One of my favorites: Stray

I'm not a single parent, but one of the tropes I really enjoy writing is single parent. i think it's one of my best selling tropes, too.

there is so much struggle when you're a single parent. you have the pressure of emotionally connecting with and supporting your child because you're the only who there for them. you have to take care of the essential tasks, like teaching them hygiene and good health, feeding them, driving them around, getting all of the things they need for school and life. you're their life guide, and though they may resist you sometimes, you have to be there for them through frustrations, angers, and tears. it's a big job.

i've written single parent a few ways. with grateful, sweet kids (yes, coach), with a surly, angry, teenager (please, sir), with a little help on the side from grandpa & grandma (The Wild One), with a father who tried but made mistakes and it resulted in a surly adult child (father knows best).

But i think what is so special about stray, aside from the fact it was the first single mom i wrote, is that the heroine, elsie, balances taking care of her child and her mother. she works a full time job, and is essentially a double care-giver. amidst it all, she finds a few hours a week to find pleasure for herself.

i've been threads on reddit tearing this book apart about how unrealistic it is, and i've seen it the focus of "does it get better" posts, too. but i like the idea of a funny, crazy, mishap bringing two seriously lonely and in need of romance mc's together.

in the book, bran thinks he's hiring a female trainer for his gym, but elsie thinks she's replying to a coded post about a man looking for a dom. it's a miscommunication for the books, but bran goes along with it despite his utter confusion because elsie is beautiful, paying him attention, and he truly needs something in his life, no matter how strange the entrance is.

i really love this book. all these years later, it's still one of my all-time favorites. and at the time of writing, i was a huge, huge, huge audiobook listener and a big teddy hamilton fan. at the time, i somehow managed (i don't even know how) to get him on the book, and i didn't even have it edited. i was just so happy to get my favorite voice, i passed it to him and that was that.

in hindsight, i itch a little thinking i wrote something, never edited it and gave it to the top male vo to perform but all in all, i'm glad i did. he does an excellent performance of a down-on-his-luck california bro, and the scene where bran discovers elsie has been hiding the fact that she's a single mom? he nails it. and it's my favorite scene.

i had some art commissioned for this book back in the day where i wasn't sure how to use the art. do i sell it? do i just bring it to signings? what do i do? so i have a huge stack at my house that i give away when people order the paperback, but i have no regrets. the art is gorgeous and exactly what i see when i think of the characters in my head.

i'm having the original covers of all of my books redone, and stray is currently being turned into a ripped bodice by qamber designs. i'm so excited, because i've already seen men of paradise book one, where violets bloom, and it's honestly my favorite cover ever now. seriously. it's so dreamy. so i cannot wait to see bran & elsie.

this book is also being made into a special edition next year, and after filling out the form for the book company and artist, i'm lowkey counting down the days until it's done because i cannot wait. it's tying in direct quotes, symbols from the book, and so much more.

i just love this book. sure, a person wouldn't be a domme overnight. three grown men wouldn't easily quote grey's anatomy as much as they do, either. but it's a wonderful escape from reality, and one i'm seriously so proud of. i only wish i had understood marketing better at the time, and more people could know about it.

i guess better late than never!