Romancing the Stone
Or Fergus, the stony-faced Scotsman
I first introduced Fergus in my short-story anthology (on Ream) The Monster Within. The premise of that collection was monsters hiding in plain sight.
Initially Fergus seems like a guy from the Highlands with a bit of a grumpy attitude, but he’s really masking a dangerous secret. When we’re introduced to him he’s at a bar, sipping a single malt Whisky and trying to keep to himself. Boom—Prudence! She’s young and gorgeous, and new to town. When she sees our hero, she makes a beeline and is none too subtle about what she wants.
My original story ran for just 4 chapters, before I brought it to a conclusion, a place to wrap it up. Nope! My readers wanted more, and Fergus took up space in my head, refusing to leave until I unravelled more of his story, so I pressed on, adding chapters and expanding my character list, even letting some side characters pick up steam.
No spoilers, as I’d love you to read Just What He Wanted for yourself. But for some background intel: the album that I was listening to as I wrote, which provided inspiration and mood, was by the Cars. I used my favourite of their songs for the title, which also features in the plot. As a big fan of supernatural fiction, especially by Charlaine Harris, TJ Klune and Maggie Stiefvater, and the show Vampire Diaries—I’ll admit to being influenced by some of their concepts concerning vampires, witches and werewolves.
If you enjoy plots combining romance with supernatural characters, and you don’t shy away from a little magic, then Just What He Wanted could be right up your street!
Here’s hoping you’ll want to read more about Fergus.
Currently on my Substack channel: Forays in Fiction, I have shared the first 6 chapters. There are a whole lot more—a novella—on Ream, available to those who subscribe to Shake a Tailfeather tier.
