Learning to Fall
So let me tell you about the time I fell in love with the guy I was writing.
I always do, by the way. Always kind of fall in love with my book’s Love Interest, because I have to. I don’t think I can do this well if I dislike him even a little bit. But since all my guys are different, the effect on me is different as well. Sometimes I insta-love a love interest (like Lucas or Gabriel), or fall for him after years of friendship (like Tonio/Anton who’s been a character in so many books that he feels like a friend already), or know I love him but with all walls up (Diego). Then, there was this guy.
I wasn’t sure I was going to give Grayson his own book. I throw in secondary characters like him into my books all the time, but that doesn’t mean they’ll get promoted to love interest anytime soon. He was originally just the best friend/co-captain of Nicholas from Falling Hard/The Harder We Fall, but the inspiration for him arrived at the same time. He wasn’t a character I intended to ignore, is what I’m saying.
Then the book for him came together, but it wasn’t without difficulty. I set myself up for a challenge with that book, because of everything that I wanted in there. I read rugby coaching manuals, learned about PI firms, specific sports injuries, wrote a bunch of reviews for fake books…it was crazy. I even took a break in the middle of writing this, because things came up, and I let them.
And then I began writing a scene where Steph (the main character) begins to fall for Grayson, and while I usually plan ahead what I intend to write in the scene, the words I typed were unexpected. I figured out why I loved this guy, and it stuck. I loved him. Until I wrote the last word, and for weeks after.
I love Grayson na #amwriting
— Mina V. Esguerra (@minavesguerra) April 16, 2015
I suspect my editor will notice how much I love Grayson right now @alyal_20
— Mina V. Esguerra (@minavesguerra) April 16, 2015
Learning to Fall is the third book in my Addison Hill series with Flirt Publishing, and it’s out tomorrow. Or a few hours from now. Get it here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015XD5JFY
About the book:
“Go out with a stereotypical romance novel hero WHO ISN’T YOUR TYPE.”
Avid reader and art student Steph is participating in a monthly blog challenge to Live Like Fiction, and this was the task for October. When Grayson, former co-captain of her university rugby team, walks into her class, she knows it’s meant to be – she has to go out with this guy. Even if she’s never been attracted to big, hunky, athletic types. With Grayson’s “player” reputation off the field, Steph thinks he’ll be good for one date that’ll be worth blogging about, and that’s it.
But you know how it goes: Soon, it becomes more than just one date – and Steph and Grayson are caught up in “living like fiction.” How long can they keep playing their roles before reality steps in?
