Just when you think you know where this is going… Oh, my!
One of my favorite recurring reader comments is, "I loved the twists!" I don't set out to create twists, I just keep an open mind. If I allow my characters freedom, they will be individuals, because that's what real people do given half a chance. I often hear, "People don't change." Ah, but people behave against our expectations, the templates formed from experience with our perceptions of them, all the time.
We humans thrive on patterns, but patterns also get us down. We start to take the same way to and from work every day. We think we can't discover new joys in a long-standing relationship. We allow prejudices to choose for us. We eat the food we already know we like. What happens when we shake up our patterns, willfully, accidentally, or subconsciously? What if the princess saves the dragon?
Challenging our sexual expectations is important too. Scary. And fun.
What do a rich world traveler, a sheltered girl in an arranged marriage, a jaded mercenary, an elderly scientist, a bored summer house-sitter, a disillusioned high-school graduate, a recently-divorced artist, and a happily married parent all have in common? The answer is that what quenches their deepest desires is not what you think, and in some cases, not what they thought either. These twenty-one vignettes each have different people at the core, and they span all sorts of relationships, attractions, fears, cultures, and resolutions. In each story there's something to learn about others and about oneself.
Over the years, the most frequent words--not counting onomatopoeia--that I receive in feedback, in ranking order are: hot, gorgeous, tender, and dynamic, which are generally accompanied by exclamation points. I'm so grateful that my work affects people, not only by arousal, but by resonating with something deeper in the soul.