By
Willa Edwards (Guest Blogger)
A
lot of people ask writers where they come up with their ideas. For
me, they come from all over. Sometimes I read a book and an idea from
a secondary character or even a small description can send me
spinning with a new idea. Sometimes it’s a movie or TV show that
employed something that I can see ending up in a story or that gets
my mind turning in a new direction. And sometimes it’s just random
things that happen in real life, on the way to the grocery store or
at work.
For
Owned Forever, the idea to write this book came from my readers.
To
really understand where this idea came from I have to start with
first book in the series. When I first wrote Owned For Christmas I
had no intention of writing another story. It was just a fun
Christmas idea that came to me while watching a cheesy romantic
comedy. In the movie a women went home for Christmas and ran into an
old beau. By the end of the movie ex wasn’t in his title anymore.
I
loved the idea. We all run into some awkward experience when we go
home for the holidays, but to crank up the uneasiness of the
interaction, I figured my heroine shouldn’t go to her own home, but
someone else’s. And why would she be going there, well of course
she’d be going home with her current boyfriend for the holidays.
And what would she find…her ex-Dom. Pretty awkward, right?
But
as I wrote the story it evolved. The conflict expended from the two
guys to be more about Kate, my heroine, accepting her true submissive
nature. As a result the scenes with her ex-Dom, Grant, expanded, and
her time spent with the two guys or her vanilla lover, Daniel,
diminished, caving to the direction of the story and the inner
turmoil.
Unfortunately
for a lot of readers, that meant they didn’t get to know Daniel
well enough to love him the way I do (and I do love Daniel
tremendously, he’s got such a quirk sense of humor and go with the
flow attitude, not to mention ripped abs, I would have trouble not
taking him home myself). When a reader mentioned she wanted to see
more of Daniel and his struggle with joining in with a ménage
relationship, the wheels in my head started turning, and Owned
Forever was born.
Owned
Forever delves into many of the issues and conflicts I didn’t have
time to touch on in Owned For Christmas, and a few that didn’t even
arrive back on that snowy Christmas night. This story highlights
Daniel a great deal more, and his issues with their new relationship,
while also showing of his funny sense of humor and devotion to his
family and Kate.
At
this point I have no plans to write another story for these three
fantastic characters. But if the readers keeping giving such amazing
inspiration, I may not have a choice. After all, I’m a slave to my
muse and the reader. When they work together, I’m done for.
I
hope you’ll check out my newest release, Owned Forever, now
available with Totally Bound Publishing, inspired by my amazing
readers. And to read the beginning of Grant, Kate and Daniel’s
story, check out Owned For Christmas. While both books can be read on
their own, just like most other things in life, they are better in
twos.
Owned
Forever Blurb
Two
sets of in-laws, a Dom with the need to assert his power, a fiancée
with an inferiority complex and a country chic wedding to throw. What
could go wrong?
For
the last six months, Kate, Daniel and Grant have been living
blissfully in Colorado. But that’s all about to come to an end.
They’re opening up the ranch and their relationship to
outsiders—Kate’s parents. While her future mother-in-law has
adapted well to their unconventional relationship, Kate knows her
parents won’t feel the same. At her insistence, the whole Farrell
crew agrees to keep the true nature of their relationship a secret—at
least from her parents—for the whole wedding weekend.
Stretched
thin, Kate tries to be everything for everyone. The enthusiastic
bride, the good daughter, the diligent sub that’s always under the
control of her Master and the affectionate fiancé that wants nothing
more than to be married. But with everyone’s needs weighing her
down, eventually Kate snaps under the pressure.
In
one quick moment of need, their secret is out of bag, and it’s not
just her parents that feel betrayed. Can Kate convince all the people
she loves to accept and participate in this untraditional wedding
party, or will her needs doom her relationships for good?
Who
knew Happily Ever After would be this hard!
Publisher's
Note: This story is a continuation of Kate, Grant and Daniel’s
relationship from Owned For Christmas by Willa Edwards. It is best
read in sequence but can be read as a standalone.
Excerpt
“When
are your parents arriving?” Gale spread a sheet across the prickly
surface of the bales of hay set up across the open yard in a circle
for seating. The better for their guest’s comfort.
