Well first, many, many thanks to those of you who've read and reviewed the published version of A Season Lost – I really appreciate all of your support! One of the cool things about publishing this third volume of the series was seeing people discover the series; I saw readership increase for all three stories, and your reviews definitely help with that!
Since I published in and amongst the holidays, I probably should have taken a little break, you know, take some time to relax and take stock of things. But I didn't. The thing about writing books this long is that it took so long to beta, edit, and publish ASL that I haven't really written much of anything this year aside from additional scenes that were needed for ASL. So I really missed the actual writing part!
I've been steadily working on A Generation's Secrets and it's up to about 20k words now, which might sound like a lot of progress, and it is...but not so much when AGS is looking to be every bit as long as its predecessor. The outline alone was 75 pages so it's looking quite likely it will be as long, and possibly even longer. It's definitely daunting to be at this point in a series like this. I feel like I've done so much and yet I'm not even to the halfway point!
If you don't want any spoilers, it's time to stop reading. :-)
AGS makes the largest time jump in the series so far, and picks up in January, 1819. So for those of you who thought we were going to spend time with the Stantons in the Mediterranean or see the Darcy twins in the terrible twos...sorry. My books usually take a little while to get going as far as pacing in the beginning, but this one starts off with a doozy of a plotline and one of those generation's secrets. Beyond that, remember Lydia? I haven't actually forgotten her, and as some of the characters travel to America, we'll get a chance to see her again. And of course we can't see Lydia without Wickham. I've tried to have at least one romance in each novel, but in AGS this comes with a bit of a twist, as the primary romance is one where we already know how it turns out: Elizabeth finds Lady Anne Darcy's journals, and so we get to read about the courtships of the prior generation. And yes, of course, learn some of their secrets.
I think that's all I want to share about AGS at this point. After it is done, I'll be taking a break from the series to work on another project tentatively titled The Crimes of Elizabeth Darcy. And yes, the premise is as gonzo as the title. If Mistress and the Constant Love series had a baby, this would be the result. This one ate my brain so much while I was editing ASL that I had to take a break and pound out the majority of the outline so I could get my focus back to editing. But because it borrows (and twists) certain plot elements from AGS, I thought it was best to write and publish it after. And in truth AGS has been the one that I've been longing to get to in the series for a long time, so I'm really looking forward to writing them both!
And then, if nothing else eats my brain in the interim, it'll be time for the fifth book in the series, tentatively titled A Dangerous Connection. I may spell it with the x...haven't decided. Unlike the other books which run through one chronological period, with minor jumps, this one will have a pretty big time jump between part one and part two. And there'll be a big time jump between the end of AGS and this one, probably about seven years. I want to pop in at a couple different touchpoints of the children growing older before book six, which will be all about their courtships, although of course we'll be spending some time with their parents as well. If that's book six, I'm guessing you might be wondering about what book seven is...it will be a mix of what happened after those first weddings of the next generation AND a look at some of their descendants in modern times. I am not huge on moderns so this one will be a challenge for me, but I think with this twist I can handle it...we'll see Pemberley as one of those great houses struggling for existence in the modern era, and the great great great great great (I'm not sure how many greats it is exactly...I haven't counted it up) grandson of Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy attempting to keep the house and his family legacy afloat. Books six and seven are going to be the most challenging I've ever done, structurally, so fingers crossed I can pull this off!
Since I published in and amongst the holidays, I probably should have taken a little break, you know, take some time to relax and take stock of things. But I didn't. The thing about writing books this long is that it took so long to beta, edit, and publish ASL that I haven't really written much of anything this year aside from additional scenes that were needed for ASL. So I really missed the actual writing part!
I've been steadily working on A Generation's Secrets and it's up to about 20k words now, which might sound like a lot of progress, and it is...but not so much when AGS is looking to be every bit as long as its predecessor. The outline alone was 75 pages so it's looking quite likely it will be as long, and possibly even longer. It's definitely daunting to be at this point in a series like this. I feel like I've done so much and yet I'm not even to the halfway point!
If you don't want any spoilers, it's time to stop reading. :-)
AGS makes the largest time jump in the series so far, and picks up in January, 1819. So for those of you who thought we were going to spend time with the Stantons in the Mediterranean or see the Darcy twins in the terrible twos...sorry. My books usually take a little while to get going as far as pacing in the beginning, but this one starts off with a doozy of a plotline and one of those generation's secrets. Beyond that, remember Lydia? I haven't actually forgotten her, and as some of the characters travel to America, we'll get a chance to see her again. And of course we can't see Lydia without Wickham. I've tried to have at least one romance in each novel, but in AGS this comes with a bit of a twist, as the primary romance is one where we already know how it turns out: Elizabeth finds Lady Anne Darcy's journals, and so we get to read about the courtships of the prior generation. And yes, of course, learn some of their secrets.
I think that's all I want to share about AGS at this point. After it is done, I'll be taking a break from the series to work on another project tentatively titled The Crimes of Elizabeth Darcy. And yes, the premise is as gonzo as the title. If Mistress and the Constant Love series had a baby, this would be the result. This one ate my brain so much while I was editing ASL that I had to take a break and pound out the majority of the outline so I could get my focus back to editing. But because it borrows (and twists) certain plot elements from AGS, I thought it was best to write and publish it after. And in truth AGS has been the one that I've been longing to get to in the series for a long time, so I'm really looking forward to writing them both!
And then, if nothing else eats my brain in the interim, it'll be time for the fifth book in the series, tentatively titled A Dangerous Connection. I may spell it with the x...haven't decided. Unlike the other books which run through one chronological period, with minor jumps, this one will have a pretty big time jump between part one and part two. And there'll be a big time jump between the end of AGS and this one, probably about seven years. I want to pop in at a couple different touchpoints of the children growing older before book six, which will be all about their courtships, although of course we'll be spending some time with their parents as well. If that's book six, I'm guessing you might be wondering about what book seven is...it will be a mix of what happened after those first weddings of the next generation AND a look at some of their descendants in modern times. I am not huge on moderns so this one will be a challenge for me, but I think with this twist I can handle it...we'll see Pemberley as one of those great houses struggling for existence in the modern era, and the great great great great great (I'm not sure how many greats it is exactly...I haven't counted it up) grandson of Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy attempting to keep the house and his family legacy afloat. Books six and seven are going to be the most challenging I've ever done, structurally, so fingers crossed I can pull this off!
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