Guest Post with Julieann Dove

Hi Everyone!

I am excited to be here today to bring you a guest post from author, Julieann Dove. She is here to share with us some insight about her book, The Secrets He Keeps. Please help me by giving her a warm welcome!

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The story behind the story:

I began writing “The Secret He Keeps” four years ago! Of course, back then it was titled “Gravity”, and it was a straight up contemporary romance. After five to six rewrites, it has morphed into a contemporary romance with elements of suspense. This is my fifth book to be published and my only one dealing with a hint of mystery. I watch a lot of Bones, The Closer, Castle, and Major Crimes. So it isn’t so unbelievable that I desired an element of ‘who did what?’

Rachel Miller has stayed true to her character since the first draft. Well I take that back! Rachel began this journey as a romance author. Can you believe it? She was mourning her husband’s death and remained a shut-in, unable to move past the grief. When along came John Whetzel. This guy has always been an electrical repairman. I loved me some John. He was so much fun to write. He lived five states away, so after he fell in love with Rachel, it was difficult to leave her. Dane Stone was always conveniently located in her hometown, and always in love with her. It was a complete lover’s triangle. Until….

The story morphed into a love story strictly between Rachel and Dane, and John was diluted to a secondary character—the reason Rachel began leaving her house more. Personally, I love “love triangles”. I enjoyed Bridget Jones, Wuthering Heights, and Bridges of Madison County. In the end, one of the two has to stand out as the one true love, though. And for the first drafts of “The Secret He Keeps”, it was difficult to tell who that true love was. Writing John out of my story was the most difficult cut I’ve had to make, to date, as a writer.

Let’s face it, Dane Stone has not changed in any of my drafts. He has loved Rachel from the second she turned to mush around his best friend, Scott. Little Miss Perfect became soft, alluring, and very desirable to him. But it was too late. His best friend was totally taken with Rachel’s charm, and Dane’s chance to see her inner beauty was lost. But now, with Scott gone, Dane isn’t sure Rachel could see him in the way he wants her so badly to see.

Scott Miller has completely changed since the first draft. Once only a memory in Rachel’s mind, there are several flashbacks of him in this final version. The reason for this change is to give him a bigger role in the element of betrayal. The reader had to know Scott and his character flaws in order to understand why Rachel became the person she became.

“The Secret He Keeps” is truly the most written on book I’ve composed. I feel as if I could sit down with any one of my characters and have a nice long chat, knowing exactly how they take their coffee to what they’ll wear to the party next Friday night. It’s great knowing the ins and outs of everyone involved in a story, and I feel I have a pretty good grasp on these guys!

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 Thanks Julieann for stopping by today!

Happy Reading!