Interview and Giveaway

Posted on October 29, 2014 by SloanParker

On Top Down Under Book Reviews is celebrating their 2nd anniversary, and I’m thrilled to be one of their featured authors. Stop by the blog to check out my interview where I share what’s up next for me, a bit about my writing process, and more. Kazza always asks such great questions.

I’m also giving away a free ebook and a $10 gift card to All Romance eBooks. Just leave a comment in the interview post to enter the giveaway, and be sure to wish Cindi and Kazza K congratulations on their blog’s 2nd anniversary!

The giveaway runs until midnight October 31st, US Eastern Standard Time.

Status Update

Posted on September 17, 2014 by SloanParker

MORE THAN MOST Scene Board (with several layers of my review check marks). Image: (c) Sloan Parker 2014

Completed Manuscript of MORE THAN MOST. Image: (c) Sloan Parker 2014

Well it’s been a while since I posted anything. I didn’t mean to completely ignore my blog, but it was for good reasons, I assure you. I’ve had my head down in my writing cave for several weeks now, and I thought I’d take a quick break to do a status update on my current projects. So here’s where things are:

MORE THAN MOST (MORE #2)
The second book of Richard, Matthew, and Luke’s series was submitted to my publisher. I’m waiting to hear back on that, so I don’t have any news to share regarding a release date. I hope to know more soon. In the meantime here’s another brief snippet from Richard’s point of view: Sadness overwhelmed me. For Dominic and his friends in the nursing home. And for Matthew. If he outlived Luke and me, what would his final years be like? Would he have anywhere to go? Would he end up at someplace like Legacy Village? Not if I could help it. If nothing else, I’d leave him a stockpile of cash. There had to be a number of nicer nursing and retirement homes in the city. Could money buy the kind of security I wanted for him? It hadn’t done anything to protect Anne. And neither had I.
MORE THAN EVER (MORE #3) – tentative title
Matthew’s book is half drafted. This is the fastest I’ve ever written a first pass. There’ll be quite a bit of revising to do on it, but getting the initial draft done is the hardest part for me so I’m thrilled with the progress. And I’m very excited about this story. Matthew is really finding his way, and the threesome are moving into a new phase of their relationship.
THE HAVEN #2 (No title yet)
The outline is finished, and I completely love Seth and Vargas together. They are both so vulnerable, and it should be an incredibly emotional ride for them. This is actually the next book I’ll be working on, but I wanted to get a draft down of More #3 while the ideas were fresh in my mind. The goal is to finish the rough draft of More #3, then complete The Haven #2.
THE HAVEN #3 (No title yet)
I’ve got a few notes down for this story. I’m pretty sure I’m set with who I want the couple to be (and how they’re going to meet and get together), but I’ll wait to share more on that until I’m further along with writing book 2 in case I change course for any reason.
Also, I may be writing a short story that I can’t get out of my head, but we’ll see if I can fit it in somewhere in the next few months.

I’ll keep you posted on news about the release of More #2 and my other progress. Thanks for checking out what I’ve been up to.

It’s done! It’s done!

Posted on August 8, 2014 by SloanParker

The finished manuscript of MORE THAN MOST. Image: (c) Sloan Parker 2014

I’m delighted to share that I just finished MORE THAN MOST, the sequel to MORE. I’m having someone give it a final review this weekend, then it’ll be off to my editor. Hopefully I’ll know more about a release date before too long.

Prior to working with my editor, it’s around 94,500 words. All Richard’s point of view.

A part of me thought I might never finish this book (for reasons that had very little to do with the writing of it), so I’m beyond excited right now and thrilled with how it turned out. I’m also grateful I didn’t write this sequel right after the first book. It definitely wouldn’t have been the same story. There’s a vulnerability to Richard I’m not sure I would’ve captured without some distance from Luke’s point of view. I know Richard now even better than when I was writing the first book.

And Matthew… there’s so much more I know about him as well, but I’ll keep that to myself until his story. All I can say is that I’m more in love with him than ever. Richard and Luke too.

I’ll share a preview in my next newsletter. In the meantime, there are several snippets from the book on my tumblr page.

I SWEAR TO YOU Release Party: ISTY is out now at ARe & 50% off 2 backlist books

Posted on May 1, 2014 by SloanParker

Today’s winner of the I SWEAR TO YOU Release Party Giveaway is:
Antonia A. Congratulations!

I SWEAR TO YOU is now available at All Romance eBooks. And I’m also happy to share that the following Sloan Parker e-books are 50% off for the rest of this week at ARe (until the end of the day Sunday, May 4th).

MORE THAN JUST A GOOD BOOK: ~~regular $4.99~~, now $2.49
TAKE ME HOME: ~~regular $6.99~~, now $3.49

Remember, if you haven’t done so yet, enter my release party giveaway for a chance at one of this week’s giveaways of a $10 e-gift card to All Romance eBooks. If you’ve already entered, you’ll be included in all of this week’s giveaways until you win a prize or the party ends. You only need to enter once. Good luck!

I SWEAR TO YOU Release Party: Behind-the-Story Tidbits

Posted on April 30, 2014 by SloanParker

Today’s winner of the I SWEAR TO YOU Release Party Giveaway is:
Kelsey O. Congratulations!

I SWEAR TO YOU is now available at Amazon!

Here are some behind-the-story tidbits from my writing of Grady and Mateo’s story:

In the original premise I pitched to my publisher, Mateo and Grady’s roles were reversed. As the story unfolded, it became clear Mateo should be the one who had no one in his life after he thought he’d lost Grady, and Grady should be the more reluctant one when it came to the two of them first being together.
In an early draft, the first kiss between Mateo and Grady happened at a frat party in a bedroom upstairs. I wanted them to stop thinking and give into everything they were feeling, ultimately having sex in that bedroom at the frat house. But as I started working on that scene, I decided I wanted them to be at the lake and to not go “all the way.” That one decision was the moment everything started to fall in place for this story.
Much of this story’s first draft was written by hand in restaurants and a local coffee shop.
I Swear to You was probably one of the most linear stories I’ve ever written, meaning I started at the beginning and basically worked my way toward the end. I did have outline notes for some of the later chapters, but I wasn’t quite sure what the final scene would look like until I got farther into the story. Usually I know how each story ends very early on in the process, sometimes going so far as to write the ending before 3/4 of the book is drafted.
I had several ideas in mind for what Mateo had witnessed in his past, and until I wrote the scene in the bathroom where he tells Grady the truth, I wasn’t certain which version I was going to use.