma turned out to be more smart-mouthed than I’d thought, Max had issues with his grandfather, Grams became incorrigible, and a ruthlessly ambitious tabloid reporter showed up in the last draft. 

             The secondary romance between Grams and Harold is very special to me, because it was inspired by my late mother-in-law, Barbara Mix Wells.  When she was in her eighties, Barbara moved into an assisted living center and fell in love with a man with mild Alzheimer’s.  They shared a surprisingly passionate relationship and lit up each others’ last years.  Here’s a poem Barbara wrote about their late-in-life love affair:
   How can I stay in this moment of bliss?

  A time I never dreamed

  Would happen in my elder years.

  …I found and was found by another soul of my vintage

 Who needs me as much as I need him.

 We are tuned alike, parted from our mates

 After giving loving care for a lifetime

And now, alone, have found a company of two

 To enrich the years that are still ahead.—Barbara Mix Wells

          Sigh.  How sweet is that?  Just goes to show, it’s never too late for love—and there’s no obstacle love can’t overcome.  No wonder I love to write romance!

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