Welcome to Writer Wednesday. We’re so glad you’ve taken a little time out of your day to meet our latest featured author, Sandy Loyd.
Sandy is a romance author who writes in several different subgenres (contemporary, romantic suspense, historical and time travel), bringing us “romance with a twist.” Gotta love that!
So gather up that leftover Halloween candy and chow down on some chocolate as you get to know Sandy a bit better! And once you’ve cleaned your fingers, I hope you’ll leave Sandy a note in the comments!
What inspires you to write?
I’m inspired by life. By what I see around me and what I’ve learned through my experiences. I love to travel, especially to other countries, which always inspires me and gets the creative juices flowing.
People everywhere are essentially the same. Most care about what’s important in their lives, such as family, job security and having a home and enough to eat. What makes a foreign city interesting are the added challenges being in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar customs. I see a story in almost any setting.
Sitting on a train in a French city while people watching or being led through a Moroccan medina with a tour group, I create stories in my mind. Going through the Medina in Fez was an incredible experience. It’s totally different from anything in the US. It’s a city within a city located within a few square miles. It would be like going into a mega mall that also had food and housing in the 18th century. There are narrow passages that led to everything one might need to live – clothing, jewelry, furniture, food (from slaughtered chickens and pigs to fish, from spices, fruits and vegetables to rices and pastas). The mega structure had homes above the shops. I can’t remember how many lived within the medina, but we needed a guide to keep from getting lost. It took most of the day to tour the narrow passages crowded with Moroccans. Even animals like burros were a common sighting.
I ask myself what would happen if… Someone got lost while someone was chasing them? Why the chase and what would I do? From there a story is born. You get the idea. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to write all of the books that I’ve thought of, so I just come up with an outline and put it in a ‘New Stories’ folder.
What is your favorite type of romance and why?
My favorite romance genre is Romantic Suspense/Mystery. I love twists and turns.
One of my favorite TV shows is NCIS. They always have some great twists, plus the characters are what make the show. I love the way they have all arced since its inception. They face danger, but they have a lot of fun while they do it.
Those are the kind of books I like. Great characters who face danger, but have a great time while doing it. I’m not into gore and darkness. I see that every day on TV. When I read for pleasure, I want more than just a romance. I want something fun and entertaining to lead me on a twisting adventure.
What is your favorite romance novel of all time and why?
My favorite romance of all time is Kathleen Woodiwiss’s Shanna.
The book was an epic adventure with the ultimate hero – Ruark Deveraux Beauchamp. The author revolutionized romance with her first novel, and Shanna took it to new heights. I was hooked from the first chapter. I loved the mystery/suspense element woven into the plot as well as the island setting. Ruark went to great lengths to prove his love and commitment. It was one of the most romantic books I’ve ever read.
A Bit About A Lowcountry Christmas Miracle:
Considering the bad blood between father and son, it will take a miracle to get Cade Duval to return to the Lowcountry for Christmas. Lacey Barnes has loved Cade since…forever…and feels up to the task of making sure it happens. Unfortunately, Cade’s in a relationship and Lacey would never poach. Success means her heart will be broken all over again.
Yet, miracles have a way of happening at Christmastime. Like the miracle of finding true love and the miracle of family coming together. But the most wonderful miracle of all is the miracle of forgiveness.
Find A Lowcountry Christmas Miracle here:
A Bit About Sandy:
Sandy Loyd has worked and lived in some fabulous places in the US, including Northern California and South Florida. She now resides in Kentucky and writes full time.
As a former sales rep for a major manufacturer, she’s traveled extensively throughout the US, and has a million stored memories to draw from for her stories. She spent her single years in San Francisco and considers that city one of America’s treasures, comparable to no other city in the world. The books in her California Series, starting with Winter Interlude, are all set in the Bay Area.
Sandy is now an empty nester who has written almost two dozen novels. She strives to come up with fun characters—people you would love to call friends. We all know friends have their baggage and when we discover what makes them tick, we come to love them even more.
Whether she’s writing historical, time travel, romantic suspense, or contemporary romance, Sandy always tries to weave a warm love story into her work, while providing enough twists and turns to entertain any reader.
Want to connect further with Sandy? Find her here:
Thanks so much for joining us, Sandy!
Name one interesting thing you learned in researching/writing your last book?
As a theologian by training, I find history quite intriguing. For A Dragon’s Destiny, in order to get a lot of the historical facts regarding medieval history correct, I audited a class through the University of Barcelona (online through 
Medieval history, also Church history, offers an abundance of fodder. For example, in the 14th century, pastoral visitations existed, whereby a bishop, or their envoy, would travel to the different localities and inquire as to that of its inhabitants and its ties to the church, i.e, did the locals still follow the rules, and more specifically if any among them were superstitious, or rather if any of the locals were known to participate in magic (or follow that of the pagan rituals). Those locals were then often blamed for bad things that occurred in the village, and subsequently brought to trial (ecclesiastical trial if the charges had to do with heresy), or trial by mob mentality (if related to secular laws, and therefore not under the authority of the Inquisitors), which seems to have resembled more of our obsession with reality TV. Those who were considered guilty of heresy often found themselves at the stake.
By the 16th century and the Protestant Reformation (which began in 1517), the crime of witchcraft had been on the books for almost 100 years. But the Inquisition would rage on until 1908, with the last registered execution held in 1826.
A Bit About 
Welcome back to Writer Wednesday! It’s so good to see you all again. You’ve no idea how I treasure our Wednesday meetings, especially when I can bring you someone like 
Typically, in a romance (or in your case, a romantic fantasy), halfway through the story, you’ll have a pretty good idea of who is “supposed” to end up together. You buck this tradition for your Guardian of the Vale trilogy. Why?
What inspires you to write?
Which type of romance do you love most, and why?
Name one interesting thing you learned in researching/writing your last book:
What one piece of advice do you wish you’d had when first starting out?
A Bit About J. Arlene:
Name two things people don’t know about you:
What one piece of advice do you wish you’d had when first starting out?