What Inspires Your #Romance by Mackenzie Crowne

If you were to poll one hundred authors on what questions their readers ask of them, “Where do you get your inspiration?” would most likely be in the top three. And “Everywhere” would be among the most cited responses. 

This is certainly true for me and those flashes of inspiration are one of my favorite parts of the writing experience. I can’t tell you how thrilling it is when a seemingly mundane sight or sound draws my attention and BAM! Bright and shiny possibilities swirl in my mind as the spark of a new plot line flares to life.

For example, news reports of the Bernie Madoff scandal are at the heart of ThatDating Thing, my light-hearted romance involving an assistant district attorney with political ambitions and the daughter of Wall Street’s most notorious stock swindler. 

Of course, not all my inspirations have been huge, game changer experiences. Most are of a far subtler variety. I’m telling you, I was definitely inspired by that super-hottie in line at the post office who, amazingly enough, looked exactly like Beau Walker, the sexy hero of my RONE award-winning romance, A Song for Sophie. In my small-town romance, The Billionaire’s Con, I wrote a heroine chef—right about the time my youngest brother was graduating from culinary school.

Then there is this guy. Murphy, my sister’s crazy but sweet dog was the inspiration for Gracie Gable’s trouble making canine sidekick in book 1 of my Players series, To Win Her Love. He is also the inspiration for today’s post. You see, this past week, those of us who loved Murphy said goodbye to him as he crossed the rainbow bridge. 

I naturally thought of Murphy when Gracie insisted she needed a dog. He was such a sweet boy, after all, with the added bonus of his crazy habit of… 

Well, I’ll let you experience his habit for yourself in the short excerpt below.

Enjoy, and thanks for the laughs, Murph. You were well-loved and will be well-missed.

Murphy landed sure-footed, only to skid across the hardwood floor. Momentum carried him strait for Jake’s long legs.
No stranger to dexterity, Jake danced to the side. He snagged the dog’s collar and halted his progress. Murphy wriggled wildly, the claws of his scrambling paws clicking on the hardwood floor. He bucked, and Jake pivoted his upper body sideways.
The move would’ve worked, too, if Murphy was a normal dog, intent upon jumping up to plant his paws to Jake’s chest. Gracie knew from experience that wasn’t the case.
“Murphy, no!”
Quick as a flash, he dropped his nose and whipped up his head. She cringed as his skull made solid contact with Jake’s unprotected crotch.
A loud oof accompanied the unexpected head butt. Jake’s briefcase clattered to the floor. Stunned pain etched his features.
“What the fu—” He bent forward and the duffle slid from his shoulder to join the briefcase at his feet. He cupped one hand over his injured crotch and shoved the dog away with the other. Jaw clenched and long legs bent, he crossed one knee in front of the other. His eyes slid shut on a pained moan.

To find out how things worked out between Jake and Murphy,

pick up your copy of To Win Her Love at

Kensington Publishing, Amazon, 

and wherever books are sold.