Delilah Devlin's Blog, page 30
January 15, 2025
Flashback: Saddled (Contest)
Besides my series, I have written some very sexy standalone stories, too! I forget about them because I’m so busy trying to keep up with series, but I shouldn’t. In fact, I should go back and look at my workplan because I deserve to write something completely fun and one-off!
If you haven’t read the books below, now’s your time to peruse, and I’m including an excerpt from one of them so you can sample some of the fun. Several of them are menage stories, so if that’s your thing, be sure to check them out!
Contest
For a chance to win your choice of one of the books below,
tell me which of these covers appeal to you!
Click on any cover to learn more about the story!
More about Saddled…Riding double never felt so fine…
When Bobby Blackhawk and Cale Yancey see a car slide off the highway and into an icy creek, they’ve got only minutes to get the beautiful driver out alive — and just one way to save her from hypothermia: take her to their isolated cabin, get naked…and hope like hell that when she wakes up, she doesn’t scream the place down.
When Katherine Duvall opens her eyes in a strange bed, the tingles flooding her body aren’t entirely due to thawing. She’s snuggled between two handsome, naked men — one a gruff, gentle giant, the other a sexy, playful Native American. Having just left her cheating fiancé, she’s not quite as shocked as she might have been. In fact, these two lonesome cowboys could be the perfect bookends to satisfy her hunger for revenge and bolster her dented self esteem.
With all of them bent on seduction, it’s not long before they melt the snow on the cabin roof, and soon, the threesome finds something else is melting, too. Their hearts…
An excerpt…Bobby Blackhawk shook his head as the taillights of the little Beemer just ahead flashed red again through the falling snow. Sure enough, as soon as the driver crunched the brakes, the tail end of the car began to slide on the snow-covered ice.
“She’s gonna go right into the river if she keeps that up,” Cale Yancey muttered beside him.
They’d been following the car for the last ten miles, inching down the lonely highway. They’d already figured out the car wasn’t using snow chains, and the driver was too stupid to know she was skirting on the edge of real trouble.
“Why are you so sure it’s a woman?” Bobby asked.
“Can’t drive worth a damn.”
“Love for you to tell Lacey J. that.”
“Lacey’s not like other women.”
Now, that was an understatement that had them both sharing lopsided grins, considering how well Lacey had proven that point the previous weekend.
“Sure could use me a little of her lovin’,” Cale said, sounding wistful.
The last trip into Wellesley, Colorado in anticipation of snow blocking the mountain pass had been a wild, lust-packed two days. With a lonely winter facing them, they’d both taken Lacey up on her offer of a threesome that was sure to keep the two men growling like hungry bears for the next two months, impatient for the thaw so they could get back down the mountain.
It was a good thing they’d discovered long ago that they were compatible in ways that would make most men blanch, otherwise the wait to make it back into town would have been unbearable. Neither was squeamish about helping the other out; however, both preferred emptying their passion inside the wet, snug passage of a woman. If the woman happened to be obliging, like Lacey often was, they didn’t mind sharing.
Both vehicles climbed the last long hill right before the men’s turnoff and another half-mile beyond to the highway, tire treads biting into fresh snow.
“She might make it,” Cale said, sounding doubtful.
“Think we better follow to make sure?”
The car ahead made it to the top of the rise, and then the brake lights flashed again.
Cale cursed. “Wish she’d quit doing that.”
Rental company plates on the back of the car explained a lot about the aptitude of the driver. “Doesn’t know she should just gear down and take it slow.”
They reached the top, and Bobby geared down. Sure enough, the driver up ahead hit the brakes again, and the rear of the car slid sideways. As though watching a movie in slow motion, both men held their breaths, hoping the woman would gain traction at the last moment, but one rear tire slid off the edge of the road and then the right front followed. With tires spinning and brake lights flaring bright, the car slipped slowly down the hill and into the creek.
“Not good,” Cale said tightly as Bobby pulled into the snow bank at the side of the road and left his emergency lights flashing. Just a precaution since there wasn’t much of a chance of anyone coming up on their rear end since the road crew had been taking the barriers off the truck when they’d passed.
Bobby slammed the car into park and climbed out, following Cale as he slid on his ass down the hill. They paused at the water’s edge, staring at the vehicle, both knowing one of them was going to have to get wet.
