The Novels Meme

There is a novels meme making the rounds, specifically what are the novels you have written and where are they now...The Manuscript Mavens have been doing it all week, so it made me creak open my old files for a peek...

THE MARRYING MAN - started October 2003 when HubbaBubba got laid off. I'd be able to write a book and the kids could still have a Hanukkah full of presents...count your blessings he found another job quickly. This was all about a reality tv show called, you guessed it, The Marrying Man. I wrote it long hand since I didn't have a computer. I just checked, and that bugger got to 33K! I typed it up a few years ago when I was trying to learn how to type.

BREAKING HIS RULES - 80K - started fall of 2004 when I managed to get both boys to nap at the same time. Finished in January of 2005. Sometimes I talk about this one as WORKING IT OUT, sometimes SENSATIONAL SEX. It's the karma sutra yoga book that is parked at Warner.

FALSE ALARM - 60K - my 2004 NaNoWriMo that became JUST ONE SPARK, the book that Mills & Boon bought and published in May 2006.

STRIPPED - 80K - February 2005. I wrote it as a BREAKING HIS RULES follow up with the hero's sister, but then unlinked it because it didn't work. It's an OK book, but has a really weak suspense element that either needs to be beefed up or removed, and so it sits on my hard drive.

PAR FOR THE COURSE - 80K - MayNoWriMo 2005. This is the golf is the new singles bar book. Also has a D/s element that was very challenging to work with. It intrigued me to have the power play, but I kept the focus on the romance. This was a tickle file book - I worked in an article about golf, and a MSN report about exploding frogs! This comes out in July from Samhain.

IT'S NOT YOU - Summer 2005 - I made the mistake of Snowflaking this idea and lost interest. It made it to 17K, but knowing what happened killed it for me.

JUST ONE NIGHT - Summer 2005 - This is hands down the best first chapter I have ever written. And there is NO story behind it. I've tried it one way for Blaze, two ways for M&B...When people talk about contest winners who never sell, I think of this chapter.

IF YOU SAY SO - 85K - Summer 2005 - Now called LITTLE WHITE LIES. My virgin erotica author hero. It's sitting on an editors desk...waiting patiently...Totally fun to write. It has a lot of the same characters as JUST ONE SPARK, but a virgin erotica author hero can only work in single title.

FOR KICKS - 70K - NaNoWriMo 2005 - The cross country retail whirlwind with a phone sex scene that makes me smile. Black Lyon put it out this March.

CULTIVATING TEMPTATION - Jenna's attempt at a Regency. Haven't finished it. Historicals are hard to write!!

COME FOR DINNER - January 2006 - Did First Draft in 30 Days and wrote and sold this book in 6 weeks. It morphed into COOKING UP A STORM from Mills & Boon in December of 2006.

EVERYBODY LOVES RACHEL - April 2006 - a partial the lovely editor didn't like. I still like the story...

PLAYING WITH FIRE - May 2006 - same as above...but this one had a hero who smoked.

HER CINDERELLA COMPLEX - 60K - October 2006 - I was feeling a bit burned out, so wrote a completely indulgent working together/ trapped on an island / fake engagement story with a Cinderella twist. Samhain put it out this February.

SURE THING - 70K - NaNoWriMo 2006 - This is a true JUST ONE SPARK follow up, with the subplot characters. Unfortunately...the hero doesn't work for category. I think it needs a revision to make it work for single title. And so it sits.

WHAT FEELS RIGHT- February 2007 - This is the don't mess with my sister book, but I only did the first chapter since I was in the 'editor doesn't like it' groove

DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION - 60K - Spring 2007 - Uber organzied girl and a Frenchman drive west to attend a wedding. Found out the book stalls through the midwest. Thanks Immi! I promise to fix it one day!

WHERE THERE'S SMOKE - Fall 2007 - A firefighter in Hawaii. I'll write this one someday, but it has some bad mojo for me at the moment.

MR. POSSIBLY - Winter 2008 - The wedding planner and the mogul. The partial is with the brilliant editor.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS - right now! - It's my jealousy themed book. It's not very plotty, which makes it hard to explain. I've only had one scene where the H & h weren't in the same room. All about angsty emotion and playful banter, this one. Trish and I are in a word war...except she has disappeared from the internet.

...next? Please. I'm having a baby next. Then I plan on finishing MR. POSSIBLY.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS...

23224 / 50000 words. 46% done!