My latest novel, "When the Curtain Falls" was released in late February. At the time I was ill and taking all sorts of meds, and going to different doctors trying to figure out what was going on. It took weeks, but I finally started feeling better, but I was never able to celebrate this release as I should have.
As my readers know I get a lot of inspiration from my dreams, but not for this book. The inspo for this rockstar romance came from the song of the same title. A song by my latest musical obsession, Greta Van Fleet. One line from the song that stood out is, "You know I'm your biggest fan" which made me think of Jason Momoa and how he crushed on Lisa Bonet when he was a kid, but then grew up, met her and made her his wife (yes, I know they're no longer married). The rest of the song (for me) suggests an actress past her prime perhaps, or one who has lost her fame. Those ideas took root into the creative side of my brain, and I started thinking about a rockstar (Kellen Reyes) who seeks out the actress (Lennon Donovan) he has crushed on since he was a kid. Only she's no longer an actress . . . but why? What made her leave show business?
Of course, these days canceling people is a huge thing. Ruining people's career over something they said or did. So, I said, she was cancelled. But for what reason? Well, as you know I'm a huge INXS fan. I used to join INXS fan groups and engage with them on social media. However, I noticed a disturbing trend. The people in them seemed to love Michael Hutchence and put him up on such a high pedestal, thinking he was perfect. Fact is, he wasn't. He was to quote him, "Just a man." and flawed. But many of these fans were blaming his death on his fellow band members, along with the person who takes the brunt of their hate, Paula Yates. I ended up quitting several of those fan groups because of the hate spewed at the mother of his daughter and his musical brothers. Near the end, Michael was spiraling, and many factors contributed to his death. But no one should be blamed.
But seeing that hate, got me thinking. THIS WAS IT! The reason why my female MC was cancelled. Her rockstar boyfriend overdoses and everyone blames her. She even blames herself. And because of all the hate sent her way by fans that thought he was PERFECT, she retreated from her career and all the finger pointing. Instead of Hollywood, she's now tucked away in the mountains of California, living in a small town close to her mother.
Now that I had a background story for Lennon, I had to create Kellen Reyes, the musician who is absolutely crazy in love with her. Who'll do anything it takes to get her to reclaim her acting career along with making her fall in love with him. Creating Kellen came from two muses. Once again, I used Sam Kiszka as a starting point. I also threw in Kevin James (Orlando James) who is a social media influencer for more inspiration. And with that mix, Kellen is a soulful musician who has a great sense of humor and beautiful bedroom eyes. He's kind and caring, very giving, and his mission is to make Lennon happy. He also has a gorgeous bod, luscious lips, and a killer smile. Did I mention he's eight years younger? Yep. Reverse age gap is what they call it. But it's something I'm sort of an expert on since I've mostly dated men who were younger than me. So, I think, I might have just found a niche of writing that I'm well suited for.
I hope you'll give When the Curtain falls a try. It's a standalone book (even though a few ideas for sequels are floating around in my cranium). I believe you'll love Kellen and Lennon's love story.