It is often quite odd or even hilarious when and how my book ideas come to me. Sometimes, I'll be riding along in the car, or watching TV, or writing another story, or in the shower....we just never know when that idea is going to pop into our heads.
So the other night, I was trying to sleep and an idea for Rowan's Lady kept popping into my brain. I couldn't fight it, so I decided to just let my mind wander and see where it ended up. That can be quite dangerous sometimes!!
Eventually, I fell asleep, knowing full well that the 'idea' my brain wanted to incorporate into Rowan's Lady was going to be difficult. But again, the voices in my head were quite insistent. Sometimes, I have to fight them until one of us wins. Usually, the voices win.
I woke up, with that same idea running around. The idea, while fun and intriguing, was going to be a stretch if I forced it into the book. A big stretch. Like trying to jump over a chasm with a skateboard and a bed sheet. I just didn't see how it would work.
Then, as I was tending to my morning ablutions, WHAM! There it was...one simple little sentence that took me by surprise and I almost forgot where I was and what I was doing! (Try to explain to the EMT how you broke your leg whilst sitting on the porcelain throne and voices screaming at you!)
Angus hangs at dawn.
Yes, our beloved chief of the Clan MacDougall, Angus McKenna hangs at dawn. I broke out in a cold sweat, unsure if it was the idea or another hot flash. How? Why did the voices insist on hanging Angus? What in the hell could he have done to deserve to be hanged by his neck until dead????
I sat still, waiting for the voices to explain themselves.
Angus is a traitor...ordered put to death for crimes of treason, for plotting against the king.
WHAT??? NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
The voices raced on, so fast in fact, that I wondered if I hadn't finally had that break down my mother used to warn me about. I ran downstairs and sat in front of my lap top and started writing. Writing, writing, writing....
I realized, as I wrote, that this story was going to do a few things. One, it will tie in the idea that the voices are insistent
must go into Rowan's Lady. Two, it will help tell a little more of Nial & Bree's relationship. Three, it will help with the eight year gap between Wee William's Woman and Rowan's Lady.
So I'm going to run with it. I must write this story. No ifs ands or buts about it. I must. I have to. The voices would never forgive me if I didn't.
At this point, I think it is a little novella or a short story. I won't know for certain for another couple of weeks.
In any event, I think my readers, those who have read the first three stories, are really going to like it! It will be more exciting and faster paced than the first three. It will be filled with intrigue, spies, plots, rescues, and yes, a wee bit of romance! ;o) But it won't be like the first three books in that we take one character and focus on him and write his romance. This one is going to be just a little different.
No worries in regard to Rowan's Lady! I'm still looking at a September/October release date. ;o) But trust me, when you read the as yet untitled book, and then Rowan's Lady, why I'm doing what I'm doing will make perfectly good sense.
This will be a stand alone book, one that won't require reading all the other books in order to make sense. But, when you put them all together, it will answer some questions left behind by Wee William's Woman and will set the stage a bit better for Rowan's Lady.
I love you all!!! Thank you for your support and kind words, and for sending the new subscribers my way! ;o)
Have a great day, enjoy a peaceful Sunday, and remember, I appreciate each and every one of you!
Hugs,
Suzan
