Isabel Murray's Blog - Posts Tagged "not-that-series"
Some details about my latest romcom
At the beginning of October, I mentioned that I'd just finished writing the first draft of a new contemporary romcom. Today, I'm sharing a few more details!
The book is called Not That Ridiculous, and it's book three in the Not That series.
The main characters in this one are Charlie Galloway, the grumpy barista from The Chipped Cup coffee shop, and, uh. Kevin.
You remember Kevin? The handyman who found a certain something under the floorboards in Ray's bedroom in Not That Complicated? No?
Okay, maybe Kevin isn't the most obvious match for Charlie. Charlie would be the first to agree with you there, even though he's been in love with Kevin for a few years now.
Not that he has any intention of letting Kevin--or anyone, ever--know about his inconvenient feelings.
What would be the point? Kevin is young, friendly, and straight. Charlie is worn out, doesn't like people, and is very much not straight.
Except, there's a lot more to Kevin than meets the eye, and Charlie is about to find out how very wrong he's been.
This story is set a few years after Not That Complicated and Not That Impossible, and I'm wading into the edits. I'm hoping to publish in February/March next year. Is it too soon to post a little snippet? Maybe? I'm doing it anyway!
Not That Ridiculous
A little snippet
Kevin came back up the drive with a tool belt slung over his shoulder and a large toolbox in one hand. He set the toolbox on the doorstep and straightened, staring at me as he slid the belt off his shoulder, slung it around his hips, and buckled it. Slowly. Lingeringly.
“What is this, a reverse striptease?” I said, trying to cover the fact that my breathing had sped up.
“I’m just standing here putting my tool belt on, Charlie,” he said. “Why? Is it turning you on?”
“Nope.” Only because watching him bend over and get his toolbox out of the back of his Land Cruiser had already done the job. I reached out and unpoppered one of the little pouches hanging from the belt. “What on earth do you even need all of these for, anyway?”
“Bits and bobs,” he said. He wrapped his long fingers around my wrist, but not to stop me investigating or to pull me away. Just to hold me.
He liked to hold me.
The book is called Not That Ridiculous, and it's book three in the Not That series.
The main characters in this one are Charlie Galloway, the grumpy barista from The Chipped Cup coffee shop, and, uh. Kevin.
You remember Kevin? The handyman who found a certain something under the floorboards in Ray's bedroom in Not That Complicated? No?
Okay, maybe Kevin isn't the most obvious match for Charlie. Charlie would be the first to agree with you there, even though he's been in love with Kevin for a few years now.
Not that he has any intention of letting Kevin--or anyone, ever--know about his inconvenient feelings.
What would be the point? Kevin is young, friendly, and straight. Charlie is worn out, doesn't like people, and is very much not straight.
Except, there's a lot more to Kevin than meets the eye, and Charlie is about to find out how very wrong he's been.
This story is set a few years after Not That Complicated and Not That Impossible, and I'm wading into the edits. I'm hoping to publish in February/March next year. Is it too soon to post a little snippet? Maybe? I'm doing it anyway!
Not That Ridiculous
A little snippet
Kevin came back up the drive with a tool belt slung over his shoulder and a large toolbox in one hand. He set the toolbox on the doorstep and straightened, staring at me as he slid the belt off his shoulder, slung it around his hips, and buckled it. Slowly. Lingeringly.
“What is this, a reverse striptease?” I said, trying to cover the fact that my breathing had sped up.
“I’m just standing here putting my tool belt on, Charlie,” he said. “Why? Is it turning you on?”
“Nope.” Only because watching him bend over and get his toolbox out of the back of his Land Cruiser had already done the job. I reached out and unpoppered one of the little pouches hanging from the belt. “What on earth do you even need all of these for, anyway?”
“Bits and bobs,” he said. He wrapped his long fingers around my wrist, but not to stop me investigating or to pull me away. Just to hold me.
He liked to hold me.
A tiny snippet from Not That Ridiculous, and I'm on Bluesky!
It’s far too late to be saying Happy New Year, so I’ll just say Happy Friday instead—the weekend is almost here, and since this week seems to have lasted a decade already, it's more than welcome!
I’ve been popping onto Goodreads to post the occasional blog for a year now, and at the beginning of December, I joined Bluesky (here I am!). It took about a month to actually get going and post anything over there, and I'm still figuring it out 😆. I know there's technically a way I'm supposed to do it as an author but, eh. At the moment I'm just randomly following accounts that catch my eye and posting writing stuff every now and then. 🤷🏻♀️
I'm also posting the odd snippet, like this one from the upcoming Not That Ridiculous:
“Tomorrow, Charlie, I’m going to come into your coffee shop like always. Only tomorrow, you’re going to know the whole time that I’m thinking about this. About you. About doing this to you.”
