There is something about finishing a book that wires me to the point I can’t sleep. You think I’d be exhausted, toiling over every last word, but no. I’m pumped. I’m excited. I want to dance. I want to jump up and down. I want to shout, “I DID IT!”
LACED IN YOUR LEATHER is amazing. The story of Brose Morgan and Mandy Jacobs is fulfilling, fun, and freaking sexy as all hell. I pushed boundaries with this one, so let’s see what gets cut when I finally land a publisher. (Hello, Harlequin?)
This story started as a bit of a dare, driving home from a Psychopomp training held in Wisconsin two years ago. My friend Mary and I were talking about where my story ideas come from, and she tossed me a dare. We plotted a concept, and LACED IN YOUR LEATHER was born.
I had to finish up a current work in progress, LOST IN YOUR RHYTHM, the third in the Earth and Sky series published by SOUL MATE PUBLISHING. But once I put that to bed, I started researching and creating Brose Morgan and Mandy Jacob’s story.
A lot has happened over these last couple years, and my world is not the same as it was back then. Getting lost in LACED IN YOUR LEATHER provided me a safe haven, an escape, a place to battle demons, and a place to heal. I find that most of my stories do just that.
So anyway, I finished writing this baby on January 1, 2025.
I completed my first read-through this weekend. And I was so excited I couldn’t sleep. I went to bed at 1 a.m., woke up at 4 a.m., and just finished my first spell check.
Mandy Jacobs has been introduced to my readers prior to this book. She’s been in the Earth and Sky series from Book 1, LOVE IN THE FOREST. She’s always been looking for love and has always been terribly disappointed.
But now, it’s Mandy’s turn to shine.
True to my previous writing habits, here are the models I used to create Mandy and Brose. I will also be creating character cards for each of them, just as I did for Josh and Brooke, Barefoot Dan and Lilac Locks (LIFE IS FOR LIVING), and Liza and Jack (LOST IN YOUR RHYTHM).
Since SOULMATE PUBLISHING has closed down, my books are currently unavailable on line. I have hard copies for sale, if anyone is interested. If you live locally, you can pick up a copy at Renewed and Rescued, on Main Street in Herkimer. Or you can reach out to me and snag an autographed copy and some cool merch.
While this is technically the fourth book in the Earth and Sky series, it’s actually a spin off and a continuation of a story I’d written a long time ago.
Brose is the great-great-great grandson to Jesse Morgan, a half Sioux, half white man who began building the Morgan empire back in the mid-1800s with his bride, Katie Wellington, in a story I had titled PRAIRIE WIND.
So LACED IN YOUR LEATHER is the first of that series. PRAIRIE WIND will be the second. And the series will culminate in a third book, CASEY’S PLACE, which takes place in the early 1900s, when Utica, NY was in its hey day and bustling with adventure. Amanda (Mandy’s grandmother for whom she is named after) is a good Christian woman volunteering for the Young Women’s Christian Association by day, but by night she’s singing for the mob infested Speakeasy called Casey’s Place, located on the Erie Canal before it was relocated to it’s original location now. (Yes, fascinating history included!)
Once that series is put to bed, the long awaited IN THE NAME OF LOVE series will finally get it’s day. This is a three-book tale spanning three centuries that takes us from Scotland to New York via time travel. I love these stories because it gave me the opportunity to rewrite history and save thousands of lives. If only, right?
Mixed in all of this I am completing a memoir. But that’s another blog.
So stay tuned for more info about LACED IN YOUR LEATHER. I will be providing excerpts, contests, perhaps local readings, and updates on which publishing house will get to publish this amazing story!
So for now, look for my books on Amazon (I will be revising and uploading them soon as an INDIE AUTHOR), or get your print copies here, from me. Drop me a line at janina@janinagrey.com, or find me on Facebook or Instagram or Blue Sky!
I better get going. It’s almost time to start my day job!
Have a great day!
Janina Grey 