Guest Author: Kristin Wallace and The Heiress Games Series

On my monthly book review post, I’ve shared a bit about each of Kristin Wallace’s latest three-book series called The Heiress Games. I decided to ask Kristin to come and answer some questions I had about the series, and she graciously agreed. So I’m turning the blog over to her!

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Hello and thank you to Patty for inviting me to be a guest on the blog. I’m always happy to talk about this fun, unique series.

It’s called The Heiress Games and here’s what it’s about…
Heiress Victoria Armington loved two things in life. Her pet pig Matilda and her hometown of Palm Cove, Florida. So when she dies, she leaves her considerable fortune to Matilda and sets up a competition among the last three remaining Armington descendants. The prize? Custody of the pampered pig and control of the money. Enter the 3 women in the running for the fortune…and the 3 men helping oversee the competition not knowing it will change their lives forever.

So there’s the short story of The Heiress Games. Patty sent a couple questions that I thought were fun so I want to answer them…

Question: How did you come up with idea for this series?
I knew that I wanted to have an heiress leave her money to a pet. I could have chosen or dog or cat, but I thought leaving a fortune to a pig just had an extra jolt of fun.

Question: I know this series is quite unique. How so?
Well, all three books actually follow the same events, but readers see them from the POV of the different characters. There are many group scenes that appear in all three books, but readers get to see them from another perspective. If there’s a scene with several people in it, you can bet you’ll see it again later.

Originally, I planned to write only one book. However, once I came up with the three women who would be competing for custody of Matilda, I realized they each had a great story to tell. So, each one got her own book.

I felt that if I revealed who won the fortune in the first book, it might ruin the other two. So, I was forced to do a cliffhanger. I wrapped up the “romance” portion, but didn’t reveal the winner until the end of the third book. There’s also a saboteur at work and he (or she) wants to make sure no one wins the money. I couldn’t reveal that person’s identity until the end, either.

Question: I’d be particularly interested in your process: Did you write one story at a time, or did you write all three at once, covering each event from all three points of view before going to the next?
Well, I’ll tell you writing this series was a challenge. I started by creating an Excel sheet that outlined the action in all 3 books, side-by-side. This way I could keep track of where the various characters were at all times. I wrote each book on its own because it’s too hard for me to switch back and forth and not lose momentum. Sometimes, I would make notes about what the other characters were saying so I could add those in the later books, though.

The real challenge were what I called “mirror scenes”, which are the group scenes that show up in all 3 books. Even though you see them through another character’s eyes, the dialogue had to stay the same. As I wrote each book there were always things that needed to change, and that meant going back and updating previous books.

Question: The characters mention how different Palm Cove is from other more metropolitan places in Florida. Is it modeled after a particular place? Being from the north, it didn’t strike me as odd to have a square dance in the festivities, although Bailey mentioned it seemed out of place – to me, that’s a southern/country thing, and Florida is part of the south. Do Floridians not consider themselves southerners?
Palm Cove is entirely fictional. I don’t know if there is any town like it, honestly, although there are still places that have maintained the “small town” vibe. You have to go off the beaten path to find them, though.

Now, as for Florida and the Southern thing. Yes, geographically Florida is in the Southeast, however, for the most part it’s not what you’d think of as a “Southern” state. Actually, Florida is kind of like 3 states in one. The northern Panhandle is more Southern. Some people say it’s more like southern Georgia than Florida. The South totally disappears once you hit the middle of the state. It’s quintessential Florida, with places like Daytona Beach and Disney World. Then you have South Florida (particularly Miami/Ft. Lauderdale), which is almost its own country due to the numbers of Hispanics.

So there you have it…the scoop on The Heiress Games.

BUY LINKS:

Least Likely Heiress, Book 1 – Eve & Cam
Buy it at Amazon, iTunes, B&N, or Kobo

 

 

 

 

Not Quite An Heiress, Book 2 – Abby & Killian
Buy it at Amazon, iTunes, B&N, or Kobo

 

 

 

The Forgotten Heiress, Book 3 – Bailey & Jackson
Buy it at Amazon, iTunes, B&N, or Kobo

 

 

 

 

Bio:
Kristin is a USA Today Bestselling author of inspirational and sweet contemporary romance filled with “love, laughter and a leap of faith”. Growing up she devoured books like bags of Dove Dark Chocolate. Her first Golden Book led to Laura Ingalls Wilder, Nancy Drew, C.S. Lewis and the Sweet Valley High series. Later, she discovered romance novels and fell in love all over again. It’s no surprise that Kristin would one day try her hand at writing them. Aside from The Heiress Games, she is the author of two other series, Covington Falls Chronicles (inspirational romance) and Shellwater Key Tales (contemporary romance).

Kristin loves connecting with readers. Email her, check out her website, and follow on Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Bookbub, Pinterest, and/or Goodreads!