Deb Riley's adventures in Stocks & Blondes have come to an end today. Will there be more? Probably. I have another title for the next Deb Riley mystery: Blonde Ambition. I also have another Dag Hamar mystery partly written: For Mayhem or Madness. I'm not sure how soon I'll finish either one of those.
But I have another story queued up and ready to launch next week!
American Royalty 1: Coming of Age will debut here next Sunday. It will post weekly over a ten week span. By then, maybe I'll know what I'm working on next. I'm still struggling with the genre for this new piece. Currently, I'm calling it a 'literary romance'. It more closely resembles my other literary fiction like City Limits and Wild Woods. But it has that element of romance that we all love in a good story.
American Royalty 1: Coming of Age is set in an alternate universe in which American society has developed a well-defined class structure. But unlike other class structures you've heard of, this one is not based on wealth, occupation, or heredity. It is based on careful evaluation of a person's character and inclinations through their years of schooling. In fact, the entire educational system is designed to facilitate discovering the student's class.
But in this structured class system, someone still needs to teach the new heir apparent how to behave like royalty. And who better to mentor a royal than a servant?
This story is a departure for me on several fronts. First, the edition that will be posted here will be coded as "Minimal Sex". There are a couple of pretty hot scenes but the first three-quarters of the book is spent building the tension that makes them possible.
Second, I'll be posting three chapters to start and two each week thereafter. The odd numbered chapters are short (1,000 to 2,000 words) and focus on giving an insight into the different classes. Each one has a different point of view. The even numbered chapters are the main story line and each chapter is between 8,000 and 10,000 words. So, I'll be posting a long chapter and a short chapter each week. Don't skip the short ones! They often contain information that explains or sets up action that just occurred or is about to occur.
The main storyline will be presented from the alternating point of view of the two principal characters. Chapters two, four, eight, twelve, sixteen, and twenty are from the POV of the hero of the story. Chapters six, ten, fourteen, and eighteen are from the POV of the heroine. The shift in POV is always made obvious in the chapter heading.
And finally, the language used in this story is considerably more formal and somewhat stylized. You will find it far more resembles the language of an old black and white movie than that of Star Wars or whatever else is popular at the moment. The time of the setting is a bit ambiguous. It strongly resembles pre-war America in the choice of music and manners. But it also has a plethora of telephones and automobiles. Just no cell phones and limited if any commercial air travel. There are televisions, but the emphasis is on news (real news) and not on entertainment.
Before I manage a commercial release of the book in June, it will be substantially rewritten to soften some of the sex in the book. My commercial readers just aren't prepared for that. As a result, I'll not be offering an eBook of this unexpurgated version. I will announce the eBook and print book in advance of the release so you can purchase them then if you so desire.
I'm happy that I'm able to write both some serious literary work and some fun erotica under my two author names. And I'm equally happy that you seem to enjoy both. So, stay tuned. Next week we begin American Royalty 1: Coming of Age.
My patrons already have five chapters of this story in pre-release. Both aroslav and Nathan Everett patrons have access to the story. We'd love to have you join either community!