New Adult Book Club discussion

Love this series, just downloaded the new release of Drew + Fable Forever Can't wait to start it!

Reading Drew & Fable now and enjoying!

With Owen's book wrapping up the series, will we ever see them again? DO you have any other NA works in progress?

Hi everyone! Just wanted to send out a greeting and thank you all for having me. I look forward to answering any of your questions about my books, writing new adult, etc. Whatever you want to know, just ask!

Nadine wrote: "Love this series, just downloaded the new release of Drew + Fable Forever Can't wait to start it!"

Thank you! I hope you enjoy it. :)

JMV wrote: "Reading Drew & Fable now and enjoying!"

Awesome! Thank you. :)

Chanpreet wrote: "With Owen's book wrapping up the series, will we ever see them again? DO you have any other NA works in progress?"

Sigh...I'm afraid this is the end of the series with Owen's book. Unless reader response is so high for Owen's roommates (because I love them. One's really bad and I'd love to redeem him), otherwise, it's done. I will miss Drew + Fable. But I'm also ready to move on.

I have some secret projects in the works that I can't really discuss because they're all in the process of possibly coming to fruition. I do plan on writing more NA - definitely!

Besides your secret projects are there any future works you can share any information about?

Chanpreet wrote: "Besides your secret projects are there any future works you can share any information about?"

At the moment, not really. Though writing as my Karen Erickson self, I have all sorts of things going on over there too. Those I can talk about (not any NA though - it's all mostly contemporary romance).

Monica wrote: "Chanpreet wrote: "Besides your secret projects are there any future works you can share any information about?"

At the moment, not really. Though writing as my Karen Erickson self, I have all sort..."

Fair enough. What about any plans to travel to RT or RWA this year?

Chanpreet wrote: "Monica wrote: "Chanpreet wrote: "Besides your secret projects are there any future works you can share any information about?"

At the moment, not really. Though writing as my Karen Erickson self, ..."

Yes! I will be at RT and RWA. Will you?

Monica wrote: "Chanpreet wrote: "Monica wrote: "Chanpreet wrote: "Besides your secret projects are there any future works you can share any information about?"

At the moment, not really. Though writing as my Kar..."

Yes, I will be at both for at least the signing. :)

Chanpreet wrote: "Monica wrote: "Chanpreet wrote: "Monica wrote: "Chanpreet wrote: "Besides your secret projects are there any future works you can share any information about?"

At the moment, not really. Though wr..."

Awesome! You'll have to stop by and say hi.

Monica wrote: "Chanpreet wrote: "Monica wrote: "Chanpreet wrote: "Monica wrote: "Chanpreet wrote: "Besides your secret projects are there any future works you can share any information about?"

At the moment, not..."

I will! :)

how i wish i can purchase this book. but i think it will never be possible for me. :(

I know you've probably been asked this many times, but I've always wondered, why the name Fable for your heroine? I've never met anyone with that as a name before!

I will say, as soon as I saw one of your characters was named Fable, I knew I had to check it out (very glad I did!). With such a quirky, cute, awesome name, the rest of the blurb was purely bonus.

Megan wrote: "I know you've probably been asked this many times, but I've always wondered, why the name Fable for your heroine? I've never met anyone with that as a name before!

I will say, as soon as I saw one..."

can you remind me again why fable? i just love the reason why. haha

I am a huge fan of your One Week Girlfriend and your Billionare Bachelor Club books :)

When you start a book do you write as you go or do you outline first?

Megan wrote: "I know you've probably been asked this many times, but I've always wondered, why the name Fable for your heroine? I've never met anyone with that as a name before!

I will say, as soon as I saw one..."

Great question (and this is directed at you too Jelovy). Long, long ago I saw an article somewhere where a woman named her child Fable. I thought, "That is the best name EVER for a character in a book," and stored it.

Back in 09 I started a YA with Fable Maguire as my main character and it was...awful. Never finished it. But I knew I would use Fable someday because that name is just too good not to.

