Sunday, November 21, 2021

What We're Writing: Spite by Jenn McKinlay


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Jenn McKinlay: Authors are frequently asked what motivates them. I always thought it was my desire to create, my love of words and stories, or more practically my need to eat. Come to find out, none of that is it. I'll explain.

A few months ago, my agent thought it would be a great idea if I submitted some original novella ideas to an audio book publisher. The money was great, the novellas were a third of the length of what I usually write, and I have come to LOVE audio books, so I was all in. 

I toiled to write what I thought were three super fun ideas for romcoms. Set in a fictional Museum of Literature on Museum Mile in Manhattan, the books are everything I love about the romantic comedy - snappy dialogue, fun settings, characters that a reader can relate to, and -- in this case -- plot lines centered around books.

My agent read them and agreed. Yay! We submitted and waited (this part of publishing never seems to change) and waited and waited. When the audio publisher did get back to us, it was a "These stories are fabulous, but..." There's always a but. The publisher didn't like my existing audio sales numbers so they passed.

Well, here's a little known fact about me. If you want me to do something, the best way to get me to do it is to tell me that I can't. I think this stems from being the youngest - always too little, always too young, always having to stay home with mom when everyone else went out and had fun, and so on. It makes you feisty!

Needless to say, I wrote the novellas, hired an editor and cover artist, and novella number one ROYAL VALENTINE drops on Jan 4th with the next two coming in June and December of 2022. The audio will follow eventually -- because the whole point of this was to publish audio -- but I ran out of time (deadlines!) so now my agent is shopping the audio rights because she's awesome like that. 

So, when I was finished writing the first novella, I realized it wasn't my need to create that drove me to finish the story as much as it was...spite. Yeah, I'm not sure this says anything good about me. I had a whole "I'll show you" thing going on while I wrote, for sure, but in my defense, I was also in love with the world I'd created in my head -- a museum of literature, people! -- and I had to see it through because I knew they could be so fun as audio books. Let's hope the audio versions, when they manifest, prove me right!

Here's a snippet of our museum registrar heroine meeting her love interest for the first time: 

There was a light shining from beneath my office door and I realized I must have left it on, knowing I was going to come back from the gala and change out of this Austen inspired nightmare. I yanked the ribbon beneath the old fashioned bodice loose and began to shrug out of the constricting gown. 

     I opened the door to my office and stepped inside, eager to peel off the dress and slip into my day clothes, when a movement behind my desk startled me. I jumped and let out a small high-pitched shriek. 

     There was a man—a stranger—behind my desk!

     We stared at each other for a beat and then his gaze drifted down and then shot right back up to study the ceiling.

     “You, eh, um, I’m not sure—” he stuttered

     Furious at the violation of my privacy, I planted my hands on my hips and glared. “Who are you and what are you doing in my office?”

     He was standing in a half crouch as if he’d been rising from the chair but was now stuck somewhere in between, not wanting to make a move that might scare or offend me. He glanced at me but didn’t meet my eyes. Instead, his gaze fastened somewhere over my head.

     “M. Graham, I presume?”  He waved his hand at the door where my nameplate was attached.

     “Molly, the M stands for Molly,” I said. “And, yes, that’s me. And you are?”

     He was wearing a tuxedo, which made it obvious that he’d been at the gala, but his bow tie was loose, the ends dangling on each side of his unbuttoned shirt collar. Had he sought refuge in here because he’d been feeling ill? Or was he a very well-dressed burglar? 

     It hit me then that I was all alone on the upper floor of the museum with an absolute stranger. This was what avid readers described as a protagonist’s TSTL (too stupid to live) moment, which was frequently found in modern fiction. I’d always been a critic myself, but I now had a new appreciation for those sticky situations that characters found themselves in.

     “I’m a guest,” he said. He still didn’t meet my gaze. “Would you believe me if I said I was hiding?” 

     He had a deep-toned British accent, which was annoyingly distracting. In the silence, his gaze met mine, drifted down, and then rocketed away. “You might want to um…” His voice trailed off, but he pointed to his chest and then mine, indicating there was a situation 

     Suddenly, I was aware of a cool breeze in a place I should not be feeling a breeze at all. I glanced down and then clapped my hands over my front. One of my girls had gone rogue and had popped out of my loosened gown, playing peekaboob. Ack!

