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Hey, amazing ones!

I am so excited to share that the first draft of Undertow is now complete, and you can read all twenty-eight chapters on my website.

Back when we started Undertow, I asked you, my mailing list, to vote on the pairing, title, subgenre, and tropes in a series of polls. It was so much fun incorporating all of this crowdsourced material into one story. I learned a lot along the way about how to approach future projects that I deliver to you chapter-by-chapter. For example, I probably need to do a little more advance planning to avoid writing myself into corners, which happened a time or two in this book and took some mental gymnastics for me to get out of!

I hope to revise the book, including some restructuring for pacing, before it's released out into the wider world. But for the most part I'm really pleased with how the story came together. I hope you are, too!

Pilot season!

With Undertow complete, it's time to think about the next newsletter serial. Last week I announced that I want to approach this round a little differently. In this "pilot season," I have written blurbs for five books and concept covers for you all to vote on, and I'll write the one that gets the most votes.

If you haven't yet, check out my pilot season and vote for your favorite! I did change the settings so that you should be able to vote even if you don't have a google account. I've had so much fun reading your emails this week with your feedback about the various stories. Keep 'em coming!

Currently maintaining a healthy lead with 42% of the vote is Day & Night!

Tied for a distant second with 18% of the vote are The Term and Awake on the Quiet.

What I’m writing

It's been a big reading week for me while in the back of my mind, I stewed over how to bring a few final details together in Undertow. Sometimes I don't write at all for days at a time, but these can be very creative periods for me too. Some of my toughest writing blocks are often resolved in the middle of a reading binge.

I also completed final edits of the short story I've been working on--the one set in the Wild Ones universe, but back in 1972--that you'll be able to read on June 1, and it now has a cover! The story is part of an event for new authors of m/m romance, which means that in addition to my story, there will be many other brand new stories by talented authors for you to read starting June 1! I'll be sure to share the details with you when the event begins.

What I'm reading

I reread the Dig Two Graves duology by KA Merikan, which is a fun, dark, action-packed m/m romance, and a western! If you enjoy gritty stories, moral ambiguity, and tons of angst, and you can bear some explicit violence, I encourage you to check out these books.

I've also been continuing to read books by Lynn Van Dorn, who never disappoints. The one I listened to this week on audio was a collaboration with Indra Vaughn, Vespertine. It's a romance between a rock star and a Catholic priest, and a second-chance romance between estranged childhood best friends/high school sweethearts. There's something I can't resist about a romance where the characters have been pining for each other for decades, and this one is so good.

Until next time

Take care out there.

xo,

Rachel

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books by Rachel Ember

Wild Ones | contemporary western romance | Long Winter | Signs of Spring

In Step | contemporary kinky romance | Jaywalking | Sleepwalker