I finished another draft of Not That Ridiculous this week, and next week I'll be moving into the copyediting phase.
It's finally starting to feel like a book and not just a document sitting on my computer!
Isabel 😁
I’ve been popping onto Goodreads to post the occasional blog for a year now, and at the beginning of December, I joined Bluesky (here I am!). It took about a month to actually get going and post anything over there, and I'm still figuring it out 😆. I know there's technically a way I'm supposed to do it as an author but, eh. At the moment I'm just randomly following accounts that catch my eye and posting writing stuff every now and then. 🤷🏻♀️
I'm also posting the odd snippet, like this one from the upcoming Not That Ridiculous:
“Tomorrow, Charlie, I’m going to come into your coffee shop like always. Only tomorrow, you’re going to know the whole time that I’m thinking about this. About you. About doing this to you.”
I finished another draft of Not That Ridiculous this week, and next week I'll be moving into the copyediting phase.
It's finally starting to feel like a book and not just a document sitting on my computer!
Isabel 😁
A spring update and a new paperback
It's almost the middle of April, which means it's about time for a quick update blog post!
Available now
I released the paperback edition of Not That Ridiculous earlier this week. If you like a physical keeper copy of your books, you can find it on Amazon here:
Amazon US
Amazon CA
Amazon DE
Amazon UK
Or search ASIN: B0F42NWYF3
What I'm working on
I'm currently in the middle of editing a novella from my Immortal Bonds series. It's very character-driven and about as low-angst as you can get, just a tender (and hot) little story set during Erik and Sayan's first spring together, with Sayan teaching Erik to swim and Erik teaching Sayan how to trust. I'm not sure yet when I'll release it, but I'm thinking it'll be some time this spring/early summer.
(If you want to follow me somewhere other than Goodreads to get notified when I do publish it, check out some options on my fancy new links page: https://isabelmurray.carrd.co)
What I'm writing
As for what I'm writing, I'm at that exciting place where I have a handful of stories all jumping up and down for my attention. I'm adding a little bit here and a little bit there, waiting for one story to get loud, at which point I'll go for it. It's not the most strategic way to choose my projects as an author but, eh. 🤷🏻♀️ It's the way it goes for me.
Wrapping up
I'm still over on Bluesky, testing out the social media waters. I even made a little video for Kevin and Charlie, which was both a lot of fun and an excellent way to avoid doing all the other (more important) things on my todo list. 😆 I feel like I really levelled up my procrastination skills with that one.
I hope that you're enjoying the season, wherever you are in the world! Happy reading,
Isabel 😁
Available now
I released the paperback edition of Not That Ridiculous earlier this week. If you like a physical keeper copy of your books, you can find it on Amazon here:
Amazon US
Amazon CA
Amazon DE
Amazon UK
Or search ASIN: B0F42NWYF3
What I'm working on
I'm currently in the middle of editing a novella from my Immortal Bonds series. It's very character-driven and about as low-angst as you can get, just a tender (and hot) little story set during Erik and Sayan's first spring together, with Sayan teaching Erik to swim and Erik teaching Sayan how to trust. I'm not sure yet when I'll release it, but I'm thinking it'll be some time this spring/early summer.
(If you want to follow me somewhere other than Goodreads to get notified when I do publish it, check out some options on my fancy new links page: https://isabelmurray.carrd.co)
What I'm writing
As for what I'm writing, I'm at that exciting place where I have a handful of stories all jumping up and down for my attention. I'm adding a little bit here and a little bit there, waiting for one story to get loud, at which point I'll go for it. It's not the most strategic way to choose my projects as an author but, eh. 🤷🏻♀️ It's the way it goes for me.
Wrapping up
I'm still over on Bluesky, testing out the social media waters. I even made a little video for Kevin and Charlie, which was both a lot of fun and an excellent way to avoid doing all the other (more important) things on my todo list. 😆 I feel like I really levelled up my procrastination skills with that one.
I hope that you're enjoying the season, wherever you are in the world! Happy reading,
Isabel 😁
A Friday catch-up
Over on my website today:
Most of this week's writing sessions ended up being more of the new Kevin and Charlie (from Not That Ridiculous) short, which was a delight, especially when Jasper showed up to make it awkward:
“I didn’t see anything!” Jasper yelled from outside the garage.
