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With Halloween behind us, we face the most calorific season of all. Time to break out the stretchy pants. (Who am I kidding? Writers live in stretchy pants.) Once again, it’s time for another Insecure Writers’ Support Group Blog Hop. The IWSG is a place where writers can share their worries and doubts in a cozy, accepting environment, complete with virtual hot chocolate and tiny marshmallows. The awesome co-hosts for the November 7 posting of the IWSG are Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Ann V. Friend, JQ Rose, and Elizabeth Seckman!

This month’s question – How has your creativity in life evolved since you began writing?

I’ve always been a daydreamer, a spinner of tales in my head. But diving into fiction writing full-time has kicked my imagination into overdrive. I’m forever annoying friends and family with my favorite phrase, “Imagine if…”

Writer’s block? Are you kidding? I suffer from imagination overflow. My first drafts are long, sprawling, overly-detailed messes. The challenge is paring down the ideas into something that might hold a reader’s attention for 300 pages or so. (Okay, more like 350.) I’m learning that just because I could turn an idea into a story doesn’t mean I should.

And now, in interview with romance author Jennifer Wilck. Learning to Love, Book 3 in her Serendipity series, releases November 28^th.

Coming November 28 from The Wild Rose Press

Dina Jacobs is a single librarian who has never fit in due to her off-the-charts intelligence, frizzy hair and rounder-than-socially-acceptable figure. She left her past behind until she receives an invitation to her ten-year high school reunion, and all her insecurities return.

Adam Mandel is a single corporate attorney who just missed his third deadline at his father’s law firm, the law firm where he is up for junior partner. With his reputation on the line, Adam needs all the help he can get to convince his father that he deserves the promotion.

When Dina and Adam run into each other on a deserted road, Dina thinks Mr. Flashypants can’t possibly be interested in someone like her. Adam thinks Dina is just the person to help him improve his reputation. Lies and insecurities force them to take a look at themselves. Can they trust each other to look beyond the surface?

Meet contemporary romance author Jennifer Wilck.

Jennifer, tell us about your inspiration for this story.

Well, Learning to Love is actually the third in my Serendipity series, but each book revolves around a couple, so you don’t actually have to read them in order. Adam, the hero, made brief visits in the previous two books—first as a passing love interest of the heroine, and then as the best friend of the hero. In both of his brief occurrences, he was a “player”—a no commitment, love-em and leave-em kind of guy. I love redeeming villains, and while he definitely didn’t play that role—he wasn’t featured enough to do so—he wasn’t the guy the heroine would want to bring home to mom. So I wanted to give him his own story so that his good qualities could shine through. As for the heroine, she’s actually based on the character of Spencer Reid from the TV show, Criminal Minds. She’s a genius and she quotes random facts when she’s nervous. She was so much fun to write!

What do you love about the genre you write in?

I love writing contemporary romance for several reasons. The first is that I have control and I can take situations that happen in our every-day lives and change them so they work out the way I wish they would. The second is that I can write about empowered females and males, again, a glimpse into how I’d like the world to be. And at the same time, I can provide readers with an escape from their daily lives. Because a lot of what I write includes Jewish characters, I can incorporate customs and traditions a little under the radar so readers can either recognize themselves or learn about something different without having it hit them over the head.

Do you write in other genres?

No, I only write contemporary. I’d love to write historical, but the research required scares me, and while paranormal is one of the coolest genres I’ve read, I wouldn’t know the first thing about creating those worlds. Someday I’d like to expand into women’s fiction, however. I have a few ideas percolating, but I need the time and motivation to sit and write them.

What do you do for fun when you’re not writing?

I’m married with two teenaged girls, so when I’m not writing, I’m hanging out with my family or friends. I love reading, watching TV and going to movies. In the spring, I like to garden (my husband is astounded at the constant bulb-ordering) and I love photographing nature.

Here’s an excerpt from Learning to Love:

What the hell just happened? She wanted to be friends. The only kind of “friend” he wanted to be with her had “boy” attached to it. No, that wasn’t true. He enjoyed her friendship because he loved talking to her, hearing her opinions, sharing himself with her.

But he was becoming more attracted to her. So far, they’d only kissed, but that one kiss, that unbelievable kiss, haunted him. His lips still burned where they’d touched hers, his insides still turned to jelly when he thought about it. In fact, he’d been hoping there would have been more kissing in her apartment once he’d apologized for his gaffe.

But she’d focused on their arrangement and her overreaction, and here he was pulling away from the curb into rush hour traffic.

She thought he was dating her only to impress his father. If he were one hundred percent honest with himself, he’d acknowledge the partial truth in that statement. But the more time he spent time with her, when he wasn’t royally screwing things up with her, the more he wanted to move beyond their arrangement.

His head was another matter. It was still focused on not making a fool of himself, on maintaining the right reputation, on spinning the right message.

But listening to his head was probably what had gotten him into this mess in the first place. As unbelievable as it might sound, it was time to follow his heart.

Reserve your copy of Learning to Love here:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Love-Serendipity-Book-3-ebook/dp/B07J49V5SP

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/learning-to-love/id1437725668?_bbid=10834501&mt=11

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/learning-to-love-jennifer-wilck/1129734280?ean=2940161918258

Connect with Jennifer Wilck:

Website: http://www.jenniferwilck.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jennifer-Wilck-201342863240160/

Facebook Readers Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2055470311366345/

Newsletter: https://www.jenniferwilck.com/contact.html#newsletter

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JWilck

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorjenniferwilck/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jennifer-wilck