WIP ME INSPIRED: Michelle Douglas

 

WIP ME INSPIRED: Michelle Douglas

Hi, J’aimee, it’s lovely to be here to chat today about what inspired my December release: Snowbound Surprise for the Billionaire.

 

Two key moments led to the creation of this particular story.

Key Moment #1: My editor asked if I’d like to write a Christmas book. I jumped at the chance. You see, I LOVE Christmas stories. The fact that this book will be my fourth Christmas-themed romance is a testament to that. 🙂

All of my previous Christmas romances, however, had been set in the blistering heat of an Australian summer. This time I wanted to do something different—I wanted to write a white Christmas. The stumbling block then became where to set the story? You see it wasn’t until I started making notes for this book that I realised that the setting always comes first for me. You’d think that after 16 books I’d have worked this out earlier, huh?

The thing is, place shapes characters. Once I know the where of a story I can then start discovering the hows and whys. Why are the characters here, what do they want…and how are they going to go about getting it? I think a character’s attitude to where they live or where they temporarily find themselves is especially relevant at Christmastime.

 

Key Moment #2: The chance to spend a week in Munich, Germany, presented itself. Ooh…Munich gets snow, right? Plus, if my guidebook was anything to go by, the place was utterly gorgeous. My brain cells started firing. J Once I arrived in Munich and had a chance to walk the streets, admire utterly gorgeous palaces, and eat in beer halls (admittedly in summer, but…hey, we won’t quibble on that head) I knew I’d found the setting for my Christmas story. Munich surpassed all my expectations. It blew me away. How could a city so full of history and culture not be the perfect setting for a Christmas romance? For heaven’s sake—there are even Christmas markets!

I can’t tell you how much fun I had retracing my steps through that beautiful and romantic city with Addie and Flynn. I mean I got to pour over my photos again and again. Here’s a tiny sampling (and, yes, all of these places made it into the story…and some of them even influenced certain aspects of the story).

 

Here’s the Glockenspiel on the New Town Hall in Marienplatz (the main town square), which holds Addie and Flynn spellbound the first time they see it.

 

This is the Isar Tor—the medieval gate—that’s just outside of Addie and Flynn’s hotel.

 

Addie spends a very pleasant day in the grounds of Schloss Nymphenberg.

 

And is awe-struck by the Field Marshall’s Hall and the palace that surrounds it.

 

Happy sighs. If only every story came with such charmed inspiration. 😉

For me information about me you can drop by my website or find me on Facebook.

 

 

Snowbound Surprise for the Billionaire
Michelle Douglas

All she wants for Christmas…

After a difficult year, and the loss of her father, festive cheer is the last thing Addie Ramsey is feeling. She’s just planning a quiet one on her Outback farm. Until her new boss, billionaire Flynn Mather, offers her the perfect distraction—to spend the holiday in Europe as his temporary PA!

Christmas hasn’t always been magical for Flynn, either, yet with vivacious Addie by his side, and seeing the joy through her eyes, things feel different this year. Could Addie be the Christmas present Flynn never knew he needed?

Amazon  |  iTunes  |  B&N  |  Harlequin  |  The Book Depository