Imagine Robert Pattinson shows up on your doorstep to feed you ice cream, and you've never bothered to watch Twilight. Your housemate and every other woman on the block swoon, but you're not particularly attracted to the guy.This concept cracked me up, so I made it the premise of my latest novel, Someone Else's Fairytale. I didn't use Robert Pattinson, of course, just the idea of someone that famous. Once I had the core idea, I knew the setting had to be Albuquerque because if this sort of thing were ever to happen, odds are it would happen there. Albuquerque is one of my favorite places on Earth. A city where on cool mornings, you'll see hot air balloons dotting the desert skyline. A city where the cop who pushes your broken down car out of traffic is also your secretary's son, and his cousin is the mechanic who gets your car working again. A city like no other that I was proud to call home. It's also the hometown of my main character, Chloe Winters.
Now, Albuquerque has its dark side too. Despite its small, tight knit population, the city has a very high crime rate. Much of it is connected to drugs, some to poverty, and some to old feuds between gangs and families. Unfortunately, it's not unheard of to see a SWAT team out, or hear sirens screeching by at all hours, and COPS filmed more episodes in Albuquerque than any other city.
What does this have to do with Chloe? She doesn't want you to know, and she definitely doesn't want attention from the media. She's had to be very pragmatic in her life, and doesn't believe in fairytales.
So what better place to serve as home for the fictional Jason Vanderholt, who moved to LA in his teens and became so mega famous that he can't step out the door without attracting a crowd? After all, Albuquerque has produced stars like Neil Patrick Harris, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Freddie Prinze, Jr. It's also a popular place to make films, so the story begins when Jason is shooting a movie in his home town and decides to go say hello to the extras.
There in the group is Chloe, and when she sets eyes on Jason, she doesn't see the man of her dreams. She sees a guy with a really strange job and an entourage, who will no doubt forget he ever saw her in the next five minutes.
Only, Jason thinks she looks familiar, and that is something else she doesn't want to explain.
Someone Else's Fairytale is for sale on Amazon for $12.99 and is also available for $2.99 on Kindle (click here for UK). If you have a non-Kindle ereader, email me for how to get a copy.