Water was midway up the car door, and the driver had rolled down her window. Blonde hair peeked beneath a black knit hat. Terror-stricken blue eyes peered at them through the falling snow.
“Ma’am, can you get yourself out?” Cale shouted.
“I think so,” she said, her voice tight and quavering.
“If you can crawl out your window, we can help you the rest of the way.”
“I’m getting wet. It’s cold.”
“Gotta move now, sweetheart,” Cale said, his tone gentling the same way it did when he worked with a fractious horse. “You wait another second, two of us are gonna be in trouble.”
“My purse. I can’t find it.” She turned in her seat, reaching into the back of the car.
The car bobbed on the water, and for a moment, Bobby thought it might break free and start floating. “Lady, leave it,” he shouted. “You don’t have time to look.”
“But my money—”
“Not gonna spend it if you’re dead.”
She bit her lip, and then her face screwed up as though she was going to start crying.
“Fuck sake,” Bobby muttered, stepping past Cale and stripping off his coat. “I’ll get her out. It’s gonna be up to you to get us both up that goddamn hill.”
The post Flashback: Saddled (Contest) first appeared on Delilah Devlin.
January 14, 2025
Call for Submissions: BURN! Deadline: 05/15/25
BURN: A BOYS BEHAVING BADLY ANTHOLOGY
Editor: Delilah Devlin
Deadline: May 15, 2025
BURN is open to all authors.
Editor/Author Delilah Devlin is looking for stories for a romantic erotica anthology tentatively entitled BURN: A BOYS BEHAVING BADLY ANTHOLOGY.
Why write a short story for this collection? Well, it’s certainly not about making a lot of money, so why do it at all? I’ve said this before, many times, but here are my thoughts…
Writing a short story for a call for submissions is a chance to flex your writing muscles! It can be a chance to experiment with a genre you’ve never written. If you’ve never written a story in first person but don’t want to begin by writing an entire novel using it, start short! For myself, I’ve written stories in new genres or with fresh themes that ended up being so much fun to write they’ve spawned entire series of books.
You have a deadline! I don’t know about you, but I have trouble keeping my butt in the chair without one!
It’s a promotional opportunity! If selected, you’ll be joined by 12-15 other authors for the launch, sharing your audiences and, hopefully, picking up new readers along the way. Having your story in the collection is another chance to be “seen.”
And remember, you retain the rights to your story, so you can republish it for individual sale or give it away to attract subscribers to your newsletter. You might even decide there’s more story to tell and expand your short story into a novel.
Here’s what I’m looking for…
BURN: A BOYS BEHAVING BADLY ANTHOLOGY will include stories that satisfy the reader who craves stories about those sexy, alpha men who face danger without hesitation and who love unconditionally. Perhaps, he’s the new firefighter in a small town who rescues a woman from a burning building. Maybe he’s an arson investigator, hunting for a predator targeting a local business owner. Or a vulcanologist studying an awakening volcano. Is he an alien from a fiery planet seeking a mate, or an astronaut searching in a mysterious solar system for a new home for colonization? Could he be a fire dragon living in the human world? There are so many ways to go.
BURN will seek stories with varied settings here on Earth—present, past, or future—or on another planet or moon in this solar system or in a galaxy far, far, away. Heroes and heroines might be more than human—supernatural creatures or even aliens and cyborgs.
I’m open to any subgenre of erotic romance you want to write. I’ll accept contemporary, historical, science fiction, or paranormal stories, and I won’t be picky about whether the stories are hetero, LGBT, ménage… Basically, you, the author, can go anywhere your imagination takes you so long as 1) the story is a romance, and 2) you have a bad boy/girl somewhere on the pages!
The anthology will be sold at a low price—my intent is exposure for you and your writing. The more readers reached, the better! You will retain the rights to your story so that, at a later date, you can republish your stories individually.
I’m seeking hot and inventive stories from authors with unique voices, and above all, I’m looking to be seduced by tales filled with vivid imagery and passion.
Published authors with an established world may use that setting for their original short stories.
