So I signed another contract this week. It’s for another novella for the 1Night Stand series, titled Elysium. I started work on it right after I finished The Fall of the Midnight Scorpions and blazed through all 20K words of it in about a month.
Truthfully, I’m not quite sure why I didn’t blog about it here. I knew I was taking a little bit of a chance with the premise, as it’s definitely not the most conventional of love stories, and the framework and plot devices do require a little bit of a leap of the imagination. I’d gone over the plot with my good buddy Boobulon and had him beta the first two chapters (one of which eventually underwent some major revisions) and he gave it his stamp of approval. It’s not that I didn’t believe in the story. In fact, it might be the exact opposite.
This might be the best story I’ve ever written.
You’d think that with those feelings, I’d be singing my great ideas from the rooftops. And again, I don’t really know why I didn’t do that. Maybe it’s because I felt so attached to the story, such an intimate personal connection to it, I was afraid to release any details about it into the world until I was sure it was actually going to be published. (Whether or not that defeats the purpose of a writing blog, who knows.)
But enough speculating and navel-gazing. It’s been accepted for the 1NS series, and I am beyond thrilled and excited! Here, have a blurb!
Two years have passed since April Patterson’s husband was shot and killed in the line of duty, trapping her in a haze of grief and uncertainty. Her cousin, having grown frustrated by all other efforts to engage her in activities where she could meet new people, arranges for her to go on a date of her choosing via 1Night Stand. April isn’t thrilled with the idea, and when she contacts Madame Eve, she requests the impossible: she wants a date with her deceased husband.
Brilliant software engineer Drew Monroe created his company, Elysium, to help give closure to those who have suffered the loss of a loved one through the use of virtual reality. Though passionate about his work, being constantly surrounded by heartache and death has taken a toll on his mental health. When he accepts the case of a young widow referred to him by Madame Eve, her tragic tale depresses him further, but he commits himself to programming April the romantic date she desires.
April arrives at Elysium and prepares to enter Drew’s virtual realm. Will she find the solace she seeks within?