When I’m asked how I come up with inspiration
for my stories, most often my answer is that a character or story line pings
around my brain until I can’t help but write it—or risk going a bit insane. You & Me, my Candy Hearts Series novella,
is quite unusual in the speed with which it percolated and burst forth on the
page. It was also the first story I have ever written in response to a “call
for pitches” (a request by a publisher for story ideas).
I was getting ready to embark on a road trip
to Florida with my three children (in a snowstorm, no less) when I received the
email from The Wild Rose Press requesting stories around the theme of Candy
Hearts for an exciting new series. In a rush to get on the road, I snapped my
laptop shut and hopped in the shower, but that pitch request whirred around my
brain.
Suddenly, as I shampooed, it hit me—I had the
perfect inspiration...and the perfect story. Starting when I was 16 years old
my high school sweetheart sent me a box of Candy Hearts every year for
Valentine's Day. He even sent me one of those iconic pink boxes for Valentine's
Day for another two or three years after we broke up when we were in college. A
character came to me: She's escaped an abusive relationship with the father of
her child and has been on her own with her teenage daughter for five years. As
Valentine's Day nears, Candy Hearts mysteriously begin arriving in her mailbox,
leaving her wondering if her high school sweetheart—the boy she loved, but left—has
sent them.
I even had the opening scene already written
in my head—she's dropping her daughter off at school (the same high school she
attended) and a love song comes on that reminds her of her boyfriend. The
inspiration for that—I was dropping my son off at school (my old high school) a
day or two before, and a cheesy love song from the eighties came on, spinning
me back to when I was sixteen. It was a bit surreal and I mused that it
would make a great opening to a novel or novella—now I had the rest of the
story to build from there.
As soon as I stepped out of the shower, I
emailed my editor. I was dripping wet in a towel typing furiously on my iPhone.
That was, without a doubt, the most unusual pitch I had ever sent—and it got
accepted. The story evolved, along with a twist I hadn't anticipated when I
pitched it—Alex, the heroine, can’t find her long-lost love, Billy. Even in
this age when everyone leaves a digital footprint, Billy seems to have
disappeared off the face of the Earth. But, those Candy Hearts keep arriving in
the mail…Are they from Billy? Will Alex get a second chance at happily ever
after? You’ll have to read it to find out!
Note: Unlike Grace, the heroine of my novella, A New Life, which is quite
autobiographical, Alex and I only have those Candy Hearts in common. I’m still
close friends with my high school sweetheart—he never disappeared…and I’ve been
happily married to my Valentine for over twenty years. For Valentine’s Day this
year, I didn’t receive Candy Hearts, but I did receive a silver bangle bracelet
stamped with “I LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK” and beautiful flowers.stephaniekepke.com
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