This is erotic romance, so don’t hold back on the heat. Stories can be vanilla or filled with kink but don’t miss describing the romantic connection between strong-willed individuals learning to trust and love one another. A deep sensuality should linger in every word. Keep in mind that there must be a romantic element with a happy-for-now or happy-ever-after ending. Strong plots, engaging characters, and unique twists are the ultimate goal. Please, no reprints. I want original stories.
How to submit: Prepare your 2,500 to 5,500 words story in a double-spaced, Arial, 12-point, black font, Word document (.doc or .docx) OR rich text format (.rtf), with pages numbered. Indent the first line of each paragraph half an inch and double space (regular double spacing; do not add extra lines between paragraphs or do any other irregular spacing). U.S. grammar (double quotation marks around dialogue, etc.) is required.
In your document at the top left of the first page, include your legal name (and pseudonym, if applicable), mailing address, email address, and a 50-word or less biography, written in the third person, and send to bbbaburn@gmail.com. If you are using a pseudonym, please provide your real name and pseudonym and make it clear which one you’d like to be credited as. Authors may submit up to 2 stories. I will try to respond no later than July 15, 2025, with decisions.
Payment will be USD 25.00 ninety days after publication at the end of that month.
Who is Delilah Devlin?
Delilah Devlin is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of romance and erotic romance. She has published over two hundred stories in multiple genres and lengths and has been published by Atria/Strebor, Avon, Berkley, Black Lace, Cleis Press, Ellora’s Cave, Entangled, Grand Central, Harlequin Spice, HarperCollins: Mischief, Kensington, Kindle, Montlake, Penthouse, Running Press, and Samhain Publishing.
Her short stories have appeared in multiple Cleis Press collections, including Lesbian Cowboys, Girl Crush, Fairy Tale Lust, Lesbian Lust, Passion, Lesbian Cops, Dream Lover, Carnal Machines, Best Erotic Romance (2012), Suite Encounters, Girl Fever, Girls Who Score, Duty and Desire, Best Lesbian Romance of 2013, and On Fire. For Cleis Press, she edited Girls Who Bite, She Shifters, Cowboy Lust, Smokin’ Hot Firemen, High Octane Heroes, Cowboy Heat, Hot Highlanders and Wild Warriors, and Sex Objects.
She has also edited Conquests: An Anthology of Smoldering Viking Romance, Rogues: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, Blue Collar: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, Pirates: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, Stranded: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, First Response: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, Cowboys: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, Silver Soldiers: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, and Secret Identities: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology.
Direct any questions regarding your story or the submission process to Delilah at bbbaburn@gmail.com.
The post Call for Submissions: BURN! Deadline: 05/15/25 first appeared on Delilah Devlin.January 13, 2025
Word Search: Favorite Romance Tropes (Contest)
For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle, then tell me your favorite romance tropes, you know the underlying kind of romance it is. My favorites include: cowboy, enemy to lover, and forced proximity. So, what are yours? And if there’s one not listed here that you love, share it in the comments!
The post Word Search: Favorite Romance Tropes (Contest) first appeared on Delilah Devlin.January 12, 2025
Report Card & Open Contests
Last week…
I got my white blood cell count booster shot! Woo-hoo. The rest of the week was a bit of blur since I spent most of it resting or outright sleeping. I’m so glad chemo is over so I can try to get back my strength!I started work on one author’s edits! Yay, back in the saddle!I decided on the theme, with readers’ help, for the next Boys Behaving Badly Anthology! It’ll be Burn ! The family and I watched Carry-On on Netflix. If you love Die Hard like I do, you’ll love this little movie, too!When I was up and about, I began slowly putting away things in my art studio. Doesn’t that sound pretentious? It’s just the place all my hoarded art supplies live. With Christmas gifts and all the sales, I have tons of supplies to find homes for.
