When I told Charlie and Hailey’s store in JUST TELL HER, I introduced Summer Taft, Emma Colton, and Lena Tanner. Emma was Hailey’s first girlfriend. Summer almost hooked up with Charlie, but didn’t. And Lena dated Charlie very briefly. When I had the idea to write another book in what would then become the Chicago Series, I decided that it would be Summer’s book.
That was usually how it happened for me back then. I pick one character I want to write about, and it becomes their book before it has a title. So, if my wife (future wife at the time) would’ve asked me what I was writing, I would’ve said, “Summer’s book.”
Anyway, my wife still lived and worked in Ukraine at the time, and I was there visiting her for a few weeks, having used up all of my vacation days at that time to spend time there in Ukrainian winter. I’m from Indiana; we have winter. I’ve also lived in Boston and been to Fargo in winter. But a Ukrainian winter just hits different. Kind of like the wind that kept smacking me in the face.
She could only take so much time off work, so when she had to go back to the office, I stayed at home, so to speak, watching Netflix on my laptop and being a little bored. But because it was freezing, I didn’t want to go outside, so I decided to start working on Summer’s book. I wrote during the day while she was at work, and then, we’d brave the weather to grab dinner or something, but a good portion of LOVE WALKED INTO THE LANTERN was written there before I had to go home.
Initially, I was going to have Emma end up with Summer. Lena wasn’t going to be in the book at all, or she would be casually mentioned, but that would be it. Something about the two of them (Summer and Emma) made me rethink that idea, though. I really liked the idea of Summer falling for Lena instead, and Emma maybe getting her own book, but that idea would come later.
Since I wasn’t outlining back then, though, as I got through the first chapter, there was still a chance that Summer was going to end up with Emma. It was only right before I wrote the scene where Emma comes over and they have dinner that I decided it wouldn’t be Emma. I wanted her to have more space from losing Hailey to Charlie.
Then, I gave her a bunch of space and moved her to San Francisco.
Love Walked into The Lantern
Chicago Series Book 3
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: July 12th, 2018
Formats: Kindle, Paperback
Length: 110,030 words
