Book 2 or making something from bits and pieces

I have to admit, I’m a series ‘ho. I love to read books in a series from book 1 onward. God forbid I read book 3 first, then it’s just a frackin’ mess and I’ve ruined the series forever in my mind.

Okay, that’s my confession for today. Anal retentive? Moi? Oh, it is to laugh… but yeah, especially about series.

I’m writing the second book in a series for Brava under the name Emma Lang. The first is called Ruthless Heart set in Utah 1872, which comes out in June, 2010. You can see the delicioso cover here. Now the second book, tentatively titled Boundless Love (not sure on that one so speak up on it), is the story of Angeline, sister to the heroine Eliza from Ruthless Heart.

Angeline is in the book a total of 6 pages. Now I tell you, creating book 2 from bits and pieces in book 1 can be challenging. People often ask me where I get my ideas. Well, sometimes they’re from crumbs, literally. Angeline is very young, just 18 in her story, beautiful, blonde and has always done what everyone has expected of her until she runs away – note that she has also been raised to be a good Mormon wife. She’s torn between what she’s been brought up to believe, to practice, to live with what she knows to be the right thing to do.

Therein are the crumbs of her story. She’s on the run from an abusive husband (she’s wife #3) with wife #2. So you can imagine she’s paranoid, jumpy, secretive and obviously a lot stronger than she thought she was. It’s crumbs, but they are rich crumbs, ones at the bottom of the crumb cake box that are the best part of the cake.

I’ve started with just a name before, so Angeline’s story isn’t completely barren. I know she’s going to discover a lot about herself and she’s going to find out that love can be stronger than the law. I know her hero, Samuel, is going to find out that a crooked leg isn’t as weak as he thinks it is. And at the end, I’ll sigh because Angeline and Sam will find their happily ever after.

Yep, romantic here. Proud of it.