I love having the next blog day after Maia. She always gives me good ideas. Thanks, Maia!
I too have a free holiday short story release coming from Samhain Publishing. “Custom Christmas” will be available for free download on December 26. If you miss it there (I don’t know why you might be busy), I’ll put it on my website and on my live journal. “Custom Christmas” is a follow-up to my first release with Samhain, a short story called Custom Ride. I’ve never met a word count I couldn’t immediately exceed so in order to make it fit under the fifteen-thousand-words submission guideline, I had to cut a lot. I’ve gotten emails asking me what happened with the characters, and I hope this short story works as a standalone, and ties things up for others.
As Maia said, it was fun to go back and hang out with old characters. Even if you write a book in which your old characters have walk-ons or secondary parts, it’s not the same as when you live in a character’s point of view. And although people say you can never go back, it sure feels good to try.
I guess that’s why I love a reunion romance story. It’s my favorite romantic convention, which you may have noticed if you’ve read some of my books. I’m working on one right now, but in this one, the characters were much more broken than in Diving In Deep. The characters in this book have some serious issues to work through. And a killer to find. (Oh no, she’s trying to write an external plot! Somebody stop her!)
I did get reunited with Noah and Cameron from Diving In Deep in writing Collision Course which came out yesterday. Excuse me while I do my Happy Release Day dance. Okay, I’m back. Be very glad there’s no webcam. But having Noah and Cameron around wasn’t the same as actually living in their heads. I know that I really miss Joey and Aaron, and I’m sure I won’t be able to completely leave them alone. Not only do I miss them, but there’s a character in Collision Course who wants his own book. I’m looking forward to a reunion with that world of characters.
I’d fling some more excerpts or prequels for Collision Course at you, but I’ve already done that to the point where I’m sure some people are glad it’s out so I’ll just shut up about it. Yeah, about me and that word count thing again…well, you can always check out my website or live journal if you missed them.
So what do you guys think of reunion romances, or even just being reunited with characters who feel like old friends?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
11 comments:
If I care about characters I LOVE reunion stories or having them show up again somewhere down the line in another book. They're like people you know and you kind of have this weird sense that they have been doing stuff since you last saw them and want to find out what, which is totally kind of weird since they don't really exist, but in my head they do. :-) Ummm, excuse me now, I believe I have to run and buy a book. ;-)
Reunion stories are great. I'm looking forward to Collision Course!
I love stories where you get to see characters from other books. (as long as they are not dead and even that is acceptable if they are from a different generation than the current book.)
Chris Roberts
This isn't really an answer to the question at hand, but...
YAY for external plots! And is it weird if I say that murder is my favorite? In fiction. *g*
I'm trying to finish up edits, but I bought Collision Course already and I can almost hear it seductively whispering from my to be read folder, "You know you want to read me..."
That sounds a bit creepy, eh, but I really can't wait to read it!
Yay!!! Thank you so much for writing Custom Christmas! *hugs* I love closure, and I felt that the Custom Ride guys were totally ripped off with that word count limitation.
I love reunion stories!! It's always nice to see well loved characters again, just as in 'real life' :)
Reunion stories are the best, especially if I fall in love with your characters. I am so excited to read Collision Course. Yes I wanted to read it because of Mark, but seeing these wonderful reviews of the book has me giddy.
I really hope you go back to Cameron and Noah one day. I miss them a lot, and keep re-reading Diving in Deep. ♥
Tam: What do you mean they aren't real. I've always been convinced that I could step through a cupboard and end up in the world with my favorite characters. Because they are real. They just aren't here. :-)
Tory: Thanks! I really love your writing.
Chris: Hi! I love multigenerational series, which I think is really trick to pull off.
Dakota: Creepy? I thought everyone had books that whispered to them. I hate it when I'm critiquing something for one of my CP's and I get all "oooo that book is waiting for me" and I realize CRAP! It's not done yet. Yeah, my couch also often whispers, "Come, take a nap. I have fuzzy blankets."
Jen B: I really hope Custom Christmas works for you. I really did want to write a sequel, but I couldn't think of anything that would be long enough to ask people to pay money for it. I'm so glad to have a chance at a big distribution and to give people a better ending. Let me know what you think.
Lily: I'm glad other people love reunion stories, because I don't see that theme ever not fascinating me. I guess given my favorite genre it's a good thing I didn't fall in love with the "secret baby" convention. That would be tricky to make fly. :-D
Wookie: I hope you enjoy Collision Course. I loved the book like mad and I'm so thrilled other people are liking it enough to give me such nice reviews. My characters never seem to leave me alone completely, so I wouldn't be surprised if Cam and Noah had other things to say. If I ever do a free short for them, I'll be sure to annouce it here. Thanks so much for loving my characters. It means a lot to me.
LOL! I'm glad I can provide blog inspiration services. ;) I'm looking forward to your holiday story, and you've reminded me that I need to pick up Collision Course!
Thanks, Maia. I don't know what I'd do without you. :-)
Post a Comment