That is SO going in my book!!!

As an author I was very careful, early on, to not make anything real to me. No character had a name of someone I new. There were no locations that were real. Certainly there were no traits that would get me in trouble. (With that said, and I digress...when you say you write romance that's the first thing people think they are reading about...your love life. UMPF!)

After twenty-one books, and numerous other isn many stages of publication or editing, and four years in publishing I have gotten over this little stepping stone. It is now most fun to watch the world and stick it in my book.

The very first "real thing" I ever put in a book was this passage:
Finding Hope, book 3, The Matchmakers Series

Sweat beaded on his brow. Trevor reached for his bottle of water. It had grown warm. He drank it down and tossed it into the backseat with the other bottles he’d discarded there. He knew he wasn’t the ideal patron for a car rental company.

My poor husband. Yes, this was him once upon a time (I'm being nice.) The entire back floor of his car was piled with empty water bottles. All these years later you will find if someone's looks intrigue me, there is a character. I even had the infamous wandering eye of someone close to many of my friends. (Not as if he's looking at a hot woman...he's looking at the world while having a conversation with you! Awesome, yet annoying, character trait for a character to have.)

There are so many little thing from the way someone eats to how they watch TV that can make for one fascinating character.

Once you're established enough, too, people love to share little things with you and you certainly end up putting some of them in your books.

I like to share when my real life mimics my craft. For instance I have a beloved Star Wars hat. Wouldn't you know that one of my characters wears that hat? I have a second degree black belt...yep a few of my female characters do too. The decor of comfortable restaurants has peeked into my books and wouldn't you know it Eduardo Keller drives my truck! Speaking of driving, it is from experience that I wrote Courtney Field, who is blind. My suite mate in college was blind and yes, she did drive my car!

It's so much fun when you can make your characters live out all the fun pieces of your life and not necessarily drown them in your sorrows.

Do you write in personal things? What are they? Now I want to know! :)

Bestselling Author Bernadette Marie is known for building families readers want to be part of. Her series The Keller Family has graced bestseller charts since its release in 2011, along with her other series and single title books. Bernadette Marie currently has over twenty books published in the contemporary romance category. The married mother of five sons promises Happily Ever After always…and says she can write it, because she lives it.

When not writing, Bernadette Marie is shuffling her sons to their many events—mostly hockey—and enjoying the beautiful views of the Colorado Rocky Mountains from her front step. She is also an accomplished martial artist with a second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do.

A chronic entrepreneur, Bernadette Marie opened her own publishing house in 2011, 5 Prince Publishing, so that she could publish the books she liked to write and help make the dreams of other aspiring authors come true too. She is also the CEO/Founder of Illumination Author Events which brings authors and readers together.