A moment to SQUEE!

Happy Sunday! I have to take a little moment to just SQUEE! Just this past week, I finished my first full-length erotic romance. Now I’ll admit, I’m a little shocked by this.

I’ve always been really envious of contemporary romance authors because in all honesty I never dreamed that I could write a full-length novel that didn’t have paranormal elements. Moreover, I never imagined that I could an erotic romance of this length.

To be honest, about a year ago I wouldn’t have believed that I could write a full-length novel at all. I’ve always been really comfortable writing stories that are between 50,000 and 60,000 words. I like that length because it means that I can write a fast-paced story, which is exactly the type of stories that I love.

But after Nexi’s novels (Magic & Mayhem) were contracted with Entangled, I’ve learned how to extend a short novel and make it 80,000 words. I’ll admit I was extremely worried when I went into this task because I didn’t believe at first that I could do it. I really dislike having any drag in my stories. I find them utterly boring when I read them in a book, so I’ve never wanted to write them in my stories. But through this process, I’ve learned how to extend the story, make it deeper, the world richer without making it…boring.

Yes, I’ve been thrilled with how Nexi’s books are shaping up and now that I’ve done it a couple times, I wonder how I ever wrote a short novel before. Funny, right?

Just recently, I got smacked in the head with a new idea for a BDSM erotic romance series. When I started Sweet Submissive, I had the full intention on making it a novella. Seeing that I’m SO BUSY, I really wasn’t looking to start a new series that would take up hours of my time. But guess what? The story didn’t give me a choice. As I wrote it, I gave up on the idea of a novella and then decided it would be a short novel.

Then, everything changed as I just kept on writing…and writing…and writing. Before I knew it, I had a story that was 75,000 words. Yes, shocked even me. I was utterly captivated by this story and these characters took total control. I had tried three times to wrap it up and then another chapter appeared out of nowhere.

So to say that I’m excited is a huge understatement. It feels fantastic to know that I’ve accomplished something that I never dreamed possible. When all is said and done, I expect Sweet Submissive will be 80,000 words of yummy, erotic goodness. But it’s almost more than, which is quite different for me. My novellas are always just HOT short stories. This story is definitely emotional and I really enjoyed the character depth I could do because it was a longer story. It’s quite different than writing an urban fantasy, but I must admit that I loved writing it as much as I do writing my supernaturals.

Needless to say, this is the first full-length erotic romance I’ve done, but it definitely won’t be the last!