My Inspiration
I was eighteen when I first decided that I wanted to
write a book. This was after reading the whole Twilight series and yes I was
part of the vampire crazed fans, in a way still am. Of course after reading
that series I moved on to another, then another and soon I had a notebook where
I wrote down all of the books that I’d read over a year.
There was a pattern, there were a few authors that I
liked and ended up reading most of their books. Stephenie Meyer was one of the
first ones, simply because I am a fan of the books. After her came Richelle
Mead and to this day she is my favorite author. I’ve read almost all of her
series and I can honestly say that she inspired me to write.
Even though my first book has not been published (it
may never be), it was a young adult paranormal book that was about super
heroes. After that I realized that it was not really what I wanted to write
about and decided that I wanted to tell a vampire story. That’s when Dark
Night, my first YA series was created.
For the longest time after I was done writing it, it
sat on my computer for years. By the time that I’d read so many books, I
realized that Dark Night needed to be published. Finally in early 2014, I took
a chance and put out the first book in the series and later in the year I
released the sequel.
In the end I think all of the books that I’ve read
have inspired me to keep writing even though it began with teenage vampires,
now I really enjoy romance. There will always be a place in my heart for the
Dark Night series but I am really looking forward to seeing how the Sweet
Dreams series goes. On top of reading paranormal and romance books, I mainly
let the scenery and people around me inspire me to write. Whether that is just
by having a conversation with a friend or people watching, there is always
something out there that will give me the inspiration I need to tell a good
story.
-S.R.
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Wildest Dreams
Sweet Dreams Series
Book 1
Stefany Rattles
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
ISBN: 978-1500659530
ASIN: B00MV3TO42
Number of pages: 172
Word Count: 50,863
Cover Artist: Stefany Rattles
Book Description:
When nineteen year old Alaina Sanders scores a position as an assistant at L&A law firm where her lifetime crush Rayden Matthews happens to work, feelings and emotions from the past resurface. With the physical attraction stronger than ever, soon they find themselves in a complicated situation. Rayden is engaged to his high school sweet-heart, but things are not what they seem and Rayden must make a choice before it’s too late.
L and A is Alaina’s first professional job, needless to say that the last thing she wants is drama or to lose her job. Unfortunately she finds herself surrounded by a series of events that are out of her control… like a stalker for one.
When her work and personal life intertwine, how will she be able to handle them? In a boring town like Springdale, Arkansas how much worse can things get for Alaina?
Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/r6HWhZpWUnw
Enter to win a paperback copy at Stefany’s website
Excerpt:
The first time that I saw Rayden Matthews, I was in seventh grade. We were both on a bus on our way to school I was talking to my friend at the time, Daisy.
"I'll give you back your homework before you go to math class." she was saying.
I nodded, 'Okay, don't forget because if I don't turn it in today I’ll get an__ Ow!"
My hair had been pulled.
That day, I had it up in a ponytail and it wasn't short.
I turned around in my seat and scowled at the stupid boy that pulled it.
Boys...
There were two of them.
"What was that for?" I glared at both of them.
They both looked a little older than me about two years but not much.
The boy sitting by the window pointed at his friend who was intentionally looking away from me.
Daisy giggled beside me.
Since neither one responded I turned back around in my seat and forgot about them, that is, until my hair was lightly pulled again.
"Hey!" I spun around, "why are you bugging me?"
The boy by the window laughed hard while his friend turned a little red, "he likes you," explained the friend.
I looked from one to the other, trying to figure out if it was a joke. But as I looked at the kid that wouldn't look me in the eye I could tell he was blushing.
Hmm…
He was cute.
"What's your name?" I asked him and just when he met my eyes and was about to answer, the bus came to an abrupt stop and all the kids jumped out of their seats shoving one another.
The kid that liked me and his friend quickly walked past me and left the bus. Daisy and I shared a confused look and then we both stepped off the bus.
"His name's Rayden," said Daisy as she handed me back my math homework, "he's in the ninth grade."
We were both now in the cafeteria getting lunch. Daisy had told me that she had seen the kid -Rayden- before, she had friends who had friends who were friends with him. Finding out his name was not going to be a problem, she'd said.
In a matter of hours she managed to find out what it was.
