Better Than a Punch In The Face

Time for some real talk: Writing Playing Jericho has always been a struggle for me since day one. I think I’ve touched on this a little bit before, but every word I write of this book means I have to reach inside my brain (metaphorically, of course), and yank the words free.

The weird thing is I love Jericho as a character. I love his love interest, Moon. I love their story. So why is this so goddamn hard?

I have no idea.

But, I’ve had to resort to sprinting my way through this book to get it done because if I don’t, I’ll most definitely overthink every word, spend hours on thesaurus dot com looking at all the creative and absurd ways to say things, and over-complicate the whole process.

What’s sprinting? It’s when you set a timer and do nothing but write for a short burst of time. I do 20-minute sprints and they work pretty well for me. It’s funny how writing every single book is different, even if you’re mostly the same person when you write them. The processes change to fit the character or the story, whatever you need. That wasn’t something I considered when I started my first book or even my second. I figured the adjustments I was making to my process were because I was learning as a writer.

And maybe that has something to do with it. But Jericho… he’s testing me. Before going into this book (and, admittedly, a little bit with Maddox’s book) I was mostly a fluff writer. I dealt with some issues, but I didn’t turn toward the dark side with bullying or my characters getting obsessive or overly possessive with each other. But my eyes have been opened to the world of bully romance and I find myself intrigued with it to the point that I also find myself itching to incorporate a bit of it into my writing.

How do I settle that with the fact I usually write fluff? Well, I’m still figuring it out because writing dark characters is HARD. I want Jericho to be possessive and protective and a little bit (or a lot) dangerous, but I don’t want to cross a line into irredeemable territory. I want you all to love him like I love him despite his flaws.

And I think that’s what’s making this book difficult to write—balancing the flaws with the good parts so that he’s still a likable character in the end that we all want to see get his HEA.

And thus concludes my ramblings. If you’ve stuck with me this long, keep scrolling for your reward (a bit of unedited Jericho).

Jericho

I chuckled darkly. “It wouldn’t have made a difference in the end, though, and we both know it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she looked up at me and narrowed her eyes.

“Don’t act like you don’t fucking want me, like you don’t feel the connection between us. You might be able to lie to yourself but you can’t lie to me.”

Moon lifted her chin. “I never said I don’t feel it. I just wanted you to explain.”

“So, you admit you feel drawn to me?”

She stopped walking and we faced each other. I had no idea where the escort was going and I didn’t give a shit. Her turquoise eyes lifted to meet mine. “When I look at you like this, it’s like the entire world disappears. Nothing else matters or exists but you and me. I don’t care about anything else. I don’t want anything or anyone else.” She tore her eyes away and shook her head. “I’ve never felt like this before and when I say it out loud, it sounds really unhealthy.”

I tucked my fingers under her chin and tilted her face up to mine again. “And what would you do if I wanted to see other people or let another woman touch me?”

How do you think Moon will react to that question? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Let's Talk About S-E-X... Scenes

I was an avid romance reader long before I decided to try my hand at writing. I’m also slightly obsessed with Hallmark Christmas movies when that time of the year rolls around. And what’s the difference between contemporary romance and those sweet Hallmark vids?

Sex.

Graphic, hot, and awkward as fuck to write sex.

When I decided to write Zen, I knew it had to have sex scenes in it. I don’t write erotica, but to me, adult relationships include sex. They just do. And I’m not one to tiptoe around stuff like that. It’s why I don’t read sweet romance ever. Hallmark movies are as close as I get.

So, how do I write mine?

You know when you see something awkward or scary and you cover your eyes with your fingers but then part them slightly to look through because you can’t not look? That’s pretty much how I write my sex scenes. I’m being super voyeuristic by peeping in on someone else’s sex life, even if they’re people I invent so I try to shove that down and get through it as quickly as humanly possible.

Typically the first version of my scenes is horrifically robotic or repetitive. How many times can you say the words dick, cock, or pussy in one scene? I first try to think about the location I want it to happen in and then I go from there. Places like the bathroom in an airplane, the back of a car, the kitchen floor… whatever fits the couple.

