Fun Facts for “Rhymes with Couple”

Factoid One
Originally, Anya was going to be a public defender for San Diego County.

Factoid Two
Originally, the book started at the volleyball scene in Chapter 4. But then I added 3 additional chapters to the beginning of the novel.

Factoid Three
With Amber and Anya, I have now written books that have 5 main characters whose names start with the letter A, by far the most. Apparently, I like names that start with that letter.

Factoid Four
Things like Anya’s family-sized bed do exist! They are massive and pricey, but they look amazing!

Factoid Five
Remember how I said in the “Fun Facts for ‘No More Wasted Time’” that that book has the latest appearance of the first sex scene between the main characters?
Well, this book now holds that record.

Factoid Six
Before I even wrote one word for this book, I had the title and the cover image chosen!

Factoid Seven
I modeled Amber’s father on actor David Hedison. I happened to see him in a movie my own father was watching called “The Enemy Below.”
Actual conversation with Dad:
Me: What’s a yawl?
Dad: A type of sailing boat.
Me: Who’s that guy who said it?
Dad: David Hedison. He’s Felix Leiter in the James Bond movies.
Me: I love the way he talks…
Dad: You’re still gay, right?

I loved David Hedison’s mid-Atlantic accent so much that when I knew I was approaching the scene with Denton Linwood, I rewatched parts of the movie on Amazon Prime in order to pick up Hedison’s speech cadence. Imagining him speaking Denton’s lines made the writing of that scene so much easier.
The name of the San Diego Marine Studies Institute’s research vessel, Hedison, is named after him.

Factoid Eight
I’ve mentioned U-Hauling in almost all of my books. Yet, this is the first time an actual U-Haul truck appears in a story, and the main characters literally “U-Haul.”

Factoid Nine
This is the first time the epilogue of a book is split between multiple characters.

Factoid Ten
This is the first book in the series with only three words in its title. Perfectly fitting for a novel about three women forming a romantic relationship together.

Bonus Factoid
Anya was originally Russian. In fact, the beta readers who helped me with the manuscript, read her as being Russian.
But then Russia invaded Ukraine after the beta reading was done.
At first I resisted changing Anya’s nationality because the actions of a particular country’s government do not reflect the beliefs and ideals of all of that country’s citizens, especially if those citizens no longer live in that country. However, after much soul-searching, I made the decision to change her nationality.
I only wish it was as easy to change politicians’ minds when it comes to making a choice to bring havoc, hatred and destruction to someone else’s homeland.