From the blog
The Story of The Hidden Gift
My sweet and cozy Father Christmas retelling only exists because I was asked to join the Christmas Chronicles series—no surprise there. The surprising bit is that I ended up picking Father Christmas instead of a fairytale that would more traditionally be considered, you know…a fairy tale. My mind would have never gone that direction, but our intrepid group of authors had a Google doc that we all collaborated on when the project was in its infancy. We used it to throw out ideas, and let the others know which fairytales we wanted to claim and to list other fairytales that might be good for a Christmas retelling, etc… And in that list of potential fairytales, someone had mentioned a Father Christmas origin story. I was immediately intrigued. At the time, I was only writing non-magic fairytales, so having the inspiration for my story grounded in reality gave me a really easy entry point.
Don’t get me wrong, I really love figuring out how to make magical stories into books based in realism; that’s a super fun challenge for me! But being handed the perfect Christmas idea that was already based in reality felt fortuitous, to say the least.
Thus, Nicolai Closs and Annabelle Winters came into existence. Pulling Annabelle from Cecily’s backstory in Hooked worked fabulously, especially since the name Annabelle already felt like a Christmas book name, and turning Nico into St. Nick… *sigh of satisfaction* It was just too perfect.
How did Author Palooza go?
On Saturday, I did my last in-person event for the year. It was my first time attending the Middleton Author Palooza, but it’s the fifth year running, and I was really happy with it! So many readers came. It was well run and well advertised. I got to sit by Madelyn Smith, who I’ve met several times and who also writes both clean romantic contemporary and fantasy (fantasy pen name M.K. Felix).
So it was lovely to have a buddy to pass the time with as we debated how pushy we needed to be in order to draw readers to our tables.
I was visited by one of my lovely ARC readers, and it was so wonderful to get to meet her in person! And at the end of the day, I was happy with the number of books I was able to sell, as well as the overall experience. I’d absolutely do it again.
How’s my next book coming?
It’s coming down to the wire, people! I have a developmental edit scheduled for next month, and that means it’s time to get this thing finished! What thing am I talking about? I’m talking about Prince Dorian’s story. Prince Dorian is Tavric’s brother (from Tangled Sails), and he is the leading man for my Cinderella/Princess and the Pea mashup.
I’m currently trying to write the climactic fighty fighty scenes and this whole magic system thing is really causing problems for me. It’s a love/hate relationship for sure, because there is so much you can do with magic, but also so much you have to figure out! Still, I feel like I’m on track, and I’ve got ideas for my next Honeybrook Inn book percolating in the back of my head.
Now, I don’t know about you, but this year I’m feeling the Christmas vibes early. I’m ready for the decorations and the music and that indescribable feeling, so I think maybe I’ll go drag my decorations out early this year.
Happy November, my lovelies!
Clean Romance Highlights
Check out this BookFunnel promo with a list of clean holiday romances!
I Can’t Help It by Pixie Perkins is a romcom.
If wanting each other is wrong, why does it feel so right?
The Bodyguard’s Fall by Cindy Steel is a new release.
Her stalker is getting closer. So is her bodyguard.
Never Not Friends by Kortney Keisel is a love triangle romance.
Emma Lawson has loved Vinny Brooks since she was fifteen.
Unfortunately, he’s marrying her best friend.
