But that dream slowly shriveled as therejections kept coming in, and it began to look less shiny when I began comparing it to other avenues. I ended up finding a little niche in the indie market, publishing my books myself in online marketplaces. It gives me control over every aspect of my work, from my schedule to the covers I use, and that’s something I don’t think I could give up now that I’ve experienced it.
“You’ll probably need a new pen name, then, right?” Roland says, pulling me back to our conversation. “Can you sell romance and mystery with the same name?”
“No one would stop me from using the same name, but I would probably want a new one,” I say glumly. Setting up new personas is kind of the worst.?*
“You want something a little darker, but not too on-the-nose?—”
“SpookyPants McWhodunnit,” I cut him off.
“Subtle,” he says. “Understated. I like it.”
I grin. “Tell Lance I said hello. I need to go; I’m here.”
“I will. Don’t call me again too soon.”
I shake my head and hang up before maneuvering my beat-up old Volkswagen Beetle into a parking spot in front of one of the town’s only coffee shops. I’m coming from the wrong direction for the angle of the parking spaces—my bad—so I end up executing a million point turn before I get into the space. Then I sigh and get out, locking the car and taking a few steps back to check my parking job.
It’s still crooked.
And, I realize with a start, the same little sedan that was driving an inch behind me down Main has pulled in next to me; a couple people in bright pink,staring at me and my car.
Like they know I’m new in town. Like they know I’m not great at parking.
I resist the urge to tell them off, going inside without a backward glance. As far as I’m concerned, if I’m inside the lines, anything goes.
The coffee shop hasn’t changed much in the last six years. There are people I don’t recognize working behind the counter, but the tables are in the same place, and the same artsy pictures still adorn the walls. The menu looks exactly like it used to as well, down to the ninety-nine-cent mini muffins they bake and sell every morning. I inhale deeply and smile at the scent of hot chocolate and scones.
My feelings toward Autumn Grove are complicated, but I have only love for Grind and Brew.
I give the girl behind the counter a vague, nodded greeting before ordering one steaming mug of raspberry-infused hot chocolate and two cranberry-orange scones. Then I find a seat at my favorite corner table and plop down into the chair.
“Three-ninety-nine for the world’s best hot chocolate,” I say to myself as I think back to the cafe where the Blind Date Incident occurred. “And that place wanted nine dollars.” I shake my head and take a sip of my drink, despite knowing better; sure enough, it burns going down my throat. I take another sip anyway, just one more, because it’s been so long since I’ve had Grind and Brew’s raspberry hot chocolate. Then I put my mug back down and wait for my drink to cool like a sane person, smiling as I watch the wind and the leaves dance outside the window.
Yes, I’m currently failing as a romance writer, and yes, I’m currently living out of my car, but I’m also sitting in my favorite coffee shop on the planet, drinking my favorite drink. I have two delicious scones sitting in front of me. I’ll meet my new roommate in a bit, and then I won’t be homeless anymore.
After that? Well, the world—or at least Autumn Grove—is my oyster.
So watch out, oyster.
Juniper Bean is coming for you.
* Ultimately I wrote this book in first person, but I debated between third and first for quite a while. I also had this introduction written before I ever had Juniper as a character—just the concept of someone who kept killing off her characters.
* Part of the premise for this book came from the idea of a romance author testing out different romance ideas with the love interest, something I’d seen many times. I wondered how it would look if an author from a different genre did the same thing.
* Every now and then I write a line that makes me laugh out loud, and this was one of them.
* The idea for this disastrous blind date actually came differently. I pictured two people flirting over text only to discover they were brother and sister—which sounds like a gross thing to imagine, but my job as a rom com author is to put my characters in awkward, wacky situations. A blind date gave me more to work with on page, so I went with that scenario instead.
* One of my goals was to make this book as atmospheric as possible, which meant leaning into the fall theme in little ways as well as big. Autumn-themed names, lots of weather descriptions, and other phrases viewed through a gloomy, overcast, or even spooky lens.
* Someday I’ll probably set up another pen name because I want to explore more genres, and I’m dreading it.
2
IN WHICH AIDEN LAYS DOWN THE RULES
Ican’t find any freaking toilet paper.
