I didn’t mean to

My youngest child has a catch phrase:  ”I didn’t mean to.”

It’s become sort of her signature song.  Break something?  ”I didn’t mean to!”  Forget something?  ”I didn’t mean to!”  Tackle her older sister to the ground under the guise of giving her a hug?   “But I didn’t mean to!”

What she’s saying (as I understand it) is that she didn’t intend to hurt her sister.  But, yes, she fully intended to tackle her.  In her seven-year-old mind, these events are completely unconnected.  A hug is fun! Affectionate!  A flying tackle of a hug is only more so. But, wait, somebody got hurt?  Whoa. Didn’t see that coming.

This, as you can imagine, frustrates me.  (Her sister is equally frustrated, though more bruised.)  But I gained new insight–sympathy, even–when I recently found myself in a similar situation.  

You see, I have just today released the second book in my Blake Brothers trilogy, TALENT FOR TROUBLE. Now this trilogy was originally conceived of as a trio of straight-up contemporary romances about three brothers.  The first book, TASTE FOR TROUBLE, was the middle brother’s story.  (Imagine David Beckham, if dear ol’ Becks came up dirt poor in West Texas.  Now imagine a hot, young Mary Poppins who reluctantly takes him (ahem) in hand.  Throw in a bunch of pie, & you’ve pretty much got it.)  

TALENT FOR TROUBLE, the follow up I have just released, is the oldest brother’s story.  This would be Will.  He’s a super-smart, super-arrogant uber-alpha male who’s been brought low.  (Book one was rough on him.)  He’s rebuilding himself into the man he was always meant to be before tragedy threw a wrench in his works.  

And I accidentally made it a paranormal romance. 

But I didn’t mean to.

Honest, I didn’t.  

Here’s the way it went down:  In book one (TASTE) I had to kill off a secondary character I really loved.  Really, really loved.  It hurt, but you have to do what the story demands, & I’m a big girl.  There’s no crying in baseball.  I got over it.  Or thought I did.

So then I was writing along on book two (TALENT) and that character’s voice–his very distinctive voice–turned up in my hero’s head.  Only this voice?  It wasn’t exactly the same as it had been in book one when that character was alive.  He was recognizable still, but exaggerated.  A little more unhinged.  A little more honest.  He was..oh, let’s be real:  he was foul-mouthed, abusive & hilarious, & I couldn’t give him up again.  So I let him stay.  And now I have a…ghost story.  Sort of. 

Except that everything else about this story–everything you’d expect from a straight-up contemporary romance–is still there!  You have a complicated family situation, you have witty repartee, you have a blistering love story between two reluctant, damaged souls.  

You just also have…a ghost.  Or two.  I don’t know.  It got crazy in there for a little while.  

I gave it to a few reviewers & one of them said (and I’m paraphrasing here), “You could never have gotten this story published in NYC.”  She meant it as a compliment, & I took it as one. This story goes unexpected places, & in ways you didn’t see coming.  And while I think that’s a good thing, it does make it hard to figure out which shelf it belongs on in the bookstore. But at the same time, it still delivers every ounce of the romance & the community you expect from a contemporary. It’s a genre-bending mash-up, & I’m a little worried about it.  I didn’t intend to break any rules.  I didn’t intend to freak anybody out.  I just wanted to write Will’s story.  And I ended up writing ghosts.  

But I didn’t mean to. 

Honest.

How about you?  Have you come across anything lately that surprised you?  In a good way?  In a bad way?  How did you respond?  I’d be happy to gift one lucky commenter with a copy of TALENT FOR TROUBLE of their very own, & you can make up your own mind about how/if my little accident is working out.  Would love to hear what you think!

Interested in an excerpt?  Click here!

Hearts and Sorry images courtesy of Free Digital Photos.  Mouse over for artist attribution.