Behind the scenes: Brushed by Moonlight

How exactly did I come up with a paranormal series packed with magic, mystery, and intrigue, not to mention shifters, a vampire, magic, an art heist, and a château in Burgundy? Read on to hear the story behind Brushed by Moonlight, book 1 in my new Château Nocturne series!

THE SERIES

I’ve made a slight shift over time from pure PNR to a hybrid of PNR and fantasy, with more mystery, magic, and intrigue than my earlier works. That’s partly thanks to inspiration from Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Mysteries series, which hooked me with its morally grey characters, shifting allegiances, and ever-present sense of danger — all with an underlying romance story. The trick was combining that with a more satisfying HEA ending between fated mates instead of a revolving door of love interests that always left me wishing for more for poor Sookie! It took a lot of thinking, but I finally found a way to mix edge-of-your-seat suspense and uncertainty with a heart-warming storyline — plus an international cast of characters, all with different supernatural abilities that play off one another in all kinds of fun ways. And, voilà! Welcome to the world of Château Nocturne, with magic, mystery, destiny, shifters, and sizzling romance!

Apropos HEA… Mina develops her relationship with her true love in Book 1 and earns her full HEA (Happily Ever After) in Book 2. Books 3/4 and 5/6 spotlight new couples, weaving together romance, magic, and suspense across an epic, interconnected series. Stay tuned!

THE SETTING

During the COVID lockdowns, I discovered the Mapperton Live YouTube channel, and I’ve been watching it ever since. It chronicles the real-life story of a couple who inherit a huge manor house and estate with all the challenges that go with that - leaking pipes and roofs, desperately needed renovations, and the constant anxiety of funding all that. (They’re not just any couple either. They’re aristocracy — but the most hands-on, down-to-earth aristocracy you can imagine. I’ll leave it to you to tune in to their fun channel to discover exactly who they are. Believe me, you’ll recognize the title when you see it!)

I might not have inherited a huge mansion or manor, but I grew up in a family of do-it-yourselfers with an old house, so I can relate to a never-ending list of projects and constant financial struggle. Therefore, the idea of a series based around inheriting a huge property has been percolating in my mind for a long time.

An unexpected detour on a trip to Scotland brought me to the perfect manor house to base my story in. It’s called Callendar House, located just west of Edinburgh. You can read more about it in the “On Location” section of this post below.

However, I wanted the story to take place in a quiet part of France, so I transplanted that structure to an area of Burgundy I recently visited and added elements from local châteaux, from the beautiful gardens to stables, hedge mazes, and vineyards. (Note: château is French for a palace or manor house, and châteaux is the plural.)

THE STORY

I enjoy visiting museums and learning about great artistic masterpieces, and I love history as well as intriguing mysteries, so I’ve read/watched a lot of books/movies/documentaries about art heists and art plundered in World War II. Watching The Monuments Men movie inspired me to read the more detailed, non-fiction book about that effort to save and recover great artworks, for example. I also love the BBC television series Fake or Fortune that tries to determine whether a given artwork is genuine or a forgery, in addition to enjoying a program called The Forger’s Masterclass. (In fact, John Myatt, the reformed forger in that program, is the inspiration for Sid, the art expert who appears in the final chapter of Brushed by Moonlight.)

So, those interests inspired me to center this story around an art heist/masterpiece or forgery type story. I’m not aware of any other paranormal romance/fantasy stories based around an art heist, so I think this series is unique in that way! And, yes — The Painter on the Road to Tarascon and Thaw are real paintings lost since the end of WWII. I love the idea of an art lover like Mina going undercover to rescue lost masterpieces like these, don’t you?

PS — Did you notice the references to the painter Franz Marc and his blue horses? He’s my favorite artist, and Mina’s too. Here’s a hint: one of his missing artworks will be the focus of the next book in the series!