Then I write the first version of the scene out as fast as I can to just get it all out there. Then, I cringe suuuuuper hard as I go back and read through and make sure I don’t accidentally throw in any words that make me shudder (like folds…. blech). Once that’s done, I add in the flowery stuff. The emotion, the chills down the spine, the electric sparks. Stuff like that.

Finally, I end up with something passable, generally speaking. I don’t know if there will ever be a day when sex scenes are my strength, but I like the challenge of them.

Fun fact: In Maddox’s book, I wrote all four sex scenes in one day because I wanted to get them out of the way.

Typically, I’m a linear writer which means I write from the beginning of the story to the end in order. Doing Maddox and Ryan’s scenes that way threw off my whole process so in Jericho I’m going back to my uncomfy roots and just nailing (HA) the scenes as they come (HAHA).

Soooo… there you have it. All things sex in a nice unsexy way. Are there any words that make you cringe when you read them (moist, anyone?)? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Meet: True

From the moment True announced his presence in my mind, he’s been the sweetest, most caring guy ever. He has the ability to handle shit when he has to, but mostly he’s a laid back surfer who’s good with going with the flow. He’s the peacemaker and he’s a total romantic.

True was raised by both of his parents in a loving and supportive household. He has one brother (Hale) and he looks at his parents as the ultimate example of what love should be and what he wants for his life. True is the moral compass of the group, the light one who keeps everyone from going over the edge into places that might not be easy to recover from.

He’s the kind of guy who’s happiest with a long-term girlfriend or nothing at all. He’s not a fan of hookups, and while he takes advantage from time to time, mostly he’s focused on other aspects of his life.

And musically? He’s incredibly talented on both guitar and as a singer. He and Zen both sing and play guitar, but in the official capacity of the band, True plays and Zen sings. But when they write music together? They make an amazing team. Think Lennon and McCartney levels of teamwork and creativity. True finds his peace with his family, the guys from the band, and hitting the waves.

And in Shadow Phoenix? His laid back ways get him in a bit of trouble the guys have to help him out of….

Meet: Maddox

Maddox was actually the second character that really solidified himself in my mind when I was writing Finding Zen. He was partially inspired by the song “Marry Me” by Thomas Rhett. I knew what his story would be like, but I wasn’t quite sure about his personality.

But the more I wrote him, the more of an asshole he came to be. But I loved that about him. He was the snarky one, the first one to make a snide comment, to flirt unabashedly, to stir up drama and give people shit. He spoke his mind without reservation and I loved that about him.

The one thing that he always is without fail is protective, though. He’s the fixer of the group, the one who makes problems go away. He does what he has to do, but there are lines even he won’t cross. There aren’t many, but they’re there. He has morals and standards, they just might not be what we all think they are.

When we meet Maddox in Shadow Phoenix, he’s still so torn up over the way he left Ryan behind that the guilt is absolutely destroying him. So to cope, he resorts to some unexpected things that I think will shock a lot of people. But, I really enjoy playing with sexuality in a more fluid way, and of all the guys, I thought Maddox could handle it best.

We get a little sneak peek into Maddox’s comfort level with who he is in a scene in Saving Maddox with Ryan and Quinn, but Shadow Phoenix really takes a deeper dive into exploring the dark time he’s going through trying to cope with how to move on from trying to move on without the love of his life.

Where we see Maddox in Shadow Phoenix is just the start of almost a decade-long downward spiral that he recovers from and comes out even better on the other side, but prepare yourself for a Maddox you’ve never seen before.

Meet: Jericho

When I originally came up with my first book idea in Finding Zen, I knew I was going to be writing about a band of guys. I like reading books in a series, so that’s what I wanted to write. So, I had to decide how many guys and how the band would be put together.

It didn’t take long for me to decide I wanted four guys, and for the four of them to start to show me their identities. Well, I should say three of them. Jericho… he’s been a tough nut to crack.

