Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Cruising in the Neutral Zone

December 30, 2014

The days between December 23 and January 2 are, for this author, a writing neutral zone. With Christmas successfully celebrated it's time to examine the year ending and plan for the year coming. If you're a regular here at Between the Keys, you know I believe the past is an important tool for planning for the future. That is to say a person needs to know where they've been to know where they're going. 

 Every year I feel like I'm spinning my wheels and then I pull up my contract information spreadsheet and discover I actually did accomplish a few things. It's amazing on some levels and a bit alarming in others. Did I in 2014 accomplish all I'd hoped? Nope. Did it all turn out the way I planned? Nope - but I won't dwell on that. 

My love affair with the American muscle car came to the forefront in 2014. First up in March - Bored, Stroked and Blueprinted. This story of a mechanic meeting the guy who happens to own the car of his dreams was very well received. Thank you all! Apparently, I'm not the only person out there who knows what "bored, stroked and blueprinted" means. (Hint: it's not about sex although the book is pretty sexy fare.) And the 1969 Camaro on the cover? My first car. 


Bored, Stroked and Blueprinted was followed by Moon Dances in June. Moon Dances is the fourth book in the Sundown saga. The entire series is, in order, The Back Stairs, Beneath Dark Stars, River Walk and Moon Dances. I love writing this series because of the world-building. Sundown is not your average shapeshifter. His people are alien, from another world. The challenge is not divulging everything about the Chal too fast. Once it all comes out, the series is over and I'm likely to get weepy emails when that happens. So if all goes well, book five will be out sometime in 2015. 


The Men of Marionville series was up next. How far can I go with Marionville as a backdrop for the story? Dreams to Sell is number eight in the series. Dylan and Cass are revisited when Dylan invites an old friend to join him in a business venture. The friend, Keith, jumps at the chance and meets the man of his dreams who happens to be a realtor with a listing for the house of Keith's dreams. The trouble is, Terry is a widower and Keith keeps putting his foot in his mouth. Keith does manage to pull himself together and get both his man and his house. We may not return to Marionville until 2016, but we will go back.



And speaking of fun, Ace, Deuce, Trey was absolutely the most fun I had in 2014. I love, love, love writing Ian and Rick's story. Rick is so serious and Ian is not. They're perfect for each other. Both have their fair share of insecurity about being in a "relationship" but they're working on it. Saylor Blackwood is back in this book and he and Rick are forced into the same room. Ian has to make them behave. Ace, Deuce, Trey is the third book in Ian Coulter's Amethyst Cove series. I'm running out of "deuce" title ideas so it's difficult to say what the next installment will be titled. Hopefully, title inspiration will strike one more time. Ace, Deuce, Trey will also be a stand-alone paperback at some point in time. 



When I wrote the first m/m story and signed with Amber Quill/Amber Allure, I was welcomed as an AQP author by Christiane France. At the time no one knew I was already published under another pen name, and I wasn't ready to enlighten them. It may sound strange but I had so many people telling me I was good that I stopped believing them. I needed to re-invent myself and see if that "new" writer would have the same success. Amazingly, I've had more! 

Anyway, Chris welcomed me and we struck up a friendship. We decided it would be fun to co-write a few stories. So we did. 

Here's to a happy, healthy and equally productive 2015! 


(partial content of this entry removed by the author after Amber Quill closed.)


KC Kendricks
http://www.kckendricks.com

2 comments:

Christiane France - Author said...

If this was intended to pass on a little inspiration, by George I think it may have worked.

KC Kendricks said...

If only I could spin out the work like a machine... I don't know how some of the folks do it with two releases a month. I know it takes time away from writing, but I need to sleep and eat!