Finally, when I started plotting out One Week Girlfriend and needed to come up with names, I knew Fable was perfect for my girl. And it is. I don't necessarily plan a book to have themes, etc. but with a name like Fable, ,her being the rescuer of Drew, etc. fairytales became somewhat of a theme in the series.

The best thing? When readers have told me they named their pets Fable and I've even had a few say they want to name their future daughters Fable. How cool is that?

Amanda (mandy) wrote: "I am a huge fan of your One Week Girlfriend and your Billionare Bachelor Club books :)

When you start a book do you write as you go or do you outline first?"
Thanks so much! So glad you like the books. :)

Well, I sell on proposal nowadays so I have to have some sort of outline. I write a loose synopsis but my editors know I don't always stick to it. I use the outline/synopsis as a guide, like a map. I don't plot everything out because I like the surprises my characters spring at me (most of the time). I'd get bored if I had to plot out every little detail.

With One Week Girlfriend though? I just...wrote. The idea came at me and I knew loosely in my head where I wanted to go and just ran with it. Thankfully I never got too stuck though a few times I would pause and think, "Should I go there?" and then I would. I'm so glad I did. ;)

Hi Monica,

I love Drew & Fable!!!
Where did marshmallow come from?

Lauren wrote: "Hi Monica,

I love Drew & Fable!!!
Where did marshmallow come from?"

Hi Lauren!

This is so silly...I wrote OWG over the holidays last year. I got to the point where Fable tells Drew we need a code word and I looked around my desk. There was a box of caramel covered marshmallows sitting there and had a lightbulb moment. Totally random.

Thank you for loving D+F! :)

Monica wrote: "Amanda (mandy) wrote: "I am a huge fan of your One Week Girlfriend and your Billionare Bachelor Club books :)

When you start a book do you write as you go or do you outline first?"
Thanks so much!..."

Thank you!!

I just love your Drew+Fable books!!! Any new series you're working on?

Rhoda wrote: "I just love your Drew+Fable books!!! Any new series you're working on?"

Thank you Rhoda! I am working on something at the moment that I can't discuss...but hope I can announce something soon! :)

How do you write so readers can feel a connection with each character you pen?

Megan wrote: "How do you write so readers can feel a connection with each character you pen?"

I really try and think about how I would feel in the situations I put my characters in. Plus I think it's important that the writer feels a connection to the characters. If I don't care about them - and I created them - then how could I expect a reader to care? That's imperative.

Monica wrote: "Megan wrote: "I know you've probably been asked this many times, but I've always wondered, why the name Fable for your heroine? I've never met anyone with that as a name before!

I will say, as soo..."

Okay, I am totally caught on the spell of Drew and Fable. maybe someday, i will name my pet Fable too. It's so unique and incredible. I just really love these characters. haha
how i wish i could have Drew+fable book series. :(

Also, i really find annoying the character of Adele here. Whenever i visualize Adele, i could always incorporate it to the singer. LOL
Silly me.

Jelovy wrote: "Monica wrote: "Megan wrote: "I know you've probably been asked this many times, but I've always wondered, why the name Fable for your heroine? I've never met anyone with that as a name before!

I w..."

Poor Adele the singer! LOL I'm not a fan of my character Adele either but I must confess...she was a lot of fun to write because she's just so awful.

Lol, well I think I you might know how much I love D+F by now but what inspired to come up with their story?

Cézanne wrote: "Lol, well I think I you might know how much I love D+F by now but what inspired to come up with their story?"

Hey Cezanne! What really inspired me was a segment I saw on a local newscast. A teacher had been arrested for having sex with her 17 year old student and it got me thinking. When this sort of thing happens to a girl, she's a victim, the teacher is evil, etc. But when it happens to a boy, sometimes the views are more like, way to go, you got it on with your teacher!

So I wanted to create a boy who was a victim and didn't know how to deal with it. And then I created a girl who wanted to save him. Who was strong enough to save him even though she had no clue she really could.

