Odds & Ends

Posted at Mar 31, 2016 1:39 pm

It’s been an embarrassingly long time since I’ve blogged here, so it seems an update is in order. Things have happened! Things and stuff! And a great deal that would probably bore you all to tears, though trust me, life has been busy. Funny…the last entry dates from when the Harvest Cove series was new, and as I write this the final book in the series is in the pipeline, only waiting for my approval on copyedits. I’m very proud of this series. Writing contemporary romance was a new way to stretch for me, and though it hasn’t always been easy, it was incredibly worthwhile. Come on Closer even became my very first RT Book Reviews Top Pick! Just when I’d given up hope of ever earning one of those, it happened, which figures. I’ve thought about printing that review out and framing it for posterity. It can go right next to my “David Bowie is very disappointed in you” picture. 🙂

A Little More Love, which is Fitz and Kira’s story, will release September 6th. It’s about two writers and a Newf, which is to say, there’s a whole lotta me in this book. It felt like the right way to pull all the threads together and say goodbye to this set of characters, and I’m content with it. This is actually the first time I’ve ever gotten to end a series the way I wanted, which means a lot to me. Hopefully it will mean a lot to my readers, too, many of whom have suffered through my departures from various publishers in the middle of other series that didn’t earn enough to get me new contracts to finish them. That’s the life of a midlist author, at least in this market, but I know it’s been frustrating for some of my readers who wanted more of various things (trust me, so did I). For those of you who’ve stuck with me, thanks. It means a lot!

So what’s next after Harvest Cove? I’ve been asked a few times, and the answer is…I’m not sure. Right now I’m spending some much-needed down time with my family, reading books instead of writing them (a breath of fresh air after the pace I’ve been working at these past few years), playing Dungeons and Dragons with friends one night a week, waiting for Game of Thrones to start up again. I run. I play video games. And of course, I’m kicking around some ideas for a new book because, well, I’m a writer. That’s what I do! What this book will be, however, is something different for me.

The truth is, once A Little More Love releases in September, I’m taking a break from romance. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for, oh, a couple of years at least, but the prospect of writing the Harvest Cove books was exciting to me, so I pushed off the decision. No regrets here. They’re my best writing to date, and I had a wonderful editor to help them become what they are. It’s been a great experience. But with the sales being very underwhelming, I knew last year that there would be no new contract offered after the fifth book. In its way, knowing that was a gift. It let me finish a series the way I wanted for once. But the prospect of coming up with a new series idea and trying to sell elsewhere, house-hopping yet again in a market where what’s currently popular doesn’t really align with my own interests, filled me with dread. My other option was to step back, take a breath, and follow my heart into something new that, no matter the outcome, will make me happy. What a novel concept, right? 🙂 So. I’ve wanted to write a YA fantasy for quite a long while now, but I never had the time to devote to it. Now I do, so…I will. For me. And then we’ll see what happens. Making a leap into the unknown is scary, but exhilarating at the same time. I’m ready to try something new. Or as Bilbo Baggins would say, “I’m going on an adventure!”

I’ll try to be around these parts a bit more often now that I have some time on my hands. And, um, now that I’ve remembered how to get into my WordPress account. *cough* Happy reading, everyone, and Happy Spring!

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