I’m so excited about my current works in progress that I had trouble sleeping last night.  (This often happens, which is why I try not to think about what I’m writing a couple hours before bedtime.  But sometimes in the middle of the night, I’ll get ideas, and that’s when it’s hard to sleep.  I won’t complain.  It’s fun when the stories pretty much write themselves because it lets me know I’m on the right track.)

All that aside, here’s what I’m working on at the moment…

The Earl’s Stolen Bride (Marriage by Deceit: Book 4)

This will finish up this particular series, but…we will see these characters again in my next Regency series, Marriage by Arrangement.

Quick note about Malcolm’s romance: Malcolm Jasper (Melissa’s brother in Ruined by the Earl) is going to be the hero in one of the books (His Wicked Lady), which might be the book to start that series.  If anyone needs a lady who doesn’t care about the rules of the Ton and will loosen him up, it’s Malcolm.  He just might come to befriend Logan.

Back to The Earl’s Stolen Bride: I am at 19,000 words in The Earl’s Stolen Bride.  (My total word count goal is 60,000 to 65,000 words, so that gives you an idea of my progress.)  Yesterday, I had a “light bulb moment” where I finally knew where to go in this book.

All I knew when I started was that Orlando had been pining for Chloe for over a year, and he finally gets his chance to be with her when her husband dies.  But he had to make his move fast before her family could arrange for her to marry someone else after her mourning period was over.  Beyond that, I had no idea where I was going in this book.

I am not a plotter.  It doesn’t work for me.  So I pretty much have to write until I know what to do because it’s only by writing that I truly understand the characters.  This method does have it’s moments of panic because a part of me wonders if I can actually pull it off.  But it is also very exciting because I never know where any story will go when I start it.  It’s like going on a journey and discovering new things.  This is why I love the writing part of creating a book so much.

A Groom’s Promise (sequel to Bride by Arrangement)

I’m between 1/2-3/4 of the way done with my novella “The Marriage Bargain” in this anthology.  I’m thrilled at how well this story is coming together.  My hero is about to make a bargain with the heroine’s father for the honor of marrying her.  I’m a little over 27,000 words, and my estimate is that this will be about 40,000 words long.

Wagon Trail Bride

Now that Ruined by the Earl is out, I can get serious about writing in this one.  I’m still hovering at 10,000 words (out of 55,000 to 65,000 I’d like to write total).  This is Richard Larson’s book, and though we do see his family, the focus is mostly on others in the wagon train.  This is going to be the first book in the Pioneer Series, so in addition to getting into Richard and Amanda’s romance, I’m also laying the groundwork to the next two books I’m planning in the series.  This has caused me to go slower since I’m figuring out what to do with them.

One romance will feature a young woman who is “bugging” Amanda for most of the book because she insists on talking to her even though Amanda would rather be alone.  This character (Laura) will be the heroine of book 2, which I have already titled The Marriage Agreement.  The other romance will feature the young man (Joe) who will try to come between Amanda and Richard in this book.  I don’t have the title (or plot) for his book yet, but it’ll be #3.

The Convenient Mail Order Bride

It took me months to figure out how to go about writing this one.  I had originally titled this Stolen, but since I had “The Earl’s Stolen Bride” for the Regency, I nixed that title.   Then I had to decide what to do with the hero because he’s the one who’s going to have the main source of conflict.  I think I know where I’m heading, but I only started this one, so I have to keep writing to figure it all out.  I can’t figure the story out until I write it (which I know makes no sense to authors who plot their books), but it’s just how it works for me.

Betting On Love

I’m working on this when time permits, which means not a whole lot.  But a little here and there adds up after a while. 🙂