A New Love(s) @sloanebcollins #PlottingPrincesses #amwriting #Yellowstone #GrandTetons #MFRWorg

Last month, I fell in love.

With bears and moose, mountain bluebirds and coyotes, owls and bison.
To clarify, I fell in love with Yellowstone National Park and Grand Tetons National Park. While it was my husband’s third trip there, it was my first.

The above-mentioned wildlife were just a few of what we saw on our adventures in Wyoming. It ranks now as one of my top favorite vacations of all time (and I think I’ve mentioned a time or twelve how much I love Maine, right?). I’d move to Wyoming or Montana in a heartbeat.

It was a vacation that fed my soul. I got to be creative with photography, relax and look at beautiful countryside, and get inspiration for the Cowboy series I’m writing, which is set in Montana. (YES! We saw a real live cowboy rounding up cattle!)

I grew up surrounded by the Franklin mountains in El Paso, and have taken other vacations in and around mountains. The Grand Tetons are now my favorite of all. And I came up with an idea for a series set in that area! I think it has a bit of a unique twist. But I can’t say anything yet…

.@kellyleefiction Coincidence? Or subconscious mind tricks? #Murdering Eve #release #characternames #amwriting #myWANA

My first book, Murdering Eve, got a revamp & a facelift this year.  Newly edited with a shiny new cover, my new publisher asked me for a slew of information, including "interesting" anecdotes about either my writing process, or the book, to prepare for release promotional materials.

Immediately, I was stumped. What's an interesting anecdote? There are tons of un-interesting things I could say, like the fact that I write cross-legged, or guzzle diet cokes all day, or that I don't usually shower until I know husby is about to arrive home from work - and even then, it's hit or miss. None of that stuff, while true, is particularly interesting.

Then I got a random, out-of-the-blue email from an old boyfriend. And stared at his name in horror. The book I was about to release featured his first name as the name of my hero. Thrown into a frenzy of "holy crap", my brain buzzed with whether or not I'd done it "accidently on purpose".  Questions I didn't want the answer to ricocheted inside my skull, bouncing off one another.

- What if ex-boyfriend finds out I'm an author, reads the book, and assumes I'm still hung up on him?

- What would husby feel if he knew the hero in my first book shares the same name as the guy I dated before him? 

- Most importantly, why on earth did my brain pull such a nasty trick on me?