Waxing Philosophical with Abigail

Just last night I said to Abigail, “I have too many characters floating around in my head and all of them want their stories told now.” It bears mentioning that it was past midnight, I was wandering through my house in the dark because I couldn’t be bothered to fumble around for light switches, and these words were only the last in a long, meandering monologue delivered to remind myself it’s better to have too many stories bobbing on the surface of my brain than none at all. Also, Abigail is my dog.

Neurotic little fur-ball that she is, Abigail is the keeper of all my secret frustrations, setbacks and snafus. Partly because she likes to hang out in my office with me while I write, but mostly because she listens so well, always understands where I’m coming from and sympathizes with every word I say.

Abigail knows I have six stories – and more than twice as many characters – swimming around in my mind just now. Six stories in various stages of completion. 

A few pages of notes scribbled on scraps of paper in the middle of the night for Lady Sylvia Grenville’s jaunt from London to Montana.

An outline of Lady Bernice’s seemingly never-ending fascination for Lord Jamison.

Two two rough chapters of Miss Kate Price’s trials and tribulations as one of Lord Dunaway’s six daughters.

An unfinished novella featuring Kiljoy, the disreputable Duke of Mountjoy who, oddly enough, captured the hearts and imaginations of readers in Unraveling the Earl.

A half-written story for Miss Veronica Ogilvie – the woman readers love to hate in Pretty Poison.

And, finally, a nearly complete novel for Miss Harry O’Connell, appropriately entitled Courting Chaos, as this book has caused all sorts of mischief and mayhem in my life of late.

Abbie 2Is it any wonder I’m a bit scatterbrained at present? That I engage in philosophical discussions with my dog in the wee hours of the night? If I could just get one story finished…

Oh, who am I kidding?

Certainly not Abigail.

One story finished will only lead to another just beginning, and three further along in the telling. Characters wading out of the water will only make room for more to dive right into the churning sea. 

In the words of Lilith Aberdeen, in Taming Beauty, upon her first sight of the ocean, “But this…it’s so…vast…endless…I feel dizzy…or something rather like it.”

This, my friends, is why I write, and why I’ll continue sharing all my troubles and triumphs with a little dog while fictional characters are carried on the current of my mind. Because writing six stories simultaneously makes me feel dizzy…or something rather like it. 

If you haven’t yet read Taming Beauty, now is the perfect time to remedy that lamentable situation. I have expanded the story-line a tad and spiced up the naughty bits a smidgen, transforming a lengthy novella into a full-length novel just this side of short. Also, you’ll be ahead of the tide when Courting Chaos, Book 2 in my new Dunaway’s Daughters series, comes out later this year.

Cover

Taming Beauty is available for Pre-Order now.

Be sure to enter The Taming Beauty Pre-Order Giveaway for a chance to win a swag bag of goodies including a signed copy of Pretty Poison and My Darling Gunslinger, 2 Wine Bottle Corsets and 2 Corset Bookmarks.

Learn more about Taming Beauty

Congratulations to Diana Ware-Page, winner of August’s Corset. September’s Corset is a pretty pink, perfectly matched to the lovely cover for Taming Beauty. 
Corset September 3
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Any comment will do, a bit of news, an idiom that’s always struck you as amusing,a historical ideal you’ve found ludicrous or a notion of any sort.
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