Originally, I thought he was going to be this super shy guy who had a really hard time in social situations, particularly with women. I was also going to have him originally born in Japan and brought to the US as a kid. But, the more I wrote the other guy’s stories with Jericho in the background, the more he changed and his character became something totally different than who I thought he was.

As you’ll read in Shadow Phoenix, Jericho’s not shy AT ALL. He’s quietly controlled and only speaks when he has something to say, not to fill the noise. He was adopted as a baby and doesn’t know his birth parents, but his adoptive parents were cold and unaffectionate.

He didn’t have a bad childhood, per se, but it was lonely and impersonal. His parents had their own lives and at a certain point, he didn’t really fit into them anymore. He used to spend a lot of time wondering why they even wanted him in the first place.

They’re not supportive of him or his career choices, and because of that he’s not close to them. He doesn’t have any siblings that he’s aware of, and so when True recruits him for the band, he jumps in with both feet. The guys become his brothers and are the only people in the world he lets see the real him. The only people he really, fully trusts.

Jericho has a dark streak to him and it presents itself in more ways than one. It comes out quite a bit in SP, but you’ll get to see a whole lot more of the darkness inside him in Playing Jericho. Unleashing his true self has been one of my favorite things but also some of the hardest words I’ve ever written. But I needed to let Jericho be who he was meant to be even if that wasn’t who I thought he should be, and isn’t that just the story of his life?

Two more members to go… Do you have a favorite yet?

Meet: Zen

Zen was the very first character I ever came up with. I’ve talked a little bit about this before, but when I heard the song “The Hills” by The Weeknd, I really started to wonder what that lifestyle would look like. For my first foray into attempting to write my own book, I wanted to write something exciting. What better to start out with than rock stars?

At his base, Zen was always an alpha, bad boy hero with a cocky swagger, ink covering almost every inch of his delectable body, and an emptiness inside that he wasn’t sure how to cope with anymore. He’d sort of been there, done that, you know?

As humans, we adapt to situations really fast, so his lifestyle wasn’t exciting to him anymore. He’d been at this whole mega-famous superstar thing for more than a decade and it was stale. So, I wanted him to be someone I could push around a little. Someone who’s eyes could be opened to new possibilities, and someone who could look at the world through fresh eyes if the right person came along.

His character’s look was originally inspired by Shane Burnell (@shaneburnell on insta, hel-lo), a green-eyed, tatted up hottie who all the girls wanted. When deciding on his name, I wanted it to be something short and easy to pronounce and remember, but also unique and worthy of his status.

In my mind, his parents were hippies and raised him (I use this term loosely since they weren’t really around at all) on a commune, so his name makes sense in that context, too.

As a kid, someone on the commune taught him to play guitar and he grew up singing songs around bonfires most nights. This was where his love of music came from, and I imagine that he liked to pass the time making up songs because there weren’t TVs or electronics or other things that most kids had growing up.

As a teenager, he decided he’d had enough and wanted to take control of his life, so he got emancipated and moved to LA and that’s where we find him when Shadow Phoenix begins. Zen is driven, hard-working, and determined to have whatever he sets his sights on. He’ll pursue it until he either gets it or is physically unable to do any more, but he’ll never give up.

He’s the perfect partner for Kennedy, but it’s a long road to get him to where he’s ready to settle down.

Wednesday I’ll be giving you some background info on one of the other guys, so make sure to check back in!

Which one of the four guys is your favorite? Zen, True, Maddox, or Jericho? Leave me a comment and let me know!

What I Wrote This Week

This week, my sole writing focus was the Shadow Phoenix prequel. Want to know the best part about this book? It’s going to be totally FREE! Woo!

It’s been coming along nicely and I’m having a lot of fun writing it. I’m a little bit worried about how you all will like it because it’s not necessarily like a traditional romance. Sure, there are steamy scenes and all sorts of debauchery in the book, but this story is more about the guys and their friendship and how they depend on each other more than anyone else in this world while they’re trying to navigate climbing the show business ranks.

