The Story Behind Close to Me by Monica Murphy

by grant

in Author Interviews, News, Romance

11 Feb 2020

I wrote a book and self-published it seven years ago. It was called ONE WEEK GIRLFRIEND, and it went on to become an international best seller. It hit the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists multiple times, and the other books in the series did the same. That book, the series and those characters changed my career, changed my life.

And now I’m writing about their children.

It’s crazy for me to wrap my head around the fact that in CLOSE TO ME, my new high school set, new adult romance, Drew and Fable from ONE WEEK GIRLFRIEND are now parents. (If anyone reading this has watched soap operas like Days of Our Lives or All My Children, then know I’ve aged up the kids in soap opera time. Meaning they went from three to seventeen in about two years, HA).

When Drew and Fable first met, they weren’t in the best situation. They both came from messed up homes and found each other when they needed a lifeline the most. Really, they saved each other. I always described them as being a complete mess alone, yet somehow perfect together.

Autumn Callahan, their oldest child, is not messed up at all. She’s had a wonderful upbringing, thanks to her parents. Her father is a retired NFL quarterback, they live in a beautiful home and their household is filled with respect, laughter and understanding. Yet like many a teenage girl (and beyond), she’s attracted to the bad boy at her high school. The push and pull, the does he like me? I hate him back and forth takes a toll on Autumn, but she can’t quit him.

And he can’t quit her either.

Asher Davis is a mess. His dad died when he was young, and his mom doesn’t care about him, so why should Ash care about…anything? But he does care. About football. About school.

About Autumn.

It was so much fun to go back into Drew and Fable’s world. I even wrote in their point of views, and even after all these years, it was incredibly easy to be back in their heads. But they’re older now. Wiser. Trying their best to guide their children and live their lives to the fullest. The One Week Girlfriend series makes me nostalgic, but what’s so great is that I keep them alive in this new series that kicks off with CLOSE TO ME, The Callahans. There will be more books about Drew and Fable’s children, and hopefully, you will be excited to read them all!