The Legend of Book 4 Progress Update & Sneak Peek

Jun 24

It’s been a year since the publication of The Legend of the Brotherhood – can you believe it?! I certainly can’t. It feels like I published that just a few months ago.

Here at the writer's desk, I’ve been juggling two to three books at a time. Working on one until the passion fades, then switching to another—it’s how I keep the stories feeling vibrant from beginning to end.

What's on the Horizon?

The projects currently living on my hard drive are:

Legend 4 (currently unnamed)
The Ghost of Blackhart Manor (A Lords of Blackhart novel, Book 1—more on this soon!)
A yet-to-be-named novel that mixes urban paranormal with Hawaiian language and myths.

So far, Legend 4 is my trickiest novel to write. I keep a massive master file that contains the text and research for all four books, which means I have to constantly remember what I wrote back in 2011 between Rowan, Cole, and the supporting characters. That’s a lot of conversations! It’s a delightful problem to have, though—sort of like going to a dinner party and remembering all the gossip I heard. Teacups up, pinkies out!

A stylish man in a pink blazer and bowtie sips tea from a vintage floral teacup, looking shocked. A speech bubble reads "She did what?", perfectly capturing the mood of the latest book's secrets, character gossip, and wedding mysteries.

Life Isn't Static

One might ask: what do you write about in the later books? Haven’t we discussed it all, done it all, and (in this case) blown it all up?

No way! My books, just like real life, aren't static. The characters all have life happen to them. Think of the mysteries in your own life. Remember that one aunt who said that thing about your dad at Thanksgiving? What did she mean by that? I love to answer those kinds of questions in my stories. In real life, I usually hang a U-turn—I don’t wanna know; I can feel the tragedy already! Ha! But in my books, I get to write the happy ending or the satisfying culmination.

For instance, while writing some wedding and Gathering prep scenes, I looked at the guest list and stumbled upon an undeniable question that Cole will have to ask Rowan. Surprisingly (yes, sometimes my characters surprise me!), I hadn't realized we didn't know the answer to it yet!

Enter: the Book 4 mystery. And it’s a good one.

By the Numbers

I’m making great progress on Book 4, but the new series set in the MacLaoch world, The Ghost of Blackhart Manor, is taking most of my time right now.

The Ghost of Blackhart Manor: Sitting at a fully completed draft of 90K words! (Most of my books range from 90k to 110k words, and industry standard puts a full-length novel at anything over 75k).
Legend 4: Currently has a fraction of that done at 16K words. But in the coming months, I plan to double that.

On a good day, I’m laying down two to three chapters at a time (2–6K words), so this time next year we should have the preview and publishing schedule locked in!

But first... let’s get you a sneak peek at a fun chapter in Legend 4!

(Stay tuned, because more on The Ghost of Blackhart Manor is coming soon.)

Now, back to work!