Updates on What I’m Doing
Quick reminder on the order of the books in the series I’m currently working on:
Marriage by Obligation Series:
Love Under Desert Skies Series:
More to Come in this series
Even though I’m no longer making the long pre-orders like I used to, I want to keep using the pre-order feature because it gives me time to get the links, blog posts, and the email announcement ready. This book is back from the editor. I’m going through it now to finalize it. My goal is to have it up on pre-order by the end of this week.
The Earl’s Jilted Bride will take on a twist
And I already know some people will not like this twist, but it’s one that I (as a creator) feel is better for this particular story. While working on the first draft blog post years ago, I used to get comments from people who said something along the lines of, “I can’t wait to find out that character to tell the other character about that thing from their past.” (I’m being vague because that kind of comment came from several different people on different stories. I realize the “big reveal” from something in someone’s past is important to readers, especially when it comes to stuff between the hero and heroine.
Regarding The Earl’s Jilted Bride, I think it’s more important that the hero’s big secret is only revealed to the reader. Now, this is not even a secret to the reader going into the book. In the description, I come out and say the child he has isn’t really his. To protect the child, he makes everyone think it’s his. But no one else in the story knows this. And I’ve decided that not even the heroine will find out. Whether or not the heroine knows has no bearing on the story at all. Because of that, I thought, “I really want this to be something only the reader ever knows.” It’s a decision I made as a creative, and I enjoy the story more because of it. Another time I employed this writing strategy was in Brave Beginnings. The characters in that story believed Ernest killed his first wife, but it turned out that her death was an accident. Only Ernest and the reader ever knew the truth.
Sometimes not revealing things to another character is just as important as revealing them. The key is to know when that creates the biggest impact for the story. I think the story is stronger with only the readers knowing this information. It is the foundation upon which the hero behaves and feels during a significant portion of the story. If the reader doesn’t know this, then his actions won’t make any sense. So keep that in mind when you read the book. This will not have one of those “big reveal” moments.
I will probably finish Worth the Risk before I finish The Earl’s Jilted Bride
Thought Worth the Risk is Book 4 in this series, I am closer to being finished with it than I am with The Earl’s Jilted Bride. I have about three more scenes left to write in this one. I have probably three to five chapters left to write for The Earl’s Jilted Bride. Worth the Risk is longer than Secret Admirer, but it’ll be shorter than Midnight Wedding and The Earl’s Jilted Bride. I even went back and fleshed out some of this story. I felt I was rushing to the end. This fleshing out didn’t add fluff. It rounded out the romance between the hero and heroine better. I have the final conflict coming up, but I feel that the story needs one more scene before I get there. So I need one more scene to get to the conflict. Then I need the scene showing the resolution and happy ending. (Hey, what do you know? I can plot a little bit after all.) 
Anyway, I expect to finish up with this by the end of next week. I won’t publish it before The Earl’s Jilted Bride. I will go through the editing process on it, though, so it’s ready for me to put on pre-order when I get The Earl’s Jilted Bride up.
This is my Love Under Desert Skies Series. Tagalong Bride is Book 1. I am aiming for comedy, and it seems like we’re heading in that direction, but it’s hard to know for certain this early in the story. The hero has just found out his sister is lost in Arizona. The heroine overheard him talking to his mother about it and insisted on coming along. Frankly, I was surprised. I didn’t think the heroine was so assertive when starting this story, but she’s turning out to be someone who can speak up for herself. She does believe the hero loves her. He is determined to act the part of the devoted husband, though he only married her for her family’s money. I have a suspicion that once he realizes how much this little lady can assert herself when necessary, he’ll become attracted to her. But we’ll see as the story progresses.
I already know I’ll be writing a story for the hero’s sister who has been abducted by a group of bandits when they see gold coins in her drawstring purse. I don’t know any more than that right now since I am only in Chapter 2 of this book. I don’t know who she ends up with. She was supposed to marry someone out in Bullhead City, Arizona when her train got overtaken by the bandits just east of Flagstaff. Usually, I pair up the heroine with someone other than the man she was supposed to marry in these scenarios, but it might be nice if the man she was supposed to marry actually tracks her down and marries her this time. We’ll see if things play out that way during the course of the series. Until I’m actually writing scenes with the sister, I can’t say what direction this will all go.
I think there’s going to be another character popping up at some point in this book who might have a story of his own in this series, too. I’m hoping this character will be a funny character to work with. My initial idea is that he will be. Until I introduce him on the page, I won’t know for sure.
We’ll see how this series branches out in due time. 
