2025 updates
I can’t believe another year’s gone by. Wasn’t it just, like… 2023 and I had this idea for a guy who really wanted to bang his best friend’s daughter?
But here we are.
I just finished reading an amazing series of standalone novels (if you’re curious, the Monstrous series by Lily Mayne) and the final book isn’t out yet. So naturally I had to go scour the internet to find out whyyyyyy because it was supposed to come out in 2023. And you know, I started thinking, “I bet this is what people feel like when they’re wondering what’s happening with Perfect Nightmare [or book 2 in the Cold-Hearted Players series].”
Hence, this blog post. I figured I should write a quick update about what I’m currently working on and what my plans are for this year.
(this is always with the caveat that I reserve the right to change my mind and that things happen and that I have chronic migraines and horrible agoraphobia-level anxiety and ADHD all of which make my writing time unreliable)
So, let’s jump into it:
Perfect Nightmare
I have had horrendous writer’s block on this book. Every time I go to work on it, it’s like my brain says “NOPE” and just checks out. I did manage, about… 2 weeks ago, now? To get out another 3k on it. It’s currently sitting at almost 50,000 words so there’s not nothing there. But the urge to write this story comes and goes. I like to think of myself as a “vibes” writer, which means I follow my feelings on what story I’m going to work on that day. Sometimes I’ll wake up and think, “OMG, I have to write on X story today.” Other times, the idea of working on that same story makes me want to clean my house to avoid it (if you have ADHD, you get this). This is all to say that I know you guys want it. Trust me when I say I desperately want to finish it if for no other reason to just get it off my mind and say I did. I love Tristen and Waverly. LOVE them. Their story is my favorite of the series so far. But I think I spent so much time in my head trying to get it perfect (ha, see what I did there?) in the beginning, that it really killed my desire to actually write it. Especially because I’ve re-written the beginning, like, 5 times now. The good news is I’ve settled into those 50,000 words, so I’m not going to have to re-write them. For the sake of getting this damn book done, though, I may have to abandon my need to match the timeline up just right and say fuck it and let the words flow. Guess we’ll see the next time the vibes are right.
Cheap Shot (CHP #2)
I had this amazing idea for Kingston’s backstory that would play into his relationship with the FMC for this book, but I had no idea how to fit it into a hockey book. The plot (not the relationship plot but the external storyline, the one that needs to have hockey in it in a hockey book) just would not come to me no matter how long I thought on it. I toyed with the idea of tossing the backstory for him and using it for someone else, but I just couldn’t. Not only because it’s who he is in my mind, but also because it plays a really pivotal role in their relationship and the way it unfolds. So I set it aside. For months. I set it aside and just tried to ignore it while it gathered dust in the corners of my mind piled high with all sorts of useless stuff. But then. But then! A few weeks ago, it hit me. It just popped its head up and said, “This is what I need to be.” So now I have the story idea. Since I’ve already got the character work done, all that’s left to do is work out the details and start writing. Which I will… when the vibe is right. I’m really excited for the level of obsession and devotion King has to his girl. It’s really impressive and possibly the most of any male main character I’ve written so far (Cohen included, and he married his wife to get to his stepdaughter, so that’s saying something). I haven’t written any of the actual prose on this book yet.
Unrepentant (Standalone)
This book. So, I’m a bit of a political news junkie and like a lot of America, I followed the story of Luigi Mangione pretty closely for a while there. And unlike a lot of America, I thought, “I want this guy to get his HEA.” Not Luigi, obviously, because murder IRL isn’t cool. But also, my MMC are always so murder-y I just felt inspired to write something. That’s Unrepentant. I haven’t shared anything about this book outside of my Patreon, and even there the details have been sparse so far as I work out whether I’m actually doing this. Am I going to seriously write a book about this? Yeah, I think I might. I’ve done the character work. I’ve got the setting all worked out. And I’ve written the first two chapters. This is loosely inspired by what happened. I say loosely because what the guy did to get himself thrown in jail is similar (not the same) and his initials are the same as my character. After that, the similarities end. I’ve felt like writing a prison romance for a while. You know I love writing forbidden romance and how much more forbidden can you get than a prisoner and a medical student doing one of her last clinical rotations at a maximum security prison?
Bound Souls (TSM #2)
This has been a long time coming. I get asked about book 2 in this series from time to time. Book 1 isn’t currently available on Amazon because I honestly didn’t know when (or if…) I’d ever finish it. It’s set to be a trilogy and I felt like it was really fucked up of me to have book 1 out there knowing it ended on a cliffhanger and I wasn’t sure I’d finish it. However, I absolutely ADORE these characters. Book 1 was my first ever foray into writing reverse harem and the reviews were mixed which really messed with my confidence and desire to finish it. Then, Beautiful Carnage happened and this series got pushed to the side. But I’ve written a rough (roughhhh) draft of book 2 now. All that’s left to do is edits and revisions (which is honestly the hardest part about writing a book so I say ‘all’ with a lot of sarcasm). But I want to finish up this series. Book 2 adds in some of the Heather Ashley things you know and love and expect - breeding kink and pregnancy and hello shadow daddy (Hiro).
Divine Torment (SSoEH #4)
If those other 4 books get done, and no other plots smack me across the face and demand to be written right meow (meow), then I’ll likely move on to writing Xander’s book. I know a little about this story and a lot about Xander’s back story, so I guess it depends where Perfect Nightmare ends. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that I’ve basically tossed out the plot I had planned for Perfect Nightmare and am just figuring it out as I go which… is not how I normally do things. Anyway, we’ll see if I get to this one but I’d like to think (with all the hope and bullshit of a new year) that I’ll get it done. We’ll see.
So that’s where I’m at. I’m also starting a new pen name this year dedicated to my love of MM books and bi-awakenings. I’ll write more about that when it happens, but for now, this is my focus.