In 2018, I decided to dip my toes into writing a serial story. If you’re new to serial writing–it meant I wrote one to two chapters a week and posted them in the Terra Kelly community. Writing a book with your readers is fun, but for me, it was also too much pressure. I like to write at my own pace and let the story take me on the journey, however, that may happen. At least I can say I tried it, though.
The book I wrote for the serial story was supposed to be the start of a three-book firefighter series. Well, not supposed to be; it did end up happening, but not as a serial for the remaining two stories.
After I published the last chapter to my readers, I put it aside for a bit and had the urge to write a completely different series. That serial story ended up sitting for over a year. When I chose to open the story back up, I knew it was more than a firefighter story and it was more than just three books.
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The first three books in the Crystal Shores series:
In 2020, I made a fun decision to create a fictional town with that firefighter serial. I’m a Michigander, and I wanted to have a series in my home state. Deciding on the series' name was the most difficult part of the process.
After several days and a list too long with many different name ideas, I finally decided on Crystal Shores. When you look at a map, there is a lake below Traverse City called Crystal Lake, but that name idea had already been claimed for another book series. So I started using the word crystal with different words to allow me to have fun still mentioning Crystal Lake in the fictional world.
It’s funny; when I started writing this post, I had to check when I published all three of the Crystal Shores books and discovered they were all published in 2020.
The series wraps around a fictional small town with fictional businesses. My inspiration for the series was Susan Mallery’s Fool’s Gold series. I love those books so much, and Only Yours (Fool’s Gold Book Five) is still one of my top five favorite books. Montana and Simon…sigh!
Since I’m a foodie and love to talk about food in all my books, each story does tend to focus heavily on food. That also means you get recipes in the books made by the characters and more recipes shared on the blog or in the Terra Kelly Subscription.
Here’s the order of the first three books:
- Light My Heart (Book One)–Eddie and Sarah’s story
- Guard My Heart (Book Two)–Jackson and Anika’s story
- Defend My Heart (Book Three)–Milo and Angie’s story
You’ll find some recipes in the three books made by the characters–Kelsey’s Big Girl Cookies, Jackson’s Spicy Ginger Chicken Soup, and Angie’s Spicy Carrot Hummus. There are more, but I’ll let you read about them.
After the three books, I stopped writing for a few years. Life happened, and a few things shifted for me. I knew what books would be written next in the series, but I had to take a break (more like a mental break).
Fast forward to now, and I can’t stop thinking about the series and the characters who need their story told.
The next three books in the Crystal Shores series:
Not only is my background in food and nutrition, but I also worked for several years as a veterinary technician. I assisted in surgeries, outpatient care, and laboratory tasks at the office where I worked. What that means is I did a lot. I even became very skilled at drawing blood and I.V. placements.
I may not work in a veterinary office anymore, but now I have the perfect way to share my knowledge: in the next three Crystal Shores books.
In books four through six, you’ll meet Holland (nickname: Holly), Jennison (nickname: Jen), and Mackinac (pronounced mackinaw) (nickname: Mack). If you’re curious, those names are cities in Michigan.
The three sisters run the veterinary hospital/animal shelter/pet spa. Oh my goodness, those books will be packed with so much food and animal love. EEP!
Since I’m a new bunny owner, I decided the sisters will each have a pet, and one of them will definitely be a couple of bunnies. I look forward to sharing my rescue experience with my bunnies in the stories.
The steam level on a scale from 1-5:
Most of my books fall around 3 or 3.5 for the steam in my romance books. That will continue with the next three books.
You can get a sneak peek into the series by reading the first three chapters of Light My Heart (Book One) for free here. Or you can just start the series here.
While writing the book, I plan to share little snippets and silly quotes from book four in the Terra Kelly Subscription. You can join the subscription here.
