Step 1:Get out of the house. People watch. When they speak, what mannerisms do they use? What features make them attractive? I often use the eyes, nose, and mouths of different people to create the image of my character. What color/style clothing are they wearing? How does it reflect their personality? I let my imagination run wild, guessing their background, what events in their life have shaped them, even what kind of day they are having based on their actions. All of this is great inspiration for developing my characters. Step 2:Write. My writing often inspires my next book. My upcoming release, My Unfair Lady, inspired my next few books. But what inspired My Unfair Lady? To read the rest of the STEPS OF HOW I GET INSPIRED TO WRITE and to comment for a chance to win please click here. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

Capping off this fabulous week of holiday blog giveaways is Leanna Renee Hieber. Leanna paid a visit to the Daily Dose for a fabulous conversation about her beautiful Victorian fantasy. Today, Hieber is offering a signed copy of both of her books and a $10 dollar Barnes and Noble gift certificate as an exquisite gift package for someone you nominate. Discover her beautiful books: Visit The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker What fortune awaited sweet, timid Percy Parker at Athens Academy? Considering how few of Queen Victoria’s Londoners knew of it, the great Romanesque fortress was dreadfully imposing, and little could Percy guess what lay inside. She had never met the powerful and mysterious Professor Alexi Rychman, knew nothing of the growing shadow, the Ripper and other supernatural terrors against which his coterie stood guard. She knew simply that she was different, haunted, with her snow-white hair, pearlescent skin and uncanny gifts. But this arched stone doorway offered a portal to a new life, an education far from the convent—and an invitation to an intimate yet dangerous dance at the threshold of life and death…. Discover Dark Nest Winner of the 2009 Prism Award for excellence in published…

October 2009On Sale: October 13, 2009Featuring: Christine Eisley304 pages ISBN: 0312558368EAN: 9780312558369Hardcover$14.99 Women’s Fiction Contemporary Buy at Amazon.com The Christmas Secret by Donna VanLiere When a struggling young single mother saves the life of an elderly woman, she sets into motion a series of events that will test her strength, loyalty, and determination, all the while setting her on the path to finding true love. Christine Eisley is the mother of seven-year-old Zach and five-year-old Haley. Her ex-husband provides little, if any, child support and makes life difficult for Christine by using the children as pawns. She works long hours as a waitress to make ends meet, but her job is in jeopardy because she’s often late to work due to the unreliable teenaged sitters she’s forced to use. When Christine saves the life of a woman who works in Wilson’s department store, the owner of Wilson’s wants to find her, to thank her, but Christine has disappeared, losing another job once again. He sets his grandson, Jason, to the task of finding the mysterious “Christy.” Jason, an accountant by trade who has lost his job to downsizing, thinks he is “above” working at Wilson’s. Soon, he discovers that this…