Some readers are upset at how I chose to end my most recent series—Highland Swords. SPOILER ALERT! Don’t read any further if you haven’t read it.
SPOILER ALERT AGAIN!!! And I mean it!
I’ve had more than one reader tell me it’s the best book of mine they’ve read, and others have said they’ll never read another book since Alex is gone.
Why did Alex Grant die?
This is going to sound really odd, but I think it came about when I was faced with my own mortality. Yep, it’s because of Covid.
I am an asthmatic, I am over sixty, and I carry a few extra pounds. I also have type A blood. So if I catch Covid, I don’t know if I’ll be able to beat it. I’m praying for a successful vaccination, and in the meantime I’m doing everything the CDC recommends.
When I published Rescued by a Highlander, introducing Alex and Maddie Grant, I didn’t think I’d sell more than ten books. So was I surprised? I still am. Blessed with all my beautiful readers, I then planned to make it a series of five books.
That’s right. Alex, Brenna, Robbie, Brodie, Jennie. That was it.
But life has a way of surprising you, both in our world and in fiction. Logan Ramsay came along and stole the show, and Torrian and Lily commanded attention too.
I had a few tell me to please take the children out of my romance books, but I love kids, and they’re part of life. Most of you agreed with me.
And so my brand was born. Hunky Highlanders, feisty lasses, and a slew of secondary characters that ranged from
1. spunky lads to
2. a wee lassie who couldn’t run to
3.a dog who helped his master learn how to walk again.
Should I mention the pony with attitude and the owl?
Thank you for staying with me this far!
I continued the series into the next generation, then flashed forward again to the next. It was then that I decided to give the series a decisive ending rather than leaving it open-ended. Part of it was my fear of getting ill, which might prevent me from providing a satisfying end to the series.
Yes, you can blame Alex’s passing on Covid and my fear of not getting the chance to write all the stories I wish to write.
The good news! I’m still here and so are many of you. Thank you!
Now I’ll go back to The Highland Clan. Even though you have thirty-five novels to choose from that feature a Grant or a Ramsay, there will be more. The first two stories begging to be written are Elizabeth’s and Jennet’s.
I’m currently plotting Elizabeth’s story, and you can bet Alexander Grant is having his say about who his daughter will marry. Maddie has already pulled him aside to tell her he’s spoiling his lass. Alex, of course, doesn’t agree.
I think you’ll enjoy it when it comes out in early 2021.
Is it really the end? No, next up is A Christmas story—The Scot’s Angel—about Claray, a novella coming in early December.
But don’t vow to stay away because Alex won’t be in it.
He is.
It’s a novel about hope.
