NaNoPrep2023: The Rebellion Begins

I have participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) since 2006. So this November, 2023, will be my 18th NaNoWriMo.

Holy Wow. That’s a lot of novels.

No, really, it is. I have nine (yes, 9) unfinished novels. And they are really good novels. Eight are related to existing series. (The standalone is 2021’s Super Sekrit Steampunk novel.)

So I came to the conclusion that I really, really, REALLY need to finish these novels. And I really, really need to spend my NaNoWriMo November writing time to achieve this goal rather than starting more new novels. Continue reading

Inspiration: Romance in the Interstices

Interstice (noun) in·​ter·​stice
plural — interstices
1a: a space that intervenes between things, especially one between closely spaced things
b: a gap or break in something generally continuous
2: a short space of time between events

Have you ever seen the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead? The play (also a movie) is a retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet from the point of view of the courtiers Rosencrantz and Gildenstern, minor characters who inhabit the interstices of the action of Hamlet.

I like to think of A Delicate Seduction as the Rosencrantz and Gildenstern of The Harwell Heirs series, except without the existential absurdism. Continue reading

Pre-order A Delicate Seduction! Harwell Heirs Book Four, finally!

Finally…finally A Delicate Seduction: A Harwell Heirs Legacy Romance, Book Four in the Harwell Heirs series, is available for pre-order!

It’s been a long time, a long time, yes, I know. The last time I released a brand new book (not a repackaged, previously published story) was 2019.

Can you tell I am so happy to be releasing Percival and Bertram’s story into the world? Check out this gorgeous cover! Continue reading

NaNoPrep2022: Steampunk Rebel!

This year has been a difficult one. My mother died unexpectedly. My father continues to live under hospice care. So I’m taking it easy with my 2022 National Novel Writing Month November effort. Which means I’m going to, yet again, be a NaNo Rebel.

What’s a NaNoWriMo Rebel you might ask? Someone who bucks the NaNoWriMo tradition of writing 50,000 words of a brand new novel during November. The team over at National Novel Writing Month has FAQs in their discussion forum. Continue reading

NaNoPrep2020: Pantsing Adam and Lydia’s story

Welp, it’s October 2020 and time for NaNoPrep2020, otherwise known as Preptober. Also, it’s the absolute end of October and I really just started prepping my NaNoWriMo novel this week. Ugh, sigh.

But, I have a premise, I have the fake NaNo cover, and I think farming is over for right now. (Okay, well, farming never ends, but it sometimes takes a seasonal break. By the way, did you know I was a gentlefolk farmer?)

This year I’m totally pantsing it. I have a vague premise of a story involving Lydia and Adam from The Vicereine, the sex club in my Art & Discipline series. The title is tentatively A Model Alliance.

Who are Lydia and Adam, you might ask?
Continue reading

NaNoWriMo 2014: The Westerman Affair

[UPDATE: The Westerman Affair was published in 2017!]

This will be my ninth NaNoWriMo. I’m such a geek about the event that I went ahead and filled in all my novels since 2006 – which just shows how geeky I really am since I’ve kept all that NaNoWriMo documentation over the years. I’ve left the original covers I made for the event and not the covers as published (only two books remain unfinished, and therefore, unpublished). I really like that General’s Wife cover! It’s a detail from Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s amazing Baroque sculpture The Rape of Proserpina, 1621-22, in Rome’s Borghese Gallery. I also like that tag line I made for it: “Will she submit to the enemy?” I should totally use that when I redo the cover. Continue reading

Snippet Sunday: The Pleasure Device: Opening

I’m back for Snippet Sunday* after a hiatus. During said hiatus I published The Pleasure Device, book 1 in my Victorian-era Harwell Heirs series, and turned in book 2 (title reveal! You saw it here first!: working title Lord Petersham’s Contract now called Disobedience By Design), to my publisher, Ellora’s Cave. So, of course I’m going to promote The Pleasure Device! Continue reading

NaNoWriMo: Winner!

Today I gave myself a pat on the back for “winning” National Novel Writing Month with my book Miss Danby’s Condition (book three in the Harwell Heirs series). Continue reading