Writer Wednesday: Gasquet Princes series by Sherry Gloag

Keeping the Series Alive

Thank you for inviting me to visit with you today, and I hope you are all enjoying your 4^th July celebrations.

You have no idea how challenging it was for me to write about keeping a series alive! lol

I never realised, when I wrote From Now Until Forever that it was going to be the first in a four books series about the Gasquet Princes. And since I’ve never written a series before, it was quite a surprise when one of the secondary characters, Henri, the eldest of the four brothers, who had an infinitesimal part in the first book, demanded a story of his own.  And then, of course the two remaining brothers refused to stay quiet and demanded they too had their own stories.  Since they are twins and walking in and out of each others’ tales, books three and four are still works in progress.

The only thing I knew to start with was that the royal wedding of Kate and William prompted me to ‘have a shot’ at joining the band-wagon of royal romances that came out that year. So you can imagine my surprise when a week after publication of From Now Until Forever in December 2011, Henri, the eldest brother of Liam, From Now Until Forever’s hero, demanded I tell his story too.  Nor did I know when I started His Chosen Bride, that I’d already met his heroine, Monica.

Writing the first book, From Now Until Forever, morphed from a short story, to a medium length one before it became the version available now.  It was so different from anything else I’d previously attempted and such fun to write, when Henri came along, I hadn’t a clue how to approach his story.  So I can safely say, the evolution of this series can best be described as an accident. :-)

Where the first book more or less wrote itself, His Chosen Bride took more thinking about. (I won’t admit to ‘plotting’ as I’m a die-in-the-wool ‘pantser.’)  Henri and Monica, Unlike Melanie and Liam are more laid back, even though Henri’s duties always came first before he met His Chosen Bride.  All four have personal issues they have to work through, but in the second book of the series the issues are more centered within the characters.  This meant looking elsewhere for the pace, if not the tension. Since my publisher, Astraea Press specialises in ‘Sweet’ stories, the challenge became how to include steamy passion without pushing the boundaries beyond the ‘acceptable.’  So I decided Henri should get caught in a snow blizzard.  That meant the search and rescue teams had fifteen minutes to find him if he had any chance of survival. Normally the outcome may have been predicted but little is normal in His Chosen bride.

Books three and four have become real challenges because the brothers keep moving the goal posts.  They are outgoing, ambitious, with a life beyond those of their family commitments, but right now family traditions and security are both under threat.  Having managed to establish this much, another character has turned up.  No, I’m not going to comment on him, because although I have a rough idea of his connection to the royal siblings, I’m still not sure whether his story will be a ‘spin-off’ or an addition to the series.

Believe me, there ARE times when I wish I could plot out my stories in a rational and organised manner. But wishing for the moon isn’t going to get this series finished, and I dare say the twins have a lot more curve-balls to throw at me before we are all done.

Author Bio:

Multi-published author, Sherry Gloag is a transplanted Scot now living in the beautiful coastal countryside of Norfolk, England.  She considers the surrounding countryside as extension of her own garden, to which she escapes when she needs "thinking time" and solitude to work out the plots for her next novel.  While out walking she enjoys talking to her characters, as long as there are no other walkers close by.

Apart from writing, Sherry enjoys gardening, walking, reading and cheerfully admits her books tend to take over most of the shelf and floor space in her workroom-cum-office.  She also finds crystal craft work therapeutic.

http://www.sherrygloag.com/

http://sherrygloagtheheartofromance.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=689789287

Buy Links for “From Now Until Forever”:

http://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=662245&mode=product&product=7105194

http://www.amazon.com/From-Now-Until-Forever-ebook/dp/B006GYAV44/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322854797&sr=1-1-spell

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/sherry-gloag-from-now-until-forever?keyword=sherry+gloag+from+now+until+forever&store=book

Buy Links for “His Chosen Bride”:

http://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=662245&mode=product&product=9472803

The Gasquet Princes Series

by Sherry Gloag

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB “From Now Until Forever”:

For Prince Liam, families meant bad news, unwanted commitments, and the loss of his personal freedom.  Love spawned white picket fences, slippers at the hearth with a wife and kids making demands, so why did those images disappear when he met Melanie Babcot?

Melanie Babcot fought hard to escape the horrors of her youth and vowed to remain single and free, so when paid to protect Prince Liam from insurgents why did her personal pledge fly out the window?

BLURB “His Chosen Bride”:

Prince Henri Gasquet is happy to let his father, the king, choose his bride for him until he meets Monica Latimer.

Monica Latimer is not prepared to risk letting any man close enough to learn about her Gift. A gift that normally has men running for the hills when they find out about it.

EXCERPT “From Now Until Forever”:

The ping of metal‑on‑metal shot him out of his musings and he glanced across in time to see his wife propelling herself in his direction. Taken unaware, he fell back with her full weight pinning him down. A prolonged rattle, followed by a spattering of bullets, ended his struggles to sit up.

“Saints alive, Mel, what the heck’s going on?”

She didn’t move, didn’t answer.

“Mel?”

Wriggling from beneath her, Liam fought the urge to stand and pull her into his arms. The trash truck increased speed and, Liam swore, found every pothole in the road.

“Mel?” Gently he lifted her head and discovered a ribbon of blood trickling from a gash in her forehead. Fear turned to acid, burning his throat. A bullet wound? Or had she hit her head when tackling him?

***Giveaway Info***

Sherry will giving away the following prizes:

* One randomly drawn commenter at every stop will win a hand-crafted book thong.

* One randomly drawn commenter during the tour will win a hand-crafted selenite pendent

* The host with the most comments (excluding Sherry's and the host's) will win a hand-crafted selenite pendent

Note:  This giveaway is international

Follow the tour HERE for more chances to win.