Oh, one last thing! KDP (Amazon) kindly returned my ability to post pre-orders. They took pity on my excuse for canceling previous pre-orders—cancer! Now, I have to work up the nerve to begin listing a few!This next week…
I have my PET scan scheduled for Friday. All fingers and toes are crossed that the images bear out what the blood work has been hinting at. If the tumors are small enough now, I hope I’m a candidate for some debulking surgeries.I have two authors’ edits to work on this week. One to hopefully complete (depends on whether the author gets me the rest of her book!).I still need to upload Once Upon a Legend to sites other than Amazon since it’s no longer exclusive there. I’m not sure why I’ve been dragging my feet. Oh yeah, fatigue.This week, I’ll be diving back into finishing up Ignition !Open Contests
Be sure to check out these posts and enter to win the prizes that are still up for grabs:
Story Cubes — Tell me a story (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Hunkering down in the cold… — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!Gabbi Grey: Why Representation Matters (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!Word Puzzle — Ideas for Next Boys Behaving Badly Anthology (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!Karenna Colcroft: Back to Boston (F*R*E*E Read!) — Everyone, get your FREE read!Memory Game: The OG — Montana Bounty Hunters (Contest) — Get an Amazon gift card!Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Movie Night! — Get an Amazon gift card!The post Report Card & Open Contests first appeared on Delilah Devlin.January 11, 2025
Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Movie Night!
Since school shut down on Thursday due to the winter storm, we had an unexpected four-day weekend! Not that we minded one bit.
The kids have enjoyed the snowfall even if the snow wasn’t suitable for building a snowman or an igloo. They did enjoy sliding down our short hill and throwing icy snowballs at each other. My daughter made two big pots of soup which we’ve already managed to devour. She made two batches of our favorite focaccia bread.
Before the storm, we bought a copy of Wicked off of Prime Video. The girls loved it so much, they’ve rewatched it a couple of times already and have rewound all the musical numbers so they can memorize the songs. They’ve also had a karaoke night.
We have two more days to go. I’m wondering if I can interest them in another movie night. I wonder what might interest all of them.
So, for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, how about you offer some suggestions I can make. Then I’ll make some popcorn, assembles some finger foods, and hunker down for another night they’ll carry fond memories of in the future. Enjoy the puzzle!
The post Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Movie Night! first appeared on Delilah Devlin.January 10, 2025
Memory Game: The OG — Montana Bounty Hunters (Contest)
We never see this. Well, almost never. We can have years in between seeing a blanket of snow, so we savor it. Strange, I know. But the kids have dug through drawers to find gloves they never need and find boots that won’t soak up water in a second to go play in the snow. Mind you, the “kids” are 11, 16, and 20—plus my dear daughter, whose age I won’t mention.
Other than ensuring our many animals (goats, horse, geese, and chickens) are all safe and have food and shelter, they are in play mode. Mom (my dd) made two big pots of soup yesterday for us to nosh on whenever we get hungry—taco soup and tortilla soup. What is the difference? Oh, big difference the way she makes them. One has beans and beef the other is purely veg and spice. They had a karaoke night last night in the living room—always hilarious. We all nap when we want (me, more than the others).
So far, no power outages other than yesterday morning’s inexplicable loss. The temperature will warm up above freezing tonight, but not long enough to melt everything. So, tomorrow, we expect a lot of ice on the roads and patches of snow. We’ll be stuck inside another day, which I love, but which may be kind of confining to the kids since one day of snow is fun, two is boring, right?
Anyway, strange day. Terrible fires in LA, a president-elect sort of held accountable for his crimes, continued weirdness about which countries we’re going to annex/conquer because we can… I’m happy to turn off the news, enjoy the winter wonderland outside, and simply be happy I’m here to see another snow fall.
I hope you are all safe and cozy in your homes.
For fun, I’m including a memory game for you to play! Exercise that gray matter! It’ll help you keep sharp, promise. I’m using the images from my OG bounty hunter series set in Bear Lodge, MT—Montana Bounty Hunters.
Enjoy the game. For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me what you see when you look outside. Do you have snow on the ground? Is it raining, sunny? Do you have big plans for the weekend? Have fun!
The post Memory Game: The OG — Montana Bounty Hunters (Contest) first appeared on Delilah Devlin.January 9, 2025
Karenna Colcroft: Back to Boston (F*R*E*E Read!)
I’m sorry I’m posting this late! We had a power outage this morning! Please welcome Karenna! ~DD
*~*~*
Delilah, thanks for allowing me to come here and talk about my new book, Bring on the Broccoli! This is book 7 of my Real Werewolves Don’t Eat Meat series…and the series has definitely been a ride.
It all started in 2010 with a 1000-word scene I dashed off to answer the question posed by a writer friend: “How could a werewolf be vegan?” I had an answer.
