For those of you who don't already know, I try to publish a full novel every month. Sometimes I've hit 6 weeks and sometimes 3, but I'd say my average over 40+ books is about 4 weeks. I'm so used to doing it, it's not that big a deal, although when I procrastinate and save up some big word-count days toward the end of the month, I do tend to over-caffeinate.
As I'm coming down the home stretch with Drifters' Alliance 3 (my space opera series I started this year), with just 2 more days left until I MUST upload the final draft (per my contract with Montlake who is publishing a romance I wrote titled Wrong Number, Right Guy), I realize I just need more time.
Here's what happened (grab a snack, I have a feeling this is going to be long):
I started writing this third book in Drifters' Alliance with the thought that it would wrap up the story arc started in book 1 and begin a new arc that I could stretch across another 3 books (4, 5, and 6). I'd like this series to just keep going for as long as I'm having fun writing it and my readers are having fun reading it. I'm such a huge Firefly fan, and this is my way of keeping my head in space, as it were. Not that this is fanfiction or anything, but hey, space is space…
As many of you know, I don't use outlines. I just sit down and write whatever my characters are saying and doing, like I'm typing out a dictation of a movie I'm watching in my head. That always means surprises, but sometimes there are bigger surprises that show up than other times. In this book, that happened, big time.
I thought it was all going to be pretty easy to tie things up and find the ending, but NO, I was wrong. All kinds of weird shit happened midway through the book, and new characters popped up who I had no idea were going to join the party. And then these sinister undertones hinting about the existence of other characters being out there (as yet unknown to me) showed up … Ack. Big mess of a story line.
Long story short, DA3 is going to be a lot more complicated to finish up than I expected. I won't feel comfortable wrapping up this book until I've gone back (again) and re-read books 1 and 2 to make sure all the loose ends are tied up and the consistency is there. There are just too many threads to tie together, and I don't want to shortchange my readers by dropping the ball. Books 1 and 2 worked on setting the stage and developing the characters a little, but this book brings it all together.
Soooo … long story short, here's my new pub schedule (which is still subject to change!): August 28th you'll get Drifters' Alliance 2. September 22nd, you get Wrong Number, Right Guy (First in a series of 3 romances). End of October you'll get Drifters' Alliance 3 and at least one War of the Fae book (9) and possibly #10 as well. November, #10 of War of the Fae if it isn't already out and Just One Week, a serial romance that is related to the Just One Night series I wrote last year.
That's it! I hope you don't tear your hair out over this (like I am). Big hugs to all my faithful (and patient) readers!
when do you think the second and third book will be coming out for the “bourbon street boys”? I really enjoyed the first book!
Thanks much!
I can’t be sure exactly, but for sure in 2016. It’s all up to Montlake Romance!