I've got a few things I'm working on at the moment, so thought it might be useful to share an update in one place. Lots of exciting ideas, but I'm starting to realise that the writer's curse is finding the time to put pen to paper on all of them!
Rest assured everything below will continue my usual themes... high heat romance with a satisfying story.
Her Miss Perfect (18th March - available now to pre-order)
Part of the Coming Into The Light universe but focused on a new set of characters (some of whom will have roles to play in the Coming Into The Light sequel Burning Both Ends - see below!), this story focuses on Laura, an architect who has worked hard to get from her roots on a Manchester council estate to a job as an architect at a leading London practice.
She shares an office with Saskia who is the complete opposite: she got her job as much from her father's influence as anything, rolls in late every day, impossibly well dressed and living a life that Laura can only dream of. Also, Laura can't help noticing, impossibly beautiful... and when Saskia teasingly calls her Miss Perfect it just seems to do things to Laura that she could never admit.
More than anything, Her Miss Perfect is a story about how ridiculous the class divide can be, and how both women come to realise that they have far more in common than they thought, naturally with a lot of fun to be had along the way.
Too Sensible To Know Better (targeting May for publication)
This is a novel set in the Experimenting world, focused on Harriet and Zach's early relationship... how they met, how they got together, how they stayed together from ten thousand miles apart, and how they rode the ups and downs.
Writing as a full novel has been great fun as it has allowed me to draw out themes and take them on a journey that the series of novellas I've published so far don't quite allow. It covers the period from when they're 18, oblivious of each other's existence, living on opposite sides of the world, through to when they're 26 and, well, I don't want to spoil the surprise because it's not all plain sailing.
As you'd expect from the title, and as is mentioned several times in the novellas when looking back at their pasts, they didn't always make the best decisions... but then who in their late teens and early twenties ever does? I actually started writing it as a series of short stories focused on specific events mentioned in the novellas (Harriet's A-level results night, their summer where they broke up etc.) but then realised that there was a lot that could be done with those in a longer, novel form.
The novel is drafted and I've currently got it locked away and hidden, so that I can come back to it in April with a fresh perspective and decide whether it is ready to publish or needs more edits. I'll update subscribers as and when it becomes available for pre-order.
Burning Both Ends (targeting June or July)
The sequel to Coming Into The Light, the novel I'm asked most about... this will delve further into the triangle between Amy, Sarah, and Luisa.
I've got the narrative worked out and roughly 60% of the novel written, and as mentioned above some of the characters from Her Miss Perfect will play a role.
Right now I've tentatively targeted June or July to release, but this could slip. I want to get this one right, particularly treading the fine line with Sarah's character who, it could be argued, has some moral complexities that she needs to address.
Loosely I'm then planning a third novel in the series at a future date TBD, one that closes out Coming Into The Light in a satisfying way, but that's barely beyond a concept in my head right now so I won't say any more about that yet!
C