Adding a Voice to Naked Coffee Guy

It’s been a whirlwind of a few months! Here’s where we’re at with the Sunset Bay series.

I am about 1.5 months into the release of Masquerade Mistake, and I am so pleased with how it’s been received. There was a time when I thought success would mean I would receive job quitting income from my books. I have not reached that. But I have had more readers for this book than I have for some of my books I’ve had for years. It has actually leapfrogged into my most read book in Kindle Unlimited with 107,000 page reads. That’s the equivalent of over 300 books read through KU! I’m very proud of that number. Plus, the feedback has been amazing, and very positive.

I am now working on the second book in the series, Naked Coffee Guy, which is also a standalone. It tells the story of Maren, who is Claire’s best friend (from Book 1), and Mac, a hunky Viking-like dude who is known around the neighborhood for his near-naked morning strolls. 

The book was actually done, getting ready for edits, when I realized there was something missing—the 2nd POV. So I am adding in chapters and edits that include the Mac’s POV, and it’s not as easy as I thought it would be! For one, I am having to address a lot of holes in the story that I was previously dismissing. Now I can’t sneak around them and have to come up with more story and background.

However, this has been an interesting process. I am getting to know these characters so much more through these re-writes, and I am finally starting to see how these edits will make the story stronger. 

Admittedly, my imposter syndrome has been acting up in the form of procrastination, which means edits are taking longer than they should. But next week, I’m housesitting at my friend’s lovely farmhouse in the country with a heated pool, and I am taking full advantage of the new scenery to finish this book! I even took a few days off my day job so that I can focus all my attention on the book, with full plans of being done by the end of my housesitting stay. 

Side note: I have not done really any promo on Naked Coffee Guy yet, not even an official cover reveal (though you can see it and all its yumminess here), mostly because I am still in the midst of wrapping up the story and it feels hard to promote something that isn’t done. But once I have a final draft, I will be going full bore on promotion because this baby is releasing October 24, 2023!

P.S. I happened across my earlier blogs when I was getting ready to release my first book, and omg, I was too cute. Here’s one where I held my book in my hands for the very first time. All I can see is my total excitement and naivety. I had no idea what I was in for, or where my author career would take me, though I thought I’d be Colleen Hoover rich and writing full time by now! Funny how perspective changes over the years. My frustrations and jadedness have now transformed into happy acceptance and gratefulness as I work a job I love that pays the bills, and also have the time and energy to write my books on the side. 

Life is good. 🙂