Dear Ms Wild,
Liv Arnold, Stepping Stone
Or may I call you Meredith because you started following me on Instagram? I was so excited; I showed my phone screen to my friends. Since 2013, I have admired you. I came across your Hacker Series through a Facebook ad and was intrigued by a tech-savvy female lead. Then I read you were a tech entrepreneur. A self-made woman. Sold! I grabbed a copy.
I swooned over the handsome billionaire Blake Landon, not afraid to break the rules. I wanted to pretend I was an officer writing him a ticket and if everything went to plan, he'll be handcuffing me. My jaw dropped at the first intimate scene. I had read nothing like it. During the build up, I held my breath. Tick Tock ya don’t stop. Here you were, not afraid of creating bold women taking charge of their sexuality.
I read your books until late at night, fangirling at Blake’s steamy escapades and sexual prowess. Like my clock, he also went from six to midnight. Your books are the only place where if I read the words, “Who’s your daddy,” I would find it completely acceptable. Women shouldn’t be embarrassed by their wants and needs.
When I started writing romance, I was mortified about who might read the explicit scenes. I found your Yahoo! News’ article, Erotic Novelist Mom: “I’m Not Ashamed of Anything I Do.” I resonated with you on, “When you read these books, it allows you to shut your brain off and just feel sensual and aroused, and to think about intimacy in a healthy way.”
This gave me a new way of thinking. I was not crafting my best work by holding back. Your novels inspired me to write heroines in industries often dominated by men. My Invested in You Series is based on three women who work in data analytics in an investment firm. In Stepping Stone, the main female character has to discover who’s hacking the company’s software for illegal trades.
Your books have smart, driven and strong women. The type that would reply to inappropriate messages with a photo of Harvey Weinstein. I know I’m an author, but sometimes a picture says more than words.
So, I’ll keep striving to write about heroines that are in control of their life, have amazing sex and won’t settle for anything less. Isn’t that what everyone deserves? But like you said in the interview, I’m blushing the whole time while talking about sex. And praying no one in my family reads my work.
I hope one day I can have half your career. You have led the way of the romance genre, shying away from the damsel in distress. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Warmest regards,
Liv Arnold