Time-travel, rolos, and Sharon Cullen

He’s in the fight of his life for a love that defies the centuries.

The last thing Juliana MacKenzie remembers is sitting in a friend’s kitchen. In Kansas City. In the twenty-first century. How did she wind up on a burning ship in the middle of the ocean—in the eighteenth century?

If that wasn’t enough to get her heart started, some dark corner of her memory responds to the ship’s enigmatic captain. A man whose touch ignites her senses even as he stubbornly holds her at arm’s length.

It’s almost too late when Morgan realizes his stowaway is not only female, but a woman from a life and a time he’d almost forgotten. Desire resurges like an undeniable tide—but he is not the man Juliana would remember. She has been unwittingly thrust into a dangerous world, and now she, too, is a target for the pirate who once enslaved him, who still hunts him across the seven seas.

Kidnapped by Morgan’s worst enemy, Juliana finds herself drawing on inner reserves she never knew she possessed. No way will she let anyone—not even the man she is growing to love—choose her path for her. And no way will she let him offer himself in trade for her freedom.

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I never intended to write Morgan’s story. He came to me as a secondary character in the very first historical romance I wrote and I only wrote that story to explore writing other genres. But along the way, something happened and I’m still not quite sure how it happened. Looking back I’m amazed I had no intention of giving Morgan his own book because Morgan and Juliana’s story is one of my favorites.

When I first started writing I knew I wanted to write romances but I wasn’t sure what genre I wanted to write. I’ve always, always loved time-travel—the mystery of it, the magic of it, the endless possibilities intrigued me. So it wasn’t too surprising when I decided to write a time-travel. The Mirror was my second completed manuscript. My first completed manuscript, titled Lady Jane, was about a female pirate whose best friend was also a pirate named Rolo. Yes, Morgan’s name was originally Rolo—named after the chocolate and caramel candy. I remember standing in line at the grocery store, seeing a pack of Rolos and thinking, “That’s what I’m going to name the other pirate. Rolo.” Now I laugh at such a name but back then I thought it was different and interesting.

I finished Lady Jane, put it away and decided to write The Mirror, a story about a girl who doesn’t quite fit in, who can’t keep a job due to various and funny things that happen to her and who finds a mirror stored in her attic that sends her back to post Civil War era where she meets a hunky sheriff. I just knew this story was going to be a hit and possibly create a bidding war among agents because it was that good (oh, my naiveté back then). I also knew readers liked to read series so my heroine had two brothers.

I finished her story and thought long and hard about her brothers’ stories. And that’s when it hit me. Rolo had always been somewhat mysterious to me but he was a minor character and I never really explored his mystery. Now I understood why he was mysterious. Because he was a time-traveler!

But a hero as big as Rolo needed a better name—a more heroic name. So Morgan he became. And his story became my obsession.

Wherever You Are was my fourth completed manuscript. I knew I had a winner but I was still a newbie writer and I knew I needed to grow as a writer. So over the next seven years I would work on Wherever You Are, revising, rewriting, applying everything I learned to this manuscript. I’d put it away for awhile then get it back out. Revise, rewrite, put it away.

Until finally the story was what I’d always envisioned it could be.

I am so pleased and excited that my editor at Samhain loved it as much as I did (and still do) and that I can share Morgan and Juliana’s story with you.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it (and rewriting it).

Leave a comment by midnight (EST) 4/6 and enter for a chance to win a downloadable copy of Wherever You Are.

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Sharon Cullen is the author of ten books ranging from romantic suspense to contemporary romance to paranormal romance. To learn more about her, visit her website at http://www.SharonCullen.net. You can also friend her on Facebook at Sharon Cullen-Author or follow her on Twitter at SharonCullen. Her next release is another historical paranormal, a tale about the Knights Templar, that will be released by Carina Press on November 28, 2011.

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Many thanks to Sharon for joining us today!

To find out more about Sharon, please visit www.sharoncullen.net. And don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win WHEREVER YOU ARE. Good luck! 😀