"Ninth grade?" I asked a little skeptical.
She gave me a look. "That's only two years! It's not like's old or something."
Conversation stops for a few minutes while we get our tray with food and sit to eat.
"So anyway, his name's Rayden Matthews, he's in the ninth grade and he's cute." So Daisy thought so too, well that made two of us.
I rolled my eyes. “Do you see him anywhere?” I asked while I looked around the cafeteria myself but there were too many kids, hard to find one out of over a hundred.
Daisy shook her head, “he’s a ninth grader, so he’s probably the other half that eats after we do.”
She had a point.
Days later I don’t really pay attention to Rayden, I didn’t think he was taking the bus to or from school.
I didn’t see him.
Daisy wanted to talk about him and his friend, she said that his friend’s dad had been taking them to school extra early because of band practice and they also stayed after school.
I told her that I didn’t care. There were many boys and it’s not like at that point I was old enough to date yet, especially a ninth grader.
But I saw him again.
I was at the school library, looking through books. After searching for over fifteen minutes I picked one of those mystery/scary books and was ready to check out, Daisy was with me.
“Oh my god,” she covered her mouth.
I looked over at the direction where she was staring.
“Oh.” There he was, standing by a window looking at some books on a shelf. The sun light was hitting him directly and he’s hair looks a little lighter, it almost looks like there’s a halo. He’s__
Our eyes met and we stare at each other for a minute…
In that very moment, it’s like the world had stopped and it literally revolved around us. We had made a connection deeper than anything I could have felt in my life. It was a weird feeling that as young girl I could not possibly explain to anyone, ever. The only word that could come to mind was mesmerizing.
It was mesmerizing.
And then I’m being pulled.
“Ah!” Daisy is pulling my arm and I’m trying to shove her out of the way.
“Hey,” He said to me and smiles.
I smiled back.
“We have to go back to class,” said Daisy pointing at the clock on the wall.
“Fine,” I looked over my shoulder one more time. And catch Rayden looking at me and then he walked away.
I didn’t understand why Daisy didn’t want me to talk to Rayden and then other times when she where she would be such a brat.
Later I found out she had a crush on him.
Well wasn't that great!
She was my best friend for about a year until I realized what a sneaky… you know, she really was.
A little later I met Brie.
Rayden and I spoke on a few occasions. I finally got his phone number a year later and called him.
We had the longest conversations and it was nice talking to him. There were times where we even passed notes during school but it never went beyond that. I even tried to hook him up with some Costa Rican chick that he’d been crushing on but unfortunately for him -and fortunately for me- she was never interested.
Daisy transfers to a different school and as far as I know, she has no communication with Rayden.
One day I discovered he had a girlfriend, he was dating a teacher’s daughter her name wasn’t important. I still talked to him and we still wrote to each other, once in a while.
Eventually they broke up.
One day we stopped talking, I was fifteen and new to high school. I learned that he had a new girlfriend, Jessica. She had a pretty face, not a great body. But I could tell he really liked her, not because of her looks but maybe it was her personality, that’s just the kind of guy he was.
It wasn’t fair but all through high school they continued dating. I did meet someone and we started a relationship that lasted a few years, we even lived together.
But it wasn’t the same and that’s why I was single again.
I saw him from a distance for the rest of the week. We didn’t end up in the elevator together again.
Which was only a little disappointing but I got over it.
From a distance I could see a few changes in Rayden. He had more of a toned body than he used to, he had a confident walk unlike the shy boy I remembered.
I wished I could talk to him...
***
About the Author:
Stefany Rattles, lived in Los Angeles California for eight years and then moved to Arkansas and has been living there ever since. She has a full time office job and writes on her free time.
She wrote Dark Night when she was eighteen years old after it sat on her computer for several years. One day that she decided to work on it and finish it. Now, she has published 3 books, one of them is her first New Adult- Contemporary Romantic Suspense book in the Sweet Dreams Series.
She graduated Springdale High in 2007. Currently she is also attending Post University and hopes to get her degree in Computer Science.
She loves to read, write, read and write… when she’s not playing with her two little ones.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StrlngGry
2 comments:
Thanks for having me on your blog!
Thanks for having me on your blog!
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