Oh, god. He'd have seen everything if he’d arrived even a few seconds later.
“Ignore me!” Jasper yelled again.
“Kind of hard to do with him shouting like that,” Kevin muttered in my ear, making me shiver.
“Just carry on and finish! I’m going to stay out here and play with Phil! Take your time!”
“All right, then,” Kevin said, and kissed me.
It's running at about 9000 words now. I've vaguely pondered putting it on Amazon if it ends up close to or over 10k once it's written and edited, buuuut I'm not taking it seriously enough to worry about where it'll end up just yet. If anywhere!
For now, it's a low-stakes happy place for Writer-Me to play around in while Author-Me attempts to focus on some business decisions.
In other words: what next?
😬
I've only got three more publishing months left in the year--I tend to rule out November and December, as they're too close to Christmas and the shopping season. Considering how long something as short as my just-released The Naiad's Lover takes to edit and proofread (I am sooooo slow), somehow I don't think I'll be able to turn around one of the full-length books I've got in my editing queue.
Luckily, I have a first draft of the Catch and Release novella sequel finished, and it's a petite 35 000 words. So…maybe?
While I have lots of reflecting to do on the last few months (how did the latest release go, do I need to adjust any plans, where do I want to go from here?) I'm not in any rush to make those big decisions.
❉ ❉ ❉
There's a sale going on over at Smashwords for the month of July, which I'm sure a lot of MM readers already know about. I had a poke around last week, and picked up a couple of Josh Lanyon books. As I've been on a massive re-reading kick this year, I was really pleased to snag some new books I haven't read yet.
I think I'll start with Ghosted, which has been on my TBR since it was published.
Another new book I'm excited to get my eyeballs on is C.S. Poe's Hudson River Homicides although I'll have to wait until the end of the month for that.
❉ ❉ ❉
On a random life note, when I sat out on the back step at seven a.m. to drink coffee and write my morning pages, the lawn was glittering with strands of gossamer and I spotted a couple of blackberries over by the cypress hedge. The air was hazy and cool, and some geese flew over.
It's still July, still summer...but I cannot wait for autumn!
Have a great weekend!
Isabel 😁
Most of this week's writing sessions ended up being more of the new Kevin and Charlie (from Not That Ridiculous) short, which was a delight, especially when Jasper showed up to make it awkward:
“I didn’t see anything!” Jasper yelled from outside the garage.
Oh, god. He'd have seen everything if he’d arrived even a few seconds later.
“Ignore me!” Jasper yelled again.
“Kind of hard to do with him shouting like that,” Kevin muttered in my ear, making me shiver.
“Just carry on and finish! I’m going to stay out here and play with Phil! Take your time!”
“All right, then,” Kevin said, and kissed me.
It's running at about 9000 words now. I've vaguely pondered putting it on Amazon if it ends up close to or over 10k once it's written and edited, buuuut I'm not taking it seriously enough to worry about where it'll end up just yet. If anywhere!
For now, it's a low-stakes happy place for Writer-Me to play around in while Author-Me attempts to focus on some business decisions.
In other words: what next?
😬
I've only got three more publishing months left in the year--I tend to rule out November and December, as they're too close to Christmas and the shopping season. Considering how long something as short as my just-released The Naiad's Lover takes to edit and proofread (I am sooooo slow), somehow I don't think I'll be able to turn around one of the full-length books I've got in my editing queue.
Luckily, I have a first draft of the Catch and Release novella sequel finished, and it's a petite 35 000 words. So…maybe?
While I have lots of reflecting to do on the last few months (how did the latest release go, do I need to adjust any plans, where do I want to go from here?) I'm not in any rush to make those big decisions.
❉ ❉ ❉
There's a sale going on over at Smashwords for the month of July, which I'm sure a lot of MM readers already know about. I had a poke around last week, and picked up a couple of Josh Lanyon books. As I've been on a massive re-reading kick this year, I was really pleased to snag some new books I haven't read yet.
I think I'll start with Ghosted, which has been on my TBR since it was published.
Another new book I'm excited to get my eyeballs on is C.S. Poe's Hudson River Homicides although I'll have to wait until the end of the month for that.
❉ ❉ ❉
On a random life note, when I sat out on the back step at seven a.m. to drink coffee and write my morning pages, the lawn was glittering with strands of gossamer and I spotted a couple of blackberries over by the cypress hedge. The air was hazy and cool, and some geese flew over.
It's still July, still summer...but I cannot wait for autumn!
Have a great weekend!
Isabel 😁