They go through a lot through the span of the book, and I’ve been pushing my writing to put them in scenes that make me uncomfortable to write. It’s been an experience and one that’s helped me grow in a lot of different ways.

One thing I’m doing this book that I’ve never done before? I’m not plotting anything ahead of time. As a writer, I usually plot every single thing in my books down to the scene (usually I write 2-4 scenes per chapter) but this time I just sat down and started writing.

Like above, it’s pushed me outside of my comfort zone and at times has left me for days pulling out my hair or staring off into space wondering what the hell I’m going to do next or where I’m going to take the story so that it makes sense. But I’ve learned to listen to my gut and just go with whatever feels right, even if my mind wants to fight me.

Being a writer is weird, y’all.

But, I’m pretty sure I only have two chapters left to write and then this baby’s going to be done. And when it is? Buckle. Up.

You’ll want to read this one before you read Jericho because his character’s going to make a LOT more sense if you do. I’ll give you more details about a release date soon, but it’s not going to be much longer before it drops!

A Tiny Sneak Peek:

True

A letter with my name on it sat propped on the kitchen counter, and I eyed it like it was about to catch on fire. I texted the guys to come over as soon as I noticed it because I couldn’t bring myself to open it alone.

What do you think is in the envelope? Leave me a comment with your guesses!

Character Inspiration: Connor

As you probably know by now, Finding Zen was my first attempt at writing a book. It’ll always be my favorite story because of that, but when I was doing character development, I really had no idea what I was doing. I jumped into 12-page character questionnaires that were FAR more detailed than necessary.

Thankfully, I learned how to streamline the process and it’s not nearly as intense now as it used to be.

That being said, I realized that if Zen’s story were anything like real life, and he were as famous as I imagined him to be, he’d be mobbed if he tried to go anywhere alone. He’d have all sorts of issues and challenges that he’d run into and for that he’d need a solid security team. And that team would definitely include at least one bodyguard.

Initially when I imaged Connor’s character, he was an older guy. He was in his fifties and sort of acted as the father Zen never really knew. In an earlier blog, I talked a little bit about Zen’s past and his parental situation (check that out here if you’re curious), but once the first draft of the book was written, it didn’t feel right.

There weren’t a lot of places I could go with his character. I wanted someone younger. Someone I could explore, and someone who could eventually get his own book (or own spin off series…). In my mind, he definitely needed to be ex-military. And since my husband is an ex-Marine and my brother-in-law is an active duty Marine, that’s what Connor needed to be, too.

He’s guarded and highly protective. He’s incredibly smart and clever, and he’s the kind of guy who isn’t afraid to wade into shady grey areas in order to keep someone safe. That makes him the perfect private security for a world famous band who’s needs and demands can change on the fly. He’s highly adaptable with connections all over the world.

Connor has varying levels of involvement in each of the three Shadow Phoenix stories I’ve written so far. You meet him for the first time in Finding Zen, he helps out a little in Loving True, and then he really steps into his own in Saving Maddox. He’ll play an even bigger role in Playing Jericho that I can’t wait for you to read.

Have you had a chance to meet Connor’s team yet in Saving Maddox? If so, who’s your favorite team member? Indy, Sebastian, Julian, or Connor?

What I Wrote This Week

This week, I spent most of my time revamping Finding Zen. The new version has been uploaded and is ready for you to check out! Keep reading to find out about why I felt the need to make the changes.

Why did you feel like now was the right time to spruce up Finding Zen?

I’m writing Shadow Phoenix, the prequel of the series right now. It’s more than halfway done, and between that and the character development and plotting I’ve done for Playing Jericho, there were some inconsistencies in who the characters had revealed themselves to be. So, before I wrote any more books in the series, I felt like it was important to make everything consistent.

What’s changing in Zen?

Most of the dialogue and interactions with the guys in the band have now been changed in some way. When I originally wrote Zen, I hadn’t fully fleshed out who the characters were going to be. I knew True would be sort of a hopeless romantic type, Maddox was an arrogant jerk, and Jericho? Well, I figured he’d be shy. But that was all I had on any of them.

