My Favorite Things

Everyone has favorite stuff. My favorite color is blue. My favorite place to write is the hammock on my front verandah. My favorite animals are horses, dogs, and cats. My favorite people are my husband and kids.

I enjoy reading lots of different kinds of books, but can’t say that I have a particular favorite. However, Book Three in the Dragon’s Fire Series is my Favorite Book I Have Ever Written.

I can’t tell you the title or the main character’s name yet, because I have some upcoming fun planned for that, and I can’t spoil it, so for convenience, we’re going to nickname Book Three “BT” throughout this blog post.

The heroine of BT is my Favorite Character I Have Ever Created. She possesses some very unique talents and outlooks on life. She’s a fascinating hybrid of hero and villain, and she leaped to life in a way that no other main character has in the 37 years I’ve been writing stories.

Do you like meeting familiar characters from previous books in a new book? You will in BT since it begins one week after the cliffhanger at the end of Rose. You’ll be seeing many familiar faces: King Edward, Kate and Andrew, and Joseph Callahan (from the first scene of Rose) all make an appearance in BT.

One person you’ll be seeing a lot of is James Grenleigh, Kate’s older brother.  He did not exist for most of the initial draft of Rose; I  had written seventeen chapters before I went back and wrote him in because Kate needed him. Prince James was a minor secondary character and I had no plans to use him further—or even to write a second book, at first! But then he tapped me on the shoulder and turned into one of the most amazing leading men I have ever worked with. (And Rose got some adjustments, as James became a more important character with a backstory and a future all his own.) James needed a fantastic counterpart—someone just as intense and intriguing as he was. And so my Favorite Heroine Ever was born. And together, they came up with the plot of Dragon’s Fire, bumping their own story to third as they did so.

I am loving editing BT. (It helps that it’s my favorite book of all time!) Usually, when I plan out a story, I do a fair bit of plotting and mapping and thinking. I develop a list of major characters. The storyline takes shape in bullet form before I write the first paragraph. Of course, my initial plan often changes as the story develops and takes on a life of its own, but that plot outline is always there in front of me, guiding me.

Not BT. BT sprang to life in my head as I was wrapping up Rose and took over my every waking thought and most of my sleeping ones. BT almost didn’t let me finish Rose. BT didn’t get a plotline or a character list—there wasn’t time! BT flowed onto the computer screen from fingertips that couldn’t keep up with the story spinning through my head. BT wrote itself. I started BT on October 12th, 2016 and finished the initial draft (some 70,000+ words) 32 days later, on November 13th. That’s quick. Even for me.

Going in now and editing, there are definitely things that can be improved. I’m developing the characters further, intensifying them and their interactions with each other. I’m tightening the story. I’m making a few changes to ensure it fits its place as Book Three, since it was Book Two when I initially wrote it. And I can’t wait to share it with you.

Since it’s my favorite, it’s only fitting that we’re going to have a lot of fun with its release. Stay tuned to my page, and sign up for emails (on the homepage here on the website!) because there’s going to be a contest where you will have a chance to win one of three ebook copies of BT when it’s released, and you don’t want to miss out on the excitement! I’ve got a spectacular cover to share, and the Sneak Peek will be posted on the website once the contest is over and I can reveal this wonderful new heroine’s name!

Hang on for the ride: if you loved Dragon’s Fire and The Rose of Caledon, you’re going to be swept away with BT!