HOW I CAME TO WRITE BREATHING ROOM

"Do you really know how to cook," Isabel asked, "or are you faking it?"
"I’m Italian," Ren replied. "Of course I know how to cook."
"You’re only half Italian," she pointed out. "The rest of you is a rich movie star who grew up in the States surrounded by servants."
"And a grandmother from Lucca with no granddaughter she could pass the old ways on to."
Isabel was surprised. "Your grandmother taught you to cook?"
"She wanted to keep me busy so I wouldn’t impregnate the maids."
"You’re not nearly as rotten as you want me to believe."
He gave her his bone-melting smile. "Baby, all you’ve seen is my good side."

I traveled to Italy not to get inspired. I know, a dumb idea. But for years, I’d dreamed of taking a walking trip through Tuscany, and in September 2000, my dream came true. For eight days, my husband Bill and I walked through one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world with sixteen other friendly travelers, two charming Italian guides, and helpful people to take care of luggage, since hauling a backpack wasn’t part of my fantasy. We stayed in quaint hotels overlooking tidy village piazzas as well as a lovely country villa set in a beautiful garden.

Each day, we walked ten to twelve miles, wandering through olive groves and vineyards or strolling along country lanes. For lunch, we usually stopped at a rustic trattoria. One memorable afternoon we had a picnic at an old stone farmhouse. At night, over leisurely dinners, we sipped local wines and chatted about our adventures during the day.

From the beginning, I’d been determined not to think about writing while I was on vacation. I’d just finished THIS HEART OF MINE, and I desperately wanted a creative break. The trip would provide much-needed time to refill my creative well. Except...this was Tuscany, the land that had inspired DiVinci and Michaelangelo, Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning. What could I have been thinking?

It happened on the third day. We were walking along one of the most beautiful stretches of road I’ve ever seen, not far from Volterra, Italy. There, with the Tuscan sun shining down on me and the scent of wild sage lingering in the air, the idea for BREATHING ROOM leaped into my head.

I knew immediately that I wanted to put my uniquely American characters in Italy, and by the end of that day’s walk, I had a pretty good idea who they were. My heroine would be Isabel Favor, America’s Diva of Self Help. Life is going well for Isabel until, within a matter of weeks, the empire she’s built comes crashing down. Broke, heartsick, and soul-weary, Isabel heads for Italy in search of a little breathing room.

And whom should she meet but Lorenzo Gage, Hollywood’s favorite villain? Ren is a viciously handsome man whose career was born when the public developed a taste for a bad guy with a face to die for. Needless to say, his intentions toward Isabel aren’t honorable.

What happens when a woman who only wants good for the world is stuck with a man who makes his living killing people on the silver screen? If you’d like a Sneak Peek, click here.

Happy reading, everyone!