Guest Author Lorelie Brown on the Book that Took Six Years to Write

As a reader there is nothing I love more than a trilogy or series I can really invest myself in. Knowing that I’ll be able to revisit characters or settings over multibook arcs make me giddy with joy! Sometimes life grabs us by the throat and enough things go awry to the point where the author may not be able to deliver that next installment as quickly as we readers may want. We’re very grateful to author Lorelie Brown for sharing with us a piece of her journey as she completed the third book in her Wayworth Academy series, A Too Suitable Duchess, which will be delivered to e-readers everywhere on June 14th!

Book cover for A Too Suitable Duchess by Lorelie Brown

Some books are invigorating to write. Some are more of a slog. A Too Suitable Duchess, the book I have coming out on June 14th was a weird beast. I originally started it in 2013. Yup, you read that right. Six full years ago. It was a fairly normal book at first. The usual stuff to work through, plot, motivation, you know it. I wouldn’t have called it either invigorating or a slog at first.

And then my life circumstances changed in a pretty big way. Problem number one. I concentrated on writing 200 words a day, something to keep my toes in. The book started to feel like a slog. Victoria and Spencer felt like gentle pandas who I was trying to make mate. They were too nice. I like to write characters who are complicated and friendly, but these two had taken it too far. They also had this annoying tendency to talk reasonably and not hold grudges.

It made the sagging middle…well, REALLY sag.Book cover for Wayward One by Lorelie Brown

So I decided that maybe I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to write my Duchess story. I was angry pretty much on a regular basis and pretty emotionally broken, so I needed to go hang out with characters who were more vulnerable. Victoria was guarded. Spencer was guarded. I didn’t know how to deal with characters who weren’t a wiggling pile of melted nerves.

Then my publishing house fell apart, pretty much right when I was ready to go back to the story I’d started simply calling “Duchess” in my head. Makes a girl not want to write so much, when you have no idea what’s going on. I was theoretically capable of self-publishing a book but man, that’s scary. All the pieces! All the things I’m in charge of! And at first I wasn’t even sure if I’d get my rights back for the first two in the series! BLERGH. Once again, not super conducive to making words.

Book Cover for An Indiscreet Debutante by Lorelie BrownI honestly considered just…never going back to that book. Never finishing it off. Sure, I had over 60,000 words, but I’m now at a place in my career where I don’t write a lot of historicals. I’ve discovered that my voice is better suited for contemporaries. I don’t write as richly as the successful historical authors. But Spencer and Victoria kept tugging on my attention. They were almost happy, you know? I really couldn’t help but finish them off, little by little.

I don’t expect a lot of fanfare for this book. It’s a finale six years in the making. But it makes me happy that these two will get their HEA. I hope you give them a shot as well.

Blurb:

Lady Victoria Wickerby has always intended to fulfill the duty of her station and marry the man chosen by her father. Having disguised her determination beneath an air of blithe amusement, Victoria believes her obligation as a duke’s daughter is not incompatible with her covert ambitions. She fully intends to continue running a school for impoverished factory women. A man, no matter how handsome or powerful, will not disturb her life. She’s heard rumors about what takes place in a marriage bed and supposes that a little daily attention to her new husband will prove entirely bearable.

However, prominent aristocrats are accustomed to getting what they want. Three minutes each night will not be enough for Victoria’s fiancé of five years. Spencer Ashby, Duke of Casebridge, sets out to patiently, thoroughly seduce Victoria, even after the marriage has united their families. His ulterior motives are quickly revealed. Spencer has a young son from a previous liaison—and more, his son is wrapped in scandal. Spencer needs Victoria’s influence and charm to redirect the course of Society’s gossip. Presenting a unified front as a loving family will not be simple, and Spencer’s sweet, seemingly naïve bride expects a high price for her public smiles.

Tangled in their schemes, the no-nonsense newlyweds never expect to find a love as vigorous as their passion—a love even stronger than their stubborn hearts.

Are you as intrigued as we are? Then get your 1-click finger ready to preorder here now! 

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