Say My Name will be the last book in the Devil’s Bastards biker series. I am sorry to disappoint anyone. When I started writing the series, it was to see if I could write a book at all. I was writing to entertain myself and a few close friends. I wanted to do a lot of things, but mainly I wanted to write a GOOD book with staunchly feminist, badass heroines and heroes who were complicated but wanted to be good men.
I chose to write about bikers who broke the law. I wanted my series to be different, so I chose the most dramatic way I could think of for them to make money. At the time, it made sense to me, but the more I have worked on the series the more I see that it was the wrong decision. I chose something that is a real issue without knowing a lot about that issue. It was naive at best.
I had intended to write a multi-story arc showing the club’s choice to get out of that particular money making venture, and the fallout. But I can’t make it work. This is entirely my failing as a writer.
Since October I have been trying (and failing) to finish the third book in the series. I researched to get things right and I agonized over how to get my guys out of the situation in a way that was believable and still made them heroic. I knew something wasn’t working but I wasn’t sure what and it was causing me a lot of anxiety that was taking a physical toll on my body.
Finally, it hit me: I have written strong, staunch feminist heroines. There is absolutely no way these women would stay with these men if they knew what they were doing.
There is no true HEA there.
Also, I’m not sure these men deserve redemption arcs.
That pains me to say because I love a tortured hero. Like, a LOT. But some things one can’t spring back from. I would love to continue the series if I could come up with a believable way to make things right (example: these are not the kind of guys who would suddenly go state’s evidence, so working with the FBI is out) but I don’t see that happening.
In the coming weeks I’ll be updating the blurbs for both books to include content warnings because I recognize that the subject matter (specifically in book two) is upsetting and I sincerely apologize to anyone who read either book and was disturbed by the content or felt blindsided for the direction they took. I hope that is not the case.
I am sad that the series will not continue, but I know this is the right decision for me.
HOWEVER, this doesn’t mean I’m not going to write anymore. Far from it. I am currently working on a small town romance, hopefully it will be the start of a new series. This book is about a pink-haired, feminist heroine with a cranky, long-haired cat and a hot rabbi. Like, really hot. Single dad.
So I hope you will consider reading my next book, I will have more information about releases and such when it’s actually finished. To everyone who bought my first two books (or who is considering it) thank you. I want to keep writing steamy love stories and I hope you will stick around to see what comes next.
Thank you for supporting me as I grow.
Aviva