As I’ve written their books and really done a deep dive into who they are, there were so many complexities that I didn’t reflect in the original version of Zen. It was time to go back and correct all of that.

Anything else?

Finding Zen was the very first romance novel I’d written (very first full length novel in general), and I was not at all comfortable with writing sex scenes. They were awkward and uncomfortable to write, and I think that reflected in the way they read, too. So I did some tweaking in those areas.

There were also some plot inconsistencies, things that didn’t work, and holes that needed shoring up. Thanks to my super awesome proofreaders and friends, fellow author Melony Ann and her boyfriend, Sergeant Brad, who’ve been instrumental in making sure all the criminal and law enforcement aspects to my stories were realistic and accurate, I think we got everything straightened out and the story’s a lot tighter than it was.

Turns out I’m not as good at catching errors and plot holes as I thought I was. Haha!

Why did Jericho need to be rewritten?

When I originally imagined the Jericho character, he was shy and quiet, geeky. Maybe even virginal, which I thought could make a really interesting character dynamic. A 28-year-old rock star virgin? So unlikely.

But, when it came time to actually plot his book, I must have spent a month coming up with different ideas, brainstorming and tossing them around with my writer friends and my husband. Nothing ever felt right, nothing stuck. And then I stepped back and realized it was because who Jericho was as a character just wasn’t right.

When I made that discovery, I threw everything out the window and stopped fighting him. With some great advice, I stopped trying to make him into who I wanted him to be, and instead just let him be who he was meant to be. And let me tell you… he’s not at all what you’ve been expecting. Of all the heroes I’ve written, Jericho is the darkest.

What about the Shadow Phoenix prequel? How do the changes play into that?

The prequel is going to come out before Jericho releases and I’m a little more than halfway done writing it. You’ll get a really intense deep dive into who the guys of Shadow Phoenix were around the time the band starts their rise to fame. They go through a lot, and you’ll be able to follow along for the ride. And the book will also prepare you for Jericho’s story. Things in Zen will make more sense. This prequel will tie everything in the SP world together with a messy bow.

What about that new cover?

Since I was revisiting the entire book, I thought it could use a new look, too. I have a blog post coming soon detailing the cover, but I gave the series a face lift and I’m in love with the new look.

What about the other books?

In the coming weeks, I’m going to be making a few small changes to Loving True and Saving Maddox to reflect the new character changes in Jericho. The other characters in those books are great as-is.

Do I have to do anything to get the updated version of Finding Zen?

Make sure your kindle is set to get automatic updates so that whenever I make changes, they download automatically. You can find the instructions on how to do that here. You don’t need to repurchase it, but if you’ve read and returned it in Kindle Unlimited, you will need to re-download it again.

So, there you have it! That’s what I’ve been up to this week. When you’re done reading the Finding Zen update, let me know what you think of the changes in the comments.

Finding Zen: Deleted Scene

When writing a story, I sometimes have to choose what to include in the final draft. I try to be careful about my planning so I don’t end up writing a bunch of extra stuff that gets cut, but it does still happen from time to time. This is one such scene.

Zen’s background is a complicated one. He was raised basically on a hippy commune up in Washington state and his parents took off, so he had this guy who lived on the commune step in and take over raising him until he was 16. That was the point he moved to LA to pursue music. In the original draft of Finding Zen, the reason he went home was writer’s block, not a sex tape. And the first stop he makes is to visit Rick, his sort of uncle (but not really) to catch up.

This scene is unedited and not necessarily canon for the story.

Enjoy!

Zen

I needed to remind myself of all the good shit I had going for me and snap myself out of this funk fast. We were getting ready to record a new album and I hadn’t written shit. I couldn’t find the inspiration. 

I figured getting away might help with my writer’s block. Every couple of months, I hopped on the band’s private jet and flew up north to a suburb of Seattle to escape. People kept their heads down up there and didn’t bother me. Theoretically paparazzi could be lurking around, but mostly they left me alone. Sweet freedom meant walking down the street without a security detail or being mobbed. I lived for these times. 

