On my last birthday, I made one vow for the year. Live with no regrets. Eleven months have passed, though, and nothing has changed. I still sleep alone, spend my life working, and never move out of my comfort zone.Then the loss of my dog throws my whole life out of orbit, and I end up in bed with a very hot and slightly-too-young veterinarian, who has recently made a vow of his own. Live with no strings. Josh is more than happy to help me with the things I’ve been afraid to try. Semi-public sex. Spanking. Anal sex. He’s a willing partner for everything I’ve wondered about, as long as I don’t demand more.
He’s serious about his no-strings philosophy. As serious as I am about living with no regrets. I can’t help but fall for him, even though I know better. So my biggest regret might be a broken heart.
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Author Questions:
In 140 characters or less, tell us about your new book:
Leslie made a vow to start living without regrets, and she starts by having no-strings sex with Josh, who introduces her to sexy risks she’s been afraid of before.
How did you come up with the storyline? Did you dream about it? Did you see an item that sparked a story?
I was taking my dog to the vet, and I saw someone crying who’d just had to put her dog to sleep. It made me sad too, and I started thinking about how the death of a pet can change the whole rhythm of our lives. Then I starting thinking about what a woman so thrown for a loop might do in the aftermath, and I came up with the first two chapters of No Regrets. It was supposed to be a short novella, but after I got into it, I realized it was going to take longer to get Leslie and Josh to where they needed to be at the end, so the book ended up twice as long as I intended.
What’s your favorite line from the book?
“I can talk as dirty as you want.”
What made you pick your character names?
I don’t have a thoughtful process for picking character names. I just go through names until I find ones that feel right for the characters. I’ll often go to the Social Security website that lists popular baby names by birth year andcheck the list for the year my character would have been born until I find one that feels right. Leslie felt like the right name for Leslie, and Josh felt like the right name for Josh—so I went with them.
What did you do on your last birthday?
My birthday is two days after Christmas so I’m always trying to recover from the holidays. I think I did some writing—I was working on Engaging the Boss then—and I went out for dinner. That’s about as exciting as my birthdays get.
Where do you write? Give us a peek at your writing desk? Is it a desk or do you write on your couch with a laptop?
I can write anywhere. I usually write on my couch with a laptop, but when I’m having trouble focusing, I have to go somewhere else to write—somewhere it’s not as easy to waste time. I have no writing rituals or special set-up, but if I have no reason to do otherwise, my most natural writing position is stretched out on my couch with a laptop.
Do you listen to music while you write?
No, I never listen to music. I’m always fascinated by writers who are so often inspired by music because I never am. If I try to listen to music, it distracts me from writing. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been inspired for a story by a song in my life.
Where do you find inspiration?
I most often get inspired by random things in my life (like going to the vet and being inspired for No Regrets) or by other stories (books, television, movies, etc.). It’s usually one little thing that ends up launching the story. For instance, I got the idea for A Negotiated Marriage after watching a scene in a TV show that had a woman rushing around, late for work and wearing very high heels. The show had nothing to do with a marriage-of-convenience, but for some reason, that scene inspired me for Molly.Another time, I read a story that had a romanticized pregnant sex scene in it, and I kept thinking that having sex while eight months pregnant simply couldn’t be like that. Then I started thinking about how a realistic pregnant sex scene would go. And then I got inspired for Nameless. It’s usually a little, random thing, and then the story grows out of it.
Tell us a bit about your writing process. Do you plot or are you a seat of your pants writer?
I usually start with one scene from the story, and it’s not always the first one. I’ll play with the scene in my mind until it’s developed enough to build the rest of the story from. Then I’ll write down a general outline. I always have a general outline before I start writing the story because I need to know the story is going to work in its overall structure before I commit to it. But my outlines are very sketchy. For instance, the outline for No Regrets began like this: “Chapter One – Vet, sad. Chapter Two – park, Josh running. Chapter Three – bar, sex.”
What was the first romance novel you remember reading?
I can’t remember the first one. I used to read book series as a kid that had little romantic elements in them. I used to love the Sunfire Romances, which were teenage historical romances (all titled by the girls’ names). I was reading Regency romances when I was in sixth grade. But long before that I was turning stories into romances. I vividly remember reading books like The Secret Garden and The Borrowers, and then trying to turn them into romances in my mind.
If you could go back in time, where and when would you go?
Oh, I have no idea. When I was a kid, I would daydream about living in a time where women wore long, pretty dresses. Then I was crazy about Regency romances, so I wanted to live in the Regency period—always assuming I’d be upper-class and get to have a Season where I was courted by all the dashing men. Now, I never even think about going back in time. Maybe that’s why I stopped writing historical romances (which is what I started with) and stuck with writing contemporaries.
What’s the 1 item that you can NOT live without?
My laptop.
What do you do for fun?
Write? Does that count?
Rapid Fire Questions, pick one!
Coffee or tea
Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon. (Yes, I know that’s not just one!)
Chocolate or Vanilla
Chocolate.
Night or day
Day.
Movies or TV
TV.
Summer or Winter
Winter.
Claire has been writing romance novels since she was twelve years old. She has a PhD in British literature and, when she's not writing, she teaches English at the university level.
She also writes contemporary romance under the penname Noelle Adams.
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