A few days ago, someone mentioned to my husband that the model on my book cover reminded her of Toby Keith.

Funny thing about that, Kylie.

I listened to a lot of Toby Keith while writing Moonlight Serenade. I bought his entire backlist of CDs. If he was on TV, I taped the segment so I could study him. I even did something I’ve never done before: I joined an official fan club. The Toby Keith International Fan Club.

Yeah, hard to believe. I was a Road Warrior.

Then I learned Toby would be in concert  in my general area. I conned a friend into saying she would go, and bought tickets.

Then, just for giggles, I entered a lottery for a backstage meet & greet. And won. Squee!

So I drove to the venue–several hours away–and reported to will call, where there was an envelope with my name on it.

Inside the envelope were instructions and a name tag.

I reported to where I needed to be. I had my husband’s digital camera. I was nervous as all get out. A lot of other people had also won meet-and-greets, so the line was long. We really only had a minute with his Toby-ness, while one of his staff snapped a photo.

And what did I say? “Thank you for the music.”

His response: “That’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever told me.”

All of that said, the hero of Moonlight Serenade is not based on Toby Keith. For starters, I very much doubt Toby is a werewolf.

The motion picture Crazy Heart  thanked Toby Keith in the end credits for his help with the movie. I’m thanking Toby here for inspiring my muse.