Let’s Talk One True Mate (One True Mate Companion, Vol. 1)

2—One True Mate 11 Status

Let’s start with One True Mate 11, the book I’ve been working on for more than four years.

Why is it taking so long?

Because during the writing of the first several books, I kept all the event, character, and cross-relationship details in my head. When it was time to work on the next book, all I needed to do to get back inside the plotlines and character heads was re-read the books that had come before and I was off and running.

This re-reading became unsustainable by book 4 (Beckett and Cerise), but I was still doing it by book 6 (Bruin and Willow). I didn't know what else to do or how to do it. One True Mate was a glut of inspiration and imagination that I had managed to spin into a (mostly) coherent story, but I needed it out of my head and onto paper. I read a lot about organizing large amounts of information and tried a few things. Nothing caught on.

During the writing of book 7 (Harlan and Eventine), my mind split open. Details leaked everywhere.

So that was it. I couldn’t go on like I was anymore. I got serious about getting organized. While writing book 8 (Jaggar and Leilani), and book 9 (Troy and Reed), I experimented with several systems of organization, but none of them worked for me. Book 10 (Trent and Rowan) limped along inside another organizational structure that did not hold it well, but I dealt with it because I had realized that I was going to have to create the system or ‘series bible’ that replicated the way the story was stored inside my head—and I wouldn’t be able to write books while I did it. Plus it would take a long time—years maybe.

It did take years—two! During 2020 and 2021, I split my characters into groups and tracked the groups across all 830,375 words of the first 10 books. I pulled all the backstories I had written out of the timeline and put them in a backstory timeline that stretched from ancient times to the day before the first book starts. I filled gaps by deciding probable events. I combed my notebooks and documents for all available story clues. I tracked the events, characters, relationships, and storylines, in general and specific ways. I told myself tiny story after tiny story. I made lists of all the culminations like where everyone lived after each book, who had their pendant, who was pregnant, how far along they were, how many young were born and how old they were, and on and on. I drew a map. I drew another map. I drew more maps… and I foresee more maps in my future. I drew the major locations, houses, and buildings, getting the landscapes and floor plans out of my head and onto paper. I have been haphazardly learning to draw as I go along, which of course takes time.

Once the system was in place and I could trust it, I was able to officially move on to plotting and writing book 11. During 2022 and 2023 I wrote many words. I had to scrap what I had and start over twice.

Once I gained traction, the words moved s l o w l y, mostly because of MRS. WHITE. She’s complicated, complex, and crazy as hell—and her list of dirty deeds is miles long. One True Mate 11 is where all of that comes to light.

Besides Mrs. White, there’s also the case of the heroine of this book. Most of the heroines in books 1-10 brought very little ‘baggage’ to their story in the way of family and pre-established ties to Serenity, which allowed me to hyper-focus on the romance and how it tied in with the already-in-progress fight with the demon. That’s not the case with the heroine of book 11. She’s got all the baggage and a huge family and … whew! Let me stop there, because I don’t want to spoiler you.

Instead, let’s take a look at what OTM11 looks like right now:

As you can see, I’ve got three prologues and 32 chapters written in 63,236 words. The book will be at least twice this long. Don’t worry—it’s not going to take another four years. Will it be done in 2024? Unfortunately, no. Sometime in 2025 is when book 11 will be born—naked, squalling, and demanding your attention.

Chapters 1-15 of book 11 happen during the last two days (chapters 27-56) of book 10 (Trent and Rowan), detailing what the KSRT and others were dealing with before and during Khain’s attack on Serenity.

Chapter 16 of book 11 starts at SPD (Serenity Police Department) in the middle of the night, right around the time Trent and Rowan are discovering their cabin at VF (Village Fucktastic) in chapter 57—and then book 10 timeline ends while book 11 timeline continues.

Chapter 32 is not yet the midpoint of the book—I’ll hit the midpoint somewhere between chapters 35 and 40. Does that mean this book will be 80 chapters long? Yeah, probably, plus three multi-part prologues. You and me, we’re going to steep in this story.

I can hear you now. You’re saying “Three fucking prologues?!”

Believe me, I wandered around saying that exact thing to myself for a few weeks, but there’s nothing to be done. The book needs three prologues—be glad it’s not more.

Prologue 1 covers Boe’s escape from the Pravus that we saw in book 1 (Trevor and Ella), but now we’ll see it from a third person objective POV centering on a character whose head we haven't been inside yet.

Prologue 2 covers the demon’s abduction and the KSRT’s recovery of 4 year old Paisley White seen in book 3 (Crew and Dahlia), but now we’ll see it from several other important POVs.

Prologue 3 reveals an unknown incident that happened directly after Prologue 2 which leads to events seen in book 9 (Troy and Reed), and also leads to much of what’s going to happen in book 11.

I’ve been writing consistently for all of 2024, but moving slowly. I finished the existing 32 chapters, then realized I needed three (fucking!) prologues, so I dragged my author brain back in time to the mindset of book 1 (Trevor and Ella). I’ve finished the first prologue and I’m halfway through the second, then I’ll have to write the third, and then I’ll have to edit chapters 1-32 pretty extensively. The structure of each chapter and the structure of the story is solid, but it’s been months since I did that writing. I know my characters better now, and many scenes need tweaking.

Tweak tweak tweak. Tweak tweak tweak tweak, tweak tweak tweak tweak tweak. Tweak tweak. Tweak… tweak.

Prologue 1 took six weeks to write! Then it needed a re-write, which took another six weeks. Twelve weeks—that’s some crazy-ass bullshit. I used to be able to write a full book in twelve weeks. Granted, my books were simpler back then, and granted, this prologue had to be perfect to what came before and what’s coming next. We’ve already seen this scene in detail, but now we’ll see how Boe managed to escape the wolves so cleanly and what happened after.