     My face was instantly as hot as the fire from a thousand suns, and I wondered if this was where the tall tales of spontaneous human combustion came from because I was positive that I would go up like a human torch of humiliation in three, two, one…I did not. Pity 

     I yanked up my droopy bodice and quickly draped the fichu around my neck, trying to salvage what little dignity I could find. I’d have had better luck trying to hold water in my cupped hands. 

     Awkward silence filled every nook and cranny of the room as I had no idea what to say to this stranger who had seen my bare breast. Wait a minute. Yes, I did .

     “Who are you? And why are you hiding in here?” I cried. With my front now completely covered, I tossed my head, planted my hands on my hips, and assumed a rigid stance of furious indignation. I would have high-fived myself, but I didn’t want to risk another nip slip.

     “I’m…er…Albert George, you can call me Al,” he said. His Rs were as soft as butter and his smile revealed a slightly prominent canine tooth on the right side that gave his handsome face a roguish charm. Startlingly bright blue eyes met and held mine as he rose to his full height and a wave of thick dark hair flopped over his forehead in a disarmingly endearing way .

     I refused to be sidetracked by his attractiveness. The man was in my office, had seen my boob, and for all I knew was there to steal the rare books that were in my care. I glowered.

     “That tells me who you are, Al.” I over pronounced his name just to be annoying. “But why are you in my office?” I demanded.


How about you, Reds and Readers, what motivates you? And how do you handle it when you're told you "can't" do something?



Molly Graham doesn't believe in love at first sight or fairy tales. She's been burned too many times before. When her best friend, Brianna Cho, challenges her to aim high and go for men who are out of her league, Molly can't imagine a worse way to spend Valentine's Day. When she stumbles across a very handsome British professor, Albert George, seeking refuge in her office during the Museum of Literature's Valentine's Day gala for the opening of their Austen exhibit, Molly can't help but be drawn to the fellow introverted academic. Together they ghost out of the event and embark upon a month long love affair. Molly is rethinking her stance on happily ever afters and plans to tell Al how she feels, but he disappears. Afraid something bad has happened, Molly searches for him only to discover there is no Albert George affiliated with the university. She's been played for a fool!

Molly is devastated. As registrar for the Museum of Literature, she is tasked with a trip to England to return the Jane Austen exhibition materials on loan from the Whitmore Estate in Bath. It's the only thing she has to look forward to and even this dream trip is a struggle. When she and Brianna arrive at Whitmore Manor, they are introduced to Earl Whitmore and his grandson Lord Insley, or as Molly knows him Albert George. She is shocked and dismayed to discover she has fallen in love with a viscount in line to be an earl. James Albert George Insley Whitmore, called Jamie by his friends and family, arranged for Molly to bring the materials back. He had to leave her unexpectedly, but he hasn't been able to forget her and he wants to win her back. Molly isn't having it. She refuses to be taken in twice. Jamie will have to channel his inner Fitzwilliam Darcy to prove to her that love conquers all and win her heart for good. 






 

63 comments:

  1. Good grief! That audio publisher needs to have his head examined [or whatever it is that one does to publishers who make those TSTL decisions] . . . .

    This is clever and fun and sure to be a hit . . . . So glad that you felt motivated to write the stories anyway . . . .

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    1. Thanks, Joan! As they say, nothing ventured nothing gained!

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  2. Maybe call it determination instead of spite, Jenn? I too dislike being told what to do or that I can't do something. This sounds really entertaining and I love the the idea of a Museum of Literature and the Jane Austen tie-in. And I had to smile just now because my late best friend was named Brianna, thank you for making me think of her.

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    1. I'm so sorry for your loss, Jennifer. Best friends area a treasure. Thank you for the more positive spin - determination, I like it.

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  3. JENN: Good for you to write the novella despite having been rejected by the audio publisher.

    Not sure I would call what motivated you to do this novella as SPITE but I do understand the desire/need to complete a task after being told NO by your boss (or audio publisher, in your case). I was lucky to have mostly free rein to choose the climate change research projects I could develop. Normally, I had to find my own external funding to proceed, so having the submitted proposal be rejected is usually the final nail in the coffin for the idea I had. But if it was an idea I am really passionate about, I did not give up. Rather, I just doubled down and worked on the rejected project on my own time, getting it completed/published using my limited internal funding.