I hadn’t picked this area by accident. I grew up here. Every time I visited my shoulders loosened and even the air smelled cleaner and more refreshing. The weight I carried all the time fell off my back and I relaxed. I lost track of time and the days always flew by way too fast.

My uncle Rick raised me when my parents left me behind to go fight their injustice-of-the-week crusades that were more important than their son. Being the only son of hardcore liberal activits wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Because of Rick, I went to school, learned to play guitar, how to climb a tree, and a million other small but important moments no child should miss out on. 

I wasn’t bitter about my parents. They gave me my name --which I fucking loved-- and abandoned me in probably the best place they could have because of Rick. Whenever I found myself slowly strolling down the sidewalks of my old neighborhood, I sent a silent thanks up to whoever was listening for bringing Rick into my life.

As a grown-ass adult, I made it a point to visit the man who raised me as much as I could. I shook myself out of my thoughts just as the jet’s wheels touched down with a jerk and we came to a stop. Descending the stairs, I moved into the cushy seat of the waiting SUV. We drifted through traffic, stopping in front of a familiar gray rambler.

My whole body relaxed and a slow smile spread across my face. I was home. Stepping out of the car, I made my way up the concrete walkway, jumping over the crack at the base of the step just like I always did. Stepping up onto the small cement porch, my hand wrapped around the brass doorknob, the cold metal turning easily in my hand. Rick never locked the door and I never bothered to knock. 

“Hey, old man! What smells so good?” My voice echoed throughout the house as I shut the door behind me.

“It’s about time! I was starting to think you’d bailed on me,” Rick teased, coming around the corner with bright eyes that crinkled at the corners and an easy smile. He rubbed his short, grey beard while looking me over from head to toe. 

“What, and miss out on your world famous quinoa? I would never,” I joked. I fucking hated quinoa and we both knew it, but I always choked down the mush when he made it. I never ate anything other than plant-based shit growing up. I wasn’t here for the cooking though. 

“Oh, you think you’re funny?” He laughed. “Joke all you want, but you miss my quinoa when you’re in L.A. Speaking of L.A., before we eat, let’s chat for a minute.”

It wasn’t a request and we both knew it. I braced myself. Rick’s new favorite pastime was meddling in my shit and I knew he meant well but my jaw clenched and I suddenly wanted to be anywhere but here. Bracing myself for what I knew was coming, I slowly breathed in and out a couple of times. 

Rick generally stayed out of my personal life choices no matter how fucked up, but lately he’d been putting more and more pressure on me to settle down. Getting a root canal sounded more appealing than the conversation I knew we were about to have. 

“I try not to read the tabloids but I can’t avoid the grocery store so I still see some of your… let’s call them antics.” He studied me, pressing his lips together in a slight frown. “I worry about you. All the women and the parties? That’s not the person I raised. You deserve better. You know better. You deserve to settle down and be happy.”

Crossing my arms across my chest, I sighed heavily. “I haven’t been here two fucking minutes. Can we just not? I’ve told you I’m not looking for anything serious right now. I like my life the way it is. Sorry if I’m a disappointment to you but please let it go.”

“Fine, fine. You’re not a disappointment, I just know you have the potential to be so much happier, Zen. I’ll let it go for now. You don’t know what you’re missing, though. C’mon, kid. Let’s go sit outside and catch up. Grab the plate of tofu,” Rick said, turning and grabbing a plate before meandering toward the patio.

I leaned against the kitchen counter, rubbing the back of my neck and taking a couple calming breaths. I knew he meant well but Rick didn’t understand why I didn’t want to settle down. How could he? He married his childhood best friend when he was nineteen. She died during childbirth a few years later and he lost everything that day. He always said he would never regret loving her because she brought color to his life, whatever the fuck that meant. All I got out of that story was a lesson in goddamn tragedy.

