UPDATE: The winner is…Eileen Airey!
*~*~*

Once upon a time, in a not-so-tiny North Texas town lived a girl named Sukie whose mother was an avid romance reader. To Sukie’s dismay, her mom kept all the really juicy stuff on the fourth shelf behind her dad’s unassuming stack of Richard Marcinko books, believing this would keep Sukie from sneaking a peek. Fortunately, Sukie was persistent and maybe a little sneaky.

Kidding aside, my romance journey began the way I imagine many, many other readers’ journeys began: an intriguing book cover with a shirtless man and a woman in a ripped bodice. I believe Johanna Lindsey and her Mallory family were my firsts. Gentle Rogue, anyone? James Mallory? Is it hot in here? (Fans self)

At this point, my seventh-grade self was hooked.

Soon, I developed my first crush and spent my evenings feverishly writing our love story. On the pages of my trapper-keeper, I think he even kissed me with his mouth open! Très érotique!

Next came fanfic, followed by my first stab at an original story (which will most definitely never see the light of day), and finally, after too many margaritas and on a little bit of a dare, Sanctuary, my full-length novel about a feisty but grieving lady running her own wild cat rescue and the one man who can simultaneously put her pieces back together and set her on fire. I like to joke that if Tiger King and a romance novel had a baby, it would be Sanctuary.

And woven in between all this fun, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Delilah on a few anthologies. She seems to be the magic ingredient to getting a story out of me!

Sadly, since Sanctuary, I’ve struggled to finish a full-length novel. As hard as it is to admit, writing is incredibly vulnerable, and I wear my heart on my sleeve, which means I don’t bounce back from criticism very quickly. I take it all to heart…too much so, probably. It’s left me second-guessing every word I put on the page, which basically sucks the creativity and confidence right out of me. Add to that the fact that I have a really hard time saying, “Hey! Look at this thing I wrote! You should read it!” and that leaves me in a pit of unproductivity.

But, now that I’ve officially entered my 40s, I’m trying to cling to the powerful words of a super-smart writer I know and remember that I’m never going to be everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s okay! I need to focus on writing the story that I feel passionate about and would love to read. Maybe this is the year I finally follow that advice, find my audience, and put some lovin’ out into the world.

Vulnerability is a natural part of life, and I live and breathe good advice, so hit me with your best “you be you” quotes, and I’ll give away a $5 Amazon gift card to one random advice provider. Maybe we’ll all walk away ready to conquer the world!

For a chance to win a download of a Boys Behaving Badly Anthology of your choice, tell me about the romance book that got you hooked on the genre!

About the Author

Sukie Chapin has been a military wife, world traveler, almost-groupie, and preschool teacher. Naturally, the next logical step was writing erotic romance. She lives in Texas, where she can be found reading, writing, mommy-ing, and making a homemade chocolate pudding that will make you want to slap your mama.

Her story inside Silver Soldiers: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology was “Clear to Engage.”

One struggling bookshop owner, one hot-as-hell former SEAL-turned-carpenter, one line drawn in the sand—until the job is done, they’re not clear to engage…