A Change to the Series Format for The Earl’s Bluestocking Bride (The Phase of Burnout Needs an End so I Can Move Forward)

This morning as I was on my way back home after dropping my kid (who wasn’t able to get his driver’s license) off at work, I made a decision about the Marriage by Obligation Series. I am going to end it at Anyone But the Marquess. I will adjust the blog/my website, update the back matter of Anyone But the Marquess, and modify The Earl’s Bluestocking Bride’s book cover next week to reflect this change.

I am knee-deep in editing The Wilderness Bride this week, so I can’t do it now. I need to have The Wilderness Bride ready for my editing team by December 1, and I just finished the first draft. This week is dedicated to going through initial edits, so I can hand over the second draft to my team.

So basically, this decision boiled down to my burnout phase. Except for Anyone But the Marquess, I wrote the Marriage by Obligation Series during my burnout phase. Now that I have my enthusiasm for writing back, I want a fresh start. Anyone But the Marquess was my 100th romance.

Looking back, I wish I had taken a longer break as soon as I needed it. The problem was in knowing when the burnout started, but when I realized it was there, I should have pushed back my publishing deadlines. If I had done that, I might not look at a few of the books I wrote and think, “I could have done better.” I hate admitting that in public, but maybe it’s good to get this out of the way.

I need a fresh start, and this is a good time to do it. I just finished writing The Wilderness Bride, and since it is my 101st romance, I’m going to think of it like it’s my 1st book.

And The Earl’s Bluestocking Bride is going to start a new Regency series that I am going to name Marriage by Chemistry since it is going to feature that love potion a couple of gentlemen are working on. I want a clean break from the Marriage by Obligation Series. Secret Admirer and Worth the Risk are not my strongest books. I hate to say it, but it’s true. I was at my lowest points in burnout while writing them, and it shows. Ironically, I am very happy with Midnight Wedding and The Earl’s Jilted Bride which also came out during my burnout phase.

That’s not to say every book I wrote before my burnout phase was the best work I ever produced. Out of 100 books, there are going to be ones that are better than others. That’s just the way things go. Writers aren’t going to get it perfect. There will be mountains and valleys in this journey. It’s just the way life is. But there is no point in getting stuck in the past. You can’t change what has already happened.

The best thing is to move forward. Embrace the stuff that is coming.

So that is why I’m making The Earl’s Bluestocking Bride the first book in the Marriage by Chemistry Series.