The Glamorous Real Life of the Romance Author

The other day, my son's Occupational Therapist mentioned she'd heard I was a writer. "What do you write?" she asked. "Romance," I told her. This earned me a look of surprise, like I'd just confessed to a secret life. I get that a lot when I tell people what I do for a living. The "glamorous" real life of a romance author is...not so glamorous.

Yes, it's true. I'm a wife. I'm a mom. For the next two months, I'm a home schooling mom, which means I spend my mornings overseeing reading, writing, and science experiments. I cook, I clean (sort of...mostly, my house is just a mess). I have even been known to bribe my son with the promise of ice cream if he will entertain himself quietly while I take a call from my agent or my editor in the other room.

And then every once in a while I get to dress up and be Rachel Lacey, romance author, for a little while. In fact, this weekend I was in Charlotte, North Carolina, for a workshop and got to spend time with my good friend and critique partner, Anna Rains. In July, we'll be attending the Romance Writers of America Annual Conference, where we'll attend classes, go to parties, book signings, and award ceremonies. Not too far in the future, I'll even have book signings of my own!

But most days, I'm just regular me. Rachel, mother of one wonderfully exhausting five-year-old boy, wearer of t-shirts and jeans, juggler of many things.

Speaking of the glamorous side of being an author, something very exciting happened for me this week. I have my very first cover to share! My debut, Unleashed, will be released on October 28th, and it's available now for pre-order. That's right, I'm on Amazon! Crazy, right?

I am living a dream come true, and I wouldn't change a single minute!

Rachel Lacey writes contemporary romance that tugs at your heartstrings. Her debut, Unleashed, will be out this October. She blogs on this site on rotation with the other Ever After Foxes. You can find her online at www.rachellacey.com, or connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Reliving Childhood Memories

Instead of reading to him at bedtime, lately my five-year-old son has been asking me to tell him stories about when I was little. Preferably, really silly stories that make him laugh until he's hiccuping too badly to fall asleep.

Many of my tales are about me and my little sister, Julie. My family moved a lot when we were little, so Julie and I often served as each other's best friend as well as sisters. When we shared a bedroom, we would get in trouble for staying up too late talking, so we devised this complicated system of patting our hands against the pillow to talk. One pat meant "are you still awake?" Two pats was "yes." Three pats was "no" (haha). We went all the way up to about fifteen pats. I can't remember what they all were but we "chatted" at night by patting the pillow for YEARS and my parents were none the wiser! :)

My son loved the story about the time I decided to play a joke on my mom on our way home from the park. She was pushing my sister in a stroller, and I ran ahead to the house. Instead of waiting for her on the front porch, I decided to go around back and crawl in through the doggy door. How hilarious would it be when my mom got home and found me already in the house?! It might have been funny (for me at least) had I not gotten stuck in the doggy door. My poor mom ran all the way home, pushing a stroller, completely panicked when she didn't find me waiting for her at the house.

I don't know how long it took her to find me, still stuck halfway through the doggy door, but by that time both of us were crying, and no one thought it was funny. I was five. As the mother of a five-year-old now, I can only imagine how terrified my poor mom was when she couldn't find me!

But my son's favorite of all my childhood stories is from the summer I was eleven. My best friend at the time, a girl named Annie, lived right up the street, and we were at each other's houses all summer long. So often that one night I got up in the middle of the night and sleepwalked out of my house, across the street, and most of the way to Annie's house. Luckily, my mom was still up and heard the front door open. She caught up to me and brought me home. To my knowledge this is the only time I've ever sleepwalked. Annie and I laughed about it for the rest of the summer, what would have happened if I'd rung her doorbell at midnight and asked "Can Annie play?"

What about you? What are some of your funniest childhood memories? If you have kids, do you enjoy telling them stories about when you were little?

Rachel Lacey writes contemporary romance that tugs at your heartstrings. Her debut, Unleashed, will be out this October. She blogs on this site on rotation with the other Ever After Foxes. You can find her online at www.rachellacey.com, or connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Discovering New Authors

I confess: reading time has been limited for me lately. So when I do get a chance to indulge, I often find myself reaching for something by one of my "must buy" authors. Jill Shalvis, Julie James, and Lori Wilde, to name a few. But I also love to discover new authors, and I want to make it a priority in 2014, especially since I will also be joining the ranks as a debut author this year.

Here were a few of my new discoveries in 2013:

Debut Author: Shannon Richard

Yes, my fellow Ever After Shannon! I just loved this book. Shannon's voice is so fresh and fun! I can't wait to return to Mirabelle, Florida, for the rest of the series.

New-To-Me Author: Roxanne St. Claire

Wow, how have I not read Roxanne St. Claire before? This book was sexy and fun and full of emotional punch. If only I had time to sit down and devour the whole series right now!

New Genre: Historical Romance

Yes, it's true. This was my first ever historical! And I really enjoyed it. This is also the first in a series, and I can't wait to read the rest!

This year, I'd like to break out of my comfort zone even more. I want to expand my horizons. Debut authors, new to me authors, new genres. Bring it on!

I've already got Julie Brannagh's debut all loaded up and ready to go on my Kindle (now if only I had time to read).

And I've been told I need to add Robyn Carr to my repertoire ASAP.

Contemporary romance and romantic suspense are my usual poison. Who wants to recommend a new genre for me to try? A new author? What have you read recently and loved?

Rachel Lacey writes contemporary romance that tugs at your heartstrings. Her debut, Unleashed, will be out this October. She blogs on this site on rotation with the other Ever After Foxes. You can find her online at www.rachellacey.com, or connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.