    And the snippet you tease us with about Molly meeting Al(bert) George is adorably fun, and of course I want to know more about this roguish intruder.

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    1. The phrase I could not think of at 3:00 am was: DOGGED DETERMINATION.
      That's you, Jenn!

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    2. Grace, what amazing work you've done for our blue marble. Bravo! I think I call it spite because I don't need to publish these novellas but I was feeling petty - lol - so here we are.

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    3. Thanks, Jenn. I hoped the climate change research projects I developed, worked on and published during my 25+ year career contributed towards improving our overall knowledge. Of course, we wanted to make more significant moves forward on implementing climate change programs and policies. But as the recent COP26 once again showed that the governments of many countries are still reluctant to take the minimal steps to stop us from reaching the tipping point and avoid dramatic climate change impacts.

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  4. I love this so much, Jenn! "One of the girls had gone rogue..."

    Why not have spite as a motivator? Nothing wrong with that. I am curious that you, so successful in the traditionally published world, decided to indy pub these novellas. Did your agent approach your romcom publisher about them?

    I have a historical project that hasn't sold, and I've thought about putting it out myself. I also took one of the two protags, plopped her in a different year and setting, and will be polishing that book in the next two months. Out of spite? Possibly!

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    1. My publisher doesn't do novellas and I decided I needed an R and D (research and development) arm in my writing world. So, these novellas are also a way for me to have complete control of edits, cover, plot, story, ALL OF IT. This way I can suss out what readers like or don't like for myself, take some chances, and development some new ideas. I already have two new series in my head from it, so I think it's win-win-win for me.

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    2. Definitely a win-win! Did you hire a formatter or do it all yourself?

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  5. Jenn, you're amazing. The cover is gorgeous and the characters are adorable, as is the premise. And we all benefit from the audio company's mistake!

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    1. Thanks, Lucy! I'm sure they feel "meh" about it, but for me it was just what I needed to get out of my pandemic funk - something totally new and different.

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  6. I absolutely loved the excerpt and book description. Can't wait to read it in January! My mother says I never listened to the word "no" when I was young, and I'm afraid that bit of rebellion has persisted. Now instead of my mother being exasperated with me, if's often my grown children, wondering which force of nature I'm going to take on next.

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    1. You're my people, Meg! No means Go in my world. LOL!

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  7. Jenn, this story is gold! I love it. At this point I have almost every series you've written on my Kindle and have the Audio books of much of your work. No question that these novellas will find a home here as well.

    Audio books depend a lot on the talents and interpretation of the actors who read them. I adore the Hat Shop series on Audio and Wait For It is just incredible. In fact, I may listen to it again soon, it was so wonderful. Those readers are fabulous! I frequently get the audio version of a book I've already read and loved. I hope you have input into who reads the novellas to us.

    As for spite...I admire your "I'll show them!" attitude. You ROCK!

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    1. JUDY: Do you listen to the audio book version shortly after reading the ebook? I must admit I have never tried to do this.

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    2. Oh, Judy, I hear you (see what I did there? LOL). But seriously, the male reader for WAIT FOR IT was cast so perfectly and the Hat Shop series reader is FANTASTIC! For a long time I couldn't listen to my books -- now I listen and forget I wrote them! They've come a long way.

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    3. Grace, I mostly have purchased the Audible versions of books I have already read, with some exceptions. Most of the time, I have read the complete series before I begin to accumulate the audio books. Then usually with the audio books, I begin at the beginning and listen to them in order but not in a row. In a few cases, I have listened to the audio book first, but only occasionally.

      If the reader is outstanding, the experience is incredible. I am very particular about voices, accents and ability for an actor or actress to portray the opposite sex in a convincing manner. I sample the audio version before I buy it unless I already know the reader.

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    4. JUDY: Thanks for the input. I have listened to very few audible books, and to me, the voice of the narrator is the key. I also mostly listened to non-fiction titles such as memoirs narrated by the author and they were all great. I have only listened to a few mystery fiction titles because the narrator was supposed to be good: Louise Penny books (award-winning narrator) and Richard Osman's debut The Thursday Murder Club.

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  8. Jenn, I'm glad you persevered. This snippets looks good.

    When I'm told that, I do it better then they can ever imagine.

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  9. Loved the excerpt, and I want more. And you had me at "peekaboob"!

