What I had to do to write another bestseller...
This is a hard post to write.
Back in the day, my book went viral.
Now, this was definitely the gold rush era, but I watched Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover go from a book I penned from painful heartbreak to the hottest book of the summer. It was surreal. Suddenly, I was everywhere, and my dreams of being an author came true, even at the expense of my broken relationship.
It was glorious. I got an agent, a huge book deal, and became a household name. I did signings, traveled to conferences as a key speaker, and made a ton of money.
When I sat down to write my second book, I was excited, and finally stable. I’d begun to heal.
BUT…my second book kind of tanked. No one wanted to talk about it or buy it. Everywhere I went, I was only asked about a sequel to Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover. I simply had no interest in revisiting that story and my past.
I figured my third book would be the ONE. The second hit wonder. But that one tanked too. I found myself in a panic. Our of contract. Pressured to write a sequel I didn’t want. When my agent called and said I’d better get a knock-out proposal together - something FRESH - I realized a terrible thing.
I couldn’t write another hit book because my heart wasn’t broken.
All of that emotion and angst was poured into Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover! If I can’t pen another bestseller, I’m not sure what I’ll do. My whole life is about being a successful author! The humiliation of no one showing up to my current book signings was hard to deal with.
So, I called my sister who has a house in the Outer Banks, and figured I’d stay there for the summer. My plan was simple: find a way to get my heart broken again. Preferably from a guy who wouldn’t think twice about stomping on my emotional fragility without a backward glance. Extra points if he’s super hot, grumpy, and runs a bankrupt tour company to see the wild horses. Have I mentioned he’s sex on a stick and has the reputation of being a heartbreaker? They even had to start a support group for the women he’d left behind!
I can’t believe he said no. He wasn’t gonna date me - I mean, look at him! — so I came up with an incentive. I’d save his grandfather’s tour company, and he’s required to make me fall for him, then dump me. I’d walk away and be able to put all that raw emotion into my next book. Win/win.
Great plan, right?
I thought so, too. Until I began to fall hard for Brick Babel. And sex edged into real feelings. Even worse? He fell for me.
Now, the summer’s over and I have a big choice to make. Go home to NY and write a bestselling book? Or stay…and have a different type of ending?
Want to know what happened to us?
You can read my story, Book of the Month, for FREE.
You got me.