In case you haven’t seen it, I do have release dates now for His Abducted Bride and His Reluctant Lady.

His Abducted Bride is due out July 30.  If you’d like to pre-order it, you can do so at Apple iBookstore or Smashwords using the links below:

Apple iBookstore

Smashwords

His Reluctant Lady is due out August 6.  If you’d like to pre-order it, you can do so at Apple iBookstore or Smashwords using the links below:

Apple iBookstore

Smashwords

Book Stephannie Beman and I are working on.

At the moment, Stephannie and I are on the last chapter of this book.  It’s been a hectic and busy summer for both of us.  Summers are harder to write during since the kids are home and since we both have them, we end up doing family activities more often than writing, which is as it should be since children are only young for a short time.  Got to enjoy the moments while you can.  🙂

I’m not sure when this one will be out.  Since this is a co-authored book, both of our schedules have to be clear to work on it.  I’ll update on this book when I have more information on it.

The Anthology Janet Syas Nitsick and I Are Working On

I was talking to Jan today, and we might end up splitting this up so it’s not an anthology but in the same series.  What I mean by that is her novella, “She Came By Train”, would be book 1 in the series.  Then mine (which I’m thinking of retitling) will be book 2.  I know this is confusing.  We’re still trying to figure out what we want to do and the best way to proceed.  The anthology idea is a neat one, but it might be more complicated than it’s worth.  If we do split the books up so they are separate stories (instead of part of one book), then she’ll keep the cover with the name change “She Came By Train” and I will get a new cover with (probably) something like “Pete’s Mail-Order Bride”.  I’ll keep you posted as we iron out the details.

We are both hoping to have our stories done by Christmas.  *fingers crossed*  That might change, of course, depending on unforeseen circumstances.

This novella keeps getting longer and longer, but I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  This was supposed to be 10,000 words when I started it.  It’s now past 28,000 words long.  I should be posting up more scenes soon.  The thing is, I had to jump ahead to the scenes recorded in Falling In Love With Her Husband so I could figure out what Kent’s point of view really was.

That made it easier to go back and connect all the dots on how he got to the point where he was chasing Ann to the barn and why she felt threatened.  All I can say is that it was not easy, but it was worth it because it’s helped me figure out where I need to go to continue with Catching Kent since the two books are connected.  Kent’s past plays into his resistance to being with Rose Larson.

I’m finally over the halfway point of this book.  I suspect Kent’s father is going to play a part to how this book ends.  There was a scene I wrote today where Kent pretty much promised his father that he’d reap what he’d sown (you’ll see what I mean when I get to posting more scenes from that novella again).  The one thing I’ll say about Rose Larson is that she’s not as gullible and frightened as Rebecca was in Kent Ashton’s Backstory.  I’m not sure where Catching Kent is going, though.  The characters are guiding me along chapter by chapter.  It’s both scary and exciting at the same time.  LOL

If all goes according to plan, I am estimated to finish the first drafts for Kent Ashton’s Backstory and Catching Kent in mid-September.  This puts me down for a late October release for both.

I finally got the scandal established so I was able to get past chapter 1 in this book.  I’m in chapter 2.  LOL  Yeah, not a huge distance, but at least I’m at the point where Perry has is being scandalized, much to his shock.  Christopher Robinson (his lovable but wayward ward) has a hand in the scandal and will probably be an ally to the heroine, Paula, as the book continues.  I really enjoy Christopher.  He’s one of my favorite Regency characters because he loves to irk Perry just to get a reaction out of him.  I also loved how he was with Agatha in His Reluctant Lady.  He’s just a fun guy to be around.

I’m hoping to have the first draft to this done in December which puts me in line for publishing it around January, probably late January.

Finally, the last current story is Boaz’s Wager.  I’m going to go light on this one until I finish up a couple of the others.  I was anxious to get started so I did.  But I’ll be writing only a little bit here and there in it.  The above stories are a priority.

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As a side note, Eva Connealy (heroine in Boaz’s Wager) does not travel to Montana alone. She is with Rachel Larson (Dave and Mary Larson’s oldest daughter) when their stagecoach is taken over by outlaws who then take them to Lewistown where they’ll be sold to men to marry.  Rachel was on her way to be a mail-order bride to a rancher in Jordan, but she’ll end up being someone else’s wife in Lewistown instead.  So this means the Montana Romance Collection will have 4 books in it instead of the 3 I originally planned.  More information will be coming on Rachel’s story as I figure out more to the plot.

This is why I continue to self-publish my books.  I can do whatever I want with my characters.  I am enjoying putting characters from one series into another series.   The flexibility is what makes writing a lot of fun. 🙂