A NOTE FROM AUTUMN
If you’ve read my work before, you know I’m very passionate about my series, the Lost Kings MC. What you might not know, is that at the time I started writing what became Slow Burn (Lost Kings MC #1), I was also working on this book called Alone Together. I loved this idea of the older brother’s best friend helping his friend’s sister through a difficult time. The tension of being alone in the house together. The struggle between doing what Liam wanted to do and what he thought he should do. I worked on it for a long time, but could never figure out how it ended. I had editors who requested it and was determined to finish it and send it to them (sorry!) But then Rochlan “Rock” North and his MC brothers started speaking to me and they stole both my heart and my focus.
But I never forgot about Liam and Bree.
Alone Together was written in third person, as I used to write everything. After attending a workshop late last year, I went back to my hotel room and pulled up Alone Together and doodled around with re-writing it into first person.
I went home and played with it some more, liking it better and better. Then Teller showed up and Alone Together had my complete attention. This was a problem, because, I had just released White Knuckles (Lost Kings MC #7) and I was committed to getting Teller’s book out next (I already had his cover photo and everything) but the little bastard wasn’t speaking to me or maybe he was speaking to me too much. His book has a lot going on. But in Alone Together, he was the confident, cocky, lovable guy I knew well (for Lost Kings MC readers who are wondering, Bullets & Bonfires fits in somewhere between White Heat and More Than Miles time-wise.)
After that, I started working on Alone Together in earnest. Then I changed the title. That title still wasn’t right. Once I heard Brantley Gilbert’s Bullet in a Bonfire, the book got another title change, and the rest of the story came pouring out.
I hope you love Liam and Bree’s story as much as I do. I wanted a heroine who learned to stand up for herself but wasn’t weak or bratty with Liam. I personally love over-the-top, loving alpha heroes (not the abusive assholes that people sometimes confuse alpha heroes with) but I worried about Liam being too overbearing, considering the relationship Bree just came out of. Bree is also smart and knows what she wants. Of course, everyone has their opinion on what the right amount of love or dominance is, but I always leave it up to the character. In particular, I worried readers might find the scene where Liam pushes her against the door troublesome considering what Chad had done when Bree tried to leave him. This is why it was important to me that the scene was in Bree’s point-of-view. That way you knew she wasn’t threatened. Nothing about his behavior frightened her. That’s one of my favorite scenes in the book.
If you’ve read me before, you know I’m not big on what I call “manufactured conflict.” I’ve taken a lot of workshops on “story beats” etc. Romance usually follows a certain, specific progression leading up to a “black moment.” In my opinion, few writers actually do this well—although the ones who do, do it fabulously. I normally hate that progression and have always struggled to get those beats “right.” I’ve found my best work comes out when I say “fuck the beats” and just write the story the way I want to write it. I could have easily added a “black moment” where Bree thinks Liam is going to choose his job over her. But when I read that sort of contrivance in other books, I always feel that it cheapens the whole love story. Instead, I liked a hero who fought for the woman he loved and gave up something he cared about for someone he cared about even more. That’s true romance to me. Some people like my style. Some people find it lacking.
If you enjoy my style—thank you! I love writing. I’ve given up my legal career to write full-time, so I’m definitely invested in earning a living with my writing. But at the same time, I write to amuse myself first and foremost. One of my husband’s favorite things is when I’m sitting next to him typing away and suddenly break out into giggles over something one of my characters says or does. I write the kind of stories I want to read, not what I think I should write to make more money. If the two things happen to coincide, then that is my perfect definition of success.
During the beta process I received a lot of questions about whose book was next. This is funny because, Keegan, is someone I had in mind for an entirely different series (my eagle-eye LOKI readers will recognize him from White Knuckles.) I always had plans for Sully to have a book, even back when this was Alone Together. Regular LOKI readers probably also recognize Jake from Wrath’s gym. I think he might need a book soon too.
Then Vince. Oh, Vince. For someone who was away for 95% of the book, I had a lot of questions about when he’d get his own story. He’s a good big brother. I think he deserves an HEA of his own.
Well, these notes ended up being longer than I planned. So, if you’re still reading—thank you!