Five Questions with Raychelle Ayala

January 14, 2016

On February 2nd, Valentines Pets and Kisses, a boxed set of sweet romances will be released. As part of our campaign, we, the authors, thought it would be a nice idea to give readers a chance to get to know a little bit about us. So here we go.

Today, I'm happy to welcome Rachelle Ayala—From romantic suspense to sweet contemporaries, I write from my heart and love to include children and pets in my stories.

Five questions (let’s make it six this time)

1. Tell us about Valentine Hound Dog.

Valentine Hound Dog is a sweet story about a fireman who is burned and scarred and a fashion designer who’s job is all about making people look good. Through the matchmaking of a sweet little basset hound puppy, the fireman learns that love isn’t skin deep and that what’s important is inside his big heart.

2. Where do you get your ideas from?

They fly through the air and stick to me. It’s usually a character who gets the ball rolling. I start thinking about the character and some situations they got themselves into. Or I think of something funny that I want to include in a story and build the story and character from there.

3. Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run go it?

I don’t plan my writing, so it goes wherever whim and creativity takes me. I always surprise myself in retrospect and wonder how I ended up writing the story or characters I happen to write.

4. Is there a message you'd like to convey to your readers, besides entertaining them?

Mostly that love is universal and that everyone deserves to be loved and appreciated. I like taking characters who are down on their luck, or have some other flaw holding them back, and through falling in love, they discover something noble about themselves while breaking free of whatever obstacle that was holding them back.

5. How useful is humor to telling your stories or developing your characters?

I’m always giggling or laughing when thinking up humorous scenes, so I believe it is very important. It’s a lot of fun to make up minor characters just to have something funny happen. For one, it makes the characters more likeable. People like seeing a character with a sense of humor. The other benefit is that I get lots of laughs as I’m revising or proofreading. Humor keeps me from being bored.

6. Tell us about Rachelle Ayala. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I enjoy visiting with friends and going places. Of course these days, every experience could turn into research for writing, or end up in a scene, so I’m never “not writing.” I even dream about my characters while sleeping.

Everything I read about or observe in my daily life is grist for “what-if” questions. As I mentioned before, I daydream about people and situations. Not everything makes it to a story, but you’ll be surprised what does. I’m always learning new things and therefore everything I do is “research” for my writing.