‘Dangerous Secrets’ Work in Progress Update / ‘Intent to Kill’ live for 1 month

Hey there friends!

It’s been a busy month, let me tell you. ‘Intent to Kill’ has been out for a month and I’m neck deep in pantsing my next story ‘Dangerous Secrets’. Let’s talk about it.

One month of ‘Intent to Kill’

So, Intent to Kill has been out for a full month now. It’s such a weird feeling to have worked on something for so long in isolation and then to have it out in the world. You love it when people talk about the book, but at the same time, cringe a little and hate it when anyone talks about the book! Talk about a paradox.

Having your creative work out there for the world feels very much like having your whole heart on display for critique. It’s majorly high-highs and very low-lows. Anyone who does anything creative I’m sure can relate.

All in all I just had to trust my gut, go with it and hope that everybody loved Adam Vandemilio and Mercedes Preston as much as I did.

That being said, those hiiiiiiiiiiiiighs! I love seeing the reviews pop in. Seeing the cover being shared across Instagram and TikTok. Oh, and when the paperbacks came in! What a surreal feeling.

The truth is, it wouldn’t matter whether I’m totally rubbish at this or not, I love writing too much to put the pen down… or step away from the keyboard as it were.

And yes my highs are keeping me right on path with my next story. And gosh, I’m so in love with this next one. I really hope you all love it, too.

Work In Progress Update for ‘Dangerous Secrets’

I’m just about to start draft 3 of ‘Dangerous Secrets’, a mafia romance with arranged marriage, bodyguard and fiancé’s brother tropes.

In the end it took about 12 drafts of ‘Intent to Kill’ before it went to publishing. And the very big reason for that is I’m a pantser. That is, I write by the seat of my pants. There is very little plotting or planning or forethinking that I do before I sit down and dive right in.

This is by far the most fun way to write for me. Sometimes you’ll write something, or a character will do something, and you’ll just think ‘Oh shit, okay. I didn’t see that coming. I guess we’re running with this now.’

But. The downside to that, it takes a lot of drafts to get to a somewhere where I feel the story has finished. Pantsing, for me, is very much like word vomiting onto the page. And throughout each draft you gotta go back in, mop up a little of the mess, and shine it to reveal the good stuff underneath.

So, what’s this next book all about? Well, here’s my elevator pitch:

Brash and immature mafia princess Sage DeMarco has her life turned upside down when she decides to cover up her involvement in her father’s murder. Only to find out that upon his death he has promised her hand in marriage to their biggest enemy.

This is not a why-choose romance, so my girl Sage has got some tough decisions to make. She’s blindingly in love with her bodyguard, promised to their enemy, and has insane attraction to her new fiancé’s brother.

And (because of that pantsing that we talked about earlier) I personally have no idea which way this is going to go when she’s done.

I’ll let you know ;)

Until next time

<3 Amy