Kate
surveyed the field before her. It still amazed to her how much the
place had changed since she’d first arrived. This field that had
been covered with three feet of snow back at Christmas time, was now
filled with swaying grasses and bright Columbines. It really was
beautiful here.
This
would be the perfect place for a wedding.
It
may have taken a few months and the melting of three tons of snow,
but Kate now understood why people loved living in this area—why
her two men loved it here so much and felt so connected to this land.
And amazingly, she felt the same. She couldn’t imagine ever moving
back to Dallas. No matter what her parents said.
“They’ll
be here tomorrow at ten. They’re on the last possible plane coming
into Grand Junction from Dallas before the ceremony.” Kate tried to
keep the resentment from her voice, but she didn’t succeed. She
loved her future mother-in-law. Gale was fantastic. Kate still had
trouble believing she’d accepted her relationship with both her
sons so easily. Not to mention all she’d done to help with Kate’s
wedding to her younger son, Daniel.
She
still wished she was picking floral arrangements, assembling favors
and decorating pews with her own mother.
“I
got them a room at the Country Side Inn.” It was the best hotel for
miles. Though Kate doubted it was up to her mother’s standards.
“They’ll
like it there.”
“I
hope so.” That’s the only way Kate wouldn’t hear about how
awful the hotel was for the next ten years, like her parent’s trip
to Maui seven years ago, that they always brought up at Thanksgiving.
“Are
you planning on telling them everything?” Gale looked up at Kate
from where she arranged ribbons around the edge of the bales,
creating an aisle down the center toward the arch Grant had built.
“You
mean about the fact that I’m really in a relationship with two men?
That I’m marrying one and sleeping with both of them?” Kate
looked over at the woman who was to be her official mother-in-law in
only two days. “Are you asking if I plan to tell them that?”
Gale
cast Kate a sour look. She had made her opinion obvious many times
before, but she didn’t know Kate’s parents. Kate’s mother was
ready to have her checked into a psych ward for giving up a good job
in the city—though her teaching position hadn’t become a good job
to her mother until the other option was no job at all—and moving
out to the country for some hick. Kate could contemplate what her
parents would say if they knew she hadn’t come out here for one
country hick, but for two.
“Not
everyone is as understanding as you are, Gale.” Kate still couldn’t
believe how lucky they’d been with Gale—how understanding she
was, how accepting. From the moment she’d discovered their
three-way relationship, Gale hadn’t ever made her feel insane or
immoral for the loving both of her sons. It’s more than Kate would
have ever expected. “My parents aren’t as open-minded as you
are.”
“I’m
not that understanding, dear. I just want my boys to be happy. I see
how happy you make them.” Gale looked up, her warm honey-brown eyes
twinkling, and Kate smiled.
How
every member of this family managed to make her feel welcome and
included always surprised her.
“I’m
sure your parents want the same thing for you. Once they see how
happy those boys make you, they’ll accept the three of you together
too.”
Kate
shook her head. A part of her believed Gale was right. That her
parents really did want her to be happy. But they’d never conveyed
it well in the past. And her wedding didn’t seem the right time to
put them to the test.
She
still remembered the way her mother used to talk about her teaching
position to her high-society friends, the note of disdain in her
mother’s tone. Teaching kindergartners was not the prestigious
career Margo Baker wanted for her daughter. And she had no doubt
Daniel wasn’t the high-society husband she’d envisioned for Kate
either.
Kate
didn’t care what her mother thought. She’d made her decision. She
had no desire to go back—to Dallas, to the quiet desperation or to
the need for more that had almost eaten her alive.
But
she couldn’t stand the idea that her parents would berate Daniel
with their undercutting words and quiet insults. Not to mention how
they’d act if they found out it wasn’t just Daniel she stayed in
Colorado for, but Grant as well.
“You’d
be surprised, honey, what lengths a parent will go to for their
child. They might not always show it in the way you wish, but I’m
sure they’re doing what they think is best for you.”
Kate
nodded. They probably were. They just didn’t have any idea what was
best for her. They always thought what was best for them was best for
her. For twenty-eight years, she’d tried and failed to live that
way too. She didn’t regret making this change for herself, even if
her parent’s never approved.
“One
day, you’ll see for yourself.”
Kate
rolled her eyes. Gale had been tossing off a lot of comments like
that lately. But it would be a while before Kate had any serious
experience with parenthood, no matter what Gale might desire.
