Earlier this month, I listed out the goals I wanted to accomplish this summer. One was to get my books up on Payhip. I did that. The other was to getting some books on Kobo. I did that. Then there was updating the book descriptions on The Wedding Pact, Fairest of Them All, Nelly’s Mail Order Husband, and Forever Yours. I just finished up with that this morning.

That leaves me with the final goal of coming up with a decision on what to write starting in late August when the kids go back to school. So this is what I’m currently leaning toward.

1. Book 5 in the Marriage by Fairytale Series. (I don’t have a title yet.) 

Here are the books so far:

I want Marcy’s cousin (someone I introduced at the end of One Enchanted Evening) to find someone. I like the guy. The plot, thankfully, has come to me, and it’s going to have a wonderful gothic feel to it, which fits the tone of the other books in the series.

The basic idea is that he goes out to the country to marry a lady through an arrangement, and when he gets there, he quickly learns that her family is bordering on insanity. The lady is the only sane one, but they all think she’s the crazy one, and they have locked her away to keep her from running off. This is loosely based off the Rapunzel fairy tale. I don’t have much else than that except it would be cool if I can also blend in elements of the short story “The Most Dangerous Game” that I read years ago in college. For anyone who doesn’t know, that is where the villain is hunting the hero for sport. In my story, it would be fun if the hero’s life was in danger at some point.

But…even though I make plans before writing a book, the characters will ultimately decide where to take things.

2. A historical western romance where a very recently widowed woman with a kid or two (or is pregnant) has to get a husband ASAP or else she’ll lose the ranch.

Since she’s desperate, she agrees to take a man who was caught with a group of bandits. The man has no memory of who he is, and he’s in a serious situation. I’m thinking he’s going to be hanged if he doesn’t marry her. I’d have to set this out in the wilderness or something so that there would really be no options available to her but to marry him.

There are a lot of details that need to be ironed out. I’m not sure if this would be a serious story or a comedy. I’d have to start writing it to find out.

3. The Outlaw’s Bride

My mind keeps going back to this one, and I might as well finish the rewrite. It was originally The Stagecoach Bride.

4. The Rancher’s Bride

Yes, I did say that I wasn’t going to write four books at a time ever again, but I’m currently at chapter 11 (32,000 words) in The Outlaw’s Bride. I’m over halfway to the end. And I really want to write these two stories. II can get away with writing less per writing day in The Outlaw’s Bride since I am so far into it. Plus, I know how it ends. It’s just a matter of rewriting it out.

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Those are the books I’m looking at right now for August-December. I tried to think of something for one of Tom’s daughters, but my mind is completely blank. I’m not going to write a story where I don’t know what the plot will be because I have no enthusiasm for it. So the Larsons will just have to wait.