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    1. I didn't know TSTL was a recognized thing. It's what usually puts me off romances-- I'm a lawyer, and to paraphrase Frost, "You'll never know how sad I am to find, on any sheet, a total lack of mind." Calling it by its name acknowledges it and lets me keep on reading. Well done.

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  10. Great teaser, Jenn. Love the idea of a literature museum. Does such a thing exist in the real world?

    My first book got written despite every possible obstacle thrown in my way, from rejection by more than 30 publishers, to my own family trying to keep me from following it through. I was so driven to write it that I was not taking "no" for an answer. Every blind canyon I hit, I just backed up and went around the long way.

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    1. Scenic route! Yup, it's the only way sometimes. I always remember the old Og Mandino quote "Every no brings you closer to a yes".
      There is a Museum of Literature in Ireland, where I "borrowed" the concept but now it's on my list to visit one day.

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    2. Cool! And now it's on my list, too.

      I always say that having sold insurance prepared me well for writing. I never took it personally when a client said "no", but until they did say that exact word I kept on with my listing of how my product could benefit them. And more often that not made the sale. It helped me know that my ego was not on the line, that everyone has different ideas and perspectives.

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  11. Regardless your motivation to write, I’m glad you do. This snippet is fun, I just pre-ordered the novella.
    I don’t tend to act on other’s challenges but I do challenge myself.

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    1. Very wise, Danielle. I fear I'd only challenge myself to eat that next cupcake, so I need some external obstacles otherwise I'd be all "Girl, you're fine," and get nothing done.

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  12. Oh wow, what a teaser, Jenn! And what a great idea: A Museum of Literature.

    I'm not sure that CANNOT translates into CAN for me as inspiration, but I surely love a challenge from a person I respect. When the bar is set, I am motivated to meet it. Deadlines work like that for me. Ever since majorly missing a 6pm news-show deadline in journalism school, I've shown deadlines serious respect.

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    1. Thanks, Amanda! It was fun - made writing more like play than work, which I appreciated. Deadlines are definitely motivators. Without them, I might never finish a project.

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  13. Not fair! I want more than this excerpt, Please.

    With 'ya, sistah! I was not only the only girl in my neighborhood, I was the second child nine years younger than my much adored brother. Yeah - tell me I can't do something (or call me girlie) and I'm all in and firing on twelve cylindars.

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    1. Those older brothers keep you on your toes. My entire childhood was spent keeping up with mine! I understand you completely! LOL!

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  14. What fun, Jenn! Will you do the reading of the audio versions? The reader makes such a huge difference. I remember listening to an other wise great story but the reader had such a whiny voice, which turned me off.

    I know people, some even in my own family, all they need to hear is can't and there are off and doing!

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    1. No, I don't see myself reading. Actors are trained for that sort of thing and as you noted the good ones are sooooo good. Plus, it's another income stream for actors that I think they sorely need these days.

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  15. Oh, Jenn! Romcom is such a sweet spot for you! And it looks so effortless. I love this excerpt so much.

    As for being driven by being told I can't, My hand is up! My first book-length work was true crime, based on a terrible thing that happened to a friend. I told an agent who was interested in it that I was going to revise it and make it a novel. (Too many people who hadn't given their permission to be written about were caught up in the tragedy, and I did not want something I'd written to add to their pain and grief). The agent told me that basically she didn't think I had to skill to transform fact into fiction. She was right... at that point in my writing career, I did not even know what I didn't know about writing a novel. But her saying "You can't" fueled me, and though I never transformed THAT manuscript into a novel, two years later I had written a novel that my (a different) agent sold to St. Martin's in a two-book deal. YES I CAN!

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    1. Si, se puede! I love that rally cry, Hallie! Yes, we can! Feels damn good, too, you know, after the tears, swearing, and sleepless nights...lol.

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  16. Oh, you are a GENIUS! You are amazing. LOVE THIS!

    (And you know the story of my first book. When it was on submission, an editor said to my agent--"I love this but it's too chick lit--can she re-write into a 'bigger' mystery?" When my agent told me about it, she also said---"I'm not sure you can do that."
    FIGHTING WORDS.
    And I rewrote the whole thing, exactly the same plot but different style, and that became PRIME TIME, which won the Agatha for Best First.
    SO THERE.
    Yay, Jenn, this has all the makings of a mad success! (and hmmmm, his VERY storied name.....)