Following him out into the cool evening air, we sat and fell into easy and comfortable conversation. Spending time with Rick was simple. We caught up on everything and talked about nothing. I could count on one hand all the people in this world I trusted with the real me, who I could let my walls down with and Rick was one of them. My uncle wouldn’t spill my secrets to anyone and in eight years of being a celebrity, he’d never once let me down.

When my skin was covered with goosebumps, I made my way inside and to the front door. “I’m going to head out. Thanks for dinner,” I said. We didn’t need a long, drawn out goodbye. Like I said, spending time with Rick was easy. He fit me in whenever I found the time. 

“’Course. Take care of yourself, and think about what I said,” Rick said, his eyes locked on mine. I sighed before stepping outside the door and turning to make my way to the car. I jumped over that damn crack and climbed into the waiting car. 

What I Wrote This Week

This past Tuesday, Saving Maddox released and now that it’s out in the world it was time for me to jump into my next project. If I’m not actively writing something at pretty much all times, I get twitchy.

Unlike every other aspect of my life, my writing process is really organized and linear. I start my projects by figuring out the two main characters and a loose plot line. I figure out where I want them to start and how I want the story to end. And then I jump into detailed plotting.

I plot every single scene I’m going to write before I write it. At least that’s typically how I do things. I also only work on one project at a time.

Way back when, I was super into knitting. And I was also super into starting a million projects and never finishing one so I had half-finished knitting projects all over the house. Knowing that about myself, when I started on this writing journey I told myself I would only start something if I finished something else. So far this has served me well, but I had two projects once Maddox was done that were tugging at me and demanding to be written.

So this week, I broke my self-imposed one project at a time rule. That’s right: I’m actively writing TWO books right now.

So what are they?

Well, the first is Playing Jericho. Out of all the books I’ve written so far, this one has given me the most trouble plot-wise. The character I originally envisioned for Jericho didn’t fit when the time came to start actually plotting the book and it took me a couple of months of plotting and replotting to finally figure out that the problem wasn’t the plot but the character instead. Which meant a complete overhaul of who he was as a person.

I had to stop trying to force him into what I thought he should be and start letting him be who he was meant to be. Once I did that, the plot flowed and the words came a lot easier.

On top of Jericho, I’m also working on a prequel. It’s working title is Shadow Phoenix (original, I know haha) and it’s the story of the four original band members and their friendship and their path to fame. It starts just before high school graduation and follows the start of their music career with lots of debauchery along the way. It’s been fun to write, and unlike Jericho, I’m not plotting the shit out of it before I write it. I’m just writing and seeing what happens.

So far I don’t have a release date set for the prequel, but I’ll let you know when I get closer.

It’s been hot, so I’ve been multitasking by spending time with my kiddo at the pool and writing.

So, here’s how this week breaks down:

Playing Jericho: 2 chapters written

Shadow Phoenix: 3 chapters written

A few done, many, many more to go!

A quick (unedited!) sneak peek from Playing Jericho:

Jericho

I repressed the urge to smash my controller against the wall and squeezed my eyes shut, taking a deep breath. “Fuck, I’m out. Maybe we’ll have better luck tomorrow,” DeathMinion said before signing off of the game. Once he was gone, FatUncle followed him and that just left LunaGirl and me. A devilish grin crossed my face.

“Hey, Luna,” I breathed into the mic, lowering my voice to almost a growl.

She laughed that throaty laugh of hers that always turned me the fuck on. “Hey, Wicked. Nice campaign, even if we did get our asses kicked.”

Flirting with Luna over this game was what I looked forward to most these days. It wasn’t playing sold out shows with Shadow Phoenix, the band I was a drummer for. It wasn’t accepting awards, doing interviews, or any of the other boring-ass shit that came along with being someone famous. Nope. It was this right here—LunaGirl and her sultry voice. Her and this game were the only places I let myself really be who I was deep down inside. The only safe places I had to let the darkness out to play because LunaGirl got off on my need for control.

Have a great weekend, and look for my “What I Read This Weekend” post on Monday for my favorite reads from the past weekend.