I’ve often asked myself what would happen if I mixed this with that. How would you write about a paranormal who could shift between being a woman to being a man? Could you have a successful romance between a feline shifter and a bird shifter? Some of my best stories have been the outcome of such questions. One such story began back at the end of 2017 when S.E. Isaac and I began deliberating on a possible anthology project. Thinking of ourselves as “scaredy cats” since both of us were nervous about doing the anthology on our own, we soon created the “A Guide to | Claiming a Scaredy Cat,” a fundraising anthology. We had ups and downs on the project but we and seven other authors created some fun, erotic romances. However, near the end of the project, we lost one of the original ten authors. Promotions had been shared saying that we’d have ten brand new stories to share. S.E. and I had some long conversations about how to handle the situation – publish with only nine stories, delay the publication, or find a way to obtain a tenth story. At the same time, my PA came to us with a unique promotion idea. Create an over-the-top story idea with a cover and blurb. Then promote it like a real story but when the readers click the link it would actually take them to the anthology page. The idea was to snag the reader’s curiosity with the shiny object and then show them what they can get for only ninety-nine cents while supporting a great charity. Needless to say, we thought it was a great idea. Jennifer, my PA, loves lions and her husband loves flamingos, so why not have characters in the story shift into those animals? To make it even more fun, the male main character (MMC) would be the flamingo. How would a guy handle being a pink bird? So, we didn’t want to release the anthology with only nine stories when we promised ten, so S.E. and I tasked ourselves to write a story that met the criteria of the anthology in a very small window. This was our first co-authored story which led to four years of working together. That story was “Pride & Flamboyance: Captured Hearts 1”. Then two years ago, S.E. and I decided to no longer work together. Until recently, all of our co-authored releases were delisted. Over the next two years, I dealt with a lot of personal upheavals and medical concerns, I lost my love of writing. Then at the end of 2022, I decided that I didn’t want my words in those delisted books to go to waste. So, I began the journey to rewrite those stories. Wanting to release them in a unique way, I debated how I could change the stories. Since I first began writing, I’ve let my creative side have free rain when it came to my stories. I let them go in the direction they wanted to go, whether that meant being a paranormal or contemporary story or the story wanted to be a male-female couple or a gay couple. A typical heterosexual couple or a ménage, or even a reverse harem. I feel that love is love and my stories reflected that concept. The defining factor in all of my stories is that the romance comes first and often includes a bit of humor. My catchphrase, Love is Love, raced through my mind as I debated how to rewrite the stories. Then I decided, I would change them from their original pairings to the opposite. Heterosexual couples would become gay or other LBGTQA+ couples. In all honesty, I love gay romance. I enjoy reading and writing it. I’m addicted to Boys Love manga, anime, and dramas. So, the idea of writing “Pride & Flamboyance” as a gay romance lit a fire under me. Near the end of the rewrite, I once again came into contact with S.E. and after a bit of discussion, we decided to relist our co-authored books. This is exciting news, especially for readers who missed out on one or more of the books in one of our series. However, it also brought up a few concerns about my release of the rewrite. This story brought my muse back to life. I desperately wanted to release it. However, it was felt that having it be too similar to the original might distract from the original story, even if it was released in a different sub-genre. But I was in love with this new version. So, I made some further adjustments. And I adore this new version even more. I switched out the original flamingo for a crimson sunbird – think of a bird very similar to a hummingbird. I changed up several of the names of characters. Girl characters became guys, one became transgender, and it opened up some amazing next-in-series ideas. These next in series are mostly thanks to Jennifer. She really does fuel my muse. And, today, five years after the original April Fool’s joke turned story, I am super excited to announce my first release in something like two years – “Crimson Pride: Captured Rainbows #1” a humorous paranormal gay romance.
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AuthorJosette is a storyteller, artist, wife, mother, and grandmother. Archives
April 2023
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