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    1. I feel like the Reds have a commonality of feistiness! I love the story of how Prime Time came to be :) Brilliant.

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    2. Jenn, I definitely notice a common trend of feistiness in the comments from the Reds and the readers today!

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    3. HANK: You're brilliant, feisty and we are so glad you took on the challenge to rewrite that first book that became the Agatha award-winning PRIME TIME. xoxo

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  17. Foe me, it was -"don't expect Deana to...." - family was told that I wasn't smart enough for college so don't worry about saving for education. It is a two edge sword - I was determined to get that degree but also I used the "not smart enough" as the reason for my spelling and rapid reading was a challenges. Smart educators worked around the spelling challenge - please bring a dictionary to essay tests/finals so I was able to look up spelling. It slowed me down but at least it made more sense.

    So, a new romcom... going to check it out, Jenn. Looks fun.

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  18. Thanks, Deana, and good for you! My latest "big" book is about a heroine with a reading disability and it has opened my eyes. I had no idea 1 in 5 people - and famous ones like Keira Knightley, James Oliver, Tom Cruise, etc. - struggle to spell and read. You are an extraordinary person to power through the difficulties. Bravo!

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  19. Doing something out of spite always seems mean-spirited to me--wanting to hurt the other party involved. You, on the other hand, took their (very stupid) response and said, "watch this, a-hole!" and did something very positive--you had fun, you challenged yourself, and you are given your readers a brand-new avenue of enjoyment.

    So, on to your snippet--I am so not a fan of romcoms. But, darn you, Jenn McKinlay, I couldn't stop laughing as I read this excerpt and then, reading the summary, I can't wait to get my hands on this first novella! And to top it off, I'm betting the audio version, when (not if) it comes out, will be the perfect accompaniment to some winter hours at the quilting frame. Brava!

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    1. Flora, you are the burst of sunshine I needed today. Thanks for the kindness and support, especially for something that is not your genre. You're a peach!

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  20. 'are giving' shakes head, needs more caffeine....

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  21. I love this so much, Jenn!! The characters, the set up, and most of all, your voice. And I love the fact that you're doing these novellas yourself! Brava!! Pre-ordering now, but I know I will want the audio version and that you'll manage that brilliantly, too.

    I ADORED Wait for It when I read it--literally walked around with the book in my hand for a day because I could NOT put it down. But after reading Judy's comments above, I think I have to listen to it on Audible, too. And the Hat Shop books!

    As for spite, I could say I wrote my first novel out of spite. Everyone in my life laughed at the idea that I could write a book. It was the determination to prove them wrong that powered me through it.

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    1. Yes! I'm always disheartened when writers have to prove themselves to their inner circle but I'm always thrilled when I hear they took up the gauntlet and proved everyone wrong. Well done, Debs. I can't imagine my reading life without Gemma and Duncan.

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  22. I love romcoms! Such a nice change from death and murder! I'm still waiting for Wait For It from my library but we're getting close. I'm the oldest girl in the family, the second child. I think my whole childhood was spent being told I couldn't do things simply because "girls don't do that." Very frustrating.

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    1. Word. I am delighted to see women smashing barriers every day. It's about freaking time.

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  23. Jenn, will Royal Valentine be available on Kindle format, too? I just went to pre-order it. I do not have a Nook nor anything Apple. I will investigate the other reading apps but hope that it will soon be available for pre-order on Kindle.

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    1. Ditto-ing Diana's question, Jenn, as I am a Kindle reader.

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    2. Yes, it will, but Amazon would prefer that I offer it exclusively on their platform, because I refuse to do that, they won't allow pre-orders so it won't be available on Kindle until it's published. So petty. LOL.

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    3. Petty is a nice term for their stranglehold!

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  24. Jenn, if I hadn't been stubborn I'd never have written Her Royal Spyness or In Farleigh Field, since both were turned down by my original publisher. Chuckling to self! We Jungle REds are a bunch of tough broads. I love it

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    1. Red's fans are glad that you are all stubborn and feisty enough to create in spite of nay-sayers. Yay for the Jungle Red Writers!

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    2. We simply do not understand the word NO. LOL!

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  25. So glad you didn’t listen to the no. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the story, as I am with all your books. šŸ˜Š

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  26. Will there be a dead tree version collected into a single book sometime down the road?

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