I’m happy to say that I have two books over halfway done.  One (A Royal Engagement) is a rewrite so it’s not all that much work since the story is already complete, so getting it done so fast is not as impressive as it sounds. 😎

I honestly don’t know if A Royal Engagement or The Mail Order Bride’s Deception will be done first, but I do expect both to wrap up around the same time.  They’re both currently hovering around the 40,000 word mark.

 I expect A Royal Engagement to be longer since I’m adding more to it and it was originally at 63,000 words.   So far I’ve added four more scenes to it and expect to add at least two more before all is said and done.  I’m guessing this will put the book at 65,000 to 70,000 words when all is said and done.

I expect to finish up the first draft in mid-to-late April.  At that time, I’ll be handing it off to my wonderful editing and beta reading team.  So we’re looking at a release some time in May.  I was hoping to have it out in April, but it’s just not going to happen.  I refuse to rush a book just to get it out there.  I want each book to be the best it can be, and sometimes that means waiting.

The Mail Order Bride’s Deception is pretty much laid out on where I want to go.  Fortunately, this is one of those books that pretty much writes itself, much like The Earl’s Scandalous Wife did.  I will be handing this book off to my expert beta reader who can figure out scenes to add to enhance a story.  After I get her feedback, I’ll probably add 2-4 more scenes to complete the story.  I know I’m missing something and she’s the perfect one to tell me what that “something” is.

Since I expect this book to be around 60,000 words before I hand it off to my beta reader, I think I’ll be done with the first draft around the second week of April.  After I get the feedback from the beta reader, it’ll be another week to add the new scenes in.  So that puts me around the end of April to have something for my editing team to go through.

So May is looking like the release month for this one as well.

I had to go back and rewrite parts of chapters 1 and 2 in this one because….and this is funny….I forgot that I had written in Boaz’s Wager that Patty’s father was there when she married Greg.  In Patty’s Gamble, I had written it so her father didn’t know she was marrying him.  That is a huge discrepancy.  But it’s all fixed now and I can finally move forward.

This means, of course, that I’m behind schedule and won’t get it out in June.  At this point, I’m going to say July.

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Stephannie Beman and I have signed a contract for two more books to co-write, and we have already gotten started on them.

The Rancher’s Wife – Book 2 in the Wild Hearts Series (co-written with Stephannie Beman)

(I will have a cover up soon on this blog)

Book 1 is The Stagecoach Bride, and toward the end of that book, the characters had rescued Lloyd (a three-year-old boy) from the villain in the series.  The Rancher’s Wife opens with Abby Nichols (Mic’s sister) and Lloyd are exhausted and hungry after running for days.  With Abby’s horse running off, she and the boy hide out in the barn to rest.  This barn belongs to Thayne Jackson (the hero) who finds the two and originally assumes Abby is the older brother since she’s dressed up like a man.

We’re only at chapter 2 so I have no idea how the whole thing will play out.  I only know that Thayne’s father is twisting on his arm for him to find a wife and Thayne’s housekeeper is not going to be happy when she realizes Abby is really a woman.  Should make for some interesting conflict.

I’m taking Thayne’s point of view, and Stephannie is taking Abby’s point of view.

Book I’m Co-Authoring With Stephannie Beman

This is the second book we are working on.  This is not part of the Wild Hearts Series.  This is probably going to be a standalone book, meaning it will probably not belong in a series at all.

Remember that idea I had for a romantic suspense but it was contemporary?  I had titled it Marriage Can Kill.  Well, I was going through it and realized I really do not want to write romantic suspense.  I thought it’d be fun, but the truth is, it’s just not my cup of tea.  So after talking to Stephannie, she suggested I make it a historical western (a genre I already love) and just give it a thriller type element as a sub-plot.  Since I have done these types of books in the past, that is more my speed.

We decided to work on this book together as well.

Arabella Stanford is suspected of the murder of her husband who died due to arsenic  poisoning, and her father-in-law has asked his other son (Thaddeus Stanford) to come to Alaska to investigate the matter.  We’re at chapter 2 in this one too.

I’m taking Arabella’s point of view and Stephannie’s taking Thad’s point of view.

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We’re hoping to finish the first drafts to both of these books in August.  I probably will not publish His Brother’s Wife until late December or early January.  I don’t know when Stephannie will publish The Rancher’s Wife.  More information will come up as the year progresses.