And now... book #11 in The Magic of Wishes & Dreams

Yes, I know, just a few weeks ago I was going on about having reached 30,000 words in Book 10. No, I did not up and write another 60,000 words in the ensuing period of time. But I was happily hanging out in my recliner one evening last week with my Kindle, my cats, and a glass of sweet iced tea...

and then... suddenly... I thought: sentient house.

Just like that. Out of nowhere. Thanks, Muse.

Now, any sensible person would have taken a note and gone back to my reading. I am not, as I'm pretty sure anyone knows by now, always a sensible person. Before I knew it I was out of my recliner and at my desk, chasing down the rabbit hole, brainstorming a house with opinions — about who gets to live in it, about what it wants, how it interacts, how our main character comes to live there.

Speaking of main characters, then came the practical question: where does this even go in the series? The MMC of book #10 already has a house, so not in that one. And then I remembered a premise I'd had sitting in the back of my mind for a while. A woman who had no idea her ex was a shifter — right up until the day her twin toddlers turned into the most adorable wolf pups you've ever seen in your life.

Okay, now we're cookin' on the front burner! So, that established, I had to figure out WHY the ex was an ex... why wasn't he in the picture? Why didn't he know she'd had his kids? Is he going to be in the picture? Is he going to be the hero or the complication?

That took 2 days. Then we're back to the house... what does it look like? what does it feel like? I headed down the rabbit hole of real estate listings and historical houses websites. Architecture, layout of the house, colors, wallpaper, barn or garage outside? Is there a closet under the staircase or a half bath? What kind of tree is in the front yard with a swing (it's an oak)?

That all sorted, I actually wrote the first chapter. And edited. And revised. And polished. And I LOVE it and I'm so enthused and motivated, and I would just LOVE to charge forward with writing this story, but... book 10 is waiting for me!!!!

The struggle is real.