Hot Down Under in The Firefighter

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BEHIND THE SCENES

This one began with my editor. She said Kensington wanted to do a Firefighter anthology, where the heroes of all the novellas were firefighters. Was I interested? Well, what woman wouldn’t be interested when offered a firefighter? So I said yes.

But I had a trip to Australia (my first) scheduled, and wasn’t sure if I’d have time. Then I had a brilliant idea: could I set the story in Oz and do my research while I was there? My editor said yes, bless her heart.

So I had an Ozzie firefighter, and… Well, how about a girl like me, coming from Vancouver to a place she’d never been? Now, how would they meet? A blazing fire seemed like the logical place.

But that didn’t seem like enough. My books aren’t just about romance, but friendship too. Okay, so my heroine Tash could travel with a girlfriend. Hmm, that didn’t feel quite right, so I played around with more ideas. When Tash’s grandmother showed up, I knew she was going to be a lot of fun.

By the way, if you’re paying close attention, you’ll see this story is written in the first person (the “I” voice) and the present tense. I really like the immediacy this gives. What do you think?