Hi everyone! When my first book, In for a Penny, was released, I asked for suggestions from readers for a free short story set in the world of the book. The result was this fun “five times” story (contains spoilers for the book!).
When A Lily Among Thorns came out, I did the same thing—but then Dorchester imploded and the book went out of print and I never actually wrote it. However, I’m going to! I have the story all planned (based on Steph Burgis’s request for a story about Solomon’s little sister and her stuffy fiancé—spoiler, they are virgins who DON’T immediately get the hang of it and need to figure some things out) and it will go up when Lily is rereleased in September.
And now it’s time for me to take reader suggestions for a Sweet Disorder short story! This one will go up when True Pretenses, the second Lively St. Lemeston book, comes out early next year.
I’ll take suggestions of any kind, in any format, as detailed or vague as you like. What ifs, alternate universes, missing scenes, backstory, and future scenes are all fair game. Feel free to treat your comment like a mini-brainstorming session if you want!
Legal stuff: by submitting a comment on this post, you permit Rose Lerner to develop your story idea without any expectation of financial compensation or remuneration. The resulting story will be available to readers free of charge.
Some suggestions to get the ball rolling:
1. Modern-day AU: Nick is a rentboy and Phoebe is a hardworking kindergarten teacher looking for an escape from her predictable life.
2. Ada and Sukey are trapped in a wardrobe together and things get sexy!
3. Nick and Phoebe interacting when his family is in town for Christmas when they’re both children.
4. Mr. Gilchrist and Jack Sparks accidentally swap bodies.
5. Toogood is secretly a spy!
Comment section is SPOILER-FRIENDLY!
Phoebe and Nick are superheroes! Teaming up for the first time!
Aw, that would be so cute! Are they also new superheroes, or experienced superheroes on a new team-up?
Oh yay! I’m so glad we’re getting a Lily story too. I can’t wait for both of these!
o/ Sorry for the delay!
Hi, Rose! I LOVED Sweet Disorder and all the characters, especially Mr. Moon for some reason. I’d like to know if he ever finds romance or if he ever had it and lost it.
Looking forward to reading True Pretenses!
That is a great question. I am actually working on an erotic novella about Mr. Moon right now! (About him and Betsy, who works in the shop.) But that doesn’t preclude a short story about a childhood crush. 🙂 Would you like me to add that to the ideas list? Feel free to suggest something else instead!
Yes, definitely! Now I’m totally dying to read the novella now!
kormantic:
Pheobe and Helen and Nick and Jack and Mr. Gilchrist and Mr. Moon start a magazine: politics, news commentary, fashion and recipes. YES
Rose Lerner:
OMG imagine Jack and Mr. Gilchrist doing that thing where there’s an issue and then they each write a column about it from opposite perspectives. HILARIOUS.
kormantic:
Oh and there are tiny woodcut portraits/characitures of them… Also Mr. Gilchrist is Obvs. their ad rep, wining and dining clients.
This is a super genius idea. Although it would require me to research magazines in this era. 🙂 Thank you!
I love the starting a newspaper idea. Thanksgiving dinner also seems like it would be a hoot with this crowd.
I also think Mr. Gilchrist and Helen doing commentary on a red carpet event or something like ice dancing (Tara Lipinsky and Johnny Weir style) would be fun.
Lol, you are not kidding! What’s the Regency England equivalent of Thanksgiving dinner? Christmas, probably? Although it might be funny to write about them as modern Americans trying to celebrate Thanksgiving. “Don’t mention politics, you know Helen’s husband is a Republican!”
As for the red carpet commentary–I adore that idea! Do you mind if I use it in another context? On tumblr, maybe?
I realized after I posted that Regency England didn’t have Thanksgiving, but Christmas would probably have the same big family time feel to it.
Feel free to use the red carpet idea where ever! It would probably work better on tumblr. As soon as I thought of that one I knew it would be great for them somewhere. 🙂
Nick is a vampire and Phoebe is a dragon
That’s a great idea! I can imagine Phoebe as a dragon a little better than I can imagine Nick as a vampire…but maybe he got turned somehow in the battle or hospital and that’s part of why he had to leave the army. Aww, poor Nick, all the other soldiers on the deck watching the shores of England draw near and he’s in the hold in his coffin…Imagining his issues with never knowing when he’s hungry or what he wants to eat, but instead it’s blood, is very funny.
Nick’s a famous actor and Phoebe’s interviewing him on a red carpet