I am so excited to announce that my debut novel, His Viking Captive, will be available for purchase on January 24, 2023! The ebook is available for preorder on Amazon, and paperbacks will be available on Jan 24th. Get it here.
The book is about a female Viking raider named Yrsa who has set upon Saxon lands to avenge her father's death. During the raid on the village of Hyrstow, she is injured and taken captive by the Saxon chieftain, Ridley. Unfortunately for them both, they must keep Yrsa's presence a secret while refraining from ripping each other apart. Stuck together with only one bed, their attraction to one another grows. Amidst tensions in the kingdom and the threat of Yrsa being discovered, Yrsa and Ridley must come together to conquer betrayal, lust and obligation.
This project has been 2 1/2 years in the making. Back in 2020, Harlequin held one of its "blitz" events. It had a "warrior" theme. Rather than have a big, tough male warrior steal all the glory, I came up with the idea of a female Viking warrior (not uncommon in the Viking age). Yrsa Arkyndóttir was born. I outlined a little, researched a lot, wrote the best first three chapters I could at the time, and submitted the synopsis to the blitz. I even received a request for a partial. And while I waited (I found out later that times in publishing move at a snail's pace), I wrote the rest of the book. The book was rejected after the partial however, I received some fantastic feedback and was able to delve deeper into the characters, their motivation, setting and overall themes as I edited it.
Submitting to beta readers, completing more edits, followed by another overall edit, then sending the manuscript to my editor, editing with those suggestions in mind, then re-reading for a final pass has been so much work. I will admit, though, I do love editing. Drafting is fun, though the edits are where the story really comes alive and though it takes time, each edit polishes the story a little more.
Now that I'm confident I will have everything in order for my release date, I've moved firmly into the marketing side of things. However I am still savouring the small joys that come with putting out my best work possible, seeing the entire novel formatted in Vellum, having friends and family pre-order it, and hyping up the thing I worked so hard on.
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