And that's how I came up with OWG. :)

Monica wrote: "Cézanne wrote: "Lol, well I think I you might know how much I love D+F by now but what inspired to come up with their story?"

Hey Cezanne! What really inspired me was a segment I saw on a local ne..."

Wow, that is so true though. I think that was one of the elements I liked the most was that twist made the book very different. <3 D+F

Hi Monica
I very much enjoyed OWG series. When it came to Drew's fathers response to the affair and his wife's obsession with Drew, I was on edge waiting to see if he supported Drew or blamed him. Did you always plan to have him support his son? Had you thought of what would have happened to the characters if he blamed his son?

Sue wrote: "Hi Monica
I very much enjoyed OWG series. When it came to Drew's fathers response to the affair and his wife's obsession with Drew, I was on edge waiting to see if he supported Drew or blamed him. ..."

Hi Sue,

From the moment I started writing Second Chance Boyfriend, I knew Adele and Drew's dad's relationship would fall apart. Not because of what happened but because Adele is self destructive and never happy. If Drew's dad had discovered the truth in OWG, he would've blamed Drew. But by the time so many things unfolded in SCB, I knew it was right that his father not blame him for what happened. He was in a different place by then.

If he would've blamed Drew, that would've been so much worse for Drew to handle. And I just couldn't do that to him. The poor guy had been through enough. But yes, I did contemplate both sides. I believe that writers shouldn't be afraid to put their characters through hell because the reward is so much sweeter when they get to the other side. Both for the characters and the readers...

I have gone too easy on my characters in the past though. It's so hard to torture them - I would feel bad! But it can help add depth to a story, making them go through something extremely difficult. That's just my 2 cents. ;)

Monica wrote: "Sue wrote: "Hi Monica
I very much enjoyed OWG series. When it came to Drew's fathers response to the affair and his wife's obsession with Drew, I was on edge waiting to see if he supported Drew or ..."

Thanks so much for your insight into these characters. My thought with Drew is he would be having a feeling of abandonment even worse then he felt with secret separating him from his family. After thinking about it more I realized that Fable had the same abandonment with her Mom but this was how her life had always been which was not how Drew's life had been when he was younger.
Do you feel that Fable was more capable to deal with her abandonment because of how she had learned early to depend on herself, because she felt responsible for Owen or a little of everything? (I was going to suggest Drew being her support but I have a feeling she would have made it even if Drew was not in her life.)

Sue wrote: "Monica wrote: "Sue wrote: "Hi Monica
I very much enjoyed OWG series. When it came to Drew's fathers response to the affair and his wife's obsession with Drew, I was on edge waiting to see if he sup..."

Drew + Fable both definitely deal with abandonment issues. I definitely feel like Fable is the stronger of the two, especially in OWG. She had to take care of not only herself but someone else. I think that's the huge difference between her and Drew. He only had himself to worry about so he retreated inward and Fable had Owen so she had to be there for him. Having Owen to take care of made Fable a stronger person.

And if she'd never met Drew, she'd be okay. I believe that. Drew became stronger because of Fable. In SCB there's more of a balance. She has to learn how to trust him to help her. And in their novella, they are strong for each other. There's a balance. :)

You may have answered this before and I just missed it... But was Drew the father???

Lauren wrote: "You may have answered this before and I just missed it... But was Drew the father???"

This is such a tough question because honestly, I don't want him to be the father. And he doesn't want to be the father either. So I left it unsaid and impossible for them to find out. I decided that because I knew he wouldn't be able to get over it. Ever. It would taint his future relationships, especially with his future children. There will always be that loss but it's extra hard if he believed he was the father. So I left it up in the air on purpose to save his poor little worn out, guilt-ridden heart.

Aw, see? I'm ridiculous. I treat Drew + Fable like they're real people. LOL

Monica wrote: "Lauren wrote: "You may have answered this before and I just missed it... But was Drew the father???"

This is such a tough question because honestly, I don't want him to be the father. And he doesn..."

Great Answer, its better left unsaid.
They are real dammit!!