Monday, May 30 Author Update!

Greetings!

It’s in the wee hours of Monday morning and it occurred to me that I do have an author update that I’m excited about. 

Remember my Playing with Fire series which started as Hercules Valentine and I? Well, it’s the bedrock of the Lords of Manhattan series. I still see the Lords as the Valentines. I changed the Valentines to the Lords because was advised to do it because of that ugly thing called the algorithms. But for the next stage of this story, I won’t have to worry about algorithms.

Stay with me…

When I first started writing the first book of that series, I told myself that I was going to take my time and create a deep story, not missing a beat. I’ve seen reviews of book 1 where readers have said it was too slow. I know what I had done wrong though. It came to me yesterday, on Sunday when I usually write this post. 

I’ve been wanting to tighten that series for a while now. But more than that… Let me explain what keeps me turning to that series and saying, hmm… I promise you, wherever I look, The Deception, the second book in that series has 5 stars or close to it. And I think Soul Mates would have the same star rating if I hadn’t ended it the way I had. Because there was so much more to write. That story could’ve turned into another five books, and it seemed that book one didn’t have enough steam to carry the series. 

But now–I got it!

However,  I don’t know if that series will work as a book series. I think the world I built is too rich for romance that sells. It’s not tropey at all. And I don’t want it to be tropey at all.  I’ve learned something since writing those first three books about keeping the story, keeping the characters with their feet on the ground. 

Long story short. I’m going to fix Tempting Fate. I now know what the big mistake I made is. And it’s finally time to fix it.

It’s also time to go back to my roots with this series. I’m a trained screenwriter. I mean, the futuristic aspect of the story, the feuding families, the transgressions… I could get deeper with the Playing with Fire series if I write it as a TV series with my feet on the ground. I think I can make it great and extremely entertaining. 

Here’s what I mean about writing with my feet on the ground. I think I said once that I will explain what I meant by that. And I will one day.  I have to be consistent in showing you first. So bear with me, stay with me, and you’ll see what I mean. 

And how is Boss On Notice going? Swimmingly! I’m at the point where I must go back and write more of the story. Even I want to see “what next.” 

Some other things I might consider doing in the future. I read where an author published a serialized story for her newsletter. I thought that was fun. I’ve been thinking about doing that. I’ll let you know if I do. The thing is, I’m going to be busy after Boss On Notice writing the episode for Playing with Fire and putting together a packet to shop the series. It’s not going to be so hard because I already know how this story is going to play out. I have the feel of it, the pace of it, the mise en scéne. 

And then that leaves the books about Max Grove and Lynx Grove, who you’ll meet more in Boss On Notice. I figured I’ll let you show me if you want more. Also, I don’t want to jump the gun and start writing Max’s book without completing the one I’m writing now or the Playing with Fire fix. Again, reader reception will guide me. So, from this day forward and for the next year I’ll be working on three projects–all dealing with the same family! Yay! 

I feel good about the TV series though. I think I’ll pull it off and it’ll get picked up. Of course, for me, the HBO is the PRIZE. We’ll see. We’re talking about network that gave us Westworld and True Blood. I know their brand. I know what they like. And I’m keeping that in mind while writing. 

Play… It’s 3:20 a.m. Time to go night-night.  I’ve been up late studying TV shows on HBO Max. Tonight it was The Baby and The Time Travelers Wife. This week it’ll be more.

And so… Please excuse any typos. I’m too tired to fix them.

Good night!

Much❤️Z