She’s here! I made a book baby and now she’s here! The ebook is available NOW in the Ylva Shop, and next week on the 21st it will be available in ebook or paperback wherever you like to obtain your books. (Please request that your local library purchases it, thank you.)
Let me tell you the saga of making this. So I knew Two is a Pattern ended on a, well… Let’s call it an unorthodox note. I say a moment of hope and expectation but others might have preferred a cleaner HEA. But I knew, in my heart of hearts, that there was more story to tell and that Helen ought to have her day in the sun.
So I started writing the sequel like a month after Two is a Pattern was published. I didn’t want to wait to long and wade too far out of their world. I wrote maybe, oh, 35,000 words and then got stuck, as one does. Meanwhile, my publisher asked for a short story following up the end of Honey in the Marrow for their After Happily Ever After anthology series. I felt like that story was more of a wrap, so I said, well, I don’t have that but I do have a Two is a Pattern follow up. They wanted 10,000 words, so I whittled what I had already written down to the essentials and sent it in.
They came back with, hey, we love this but think it should be longer. Do you think you could do a 40,000 word novella? I basically had that already and I agreed and worked on crafting an ending.
(Do you see where this is going yet? I didn’t. I’m dumb.)
So I turned that in, got the edits back which were essentially, this is great but it needs more conflict. And we did that dance a few times until suddenly my 10,000 word short story turned 40,000 word novella was a 77,000 word complete novel.
So they tricked me. WHAT OF IT? Anyway, I wrote this book, never once used AI, and now it’s available for people to read. What a cool thing. This never stops being cool.
Yes, an audiobook is coming. No, we don’t know when yet. Yes, I hope Anastasia Watley narrates again. I’ll keep you in the loop. Thank you for your support and for reading. 🧡
Sophie
I just finished reading Right to the Bone, and I really wanted to write to you to tell you how much I love your books. You are one of my favorite author. There’s something truly special about the way you write, something I can’t quite put into words. I’m not very good at describing things, just at feeling them. And your books make me feel so much. Your characters feel so real, so human, and your stories are incredibly captivating. You’re one of the very few authors whose books I find almost impossible to put down, because I just need to know what happens next.
I grew so attached to Helen and Annie that I felt genuinely sad when I turned the last page. I wished I could have stayed with them a little longer, kept following their journey, and discovered more about their lives and their love.
Throughout this second book, my heart ached for both of them. All those lost years, the wounds that never truly healed, Helen’s fear of letting Annie back into her life… I felt all their fears and pain along with them, and I was longing so much for the moment when they would finally find their way back to each other.
And perhaps that’s my only little regret: one chapter just wasn’t enough for me to fully savor their reunion. After everything they’ve been through, I would have loved to share more happy moments with them, to see Helen let her guard down a little more, dare to open her heart to Annie again, and finally see them fully embrace their love.
I wanted more, so much more. I just wanted to enjoy their newfound happiness a little longer, and I honestly think I could have kept reading their story for hundreds more pages.
emilyraywaters
that is so, so wonderful to hear! thank you so much for sharing with me and for reading xoxoxoxo