And then I had another scene with the vegan werewolf, Kyle Slidell, and his mate, Tobias Rogan, the Alpha who prefers letting someone else be in charge in the bedroom.
And then I had a novel. And then a five-book series, originally published between 2011-2014 and pulled off the market in 2016.
In 2021, I dug out the books and said, “I really like these. I should make them available again.” I started revising and re-editing the books, including bringing their setting from 2015, when they originally took place, to an undefined “present day” and updating some language and technology references accordingly. During that process, I started thinking maybe Kyle and Tobias’s story was longer than five books.
So I wrote book six, Take Some Tahini, which was released in summer 2024. However, there was a small problem with that book and future ones.
The original series included books that took place in Boston—where Kyle and Tobias’s tiny pack lives in a cluster of buildings on the East Boston waterfront—and in Pennsylvania and California. As of the end of book 5, Tobias and Kyle are living in California.
The problem being that I live near Boston. And I’ve never been to California.
When I wrote Take Some Tahini, I knew keeping Tobias and Kyle in California wouldn’t be sustainable. I planted the seeds for them to move back to Boston, though they’re no longer part of that tiny pack on the East Boston waterfront.
By the beginning of Bring on the Broccoli, Kyle and Tobias have fully relocated back to the city where their story began. And I’m not sure who’s happier about it, Kyle or me. I’ve always loved Boston; I grew up in Maine but had family in the Boston area, so I spent a fair bit of time here as a teen. And Kyle loves it because it’s where his chosen family, the pack he first belonged to when he became a werewolf, is located.
As Kyle said in Chapter One of Bring on the Broccoli, “We were home.”
As the author, I’m glad they are. I was starting to feel a little homesick writing the books that took place elsewhere.
Bring On the Broccoli (Real Werewolves Don’t Eat Meat 7)
About the Author
Finally back in Massachusetts, vegan werewolf Kyle Slidell hopes for a peaceful life with his mate, Anax Tobias Rogan. But the pressure of ruling all werewolves in the United States is getting to Tobias. Kyle worries that the gentle, compassionate man he fell in love with is becoming like the previous Anax: a power-mad ruler who is all too eager to kill.
An old friend comes to Tobias for help in rescuing his mate from an abusive Alpha. As the extent of the Alpha’s crimes comes to light and the Alpha flees, Tobias sentences him to death. And he seems all too eager to carry out the sentence.
As they and their guards search for the fugitive Alpha, Kyle will do anything to ensure that the power within Tobias doesn’t take control—including becoming the Anax’s enforcer.
This book includes an on-page death in a werewolf attack, the on-page execution of a werewolf, discussions of abuse and assault, and depictions of PTSD.
Bring On the Broccoli is available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback. Amazon (US) link:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DM9H4VZN
Karenna Colcroft lives just north of Boston, Massachusetts, and has been in love with the city since childhood. To the best of her knowledge, she has yet to encounter any werewolves or other paranormal beings here.
Karenna is a polyamorous, nonbinary human. She lives with her husband and has two adult children and three “bonus” kids, four grandchildren, and three cats, who aren’t at all pleased that Karenna writes about werewolves.
Find out more about Karenna online at http://www.karennacolcroft.com or https://www.facebook.com/KarennaColcroft , or join her Home for Wayward Werewolves at https://www.facebook.com/groups/karennacolcroftshomeforwaywardwerewolves
Receive a free story and get updates and sneak peeks at Karenna’s upcoming books at https://karennacolcroft.com/get-your-free-story/
The post Karenna Colcroft: Back to Boston (F*R*E*E Read!) first appeared on Delilah Devlin.January 8, 2025
Word Puzzle — Ideas for Next Boys Behaving Badly Anthology (Contest)
So, the other day, I posted a poll to choose the next theme for another Boys Behaving Badly Anthology. The winner of the poll is “Burn”—a tentative title. I’m okay with that. So, authors start thinking about how you can use heat/burning/fire in a short story between 2500 to 5500 words. I’ll put together a Call for Submissions soon and make a formal announcement.
Ugh. My puzzle generator changed, and I don’t like change. I hope it works similarly to the old version. Since I’ve settled on a theme for the antho, I thought I might list some ideas authors might play with for their stories. For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me which idea you love. If you have another idea to offer, I’m sure authors would love to see it!
