Done with the first draft

I finished it today.   I have this on preorder for November 20 to give myself time to get it through the editing stages and to give myself some breathing room during the move to Montana.  (I haven’t officially moved yet, but I will early next month.  Right now, it’s a matter of getting things wrapped up in Nebraska.)

Books 2-4 in the series will not have sex in them.

Though I’ve been working on this book, I have been thinking of the next one in the series.  In doing so, I realized a sex scene isn’t necessary in that one.  There is nothing it would add to the plot or to the growth of the characters.  I enjoy putting sex scenes into books, but only if the sex adds something.  I don’t believe in adding sex just to have it there.  If sex doesn’t somehow add to the book, I see no reason to have it there.

So…in realizing I don’t need sex in book 3 and sex doesn’t fit anywhere in book 4, I decided to remove sex from book 2.  The sex in book 2 was more optional than mandatory.  In book 1 it worked because that was when Hathor truly felt loved by Ann.  But it’s not necessary in the rest of the series.  One of the perks of self-publishing is being able to call the shots on what is best for the series.  I don’t like trying to fit my books into someone else’s vision for them.  If I don’t do what is best of the books, the stories end up sucking.

In short, I changed my mind and will keep books 2-4 the way they already were.

Books 2-4 have a high fantasy content.

There are romantic threads through books 2-4.  I don’t know what the percentage is between romance and fantasy, but it is more fantasy-ish than I originally thought.  So to label these as fantasy romance might be misleading.  When I categorize this series, I am going to label it fantasy and romance.

I know these types of books don’t appeal to most of you, which is why I feel it’s important to specify what this series is.  That way, you don’t pick up the books thinking they’re straight out romance when they aren’t.  I want to be are fair and transparent as possible.  As a reader, I hate it when an author misleads me into believing a book is something it isn’t.  I don’t read all books authors I enjoy write, so I understand if you decide to skip this series.  No hard feelings. 😀  I’d rather you read the books you will enjoy than reading books you don’t.

Will start this one tomorrow

I have some downtime before things pick up in a week and a half, so I’m going to use it to get started on book 3.  I would work on Wagon Trail Bride if I thought I could handle it, but that would be too much.  So I’m going to work on this one since it’s not so much work.