Steamy ideas in the shower… (#guestblog #BBW #rollerderby)

By April Ryder (Guest Blogger)

One of the most common questions we are asked as authors is: How did you come up with…? And most of the time we have no real idea. Every day we’re absorbing things, experiences, snatches of conversation, something on the TV, finding inner meaning in songs and enjoying hot scenes in romance books, etc. After we get a good night’s sleep (hur hur) all of that mixed up mess is then spat out in the form of seeds of ideas for books or characters or what have you.

So my answer is usually the above and ideas usually come out while I’m in the shower, which is why I sit down in the shower every morning and see what my brain has come up with. With Skid Marks and the Selby Slammers I knew that BBW was popular and so were— least somewhat recently—sports romances. I disadvantaged myself though by making the sport Roller Derby but I didn’t care. Roller Derby kicks arse! I’m also not good at writing to market, which is good and bad. Good because I write what I feel like, bad because it probably won’t earn me much money :(

I’m not a derby chick but I’ve seen quite a few matches and it’s quite amazing! Women of all ages, shapes and sizes coming together to get that jammer through the pack can be quite inspiring to someone in the crowd. I think it was watching them that helped me come up with Skid Marks. As for the main character Hayley, she’s a bit more on the young and stupid side of the scale. Not that she’s too stupid to live, she’s just quite naive, especially in the beginning. When the book starts she’s had just one long term boyfriend and she thought she was happy. It just goes to show that not everyone in the relationship is happy at the same time. There’s another person there thinking, feeling and experiencing and we tend to forget they might not match up.

Hayley is super fun to write though. She’s very talkative and her mind doesn’t shut up. As a result I’ve had to throw in quite a few of my own life experiences, some mannerisms and thought processes to help make her life a non-stop roller coaster. She might be a bit over the top at times but we’ve all had those moments ourselves. I’m not saying Hayley is a clone of me, we just have a few things in common.

Something else that is hot in steamy romance right now—and may it forever be—is BBW. Big Beautiful Women. Since I am one and ‘they’ say to write what you know, I decided to go with it. I try to keep Hayley’s size vague except for when I don’t but that is from the character’s point of view. Keeping it vague allows for any woman who might consider themselves a little curvier than average can relate to Hayley. It does also help if you like pancakes :P

So there you have it. Ideas for romance stories come from anywhere and everywhere and some are even a reflection of real life!

I hope you enjoy reading about Hayley and how she gets the unfortunate nickname of Skid Marks.

Blurb: A Fun BBW Roller Derby Romance

After being dumped by her live-in boyfriend for a blonde stick insect and a job in Wellington, Hayley is tricked into trying out for the local roller derby team—the Selby Slammers. At the tryouts, hilarity ensues when she leaves her mark on not only the rink, but some of the hunky men from the inline hockey team who practice on the next rink over.

Meanwhile, Hayley attempts to pick up what's left of her (love) life but is thwarted at every turn by three men: 1) the surprise return of her ex, 2) Jake, the hunky hockey player, and 3) continually running into Rick the 'Dick' who may or may not have a crazy underwear fetish!

All three seem to be conspiring against her, taking turns causing unexpected problems in her new and very hectic (love) life.

“Adam, I'm gonna kill you. Right after I've finished eating these pancakes—ooh maple-flavoured syrup and berry compote. But after that I'll kill you! And then, I'll find a time machine and kick my own butt, cause damn, am I stupid or what? Nobody answer that!”

— Hayley

Excerpt

I opened the door, grabbed my towel and was in the process of wrapping it around me when I realised I wasn’t alone. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Jake who stood guiltily by my clothes with my panties clenched tightly in hand.

“You’re not Jake.”

“No,” he said. The guilty look on his face disappeared, quickly replaced with the angry one I was used to. “Sorry to disappoint you.”

We glared at each other. He was better at it though, seeing as he was clothed and seemed to have more practice.

“Wh-what are you doing?” I asked, hoping for some sane, logical response as to why the man who liked to yell at me had my panties. “This is the women’s changing room.”

“I know.”

I blinked. After the swear-filled tirade he had given me earlier, that’s all he had to say? I snapped. I know, completely out of character for me, but he deserved it.

I marched up to him, placed my fisted hands on my hips and got all up in his face, just like he had with me in the rink. “That giant tent in your hand? That’s mine.”

I couldn’t believe what he did next. He dropped them. On the floor. Right in a puddle of water.

“Oh my god,” I breathed as we both stared at my sodden plus-sized panties.

“Sorry,” he said and bent to retrieve them.

“Well, so you should be,” I admonished.

When he didn’t get back up, I knew something was wrong. I looked down at the top of his head and frowned. This had gone beyond the Outer Limits.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“You should put a towel on,” he murmured, speaking to the ground and not up at me.

“A towel?” I asked, confused. That’s when I remembered I was naked under my towel—except my towel was missing. I slapped one hand over my still tingling lady bits and an arm across my breasts, smacking him in the side of the head in the process.

He grunted and tilted slightly before righting himself while still crouched on the floor.

For a man who just had his hands on my panties, he sure was going to great extremes to avert his eyes. Why would a man do that? Why would he only be interested in panties and not the woman who wore them?

“God you don’t wear them, do you?” I asked without thinking.

“No!”

That answer was too quick.

“I was just—never mind.”

On the one hand, I was curious about what he actually wanted them for but on the other, I was still naked and he wasn't. Not that I wanted him to join me in being naked!

“Oh god,” I groaned again.

I spied my towel on the floor behind me and retrieved it. I made sure it was wrapped around me extra tight before I made him leave.

He of course, tried to apologise again before shutting the door. “I’m sorry. It’s not what you—“

“Just get out. We’re even okay. We’re so totally even that you might owe me!” I froze, suddenly aware that I had possibly suggested that I wanted to see the other half of him—the half I hadn’t yet seen—naked. “Get out!”

Buy Link

Amazon (everywhere): http://smarturl.it/SkidMark

About April Ryder

Rock star, catwalk model, ventriloquist--April Ryder is none of these things. She is, however, a BBW housewife looking to spice up her life with her hardworking and supportive BBM (is that even a thing?) husband. April enjoys living on the beach and plans to further explore her sexy, sensual side writing romance.

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Website: http://aprilryder.com/