The post Word Puzzle — Ideas for Next Boys Behaving Badly Anthology (Contest) first appeared on Delilah Devlin.January 7, 2025
Catching Up & Open Contests!
Catching up here…
I’m feeling a little better. Got some rest. I had a white cell count booster shot yesterday. Next, I have an appointment at the end of next week for a PET scan to see how much my cancer has reduced (crossing my fingers it’s a lot!). Then, I have a follow-on appointment the Monday after to get the results and begin my first immunotherapy infusion. Whew! Hopefully, there will be another appointment added to see a surgeon to get my girlie parts removed!
Amazon very kindly reinstated my pre-order ability, but now I’m afraid to use it in case I don’t finish the next book in time. LOL. I have no confidence, but I guess I’ll go ahead and set one up for a far-away date to give myself some leeway, then change it to a sooner date when the book is done. I’m talking about
Ignition
, the last of the Delta Heat stories, which is almost all written at this point! Just a chapter or two to go, and I’m done. I’ll attack it next week and see how it goes. I’ll announce here when I set up the pre-order—after I regain my nerve.The kids start back to school today, although the severe cold is here, and we might get SNOW on Thursday. This means the kids may get a long weekend out of it! Yay! Although, BOO, we already had a pipe freeze in the pasture. Won’t be able to fix it until it thaws sometime next week.We did our grocery shopping after I had my shot yesterday. I was sooooo tired after traipsing around the grocery store. My dd would’ve dropped me at home if I’d asked, but I wanted to do something normal I haven’t done in months. I loved seeing all the FOOD. I know I added a bunch she wouldn’t have bought because…pretty. Who can resist prosciutto and cheese? Or asparagus. (I’m the only person in the house who eats it.)And that’s all that’s happening here. I’ve set myself some small goals for today and hope I can get that bare minimum done. My desk is buried in stuff! Be sure to check out the list of contests that are still open below! I’d love to hear how you’re doing. Is anyone else getting this freezing weather?
Open Contests
January 6, 2025
Gabbi Grey: Why Representation Matters (Contest)
Hello Delilah! Thank you so much for inviting me here today to discuss my latest release. Didn’t See You Coming is an LGBTQ young adult paranormal ghost story romance novel.
Phew.
That’s a lot to cram into a description, but I want to make certain to hit all the high points – gay teenagers, ghosts, a touch of romance.
I’ve never written a young adult novel before. I’ll be frank — I don’t read a ton of them either. But some have crossed my path, and I’ve snapped them up — several that were LGBTQ. I still wouldn’t have felt remotely qualified to write one.
Yet you’re thinking…but Gabbi, you did write one.
This all started back in April. My publisher, The Wild Rose Press, held an open chat where they discussed their new YA series. I almost didn’t attend the chat, but something said do it! So I went with my gut and attended the chat. When the concept of Pinedale High School in North Carolina was introduced, I was mildly interested. As the chat continued, though, I was hit with a thunderbolt. I needed to write a book. A book for the series. A book with LGBTQ characters. I hoped other authors would include gay kids in their books, but I realized we needed a book where the queer kids were the protagonists. My gut had directed me to that chat. That same gut said I had to write a book.
Since 2024 was the year of hell yes! I asked in the chat if they would be interested in a sweet LGBTQ story. I got an enthusiastic hell yes. At the same time, I was talking to Plot Whisperer in DMs who was waking up on the other side of the world. I started talking to her and she suggested a naked ghost.
I was like…huh?
Still, the publisher chat ended with a request we submit proposals. I spent a week working the details out in my mind and, through my editor, submitted a proposal.
And then I didn’t hear back.
I didn’t worry because I was literally up to my neck in a different book.
Then I got the proverbial “call.” The one all writers wait for.
Well, not quite. The president of the publisher, who is also the senior editor for the young adult line, emailed me and said, “How fast can you write this?”
I was like, “Fast…” (Because in the year of hell yes we agree to everything.) She said, “Do it.” She also placed a virtually impossible deadline before me.
But she saw, I believe, what I saw — the chance for authentic representation. The chance to show queer kids in a positive light.
A couple of weeks later, I was ready to write. I had my gay couple, my lesbian couple, my ghosts…and no effing clue what I was doing.
