What We're Writing: Jenn Edition

 JENN McKINLAY: I finished a manuscript and page proofs, took a few days off to regroup (clean my office) and now I'm back at my desk working on proposals. 

What am I proposing? I'm working on an outline for the second cozy fantasy in the Books of Dubious Origin series. The first in the  series Witches of Dubious Origin comes out on October 28th and the manuscript for the second (no title as yet) is due on August 1st, so I need to get cracking!

PREORDER HERE

What do I have so far in my proposal? The opening scene. I want to open the story at the Museum of Literature, where the Books of Dubious Origin collection is housed, during a booklover's ball where everyone in attendance is dressed as a character of fiction. I think the hardest part will be to keep the descriptions to a minimum. 

What happens after that...I have no idea. I should. I wrote a proposal for it last year but there were some issues. I wanted to set it in London, my editor wants it in New York. I had many story lines for the supporting cast, my editor encouraged me to whittle it down to the strongest few. My version of the love interests is them hooking up in book two (it's only a two book contract), my editor would like to drag out the romance into later volumes in the series (so I guess it's going to be more than two books--yay!)!

I wish I could share the new outline but it's definitely in the pupa stage of development so we'll just have to see what comes out of the chrysalis when I turn it in on Tuesday.

Since I'm also going to start writing that first scene on Tuesday, tell me Reds and Readers, if you were going to a Met Gala level ball for booklovers, what character of fiction would you dress as? Inspire me, please.

About WITCHES OF DUBIOUS ORIGIN: 

When a librarian discovers she’s descended from a long line of powerful witches, she’ll need all of her bookish knowledge to harness her family’s magic, in this enchanting cozy fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay.

Zoe Ziakas enjoys a quiet life, working as a librarian in her quaint New England town. When a mysterious black book with an unbreakable latch is delivered to the library, Zoe has a strange feeling the tome is somehow calling to her. She decides to consult the Museum of Literature, home to volumes of indecipherable secrets, some possessing dark magic that must be guarded.

Here, among their most dangerous collection, the Books of Dubious Origin, Zoe discovers that she is the last descendant of a family of witches and this little black book is their grimoire. Zoe knows she must decode the family’s spell book and solve the mystery of what happened to her mother and her grandmother. However, the book’s potential power draws all things magical to it, and Zoe finds herself under the constant watch of a pesky raven, while being chased by undead Vikings, ghost pirates, and assorted ghouls.

With assistance from the eccentric staff of the Books of Dubious Origin department—including their annoyingly smart and handsome containment specialist, Jasper Griffin—Zoe must confront her past and the legacy of her family. But as their adventure unfolds, she’ll have to decide whether or not she’s ready to embrace her destiny.