Writing Alderwood Wedding
Night
reader rating: 2 peppers
Night (or, Night: an Arranged Marriage Short Romance, for the full title) is the origin story of the whole series. If you ever read a miscommunication trope and thought, “gee, I wish they’d resolved that easily because they really could have”, then you’ll appreciate this one. No unnecessary hang-ups, which I'm not a fan of. Carina and Trevelyon's story takes off pretty fast, if you know what I mean. I'm a sucker for characters, especially women, who find themselves in situations they didn't ask for which turn out to be better than they expected. It's the ultimate fantasy.
Chase
reader rating: 3 peppers
“Sensually playful” best describes Chase (or, Chase: a Magical One Night Fling Short Romance). Out of Alderwood Wedding’s three couples, Maline and Reg are the most teasing and flirtatious and were the easiest to write. Maline has had way more experience than Carina, and she's not afraid to have fun with it. I’m especially proud of the twist on shifter romance. I really wanted this one to offer a peek at Alderwood's living, breathing folklore, and I think I achieved that.
Spell
reader rating: 1 pepper
This one was the hardest to write! I'd never done a rivals to lovers story before. Esme and Leo started as enemies and though they evolved to a less-intense version, making their story believable in 7k words was a challenge. I revised Spell more times than the others combined until I was happy with it. I’m glad I followed my gut and decided to ignore the initial direction I thought the story was supposed to go. In fact, while I think that the pepper ratings are appropriate for each story, I find myself gravitating towards more 1 pepper writing in the future.
Do I have a favorite?
Dare you ask??? I cannot choose! I love Night for the shameless fantasy, Chase for the folkloric elements, and Spell for all the romantic tension. They each offer romance readers a delicious bite of something unique.