No worries, Plot Whisperer to the rescue. I gave her what I had — which was actually a lot more than I usually have — and together we crafted a solid plot. The problem? I had six point of view characters. Now, most authors will tell you that’s Herculean. Some would say impossible. Hell, some said to me that it wasn’t possible. I believed in this book, though, so I wrote it the way it was begging to be written. With six equal characters.
50k words in 17 days. While I was working. Just…insane.
Then came the brutal beta readers. I don’t normally have so many, but I needed honest opinions. And I got them. One suggested cutting a character entirely and said the epilogue didn’t work. One found certain aspects confusing. Brutal beta reader sort of took it apart and then helped me put it back together. Sensitivity reader taught me more about my blind spots. I write interracial romances, and I will always have someone read my work to ensure I’m getting it as right as I can.
Finally, I had my teenage beta reader. They got the final draft. I will say, when I approached their mom, a good friend, I didn’t know beta reader’s circumstances. That they’d changed their name and their pronouns. That they sort of identified as nonbinary. To say I felt privileged they were willing to help would be an understatement. But they were honest with me and made the book so much better. With their critical stamp of approval, I sent the book to my editor.
I also was required to send a synopsis. I begged my editor, for just this one time (okay, second, but who’s counting?) to not read the synopsis and to read the book cold. She didn’t know about the six POV characters. If she didn’t get the book, I knew massive edits would be required. She had veto power over the book — if it didn’t work, it wasn’t going to get published.
I’ll never forget I submitted it on July 4th. My editor is American, so I had no expectations. She answered my email that she had it and would get back to me within a week.
Thus began the wait.
Four hours later, her glowing email arrived. She loved it. Edits, to be sure, but she loved it.
Now, I will confide I had to fight to keep every F-bomb. And the book, aside from language, is genuinely sweet. It’s also the book of my heart. I wanted full representation — and I got it. Gay, bi, lesbian, and naked ghost. A multicultural story.
Naturally, I’m hoping readers love the book. My nonbinary beta reader asked me when I was going to write the next book for them. (Spoiler alert — possibly sooner than anyone expected.) This is a book I’m proud to share with people. This is a book I’m encouraging people to ask their library to order. I want this book in the hands of as many teenagers as possible. So kids won’t feel alone. So they’ll know they’re seen. That their stories matter.
Okay! That was a lot. From the book I never thought I’d write to today was an intense eight-month journey. That’s short in the world of traditional publishing. An entire team worked their asses off to make certain we would be the third book in this series and that I could bring representation. In the end, I’m grateful to have been given this opportunity. To the publisher, to my beta readers, to my editor — to everyone.
I also managed to get the book recorded on audio by the wonderful narrator Michael Ferraiuolo. He did such an amazing job and I’m hoping listeners get a real taste of my story.
Thank you, Delilah, for inviting me here today. I’m so grateful, as always, that you provide me with this opportunity to share my work. As a thank you, I’d like to award one lucky commenter with a prize. For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, please let me know if you’ve read any young adult novels that stuck with you. Or what was your favorite book you read as you were growing up? Judy Blume was a favorite of mine (yes, I’m dating myself). Random will pick the winner. Thank you and good luck!
Didn’t See You Coming
Pinedale High—where every shade of love stands a ghost of a chance.
Holden and Peyton don’t expect much from senior year. He probably won’t manage to date any guys. She’ll still pine over Juliette, the beautiful and unattainable cheerleader. But when they step between class bullies and Oliver, a super-hot transfer student, their year starts to go off the rails.
As a star football player, Oliver hadn’t anticipated trouble. Turns out Pinedale High not only comes with bullies, but with new friends, plus the ghost of a Civil War soldier, and a shy naked guy in the library. Between the living and the dead, senior year is about to get interesting.
Links:
Universal Link: https://books2read.com/Didnt
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D4MWFN3S
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/didnt-see-you-coming-gabbi-grey/1146433159
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/didnt-see-you-coming/id6737234908
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/220663889-didn-t-see-you-coming
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.
Personal links:
Website: https://gabbigrey.com/
Newsletter sign-up: https://sendfox.com/gabbigrey
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorgabbigrey/
Facebook (page): https://www.facebook.com/AuthorGabbiGrey
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/gabbi-grey
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15456297.Gabbi_Grey
