On waiting and challenges

Today, I will start working on the new gadda trilogy again. It's been a couple of months – I put it aside when I sent the proposal and first book to the publisher and I kept myself busy with other things.

I wrote my first contemporary romance. I wrote a novella, that fits between the two gadda trilogies and that I think I'll be self-publishing. I wrote some short stories. I did a massive publicity drive for Rogue Gadda (please let that show in sales, PLEASE!). I went to Supernova and launched Rogue Gadda and taught a couple of workshops and a friend and I were awarded the opportunity to run the 2013 Natcon and I made two handbags and started on a third.

Then came the beginning of this week – what to do now? I sat down, considered my options and decided you know what – it doesn't matter that I've not had the final yay or nay from the publisher (it is being investigated – publishers have become VERY cautious my friends). I'm ready to get back to work on Hope Lost, the second book which is currently half-drafted but causing my problems.

See, I set myself some interesting challenges in this book – the main one being to see if I could write a good love triangle – and what's come out of that is a battle between me and the heroine. You see, she'd so far removed from my own thoughts on love and relationships that I've been finding her hard to deal with. But I think I've come to the point where I'm ready to step out of her way and have her show me what she wants.

This may mean she chooses the wrong guy (in my opinion) but I have to let that play out.

I was supposed to start working on it yesterday, but Monday night an interesting challenge arose courtesy of Twitter and I couldn't resist jumping into it.

I follow some really fabulous women who are intelligent, thoughtful readers and writers of romance. A discussion came up about what books featured 40+ heroines. Not many, was the answer. Then they talked about plus sized heroines. Again, not many. Then the big question – what about a 40+, plus sized heroine?

Someone questioned whether it could be done – one or the other but not both, she thought. And there the challenge was set.

I'm gonna be having a 40+ heroine in the last book of the new gadda trilogy – it was important to me to use a variety of women, with a variety of experiences in this new series. But none of my heroines are plus-sized.

Could I write a story about a woman who was both, and still make it romantic and sexy?

Well, I think I have. It's only a first draft, and a short story (9300 words). I'm not sure if it will blow into a full romance novel – there's some weaknesses in that there's not a lot of character growth. And I wonder if it's a bit preachy about size issues.

But I have a 50yo, large woman who meets and has a hot relationship with a 55yo paunchy billionaire :) It was great fun, and I'm going to give it to the ladies to read (even though it's rough) to see what they think.