Wynter Daniels on the Birth of a Story

Today I want to tell you about a book that has gone through more transformations than Joan Rivers! I first wrote Playing With Barbie several years ago. It was about twins with a nasty sibling rivalry. About halfway through the book, I decided I wasn’t feeling the love, so I started from scratch. Same main character – Barbie, but all the secondary characters and the hero changed. Now Barbie became a prude with an accountant boyfriend who is secretly into S&M. Parts of that book were really funny, but again, I got to a point where I was avoiding working on it. For me, that’s a sure sign that the book sucks.

So, I set the manuscript aside for about a year and a half. Then the idea came to me. Barbie morphed into a children’s book author who is on a deadline to marry in order to inherit a big chunk of money from her grandfather. She looks everywhere for a man who fits into her mold—a clean cut, white professional who wears a suit every day, goes to church and wants a family.

Keno Jensen is a Bohemian artist from Trinidad with long dreadlocks and an aversion to relationships that last longer than one night. When he starts working with Barbie to illustrate her latest book, he fights the attraction as hard as she does. But it’s no use. I had a ball with these characters as they clashed on just about everything as they heated up the pages.

Playing With Barbie - Available March 9 from Loose Id.

Excerpt:

Barbie unclenched her fists as she walked Keno to the study. She had no choice but to work with him. Her editor had made it perfectly clear on the phone yesterday. The publisher had been lucky to find Keno on such short notice. No way could they replace him and keep her on deadline for her next book.

She’d have to learn to ignore her body’s response to the man. Focus her energies on meeting someone her grandfather would find suitable. Like an accountant or a lawyer or a dentist.

Hmm. Maybe I ought to have my teeth cleaned. Again.

She thought about her dentist with his unconvincing comb-over and his slightly creepy smile. No. She couldn’t do it. And her accountant had a wife and enough kids to star in a reality TV show.

Keno sat on the couch, and his exotic scent wafted to her, intoxicating her. Being so near him made her nipples harden. Against her will.

Damn it!

She crossed the room to the chair farthest from him and took a seat, folding her hands on her lap. “Did you finalize any drawings for the first section?”

He nodded once and opened his sketchpad. Glancing down at it, he frowned. “I’m still working on Bashful Beaver. He’s a little tricky.”

He held the drawing toward her, but from across the room, she could barely make it out. “Sorry. Unless you’re Wonder Woman, I bet you can’t see this.” He stood and closed the distance between them.

The instant he approached, his scent surrounded her, mesmerized her. She’d somehow managed to keep a lid on her attraction for him for the past few days, but her resolve was wearing thin. Her pulse quickened, and a pleasant ache settled low in her belly. She tried to concentrate on his sketch, but with him so close, she could only think about him touching her, kissing her, making love to her.

Her nipples pressed against the lace of her bra. She focused on the sketch. He’d drawn the beaver even better than Michael had, more in line with her vision. But his depiction of Honey Bunny made her gasp. Since when did the bunny resemble her so much? For heaven’s sake. It even had breasts. Big ones.

“What the --”

Keno glanced from her to his picture. He immediately clutched the pad to his chest. “Sorry. Wrong one.” Sweat beaded on his forehead. He frantically flipped through pages. “Um, here it is.” He turned the tablet to face her.

She stared at the drawing, identical to the other, except Honey Bunny no longer had huge breasts, and the face didn’t mirror Barbie’s. Had Keno shown her the first sketch on purpose? She didn’t think so. If he’d been obsessing over her in the same way she’d been about him, she was in deep, deep trouble.

I’ve had a great time here on the island this week. Thanks so much to Katie for inviting me and to everyone who sailed over to say hi.

Thank you, Wynter, for hanging out with us!! For more information about Wynter check out her website or Naughty Author Chicks, where she blogs bi-weekly. I'll announce the winner of the contest tomorrow :)