THE CHARACTERS

Back when I wrote my Aloha Shifters series, I discovered what fun it is to play different shifter species off each other, with blustery dragons annoying uptight tigers and laid-back lions. My biggest challenge was picking which shifter types to use in this story since I limited myself to only three (and one vampire) living at Château Nocturne plus one “outsider” (Clement, the wolf shifter/local hottie/police officer). The challenge was to make them all lovable while keeping them just shady enough to fuel the tension and intrigue underpinning this series. I think I suceeded.

As for Mina, the heroine… I wanted someone steady, but slightly uptight (the better to clash with her guests) with an interesting back story. I love that her experience as a teacher helps her deal with her unruly houseguests. I’m a teacher myself, and this story definitely draws on that. You’ll see other hints of my teaching background in Desert Rose, part of my Twin Moon series, including a really fun scene with the students of a one-room schoolhouse!

Each of the male characters will get their own love story as this series progresses. You’ll also meet Mina’s sister and cousin soon. Stay tuned!

ON LOCATION IN SCOTLAND AND FRANCE

As mentioned above, I found the perfect manor house to base my story in Callendar House in Scotland. The building is now a museum with a tea room that’s a one-to-one match with the drawing room in my story. I loved how elegant and symmetrical the building is, with a central block and two wings that allow all my characters to live together while enjoying some privacy. They share certain areas, while others are off-limits, offering lots of scope for funny interactions, hidden secrets, intrigue, and all kinds of temptation. So, my imagination borrowed everything from the grand entrance hall of Callendar House to the huge kitchen and long, light-filled library to create a blueprint for Château Nocturne.

Auberre is a fictional village based on lovely places I visited in Burgundy. Sadly, a lot of them are dying out, just like Auberre, with young people moving away and the last small businesses closing. Just like Auberre, they all have a town hall, church, and boulangerie (bakery) that’s the focal point for town gossip. If you want to look on a map, look for Auxerre, then move slightly south. That’s where I picture Château Nocturne being located!

MY FAVORITE SCENE

I have lots, including the scene which Mina first meets her houseguests (first impressions don’t lie, but neither do they tell the full story), to the scene where Gordon calls Roux to share information Mina shouldn’t hear. Oh, the intrigue! I love the first kiss scene, of course, and the scene where Mina and Delphine wow the men with their new look in Mallorca. What about you? What’s your favorite scene or location in this story?

BIGGEST CHANGE from early drafts to final edition

In the early stages of developing this series, I toyed with the idea of reverse harem, but ultimately decided against it. I also toyed with the idea of the heroine changing partners a little like Sookie Stackhouse over the Southern Vampire Mystery series. That certainly makes for a page-turning series, but I just couldn’t put my characters through that kind of wringer. I’m too much of a fan of monogamous fated mates, I suppose!

The idea of a character whose magic comes and goes was a late development in this story. The funny thing is, that was inspired by the title! Originally, Brushed by Moonlight was meant to hint at the art theme of this story, but then I realized that could also apply to magic that’s as unpredictable as moon sightings on a cloudy night. You’ll see more of Mina’s powers emerge as the series continues.

CROSS-LINKS WITH OTHER SERIES

Since this is a series about shifters in Europe, it overlaps with my Fire Maidens series. However, this series is more focused on the criminal underworld that parallels the more formal power structures of Fire Maidens, so you’ll see even “badder” bad guys and all kinds of illegal undertakings. I won’t reveal if/when you’ll see more direct links to that series…yet!

My Serendipity Adventure Romance series doesn’t overlap with any of my paranormal series, but you’ll find another character who loves Franz Marc in Mia of Windswept, Book 3 in that series.

So, there you have it – a look behind the scenes of Brushed by Moonlight. I hope you enjoyed this making of” as much as you enjoyed the book and the bonus scene! And don’t miss Marked by Moonlight, Book 2 in the series, with Mina’s HEA!

PS - If you enjoyed this story and series, please remember to spread the word and post a review. Thank you!