Update on Works-in-Progress

Thank-you to all my readers, and especially those who’ve given feedback! I’m particularly excited by reviewers who express desire for sequels or eager anticipation for new works. Reading these makes me even more excited to write than before.

With that in mind, here’s a preview of what I’m working on now, and what you can expect from me in the future. I divulge this because I don’t want to spring a nasty surprise on readers who may be more sensitive to certain themes, subjects, and material.

There are two short stories coming up, both involving characters established in Mr Warren's Profession. Minor spoilers for that novel below!

One, as of yet untitled, involves Rowena Althorp in a shocking tryst on a train with an entirely new character. It’s roughly half-plot, half-smut. (Speaking of which—if anyone has insight into the London underground circa 1892 and is willing to pre-read for maximum train accuracy, please drop me a line!)

The other is about John Halloway and Lord Cyril Graves. Its working title is A Willing Canvas, and it’s one-hundred-percent BDSM smut. For those of you who’d rather not read BDSM smut, this might not be the story for you.

Short stories aside, I’m also working on three novels.

The whaling romance (working title: Take Me Like a Sailor) is the story of a whaling harpooner who inherits a baronetcy and falls in love with his estate agent. In bringing this story to fruition, what started as a lighthearted concept turned out a little more serious than I’d originally intended. Themes include survival of childhood sexual abuse, sexual harassment and assault in the workplace, and learning that trusted loved ones may be unworthy of the faith placed in them. Reading it back, it sounds an awful lot like the themes present in Mr Warren’s Profession. The overall tone of Take Me Like a Sailor feels much bleaker, and these topics are delved into more deeply. However, as with all romances, I can promise that it ends Happily Ever After for the two heroes. It’ll just be a longer and more difficult journey than Aubrey and Lindsey had.

The Gothic lesbian romance (no working title) is, as the description implies, a Gothic romance. An American heiress is captivated by the eerily beautiful sister of a visiting English baronet, and makes an ill-advised marriage in an effort to bring herself closer to the woman who’s stolen her heart. Inspired by stories such as Rebecca and Crimson Peak, expect an ancient house set on lonely windswept moors, desperate pining, and grim portents. Maybe even a ghost or two. Again, I promise a Happily Ever After for the heroines, who will richly deserve it after all the story puts them through. You can also expect some mutilation not unlike what’s depicted in Mr Warren’s Profession—and perhaps a little more intense than that.

The murder-mystery romance (working title: The Dose Makes the Poison) is the tale of a surgeon and a journalist, each hiding behind a false identity in an effort to escape their sordid pasts, who meet through tragic circumstances and fall in love despite them. As you may have guessed, it contains murders and surgery. It also depicts still more mutilation (those with sensitivity to things happening to eyes may want to skip a chapter or two), mentions of child abuse and how it shapes its survivors, and mentions of a loved one’s suicide and how that affects those left behind. There is a Happily Ever After awaiting our heroes, but they’ll go through a lot to get it.

I hope some of you are as excited to read these stories as I am to write them. For those of you who feel some trepidation at the details laid out above, please feel free to message me here on Goodreads (or email me directly at nothwellsebastian@gmail.com) if you’d like more information on what exactly will happen in these stories, and whether or not it’s something you’d prefer to avoid entirely. Like I said above, I don’t want to spring any nasty surprises on anyone. It sucks to be in the middle of a great story, only to get pulled out of it by an unexpected upset.

If you’d like to see more updates on these stories, I encourage you to check out my blog. I’m posting snippets of the whaling romance (almost done with the second draft!), inspirational material and research for the Gothic lesbian romance and the murder-mystery romance, and giveaways. You can also connect with me on Facebook, and of course, here on Goodreads. Thanks for reading!