Looking Back at 2021

 

Wow. Talk about a crazy year.

2020 was rough in so many ways, not the least of which was that a lot of my writing mojo suffered. Releasing the first Masters of Marquis book got postponed. I didn't write in my historical world. Lee and I had to postpone writing the third Tsenturion Masters book.

Yet, somehow I got through it. And I think it's clear that this year I got some of my mojo back =P 

Kicking off not just the new Masters of Marquis series, but the new historical series as well, Deception & Discipline - and adding in a whole new later-in-life romance series too! I loved writing the first two Dungeons & Doms books this year and I can't wait till #3 comes out in February! That will be the last of that series - but I'll talk more about that in my next post when we're looking ahead to 2022 =) 

I still can't believe how many people read Bondage Buddies. It hit #58 in the ENTIRE KINDLE STORE in September. The ENTIRE STORE! The only other time I've had a book do something like that was being part of the Dirty Daddies Anthology - I've never had it happen for one of my solo books. 

Speaking of the Dirty Daddies Anthology - it hit the USA Today Bestseller's list for the second year in a row! Which was particularly fun since I had not one, but two books in it - Double Daddies as Golden Angel and His Omega Babygirl as Sinistre Ange.

When Double Daddies releases on its own, I'm probably changing it back to the original title - Foosball Daddy LOL. Foosball Daddies? One or the other. 

Anyway - for those who missed the previously released Super Daddies Anthology and the 2020 Dirty Daddies Anthology, I also released Little Villain and Chef Daddy on their own. I'm kinda sad because not too many people were interested in Little Villain, so I'm probably not going to be writing any more in that world, but Chef Daddy is another story - and Saul and Vicky WILL return in 2022 and I can't wait to tell you more about it in my next post!

I think one of my favorite parts of this year was getting to return to Stronghold with the two characters who started it all - Angel and Adam in Christmas at the Club. Writing that story was so cathartic. And getting to visit my favorites even more so. Writing the Masters of Marquis gives me a lot of the same feelings, but not *quite* the same. Writing in Stronghold always feels like coming home, but, of course, returning to Angel and Adam was even more personal. They might not be exactly me and hubby, but there's enough of us in them that she's one of the characters I relate to the most - and of course, therefore must burden with my own problems.

Anyway. Moving on.

A few people have asked - yes Alien Abduction is the last Tsenturion book... for now. Trying to coordinate our writing schedules when we both have such busy release schedules AND both have toddlers (and hubby and I are going to be starting the process to become foster parents in 2022), Lee and I wanted to give what we started some closure, while leaving open the possibility of returning to the world. (I also have to admit, I've been a little disappointed that no one yelled at me for what we did to one of the characters right before the end... it was one of the hardest scenes I've ever written and I fully expected to receive a lot of yelling LOL)

We would love to write more in it. It's just not possible right now.

Too many books and so little time!

So yeah. All in all, it's been a pretty great year. 

Lee and I got to *finish* the project we started years ago, just for fun, which was so much more beloved than we ever expected, and we want to thank you all so much for sticking through the long waits for each book. If (when) we manage to get back to it, the waits in between won't be so crazy.

And I got to start THREE new projects that I've been wanting to do for a while.

Bondage Buddies kicked off the Masters of Marquis and let me have some fun with Mitch and Domi (fun fact: she was originally supposed to end up with Kincaid and he was supposed to end up with  Morgan, but by the end of the Stronghold Doms series, I knew that none of that was going to happen... darn characters having their own opinions and whatnot), and then I also got to FINALLY write the 'newbie dom / experienced sub' book that I've been wanting to write for so long!

Also, I totally knew that Avery and Nick were going to need their own book way back when I introduced them in Tempting the Domme. And that Nick was going to need to learn some lessons about kink along the way.

I think one of the most fun things about writing these two books was introducing the upcoming characters - or re-introducing in many cases. It has given me so much glee to watch the reactions to old favorites appearing - from the "oh no!" of Marissa's reapparance to the cheering when Q (from The Sassy Submissive) and Iris (from Bound to the Past) showed up at Marquis. And, of course, making sure that no one has forgotten about the other baby Doms and newbie subs - Kincaid, Zach, Brian, Rae, Morgan, and Samantha - and Freddy ;) So there's some hints for the future.

Somewhat connected, of course, are the Dungeons & Doms (since Gavin and Leah are Mitch's parents, as we found out in Bondage Buddies, and Esther and Jax actually visit Marquis in Dungeon Daddy!), my first ever later-in-life romance series. I've had readers asking me for later-in-life characters for years and it felt really good to finally be able to fulfill those requests. And I loved writing their stories. I definitely plan to do more later-in-life in the future.

And totally unconnected but taking a trip to the past and my historical world - the kick off of the Deception & Discipline series! This one is only going to be four books, but I am having SO much damn fun with it. Adding a bit of 'whodunit' to everything has been a blast and a challenge, and it's all leading up to a book I've been wanting to write for years, but which didn't fit in anywhere. Literally, A Season for Spies and Evie in particular, has been hanging out in my head for close to a decade.

But I had so much fun starting with Mary and Rex - because I knew when I was writing the Bridal Discipline books that she wasn't exactly what she seemed. And Rex needed a HEA, poor guy, after what I did to him in Arabella's Taming. Fun fact - he was not originally part of that plotline. I had to re-write the entire outline to the book after he appeared. Getting to watching him fall head over heels for my sassy wallflower was such a fun treat. And then, of course, Josie reminded me so much of Cynthia (who is probably my all-time favorite character - Punishing His Ward) that writing A Season for Scandal was pure joy.

It's been a good year for the creative side of my brain. I hope you all enjoyed it as well. Stay tuned for next Friday's post which will be everything we have to look forward to in 2022!!!!!