What comes after Under His Skin?

I’ve been so blown away by the interest in what happens after Under His Skin. I haven’t read many reviews, mostly for my own sanity, but what I have read has been so nice and enthusiastic. I knew I liked the book, but I had moderate hopes that other people would enjoy it as much as I did. Instead I’ve found the readers I have chatted with to be as enthusiastic as I am about the book and demanding to know one thing…

Is this part of a series?

Initially I wanted to make Under His Skin a stand alone, fluke of a book. Sure, it’s subject matter that really hits home with me, and I loved writing it, but I didn’t know if it would sell well or if people would want to read more about a tattoo shop. Plus I had other books mapped out I wanted to write! It didn’t make sense to me in the beginning to write additional books I didn’t know about.

But then I met Kellie and Autumn and Mary. They really came alive for me.

In the first draft, Kellie was Kelli. If you’ve read up on the history of this book I’ve shared through the Pricked Party, then you know Kelli Collins of Ellora’s Cave was one of the big, driving forces behind writing this book, and I decided that if she was making me write it, she would be in it! That’s only fair, right? But as I began editing, I realized I wanted to tell people more about Kelli – my Kelli, not EC Kelli. And that’s when things got weird, so I stuck and ‘e’ on the end of her name and went with it! If you read my Write Report posts you know that I’ve already finished writing Kellie’s book. It’s a behemoth, much longer than Pandora’s and really awesome. At least I hope it will be awesome!

Once I made the decision to write about Kellie, Autumn and Mary’s stories fell into place so easily. I cannot wait to begin writing their stories. Autumn is such a goofball, and she means well, but sometimes she just screws stuff up. And Mary, well, she’s special. A single mom living a rough life. I’m literally deleting lines I want to tell you about these books RIGHT NOW, but I can’t because those are spoilers!

When I wrote Under His Skin, I knew I wanted to tackle an issue. I’d just read Lori Foster’s latest installment to the Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor series, where she deals with human trafficking, and I wanted to be very real with readers. I chose some issues close to my heart and made the heroine, Pandora, and by proximity, the hero, Brian, deal with them. Each book has something different to deal with, but I hope it makes the series that much more special and memorable.

There’s one person of the cast I haven’t mentioned yet. Have you read Under His Skin? Are you screaming at me?

In Under His Skin I introduce what I thought was going to be a throw away character, someone who has a role to play and walks away when it’s over. This character was Carly, a young, idealistic girl much like Pandora, wanting to do something with her life. I won’t spoil the ending, but Carly plays a big role in the first book and I just couldn’t say goodbye to her. I won’t lie, things are not going to be easy on Carly. I have plans that will hurt her emotionally and physically through the next three books, but I will write more about her than what a subplot will allow. The current plan is to write a follow up book to the four full length novels. Her book will be however long it wants to be.

The following information is subject to change, but tenatively I’m calling this series, So Inked. Appropriate since it revolves around the tattoo shop, So Inked.

Book One: Under His Skin (out now)

Book Two: The Harder He Falls (Kellie’s book, written, needs edits)

Book Three: Heart on His Sleeve (Autumn’s book, being planned)

Book Four: More than He Can Handle (Mary’s book, being planned)

Book Five: His Little Fighter (Carly’s book, being planned)

Of course Under His Skin is out now, so that one is written in stone, but details of the following books can be changed depending on my mood or the wishes of my editor and publisher, should they decide to contract these books. Nothing is agreed upon. This is all my personal speculation, so if something happens and Ellora’s Cave doesn’t publish them, they aren’t breaking a promise.

I’m very excited to write these books. I’m so ready to dive into editing Kellie’s book, and I’m past ready to write Autumn’s. I’m finally able to write a story line I’ve been sitting on for years, only this is going to be better than I’d ever dreamed! And you wouldn’t imagine what Mary goes through, or what I have in store for Carly!

Can you tell I’m excited?

So why do you love series? And what’s your favorite series?