Page 23 of The President

“No, from what Tressa said, Sapphire won’t just kick us all out when the signing is over if there are readers still in the room. Not only that, but the authors will want to meet as many of us as they can.”

She squeals which has me rolling my eyes. “So… what’s going on with you and Popeye?” I ask, deciding to take the bull by the horns.

Her face falls and she murmurs, “Vivi, you know what it was like for me growing up. Iknowhe’s my mate, but my trust has been broken so badly, I can’t rely on it any longer.”

I move to her and pull her into a hug. “I think he’d move mountains for you, Ang,” I whisper in her ear. “Why don’t you let him slay those dragons? They can’t hurt you now, and he’s got brothers who’ll have his back in all things.”

“Still… I’m scared.”

“Well, maybe share that with him, okay? Because if he works out any more, he’s gonna need new shirts, just saying.”

She snickers, which is what I wanted her to do. Apparently, Popeye got his road name because he’s a big, muscular male. Plus, as long as Fox wasn’t teasing me, he likes spinach.

“I’ll try,” she finally says.

“Let’s go find Tressa and Nini and see what the plan for the rest of the day is going to be,” I suggest.

“I’m down with that,” Angie replies as we make our way to the door.

“So, how do you decide who you’re going to write about next when you’re plotting a series?” Angie asks Amelia Shea. We’re at dinner and our table has Amelia and her husband, Liberty Parker and her husband, Darlene Tallman and her PA, and Nikki Landis with her husband.

“Well, I’m what they call a pantser, but usually, in the middle of whichever couple I’m working on, one of the other guys will start dropping hints in my head,” Amelia replies.

“Does anyone plot their stories?” I question.

“When I’m cowriting with Erin Osborne, we have a pretty detailed outline,” Darlene says. “But Liberty and I roll by the seat of our pants, and Nikki and I have pages of notes about our series, and we do the same. Hopefully, our betas and proofers catch any potential plot holes or inconsistencies for us. We all say we should be more together and plot, but it’s a pain in the ass.”

“We did start putting notes on the bottom of our manuscripts that we wanted to make sure we cover in each couple’s story,” Liberty says to Darlene.

“That works for us too, Dar,” Nikki adds, joining the conversation.

Most of the men are just listening as we all talk about favorite characters, how excited we are to be at this particular signing, and how crazy we know it’ll likely be tomorrow.

“I just think it’s amazing how y’all will get an idea from practically nothing and create a whole world out of it,” Tressa says. “Didn’t you say one time that you came up with the Rebel Guardians while you were coming back from a signing?”

Darlene grins and looks at Liberty. “I was Facebook friends with Liberty and finally got to meet her and her hubby at Wanderlust in Dallas back in 2017. We got along so well, spending the weekend together, that while I was on I-20 headed to Georgia, when my idea for Braxton came to mind, I decided to reach out to her and see if she wanted to write with me. Mostly, it was because I hadn’t really written an MC book before, but I had so much fun with her, I thought it would be a blast. We originally were going to bring in a third author, but they declined, so we went full steam ahead. To date, I think it’s been one of our more prolific and profitable series since we have all the spin-offs.”

“Plus, we’re doing the ‘Where Are They Now’ updates,” Liberty states. “Those are pretty popular too.”

“Honestly, I’ll read whatever y’all write,” Tressa says. “I even like the kids’ books you write with your sister.”

“That’s me!’ Cheryl, Darlene’s sister and PA pipes up. “And just to say, you guys might think the kitties have wild personalities, but truly, that’s how they act.”

“Will there be more?” Nini questions.

Cheryl starts snickering as she nods. “We definitely have more planned. Just need to get our illustrator on board with drawing.” At Nini’s look, she adds, “It’s my youngest daughter, Jennifer. She’s got four kids, so time is a premium sometimes.”

“That makes sense,” I muse. “I’m torn between which is my favorite though. I love it when Harry calls for Guinebere even though I know her name is Guinevere.”

At that, we all burst out laughing. Liberty pipes up and asks, “Remember when you read the first Mischief Kitty book to us, Dar? I almost fell off the bed laughing my ass off.”

“Good times,” Darlene says. “We’ve had a lot of those, that’s for sure.”

“We’re road tripping queens, even Baby Face Parker,” Cheryl chimes in, giggling. Not sure if it’s the Long Island Iced Tea she’s drinking or not, but I know it’s an inside joke from the looks Liberty and Darlene give her.

Sapphire comes around and says, “Y’all’s table is having a good time, I see.”

“We really are,” Amelia states. She then looks down at her watch and says, “Oh, it’s almost time for us to go and set up our tables.”

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