I’m happy to welcome author Amy Craig. Today, Amy shares her creative journey and new release, The Starlight Motel.

Here’s Amy!

What was your inspiration for this book?

When my husband and I relocated from California to Louisiana with our black lab/shepherd mix, who we refused to put on a plane, we drove through Palm Springs, CA. The agricultural influences amazed me! I always thought of Palm Springs as a 1950s Hollywood resort, but its character goes deeper than Sinatra and desert sands. Don’t get me wrong, those aspects are part of its identity, too, but I wanted to explore the farms and single-story motels dotting the windswept highways.

Also, Kada has more than one identity. She’s a devoted daughter, an artist who needs to regroup, and a caring, compassionate woman who walks the line between responsibility and self-sacrifice. Dane’s not about to let anyone push him around, but what has he missed by being so hardcore?

What is the best part of being an author? The worst?

I turn curiosity and personal experiences into complex stories with happy endings.

I turn hours of free time into social media posts.

I think you know which is which!

Describe your writing space.

Crowded desk by my bed and a geriatric Mac. Microsoft doesn’t even support my vintage version of Word. I like to share scenes and beta read on Google Docs, so I’m not totally partying like it’s 1999.

Which authors have inspired you?

Slow clap, Colleen Hoover, for changing your life, but I’m not sure I look to romance authors for life inspiration. Nora Roberts does deserve a lot of respect. I picked up Montana Sky in middle school, and I still have a thing for cowboys. More recently, Ali Hazelwood is one of my favorite contemporary romance authors. Her witty, smart, and deeply engaging stories always teach me something new.

What is your favorite quote?

I have failed this question since middle school yearbook submissions, and I’m not about to get it right now.

“A ship in a harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” -John A. Shedd

“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” – Invictus by William Ernest Henley

Wait, isn’t THE STARLIGHT MOTEL set in the desert? It does talk about about agriculture and water rights! Poor Kada and Dane. They want to explore sexy time, but their families and professions keep getting in their way.

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

I would live forever. I know vampire romances and The Book of Elsewhere: A Novel by Keanu Reeves have that superpower locked down, but I’m pretty sure I would love seeing civilizations evolve on a macro scale.

Besides writing and reading, what are some of your hobbies?

I wake up at five in the morning to run a mile, read, and drink my coffee before my kids and husband claim my time. I also play USTA league tennis. I didn’t pick up a racquet until I was thirty, but it’s a great social and cardiovascular workout. I’ve played pickleball a few times, but I haven’t converted… yet.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

Plan to write more than one book and learn to generate social media content without eroding your writing time. I’m not a great social poster (and I refuse to put my super-cute kids in my public posts), so once you figure out the secret sauce, let me know, too!

What are you working on next?

The third book in a mafia series, THE BROKEN BODYGUARD, comes out September 3, 2024. It’s the third novel in a Romantic Suspense/Mafia Romance/Corporate Romance series called the Sun Valley Mafia Series. Working with two publishers, The Wild Rose Press and Totally Bound, means release dates occasionally overlap! In THE BROKEN BODYGUARD, which can be read as a standalone novel, a corporate bodyguard finds himself protecting a stubborn cowgirl and untangling windswept land politics in Patagonia, Argentina.

Blurb

Experienced muralist Kada took charge of her family’s Palm Springs motel to give her mother time to grieve. As a grant deadline approaches, Kada must convince her mother to manage the motel so she can return to her art. Late in December, Kada encounters a horseman approaching the property. Dane, the reserved son of a local farming family, is a loyal workaholic with limited spare time or experience outside the valley. When lightning startles his horse, he lingers at the motel and stirs up Kada’s emotions about leaving the desert oasis. Wary of mixing business with pleasure, she struggles with her attraction. As New Year’s Eve approaches, will the cowboy convince her to chart a new course?

Excerpt

Kada’s cry of delight bounced off the casita walls. Looking up from the desert pavers, he watched her launch herself into an older woman’s arms. The pair grinned, and their smiles shone brighter than the swaying patio lights. Staying back, he leaned against an adobe wall and watched Kada and Mrs. Ritchie greet each other. The pair did the hug-shake mother-daughter thing he never understood. In twenty years, Kada would be just as beautiful as her mother. She soaked up her mother’s presence like a drought-stricken plant. He envied their connection. His mother gripped him hard, examined him, and spun him back into the world to do good work.

“Just look at you, runnin’ around the desert like Pops.” Ms. Ritchie gripped Kada’s long, black hair and rubbed it between her fingers. “If I hadn’t seen you for myself, I wouldn’t have believed it. I thought you would stay in Los Angeles, but here you are, the queen of the desert!”

He cocked his head and imagined Kada tearing into a sourdough loaf over drip coffee. She would look at home on the winding streets wearing a wrap-tie dress, but he preferred her stained jeans.

“I thought I would stay in Los Angeles, too, but you needed me.” Reaching to the side, Kada shifted into her father’s arms.

Lean by most standards, he sported the small belly that developed from a desk-bound lifestyle.

“Hi, Daddy.”

He kissed her forehead. “Princess. Good to see you.”

Author Bio and Links

Amy Craig lives in Louisiana with her family and a small menagerie of pets. She writes contemporary romance and romantic suspense featuring intelligent heroines. In her spare time, she plays tennis and expands her husband’s honey-do list. Before writing, she worked as an oilfield engineer, project manager, and incompetent waitress. For more information and giveaways, visit http://www.amy-craig.com or follow her on social media channels.

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Giveaway

Amy Craig will be awarding a $15 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Amy on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.