Storyteller, Part 4
This post is part 4 of the Storyteller series, which features a behind the scenes look at "Taming Marco", the second book in The Moran Family series.
Oh Marco….crazy, inappropriate Marco. His story was such a joy to write.
If you’ve read book 1 of this series, “Saving Cruz”, you’ve gotten some insight into Cruz’s sibling Marco. Marco is a typical ladies man; charming, outspoken, naughty; with a sweet side he keeps well-hidden. I was only a few chapters into writing book 1 when I couldn’t stop thinking about writing Marco’s story too.
Because of all the research I’d done for “Saving Cruz”, there wasn’t much to research for this story except certain details about his job, where he lived, etc. Marco is the CFO for The Moran Group, a company run by his older brother, Cruz. A nerd at heart, Marco craves the order of his ‘accountant-like’ job, which is directly opposite to the man he is outside the office. Marco is (mostly) light-hearted and funny, never taking himself too seriously and constantly giving his big brother crap for always playing by the rules. He was so much fun to write, because nothing is off limits to him. He can be crass at times and untamable….which is why Amita was the perfect fit for him.
Like Marco, I wanted Amita to have a strong sense of heritage. She’s mixed race – Mexican and Indian – and still grieving the loss of her mother. At the beginning of the book, Amita has a boyfriend (also a hoot to write) and we see her struggle with that relationship. I never wanted Amita to be “easy” for Marco (since most of the women he’s been with he didn’t have to work too hard to obtain). They slowly become very good friends, and as such, we see him grow into a really sweet guy.
Like Marco, I wanted Amita to be just a little bit naughty. She is best friends with Mia, who by all accounts is a good girl. Amita needed to be a good girl, but with a bad girl side as well. I really enjoyed bringing her to life and watching her ‘tame’ Marco as only she could.
My muse for Marco was only a picture in my head, but I would say he looks a little like actor Henry Cavill. I knew he had to look somewhat like Cruz (since that is mentioned book 1), with dark hair and blue-green eyes. So…here you (and...you are welcome):
I knew immediately who my muse would be for Amita, the lovely and talented actress, Priyanka Chopra. Here she is:
“Taming Marco” was published on February 14, 2017, a mere four months after publishing “Saving Cruz”. I picked that day because of it’s significance in the story (I’m weird like that) and it is possible that their wedding (hint, hint) might be on Valentine’s Day too. You’ll have to read further in the series to find out if that teaser rings true.
As with the first book, I marketed the hell out this one. The edits went better this time around, although I distinctly recall my cousin Deb (my non-paid editor) posing some real good questions/challenges to me, such as:
(A scene where Marco and his brother, Roman, are having breakfast) Where the heck did the coffee come from? Did it just appear out of thin air? It later became known to she and I as the “magic coffee”. And I did rewrite the scene to include a waitress dropping off the coffee.
Where did Cruz and Mia go on their honeymoon? He’s wealthy and can go ANYWHERE and I want to know where they went!
Being the good cousin that I am, I asked her, “If you could anywhere in the world, where would you go?” and without pause, she replied, “The Seychelles”. And that’s where they ended up honeymooning.
The great part about writing a series is that you can frontload readers with information about a character and their story ahead of time. In both books, we get to see snippets of each of the siblings and get a small insight to stories. And even though all 5 books were a challenge to write, I loved bringing to life the Moran family.
If you're looking for a spicy read with a dash of humor, "Taming Marco" is what you're looking for. Available in paperback, Kindle and Kindle Unlimited at Amazon.
-AJ
COMING SOON:
Book 3 of this series, "Breaking Roman", tells the story of the youngest Moran son. Learn all about this current-day Romeo in part 5 of the Storyteller blog series.
