Claire Marti started writing stories as soon as she was old enough to pick up pencil and paper. After graduating from the University of Virginia with a BA in English Literature, Claire was sidetracked by other careers, including practicing law, selling software for legal publishers, and managing a non-profit animal rescue for a Hollywood actress.
Finally, Claire followed her heart and now focuses on two of her true passions: writing romance and teaching yoga.
Claire's exciting new Pacific Vista Ranch series set on a horse-breeding ranch in exclusive Rancho Santa Fe, California, launches in September 2019.
Welcome, Claire!
When did your writing journey begin?
I can’t remember a time I wasn’t writing stories! I created my first “book” when I was five years old entitled The Cruel Swan. I also illustrated, stapled, and copied this story to pass out to my family and friends.
What was your inspiration for latest book, Nobody Else But You, the first in a new Pacific Vista Ranch series set on a horse-breeding ranch in Rancho Santa Fe, CA?
One of my private yoga client’s daughter is a horse breeding manager at a quarter horse breeding ranch in San Diego County. I was intrigued by the fact she’s only one of a handful of women in the country doing this job. I wanted to write about a strong heroine excelling in a unique, male-dominated industry.
Tell us about your experience with the publishing process.
My first series, Finding Forever in Laguna, was published with a small press. I decided to branch out and self-published Nobody Else But You and two more books in this series will release in October and January, respectively. I’m loving the freedom and the control with the indie experience.
Any new projects on the horizon?
Book 2, The Very Thought of You, which features Sam’s older sister Amanda and a hot fireman, comes out October 2019. Book 3, For The Love of You, releases January 2020 and features Sam’s twin sister Dylan in a fake engagement with a playboy French soccer player. I’m also working on a 1920’s historical set in Paris.
Words of advice for fellow writers in the trenches:
Don’t give up! Keep writing no matter what.
She’s avoided Hollywood for years…
When an arrogant Hollywood stuntman struts into Samantha McNeill’s breeding barn, sparks fly. She doesn’t care how mouthwateringly gorgeous he is, not when he assumes Pacific Vista Ranch’s resident horse breeding manager must be a man. Not to mention his job threatens to pull her family back into the paparazzi filled world they escaped from over a decade ago.
Now it’s at her door––wearing faded jeans and a wicked grin.
Holt Ericsson can tell the beautiful redhead hates him on sight and the feeling is becoming mutual. But he will call in a favor and convince Sam’s legendary director father that Pacific Vista Ranch is the only suitable place left in California to film an epic Western. Holt’s invested all his savings in the movie and his entire career is riding on it. No way will he allow one irritating, sexy woman to stand in his way.
Sam intends to fight him at every turn…if only her heart didn’t race when they’re together. Holt does his best to steer clear of her…except all he wants to do is hold her close. The sizzling attraction between them is either going to burn up the sheets or burn down the ranch
Let’s wrap up with an excerpt from Nobody Else But You.
Holt froze.
Would he ever find any privacy? What he wouldn’t give to be alone in either his generic apartment or a soulless hotel room in Anywhereville.
He’d been reclining on the chaise lounge closest to the pool cabana, ready to strum his fingers against the familiar guitar strings. Minding his own damn business. The splash jolted him out of his almost relaxed state.
Please don’t let it be her.
After the awkward scene at dinner, he’d retreated to the guesthouse and the nearby deserted pool beckoned to him. Playing some music in the mild Southern California evening appealed to him, especially after he’d been stuck inside 24/7 during his most recent job in a remote corner of Canada.
The lights from the main house illuminated her slim, lithe form slicing through the water. Slender toned arms silently stroked and uniform kicks propelled her from one end of the pool and back. Of course she swam as well as she rode, barely leaving ripples in the glasslike water’s surface.
Adrenaline started pumping through his veins. But damn––all he wanted was a little peace and quiet. His music calmed him and served as part of his pre-film preparation for all of the upcoming intricate stunt work. Definitely not the time for a confrontation with a gorgeous half-naked woman who was also dealing with a lot of upheaval. He didn’t have the energy to fight.
He didn’t want to fight with her, but it just seemed to happen.
Should he just bail and find another secluded spot on the property? The ranch was certainly big enough.
Maybe he could slink off without alerting her to his presence. It certainly would be a hell of a lot easier.
He nodded his head decisively, grabbed his guitar, and sprang to his feet. There had to be another spot on the other two hundred plus acres of ranch where Samantha McNeill was not nearby in a bathing suit. If luck were with him, she never needed to know he’d been at the pool. He remained in the shadows, crept toward the stone path, and prayed she kept swimming. Not that he was skulking away or anything.
Yeah, right.
