9 author inspirations, including 'My Fair Lady,' Colorado, brothers

Today's featured authors: Julie Johnstone, author of My Fair Duchess; Kathryn Albright, author of Dance With a Cowboy (in Wild West Christmas anthology); and Beverly Long, author of Trapped. They're sharing inspirations for their new releases.

Julie Johnstone, author of My Fair Duchess

Three things that inspired me to write My Fair Duchess (A Once Upon a Rogue Novel):

• My Fair Lady. I've always been a huge Audrey Hepburn fan, and one night I decided to rewatch My Fair Lady. I never did end up putting that DVD in the player because the idea came to me that the basic concept of the movie, two men making a bet that would ultimately change a woman's life, would make a great Regency romance book! Much like the professor, my hero in My Fair Duchess is smugly sure he knows exactly who the heroine is and what she needs to do, but of course she's a force of impetuous nature who shows him just how little he understands about women.

• What if? What if questions inspire me to write stories on a daily basis! After I got the idea for the book, I asked, What if the woman secretly turns the wager around and decides she's going to alter one of the men for the better? Imagine the possibilities of a jaded man thinking he is working to reinvent a woman when all the while she's covertly plotting to transform him.

• Light bulb moment. Recently when out to dinner I noticed a lovely girl walking by with a group of her friends. The girl, much taller than any of the other girls in her group, was slouching. Suddenly, I flashed back to my own childhood and fifth grade. I think I was the tallest student in my class by far, which caused me no amount of self-induced angst. I knew in that moment in the restaurant that I had to write about a heroine who was her own biggest problem.

Here's the blurb about My Fair Duchess:

After years of playing the rake to hide a dark family secret, the Duke of Aversley feels tainted beyond redemption and cynical beyond repair. Never does he imagine hope will come in the form of a quirky, quick-witted lady determined to win the heart of another gentleman.

Thanks to a painfully awkward past, Lady Amelia De Vere long ago relinquished the notion she was a flower that had yet to blossom. But when her family faces financial ruin and the man she has always loved is on the verge of marrying another, she'll try anything to transform herself to capture her childhood love and save her family―including agreeing to participate in a bet between her brother and the notorious, dangerously handsome Duke Of Aversley.

Bound by the bet, Amelia and Aversley discover unexpected understanding and passion beyond their wildest dreams, if only they can let go of their pride, put trust in each other and chance losing their hearts.

Find out more at juliejohnstoneauthor.com.

Kathryn Albright, author of Dance With a Cowboy

Three things that helped inspire my new release:

• Dance With a Cowboy takes place in Clear Springs, a fictionalized version of the town of Julian in San Diego's back country. Julian has a unique gold-mining history and main street straight out of the past with a wonderful pie shop and quaint hotel. Julian has always been special to me. It's where I could go to experience the four seasons — something that is lacking in the city of San Diego. In Julian, I enjoyed sledding, shuffling through beds of thick autumn leaves, and hiking Mt. Stonewall with my family. I'm a small-town, country-loving gal at heart, and Southern California's beautiful back country has always been a source of inspiration.

• For this story, another thing that inspired me is the relationship between brothers — the rivalry, the love, the jealousy, the pride — and how it can help and also hinder, often leaving a lasting impression way into adulthood. Brotherly camaraderie fascinates me.

• And last, I am inspired by stories that show moral strength of character. I wanted to write one. (I want to write many, as a matter of fact!)

Here's the blurb for Dance With a Cowboy:

It's rancher Garrett Sheridan's duty to look out for his brother's widow and daughter when they return to Clear Springs. However, falling for Kathleen isn't an option—not when he was the cause of his brother's death. It would take a Christmas miracle for her to forgive him, and he doesn't believe in miracles anymore.

Find out more at www.kathrynalbright.com.

Beverly Long, author of Trapped

Trapped is the third and final book in the Men from Crow Hollow series (Hunted and Stalked being the first and second). The heroes of all three books are boyhood friends who spent their summers in the Colorado Mountains. Their experiences there shaped them into the men they are today. And now as adults, the mountains still call them home.

Three things that inspired Trapped:

• Colorado is a special place for me. In the 1930s, my maternal grandparents homesteaded on a ranch in the mountains of Colorado. One of the requirements was that they live on the ranch at least three months out of the year. What that meant is that every summer my grandmother would take her three young daughters, of which my mother was the oldest, and move to the ranch. My grandfather, who had a job in town, would come up on the weekends.

• My mother spent her formative years on the ranch, and she was fond of saying that she could ride a horse before she could walk. Almost every family vacation that I can remember was a trip back to Colorado to see my mother's parents, her sisters, and their families. It was a long drive from Illinois to Colorado, but the anticipation in the car was palpable. The mountains were magical — and the stories my mother told, perhaps a bit fact and a bit fiction, made them come to life.

• My father was born and raised in Illinois but sent to Colorado to learn to ski before shipping out for WWII. That's where he met my mother. In rather classic war-romance style, my mother left Colorado at the ripe old age of 18, traveled across country on the train, met my father's boat as it returned to the United States, and they were married just weeks later. And stayed married for some 60 years.

Hunted is dedicated to my grandparents, Stalked to my mother, and Trapped to my father.

Find out more at www.beverlylong.com.