A warm welcome to author Shae Connor joining us today here at Love Bytes on her blog tour for her newest release “Nobody’s Son”.
Welcome Shae đ
TITLE: Nobodyâs Son
AUTHOR: Shae Connor
SERIES: Sons, Book 3
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
GENRE: Contemporary romance
LENGTH: 61,000 words
BOOK LINKS:
BLURB:
Who wouldnât want a nice cup of tall, dark, and gorgeous? Shaun Rogers does. He’s working at the front desk of a clothing-optional gay resort when Conrad âConâ Brooks walks in. The sweet, funny, and smart IT guy is there to install a new network and security system, and sparks fly between the two men from the start. Trouble is, Shaunâs hiding his sexuality from his grandmother, the only family he has left, and that makes him reluctant to take the leap with Con.
Then a man claiming to be Shaunâs absent father shows up out of nowhere, throwing Shaun completely off balance. His life spiraling toward chaos, Shaun soon discovers that his âfatherâ is hiding secrets of his own. When things come to a head between them, itâs Con who comes to Shaunâs rescueâbut the incident could force Shaun into a decision heâs not sure heâs ready to make.
Writing A Series
By Shae Connor
The Sons series is the first series Iâve written. Oh, Iâd done some stories with sequels back in my fanfic daysâin fact, my first NaNoWriMo win, in 2009 was for parts two and three of a fanfic series. But this turned out to be a whole ânother level. I learned a few lessons that Iâm putting into practice as I start my next series for this yearâs NaNo. This isnât a list of âyou must do this to write a series.â Itâs just a description of some things that worked for me and that others might find helpful.
- Write the basic plots out early on. I had mini-blurbs for Wayward Son and Nobodyâs Son written before I finished Unfortunate Son. They changed quite a bit as I actually wrote the books, but having an idea where I was headed kept me moving forward. For the new series, I have ideas sketched out for four books, with three more possibilities in the wings. Structure helps.
- Set up a timeline. See above re: structure. Having a timeline (and keeping it updated as I worked) was a huge help during the editing process. My senior editor, the awesome Jane Canby, practically jumped for joy when I sent it in along with the first edits for Unfortunate Son. My timeline included a list of pre-book events, including when various characters were born, met, and so on, and then calendar months for the progression during the stories.
- Draw maps. I tend to set stories in Atlanta or other locations with which Iâm familiar, and I consult Google Maps a heck of a lot too. But the best thing I did for Nobodyâs Son was draw a map of Oasis (see image), the resort that Jimmy owns and where Shaun and Con meet. I wish Iâd done that earlier, because I actually ended up making some late edits to Wayward Son to fit things Iâd written into Nobodyâs Son. The series Iâm working on now is set on a fictional college campus, and one of the first things I did was draw a campus map.
- Name characters as soon as they show up. I canât get into a characterâs head without a name. Shaun first shows up in Unfortunate Son, and I gave him a name from the beginning, even though it was only a passing mention. He showed up on the page in Wayward Son, and by the time I was ready to tell his story, heâd been hanging around long enough that I knew him pretty well. That made it much easier to write him.
- Give myself plenty of time to write. Iâm not someone who can write every day or put out a reliable word count on a weekly or even monthly basis. Iâm getting more consistent, as proven by the fact that Iâve had three novels out this year. But I need to be sure I have plenty of time to work. Four months for a novel is a bare minimum; six months is better, especially when I have edits and releases for other books to accommodate. I actually missed my initial deadline for Nobodyâs Son. Thankfully, Elizabeth North at Dreamspinner is fabulous and didnât yell at me about it. đ
- Be prepared to say goodbye. Eventually, all series have to come to an end. The Sons series was always planned to be three books, and I kept that in mind as I worked. I did write a short epilogue, Sons and Brothers, which will be out on New Yearâs Eve, and that helped me tie things up and send them off for good. I love some of the other secondary characters in the stories, but thatâs where theyâll stay. Unless I get a bright idea for a spinoffâŠ
Shae Connor lives in Atlanta, where sheâs a lackadaisical government worker for a living and writes sweet-hot romance under the cover of night. Sheâs been making things up for as long as she can remember, but it took her a long time to figure out that maybe she should try writing them down. Sheâs conned several companies into publishing her work and adds a new notch on her bedpost each time another story is unleashed onto an unsuspecting universe.
Shae is part Jersey, part Irish, and all Southern, which explains why she never shuts up. When sheâs not chained to her laptop, she enjoys cooking, traveling, watching baseball, and reading voraciously.
You can find her hanging out on Twitter most any time @shaeconnor, but for the more direct route, you can email her at [email protected] or visit her website at shaeconnorwrites.com.
One lucky winner will receive a $25 Dreamspinner Press giftcard and ebook copies of Unfortunate Son and Wayward Son, the first two books in the series.
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