Do You Love Stories in a Series?

By Nicole North

Beast in a Kilt in the anthology Secrets Volume 29 Indulge Your Fantasies has just been released from Red Sage. I’ll be signing it at the RWA National Conference Literacy Autographing on Wednesday evening (July 28) in Orlando. Please stop by my table if you have a moment!

Beast in a Kilt is the second story in my Kilted Shape-shifters series from Red Sage. And I’ve just sold Scoundrel in a Kilt, the third story.

What I love most about writing series is being able to reconnect with characters I’m hooked on and get to know them better, as well as further developing the story world.

Since one story spins off another, it’s much easier to get into a new story if it’s set in the same world as a previous story. Incorporating much-loved characters from earlier stories is a blast. Or taking secondary characters, like the hero’s two friends, and giving them their own stories is also rewarding.

This story world of 1621 Scotland is filled with myth, magic, legends come to life, witches and wizards, shapeshifters, lust potions, time-travelers, and hot sexy romps (both inside the bedchamber and out.) I also tried to fill it with the beauty of the natural Scottish landscape, which in itself is captivating.

What ties these three stories together, aside from the 3 cursed hero friends, is the villainess, a witch who cursed them.

Here’s what the stories are about:

Devil in a Kilt (in Secrets Volume 27 Untamed Pleasures): A trip to the Highland Games turns into a trip to the past when modern day psychology professor Shauna MacRae touches Gavin MacTavish’s four-hundred-year-old claymore. What she finds is a Devil In a Kilt she’s had erotic fantasies about for months. Can Shauna break the curse imprisoning this shape-shifting laird and his clan before an evil witch sends Shauna back to her time?

Beast in a Kilt (in Secrets Volume 29 Indulge Your Fantasies): Scottish lady Catriona MacCain has loved Torr Blackburn, a fierce Highland warrior, since she was a young lass, but Torr only sees Catriona as his best friend’s little sister. When Catriona’s family promises her in marriage to a detestable chieftain, she desperately needs Torr to save her from a fate worse than death. But Torr is under the spell of a witch of the dark arts and is cursed to spend his nights as a kelpie water demon. He doesn’t believe himself worthy of the virginal Lady Catriona. However, she is determined to seduce Torr and claim him… body, heart and soul, if only they can banish the curse and defeat the enemies who have vowed to possess and enslave them both.

Scoundrel in a Kilt (will be in a future Secrets volume): Brodie, Chieftain of Clan MacCain, is a dark, sensual Scottish scoundrel who loves nothing more than being a selkie shape-shifter, even if he has been cursed by a witch of the dark arts. Stunning modern day supermodel Erin Schultz blazes into his 1621 world like a falling star. Though he’s certain she will shatter life as he knows it by breaking his curse, he can’t resist her tantalizing seduction.

***
One important consideration when writing a series is to make sure each story stands on its own as much as possible. It’s better if the reader doesn’t have to read the stories in order. But hopefully if they read one, they’ll want to read the others.

Another thing to remember is that even though the stories share some commonalities, try to make the stories as different and varied as possible. For instance, in my stories you can see that two of them are time-travels, while one isn’t. And each story has different elements and lots of different things going on. Also, the heroes shift into three different sorts of animals, two of which are based on Scottish legends.

I grew incredibly attached to my three cursed heroes as they each found love with a special woman. I hope you fall in love with them as I did and cheer for them as they attempt to break the curse and defeat the villainess.

Click here to read a sexy excerpt from Beast in a Kilt.

Click here to read excerpts from Secrets Volume 29, which contains three other wonderful hot stories aside from mine.

Or:
http://www.eredsage.com/store/Secrets_Volume_29.html

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Thanks!

Nicole


Nicole North's erotic romance novellas have been described by reviewers as "exciting, high octane, captivating, scintillating, sinfully delicious and pure romance." Her stories contain "heart and heat, killer love scenes, magic and extraordinary characters." Her latest release from Red Sage, a paranormal historical, Beast in a Kilt, is in the Secrets Volume 29 Indulge Your Fantasies anthology. Her last story, Kilted Lover, is contemporary erotic romance novella with a touch of paranormal. Her first story, Devil in a Kilt is in the anthology Secrets Volume 27 Untamed Pleasures. Her works have finaled in over a dozen writing competitions and won several awards. She is a member of Romance Writers of America and three chapters. She teaches online workshops about various aspects of writing, including sexual tension and how to write great love scenes. Though she has a degree in psychology, writing romance is her first love. She and her husband live in the Southeastern US, but she wishes she lived in the Scottish Highlands at least half the year.

Website: http://www.nicolenorth.com/

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