After being sold to Lord Edgar Randall to cover her father's gambling debts, Lady Alyssa Westmont is determined to remain strong and accept whatever the future might bring. She had always dreamed of a loving husband and children to surround her. But she never dreamed fate would send her to the future.

    Totally unprepared for the world that now surrounds her, Alyssa comes face to face with reality and the mirror image of her husband. At first, all Alyssa wants is to go home. She didn't like the future. And she especially didn't like the arrogant Charles Randall, her husband's third great-grandson.

    Trying to forget his latest blind date from hell, Charles Randall silently swore off women for the rest of his life. Matchmaking mothers and concerned secretaries, to name a few, had left him without a moment's peace. He liked his life just the way it was; free from complication, which included relationships. Vowing never to repeat his ancestor's mistakes in marriages, wealthy and single was the way he intended to spend his life -- Until a beautiful woman knocks him senseless.

    When she claims she is one of his third great-grandfathers wives, and has no interest in him nor his money, a lesson he learned early in life, is not to trust anyone, especially women, even though his heart tells him to believe in Alyssa.

    As the couple begins to realize their love for one another, Alyssa knows she has to fully let go of her past in order to gain a lifetime of happiness and love she has always desired. But can she let go of the pain and disappointment men have brought into her life?

    Charles is unprepared for the feelings she stirs inside him and fears the one woman he could possibly love will slip through his fingers. The destiny Charles has secretly ached for his whole life is at stake--unless his love is strong enough to win the devotion of the woman who has journeyed through time to join him.

    Charles and Alyssa's story is currently being written. As soon as I have a full chapter to post I will post it here. Please check back at a later date.

    Their story came to light one Saturday afternoon in the summer of '04. Molly Bolden of Bent Pages BookStore, Houma, Louisiana, gave a talk at a Southern Louisiana (SOLA) Meeting. When she mentioned that quite a few of her customers come in looking for Time-Travel Romances, Stay With Me was born. I began writing it during that meeting. The characters and premise for the story came together instantly.

    Then while writing the entire story by hand, I had (or the secondary characters had) come up with the premise for books two and three. So what started as a one book Time-Travel, will turn into a three book series.

    Book One Cast of Characters:

Charles Edgar Randall - Hero
Lady Alyssa Westmont Randall - Heroine
Lillian - Housekeeper and Charles & Caroline's former Nanny
Dr. Sam Jordan - Charles's best friend
Murphy - Charles' goofy 200lb English Mastiff
and lastly, the Wicked Witch of the West - Daphne (ohhh I don't like this girl!)

Caroline Randall - Heroine
Lt. Robert Andrew Wesley
   Who visits Present day from 1862
Lillian
and Miss Lillie Mae,
Caroline's "25lb. I'll lay anywhere I want and you better rub my belly" cat.

Lt Robert Wesley is a man on a mission. Chasing a confederate spy, he finds himself following the man into a maze constructed from boxwood hedges. After getting hopelessly lost, he manages to find his way out, deciding to wait till the man emerges. While catching his breath, he notices his surroundings. He has one of those 'we're not in Kansas anymore" moments.

He notices a half naked woman lying in the sun, reading. When he approaches her, she looks oddly familiar.

Caroline doesn't know what to make of the man in the Civil War uniform. She surmises he is from yet another reinactment actor that utilizes old southern mansions. He said he was chasing a man who had run into the bushes. She laughs. "He'll be lost for a while."

When a storm hits, lightning strikes, knocking him unconscious. Caroline drags him up towards the house intending on calling 9-1-1. But the power is out, phones are out and her cellphone is laying on a table...in the rain. Now what does she do with him?

...That's it for now. There's more, but I don't want to give away too much right yet.

Book Three:

Dr. Sam Jordan - Hero
I haven't found his true love yet, but I'm searching.
He'll need a pet too..hmmm how about a duck named Ginger? Or maybe a very talkative parrot named Lucy? or both? Going to have to think this one out.

One Possible idea:
"Dr. Sam Jordan, meet Jenny McIntyre and her daughter Rebecca.

Fed up with the fast pace, HMO's & insurance companies and the lack of one-on-one relationships with his patients, Sam quits, throws everything he owns into storage and begins his search for a small town in need of a doctor.

While searching for the perfect town, he drives through a tourist attaction Ghost Town. Fascinated, he decides to stop and have a look-see.

Entering what was once an old doctor's office, he does the unthinkable and ventures where no tourist has gone before; behind a door clearly marked "Do Not Enter".

The sign was there for a reason. And now he knows why. When he leaves the room, he finds himself standing in a waiting room, people sitting patiently waiting their turn to be seen next. Only the year is now 1878. He thinks this is all part of the tourists attraction, but soon realizes the patients and their illnesses and injuries are very very real. "

From there, well I have a few plot ideas swishing around but haven't anything concrete.

Oh, I'll still have my wacky animals and a bad guy. A very very bad guy. But as in all romances, Happily Ever After will prevail :)

I need a new brain!

While working on ensuring the plot moves along in book one, dang, if ideas for books four, five and six, just popped into my head! Ugh! I'll never get book one finished if these characters don't stop interferring and demanding their own story!!!

It's a good thing most stores have back-to-school supplies on sale right now! Theme books .10 each! Yippee! Though they advertised "limit 5 per customer", I had on one of the t-shirts I bought from the last RWA Conference Moonlight Madness Bazaar, and the cashier I went to loves to read romance, so she let me get as many as I wanted! Seeing as how I hand write everything first, I needed quite a few. But I know those kiddies need them for school, so I left them a few boxes :)

Book Four

Daphne, the prima-donna, love to hate her character from book one demanded her own story. She thinks I portrayed her in a negative light, (which does nothing for her complexion, nor her ego). Little does she know, that when I started forming ideas for her story, that little lady will get what she deserves! Even a cow that adores her!

Book Five

Annalise (Anna) is a new character that just popped into my head. From the ideas that formed, I know you'll just love her! And her story!

And the hero...oh lordy...a hunk to die for, hidden inside a nerds body! I can hardly wait to write this one!

Book Six

Malcom, Anna's brother, also decided he wanted to have his own story. So be it Malcom! But you'll have to wait a little while, so please be patient with me. I only have 10 fingers to type with.

I think Anna & Malcom will come from the 1500's or 1600's...I haven't decided yet. But I do know, they will either be from a Scottish clan or Irish. I love the accents :)

But alas, I'm determined to write them in the order the ideas were conceived. If anyone has the winning lottery numbers, I sure could use them about now. I want soooo bad to be able to sit and do nothing but write, write and write some more. But the dust bunnies have other ideas for me. Those little suckers even threatened to go on strike if I don't get some housework done. *groan* I hate housework!!

 

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