Creation of a Quirky Sleuth & Series: L. j. Charles Writes

Happy Monday everyone! It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to L.j. Charles and her character Everly, a redhead with ESP fingers that lead to trouble and hot guys. Leave a comment at the end of the post (with your email for contact) and you could be randomly chosen to win a boxed set of Everly Gray adventures (for B&N users...but if you happen to have some other e-reader, Lucie will give you any ONE book you choose from the series)!

Lucie and I are critique partners. Without her honest feedback, her willingness to kick my butt, and letting me know what works, what doesn't and why...none of my stories would have been shared with readers. I certainly wouldn't be here celebrating The Djinn's Dilemma's birthday bash with awesome giveaways.

And because she's my CP, I have enjoyed her fabulous stories and wonderful worlds -- from YA priestess adventures set in Tartania (the netherworld where demons dwell) and our world to Paranormal Mysteries that made me chuckle, stay awake reading until the wee hours and swoon. 

However, I love mysteries and even better if they come with sexy hunks and romance on the side. So, the Everly Gray series is one of my favorites. Everly is a fresh, quirky character who makes you smile and want her for a best friend (she loves baking pies!) and her adventures are fun, dangerous and intriguing. So how did Ms. Charles come up with Everly & the series?

Here's Lucie....

How Everly Came to Be…

Years ago my husband asked me what my five-year goals were. He's a goal-oriented sort of person. Me, not so much, but I told him that I wanted to write and publish a book. He would mention it every so often, asking me how it was coming along, but as the years passed, he stopped asking and I stopped thinking about it. My life in the corporate world was demanding enough without adding more stress.

And then I was laid off. But did I write? Nope. I became a yoga instructor and mind/body health professional, and then built my own personal coaching business. But I read all the time. And in my heart I wanted to write, so I began stocking up on writing books to study the craft. One of those books was Janet Evanovich's How I Write. Somehow in the middle of reading that book I knew I could do it.

And then it happened. One morning at approximately 3:30AM, Everly popped into my head. And she wouldn't shut up. I had to get out of bed and start writing. Well, actually I stayed in bed but dragged my Mac onto my lap and the words just kept coming. Like I said, Everly wouldn't shut up. For days.

That first book was a Touch of Ice (which by the way is free now...), and I wrote all day long every day for weeks. Well, other than when I was teaching a yoga class or working with a coaching client.

 (Free on Amazon Now)

It was a terrible book. But I didn't learn that until several years, many rejections, and many books later. The first book I published was Lifethread, a young adult fantasy. And then I started to wonder about the Everly book that I had tucked away in an obscure file on my computer. Safe where no one would ever find it.

I dug it out and Everly rejoiced. Loudly. We started on the rewrite. Tossed out the book and started again. And the real Touch of Ice was born. But was Everly satisfied? No. She insisted on several more books, and just a week or so ago made me put aside the third book in the Lifethread Trilogy to start her next adventure. The woman is a persistent piece of work and gets terribly unhappy if I ignore her for any length of time whatsoever.

But I do love her. And fortunately for both of us, I love writing her stories. Don't tell her, but it's really a lot of fun to see how badly I can mess up her plans. 

For more about Lucie and her books, check out her website! Don't forget to leave a comment!