Kim Sanders
I had just finished publishing my first novel, and I was drinking coffee on my front porch, waving at neighbors who were driving off to work. I was already at my office—my front porch. I do love my job perks.
I had a romance novel sitting on the small table for my morning “research” because it’s only logical that reading romance revs up my romance-writing mode—at least, that’s what I tell my husband when he walks by.
While sipping my caffeine that morning, I was thinking about my daughter. Her boyfriend had broken her heart, and a daughter’s broken heart means a mother’s broken heart. She was an adult, and I couldn’t mend her heart, but she was stronger than I imagined. After suffering alone for months, she told me she was giving up on men and would simply plan a life alone. She had started her own successful business and worked a full-time job on the side. She said she planned to build a house, go back to graduate school, work, and travel. Who needed love?
No happily-ever-after? That was tough for me. I picked up my novel from the side table and noticed I’d marked my spot with a losing lottery ticket. I always thought a one-dollar bookmark that had the potential to win me millions was worth the price. And that’s when I came up with the idea for "The Ex Lottery." I thought, 'What if a woman used the dates her ex-boyfriends dumped her and bought the winning lottery ticket? What would she do with all that money?' I picked up my computer and wrote the first two chapters that day.
I had just finished publishing my first novel, and I was drinking coffee on my front porch, waving at neighbors who were driving off to work. I was already at my office—my front porch. I do love my job perks.
I had a romance novel sitting on the small table for my morning “research” because it’s only logical that reading romance revs up my romance-writing mode—at least, that’s what I tell my husband when he walks by.
While sipping my caffeine that morning, I was thinking about my daughter. Her boyfriend had broken her heart, and a daughter’s broken heart means a mother’s broken heart. She was an adult, and I couldn’t mend her heart, but she was stronger than I imagined. After suffering alone for months, she told me she was giving up on men and would simply plan a life alone. She had started her own successful business and worked a full-time job on the side. She said she planned to build a house, go back to graduate school, work, and travel. Who needed love?
No happily-ever-after? That was tough for me. I picked up my novel from the side table and noticed I’d marked my spot with a losing lottery ticket. I always thought a one-dollar bookmark that had the potential to win me millions was worth the price. And that’s when I came up with the idea for "The Ex Lottery." I thought, 'What if a woman used the dates her ex-boyfriends dumped her and bought the winning lottery ticket? What would she do with all that money?' I picked up my computer and wrote the first two chapters that day.
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