Connie Lynch asked Amy Lillard:

When you are writing is it harder to come up with a story line or the characters who make it come to life? Do you model the characters after people you have met? Connie

Amy Lillard The story line usually comes first in the form of a "what if?" question. What if a Dallas socialite crashes her car in Amish country Oklahoma? What if an Amish girl discovers that her father has a tattoo? Once that is in place, the characters will make the story. Two of my upcoming novels--one contemporary cowboy and the other inspirational Amish--have the same plot. A couple has a one night stand and an unexpected pregnancy. So the basic story is the same, but the books are vastly different! :) Because the characters are so different. I don't have any characters who are completely modeled after people I know, but I do like to take interesting names and funny character traits that I encounter in my "real life" and give them to my characters. Like the fear of things that jump and a love of Van Halen. All these things come together to make realistic characters. :)

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