Apologies for being a little slow on the blogging front the last few weeks. I’ve not been sitting on my thumb, I promise. I’ve been working my socks off and writing like the wind the rest of the time. Jack & Gareth’s fourth book, Swings & Roundabouts, is with the editor. Book #5, A Simple Mistake, has its first rough outline. And to top it all, one of my plot bunnies blossomed into Undercover Star, which will be out on November 22nd and is available for pre-order right now.
Undercover Star, the story of musician Matisse Vervein and police detective Josh Ingram, came utterly out of left field. About a year ago, when Dreamspinner Press announced its new house line, Dreamspun Undercover, Matisse and Josh turned up in my head. I thought Matisse was fun and Josh was eye candy, but I had no idea what their story was. I was also convinced that I’m entirely unable to write 50k of fluff. So I filed the two pages of Matisse meeting Josh and thought no more of it. My fiction box is rammed full of baby plot bunnies, so at least the two had company.
Then, recently, my husband started to supply me with more of the rabid beasts. It began innocently enough, with me asking something or other about cars. I can’t remember if I was trying to explode one or simply wondered how hard the impact would be if I drove a snowmobile into a drift… it was a harmless enquiry as these things go. Only it led to a lenghty discussion, much wine being consumed, and a new story ending up on my WiP stack.
And it didn’t stop there.
One Friday evening, Steve asked me out of the blue whether I’d love to buy a Scottish Island. On making approving noises – it had been a long week and the idea of not having to see people greatly appealed to me! – I was presented with a sales brochure for said island. And we slid seamlessly into a discussion of the logistics of living on a small island with minimal facilities, until I spotted a line in the sales brochure: boat or helicopter essential.
At that point, one of my vast collection of plot bunnies grew teeth and poked its head out of the fiction box. Two hours after midnight I was still sitting up, typing furiously. Because who could possibly own an island such as this if not a Scottish-born, sea-loving rock star called Matisse Vervein?
The whole thing just fell into place from there and if you wait just a few more days, you can judge my ability to write fluff for yourself. Hint: I still don’t think fluff is my specialty, and I wasn’t at all surprised when Undercover Star became the tale of two men, thrown together to do a job, who jugdge each other by their job descriptions, only to learn over time how wrong they’ve been.
All those things aside, I like Josh and Matisse a lot. So much so, in fact, that they got their story, a wicked cover, and a happy ending. And I’m rather chuffed with that! 🙂
Hi Jackie,
Pre-ordered 🙂 looking forward to it even if it isn’t your ‘specialty’ which I would argue with you. I agree a private island sounds so nice, but helicopter or boat would be a deal breaker.
I wouldn’t mind learning to fly a helicopter, but I don’t think I’d ever own one! The logistics of living on a tiny island amused me no end. And planning ahead would be a survival skill. Plus a lot of “auxiliary” bits and pieces. I mean, it’s not as if you could helicopter into the town centre to do your shopping. You’d have to set down somewhere suitable, then get transport to the shops and back and…. yeah! Fun to imagine. And Josh Ingram has a lot to learn…
Will there be anymore stories from “Leap of Faith”?
Hi Maryann, thanks for asking! 🙂 Yes, there’s another book in the works. It’s provisionally called Once Burned, and deals with Kieran’s past and Marius’s search for his sister’s children. It’s already longer than Leap and still not done….