When You Get Stuck Between Floors

When I start writing a book, I often have a specific scene in mind.�� For Between Floors, book 2 of the Valkyrie Brothers series, I didn���t.�� I knew generally what the plot was and who my characters were, but I didn���t have the scene that locked me into the story.

How to Get Unstuck?

Finding the scene to kick off story sometimes means becoming a detective in my work. I have to go back and start stacking up clues and facts about my characters and review what I know about them already so that I can determine what comes next.��But as I pondered the riddle of where does the story start for Forest Valkyrie and Chloe Jordan I realized that I already knew the answer.

I remembered a moment in Elevator Ride (book 1) when Forest Valkyrie rushes in late to his brother Rowan���s office.�� Rowan has been babysitting Forest���s son Oliver and Forest is late to pick him up.�� Forest is stressed and has provided way more equipment than anyone could possibly need to babysit a three year old (something that amuses Rowan).

 

���That���s going to be Forest,��� said Rowan without moving from the floor. He tossed the little boy up in the air again as the door burst open.

���I���m here. I���m here. Sorry, sorry.���

The man looked to be in his thirties and with dark, disheveled hair as if he���d run all the way up from the parking garage. Vivian recognized the piercing green-flecked eyes that Rowan shared with Oliver, but the slightly frantic edge was not something she associated with the Valkyrie aura.

���Daddy!��� chirped the little boy.

���Breathe, Forest,��� ordered Rowan, using what Vivian thought of as his commanding voice, and Forest automatically inhaled. ���We���re fine,��� said Rowan more softly.

���Sorry,��� said Forest again. ���I didn���t mean to be late.���

���Everything���s fine,��� said Rowan. ���Olly is training for the paratroopers, and I am getting my arm workout for the day.���

 

But as I went back to that scene looking for clues to Forest���s character I asked… why is he late?�� And that kicked off an exploration of what Forest had been doing. And that’s when I realized the answer: Forest was stuck in an elevator with the girl of his dreams… the girl he just rejected as a nanny candidate.

That Sounds Awkward

It was! For them.�� For me, it was hilarious.�� First and foremost I write to entertain myself and getting those two into and out of the elevator made me laugh.�� I hope that readers will as well.�� Check out Elevator Ride (now on sale for $.99!) to get caught up before launching into Between Floors.

Buy Now:�� https://amzn.to/3XEL9id

Between Floors

One broken elevator. Two polar opposites. ��Sometimes love gets stuck between floors.

Free-spirited Chloe Jordan returned to Seattle to face her past, but when she gets stuck in an elevator with grumpy Forest Valkyrie���the terminally stressed single dad who just rejected her as a nanny candidate���Chloe discovers that it’s her future at stake.

Genre: Rom-Com Mystery

Release Date:�� e-book – 6/23/25, print edition – 6/16/25

Learn more:�� bethanymaines.com/valkyrie-brothers/

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