Just Around The Corner! #constant #TheValespianPact

I think that I missed making Constant's announcement here on the blog. The third book in the Valespian Pact has a release date! March 20, 2020! 

Whew! There were days when I thought I would never finish this book. It was a problem child from day one and I'm pretty sure that Constant is a bit smug about that fact.

I have been writing Constant almost exclusively for the better part of two years. It has given me fits the whole way. I had a plan, really I did, and Constant refused to follow the plan, went off the rails (many, many times) and it did whatever the hell it wanted, despite my protests.

Constant is about Prince Mestor and Warlord Sohm'lan, but it's also about the Vondorian family and the Atlaintician people. I've said frequently that this is a story that needed to be told and I didn't realize it until almost too late. 

Like I said, I had a plan and it was not for Mestor and Sohm'lan to have their own book. Their story was going to play out over the the next several books of the series with Mestor finally winning Sohm'lan in the last book, Legends. Their journey started while they were escorting Zeus and the Oethra 7 to Valespia, and I penned a couple of scenes to jump start things. Then I thought, "Hey! I bet there is enough to give them a novella that shares a timeline with Striker." And I wrote some more. Then I realized, that the 35k wasn't enough space for them... then, it reached 67k. I sent it out to the beta readers, and dude, it was not the best it could be.

Part of the problem was me thinking I knew what people wanted to read instead of writing the story that wanted to come out. There were changes coming to Atlainticia that I was going to mention in other books in passing because, dammit, I write romance and that other stuff was not romancey... but it was a part that makes the Vondorians, the Mar'Sani who they were, and shapes who Prince Mestor and Warlord Sohm'lan become.

Needless to say, that once I got over myself *cough*cough* wrong assumptions, I threw out chapters and scenes, and rewrote the story that had been waiting on me to get with the program. Two hundred and fifty thousand words (yes, you heard me correctly, 250k) later Constant is an Epic Sci-Fi/Fantasy Super-Novel. (And I never, ever want to write a story that long again!!)  Along the way there was a lot of cussing and cursing and threats of strapping the manuscript to a bonfire, but it eventually shaped itself into a novel of love and laughter, of hope and redemption, and of course, family. I can't wait for you to join the ride!

Blurb: 

Can a Warlord and a Prince find love when the galaxy is on the brink of war?

Chief Warlord Sohm'lan has a job he loves protecting the family who claims him as one of their own. He has known the loss of a mate and believed he would walk alone for the rest of his life… that is until Prince Mestor demanded more from him than duty. Unable to fathom why Mestor would want a widowed older warrior, Sohm'lan maintains his distance believing Mestor will eventually choose an amor closer in age and experience, even though the thought causes him more pain than it should.

Prince Mestor is tired of pretending and his patience is eroding. He needs Sohm'lan to see past their respective ranks and duties to who Mestor is underneath it all. Worried Sohm'lan will be lost to him if he pushes too hard, Mestor and Sohm'lan are caught in a dance of denied desires and tangled obligations.

Warlord Sohm'lan and Prince Mestor struggle to find a way to their heart's desire against the backdrop of galactic conspiracies, the dangerous mission escorting the Fal'Amoric royals, and discoveries within the Vondorian family that threaten to tear apart everything they hold dear. The two of them stand together to fight the coming battle whatever the consequences.

Add to your GoodReads' reading list! 

Thank you for stopping by and reading!!