I don't write long series for a variety of reasons, from practical (#SlowWriterProblems) to, well, practical (I need the characters to inform me what the story's about, and they usually only have one to three books' worth in 'em).
But when you get to The End, it's not really the end.
And, for that matter, there's always more going on before Chapter 1.
Not to mention all the things happening at the same time as the book itself, but (a) skipped over or (b) from a different character's perspective.
There is always, always more that could be said. That's probably why I like extras: short stories that go where the book did not and often could not.
(It feels a bit like time travel. Or taking the other fork in the road.)
By happenstance more than amazing planning, I've written stories that fall into each of the categories above.
And they're all gifts to you, better yet.
Clandestine (audiobook version here) is a "before Chapter 1" story. This prequel shows the love interests of the fight-the-patriarchy Clandestine Magic trilogy barreling toward an inevitable (and explosive) reunion in the small town one of them never left and the other had escaped. Also, there's a magical heist. 😉
Quote:
Peter, casting his eye down the first few paragraphs of the story, gave a snort. Hell would need to freeze over, complete with tasteful ice sculptures, before he would get involved with a Harper. Also: “She’s part of the Women’s League for the Prohibition of Magic. Somehow, I don’t think she’d be interested.”
Interlude is an "after The End" story set on a single day a few years post-trilogy (well, post everything except the trilogy's epilogue). Because sometimes you just want your characters to get some quality alone time, or at least attempt to as (nice) events keep interrupting them. Bonus: See if you can find, tucked somewhere in there, the working title of the Clandestine Magic book I'm currently writing. Very slowly.
Quote:
He tickled her chin with the leaf. She hadn’t realized she’d jutted it at him. (“I can always tell how you’re feeling by the angle of your chin,” he’d said one evening, lying in her arms after a simmering argument abruptly turned into a much more pleasurable activity.)
Hard Bargain is set both during and after Into the Bargain, a standalone book in the Clandestine Magic world. As it happens, Into the Bargain can be read as a prequel to the trilogy because it's set before Clandestine (does that make it a prequel prequel?). It's what you get if you cross Bridgerton with wizards and add a feminist awakening, and the POV is solely the heroine's. Hard Bargain is the hero's POV.
Quote:
He was beginning to feel like a character in a fairy tale. He found the flower seller, an elderly lady with a lovely smile, and half-expected her to send him on to a talking bird with rainbow plumage or a man who spoke only in riddles. But she exclaimed, “Bless you, you’ve just missed her—a shame you weren’t here five minutes earlier.”
Contrariwise takes the cake: It's set before, during and after the events of The Opposite of Magic, my one standalone with no connection to the Clandestine Magic world. (Still wizards here, though. You'll always get wizards from me.) It was so much fun writing the origin story of the heroine's fantasy adventure obsession, how the hero got his magic and his perspective on several moments of the book ... plus a little more-happy-ending after The End, because both characters really needed it.
Quote:
He struggled for a moment, caught between the desire to snap at her out of sheer stress and the feeling that this ridiculous new employee would probably be very diverting to spend time with.
Have you read some or all of these? Is there a not-yet-written before, during or after you'd love to see? Hit reply and tell me.
No promises, but maybe you'll intrigue the characters who run the show.
📚🌟📚🌟📚
More cool & bookish things
If you'd like to see a Heathcliff antihero in an actual romance (Wuthering Heights doesn't count), but paired with a light-fingered Irene Adler type who gives as good as she gets, S.L. Prater has just the book for you.
This Haunted Heart is a Gilded Age captive romance with morally gray characters that, as Prater puts it, "make terrible choices. Repeatedly." But eventually the right ones! If Wuthering Heights is a story about trauma, this new gothic romance is ultimately about two traumatized people healing.
While revenging themselves on each other and dodging ghosts.
Grab it while it's discounted — it's out soon and the price will go up.
Because our TBRs always want moar: A woman vows revenge in a gender-swapped Count of Monte Cristo — with werewolves. A telepath's husband must risk his secrets to save her. A miller's daughter with an impossible task vies for a prince who'd rather be a singer. Find these books and more here ↓
You made it to the end! You're awesome. (Of course.) And oh hey, here are my latest books and 🎁 here are all my book gifts to you in one convenient spot.🎁
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