Where did Romancing the Geek come from?  I'm not totally sure myself.  This was only the second time I tried to write a short story with a theme and a deadline and an intended market beyond my critique partners.  Wild Rose Press was accepting Valentine's Day themed submissions.  I'd copped out on their holiday stories, because that's not my thing, but Valentine's Day seemed like it could be fun.  I thought I'd write a quick "rosette" for them—under 5,000 words.

I had this image of an office worker who'd made on minor typo in some major ad copy, turning Valentine's Day is for Lovers into Valentine's Day is for Losers. It didn't flow, but the idea of someone struggling to work in a job she didn't like took root from there. Stephanie is nothing like the original character, but that's the fun of writing.  Brad appeared as her total opposite, which is a common enough theme in the genre.  They sort of took off, which by now is no longer a surprise, but they insisted on being given a lot more than 5,000 words to tell their story.  It's probably a good thing I had a deadline, or it might have turned into another novel.