The Cursed Earl (Marriage by Necessity Series: Book 2)

Books in the Marriage by Necessity Series:

Might be a Book 4

I’m finally on Chapter 5. Considering I started this book back in March, it’s frustrating I’ve made so little progress, but it is why I pushed the release month from September to November.

Part of the delay was having to rewrite about half of An Earl In Time. I ended up putting all books on hold and focusing in on that book for a good month. An Earl In Time also turned out to be longer than what I usually write, so that didn’t help, but I was determined to fill in all of the loose ends. I didn’t see the point in making it a series or a serial. Despite all of the frustrations, I am glad I wrote An Earl In Time. It’s just that sometimes I wish there were two of me. 😀

Since I did have such a wide gap between starting The Cursed Earl and finally getting to chapter 5, I forgot how I was going to bring Christopher Robinson and Lord Edon into this book. All I jotted down in my notes was “Lord Quinton, Lord Edon, and Mr Robinson”. I’m sure those three were going to be connected. I have Lord Quinton. He’s a new character, and his role has a direct impact on the hero of this book. But I have no idea what I was going to do with the my favorite two Regency characters. If they don’t fit in here, I’m sure I’ll find another place for them in a future book.

The Loner’s Bride (Wyoming Series: Book 4)

Books in the Wyoming Series:

I’m on Chapter 2. It’s funny that I never really understood why Jeremiah wasn’t interested in a romantic relationship with Abby in this series. On paper, they probably seemed like a natural match since he was a good family friend and they’ve known each other for the longest time. I knew Abby only saw him as an older brother, even though I never came out and stated it. I never got that deep into Jeremiah’s thoughts in The Rancher’s Bride since he was preoccupied with finding Abby and Lloyd. But from Abby’s viewpoint, she had zero romantic interest in Jeremiah. In fact, the prospect of a romance between these two was so far removed from her that it never even made a blip on her radar, hence why I never even addressed the “why” she wasn’t interested in him.

It wasn’t until I started Chapter 2 (Jeremiah’s point of view) in The Loner’s Bride that I finally understood why he has no interest in Abby. Until I’m writing a character’s point of view, I don’t really understand why the character does and think the things he/she does. This is probably why plotting doesn’t work for me. I think they term a writer who learns as they write a “discovery writer”. I had to look it up online, and I’m right. A discovery writer is a writer who has very little (if any) idea on how a book will end up. They just start writing and see how things unfold. That’s how I write, and it’s why I can’t answer questions I’ll get once in a while from someone who wants to know why a certain character did or didn’t do something. I might have written something in the book, and I know it’s what the character wanted to do, but until I’m in that character’s head, I can’t tell anyone why the character did it.

So basically, I start a story and let the character tell me who that character is. That’s how I figure out a character’s personality. A character’s personality shapes the story. Based on the character’s personality, that character will make certain decisions that will end up impacting things (for better or worse) as the story progresses, and as a result of this, other characters will react based on their personality traits. Then those characters’ decisions will impact how the character acts in turn. So it’s like a cycle that builds on itself. This is why twists often pop up when I’m writing. I’m often blindsided by about half of the stuff my characters end up doing simply I can’t predict their actions until I’m writing the scene.

The reason Jeremiah never had an interest in Abby was he doesn’t see her as a woman. He sees her as a “boy”. Abby’s not really equal with her brothers since he does feel protective of her, but she’s not really a “girl”, either. I’m not sure if that makes sense or not, but that is his perception of her. She’s halfway between a little brother and an adult woman. This realization came to me when I was writing the scene where she asks him to help Katie find a husband. Katie will be staying at the orphanage to help the widows and him take care of the children. Katie is now 20 and ready to get married, but Abby wants her “older brother” who happens to live in the center of town to be her chaperone. Anyway, as Abby is buttering him up to help Katie find a husband, she’s batting her eyelashes at him, and all he’s thinking is how ridiculous she looks because (to him) she looks like she’s trying to blink away a bug that’s in her eyes. So there’s no way Jeremiah could ever be matched with Abby.

Katie, however, is going to be a different story. Katie is feminine in how she looks and in her personality, and those two things will attract him. I had no idea this was why my subconscious mind told me that Jeremiah’s only match was going to be Katie. I shied away from writing their story because of the age difference. She’s going to be 20, and he’ll be 44, but as someone pointed out, Katie’s mature for her age. The men who are her age won’t appeal to her. To them, they’re going to be like “boys”, not grown men. This is all in her personality. This is why a character’s personality impacts everything. I’m hoping that I’ll get to do a scene where Katie bats her eyelashes at him. I think his reaction is going to be completely different than what it was when Abby did it.

Suitable for Marriage (Husbands for the Larson Sisters Series: Book 3)

Books in the Husbands for the Larson Sisters Series:

There will be a Book 4

I’m in Chapter 5 of this one. I started this book way back in December. It’s been very slow going on this one, but the ideas are finally flowing. I hope that keeps up. I have this set for March 2022 for a release month just in case it stalls out again.

Erin’s goal is to get Alex to give up his pursuit of her. His past proposal when he gave her a frog with a ribbon tied around it and a love letter didn’t impress her. 😛 He’s been doing other things to woo her, but he doesn’t have the slightest idea of how to be romantic in a way that actually appeals to women. So he’s a great guy. He just doesn’t know what he’s doing.

As a result, Erin’s desperately trying to find a young lady somewhere in Omaha who’ll take an interest in him. Alex knows exactly what she’s doing, and since it offers him a chance to spend time with her, he is going along with it. It wasn’t until I was writing in this story last week that I realized Daisy is starting to feel sympathetic toward him. That idea came to me when Daisy told Erin to be nicer to Alex. Alex’s initial thought was that Daisy might be an ally. So he’s going to ask Daisy for help, and I think Daisy will go along with it, even though her initial plan was to help Erin. We’ll see how Erin reacts if she catches on to what Daisy will be doing. It’s possible Erin won’t figure it out. I’ll find out as I keep writing.