So in true Sarah fashion, it seemed like a good idea to make the kissing scene in Illusion of Stars spicier and NOT SHOW ANYONE until the book was published.

I forget what originally gave me the idea. I was working on finalizing the book (after it had gone through copy edits and three rounds of proofreading) and somehow hit my head and awoke with a spicier kissing scene.

I told this to a few choice friends:

"Send it to me." -My friend and book coach Jourdan Gandy​

"Send it to me." -Alex Kennington

"Send it to me." -My friend Kelsi (who, mind you, originally helped me script the kissing scene.)

To which I said no, no, no. (Actually, I did what I do best and hid under a blanket.)

The next week, I gave the entire manuscript to my law firm's marketing assistant to help me look for weird formatting issues which (by default) meant she got the spicier kissing scene.

Me: .....Is it awkward? Also, please do not report me to HR.

Marketing Assistant: 👀

Me: 👀

Marketing Assistant: 👀

Me: 👀

I'm kidding. Sort of. Her actual response was:

Brief side note, she read the entire book in something like 27 hours and was calling the binder "precious." So I think she liked it.

Anyway, I am pleased to say that I am not being reported to HR. Also, as I write this, the marketing assistant is the only human who has read the spicier kissing scene.

I like to live dangerously.

(To all of you who are wondering, Illusion of Stars is still closed door/ fade-to-black, much in the same way Rapacity is closed/ door fade-to-black. The only difference is that it now has a spicier build-up. I would say the new version is a touch spicier than Rapacity. I'll put a content warning in the back of the book detailing everything that happens and make the old version available for anyone who wants to sub out my wild version with the OG tamer kissing.)

Speaking of spice...

What's your preferred spice content level in books? Do you like tame kissing only? Some passionate kissing and steamy build-up? Open door?

Your answer will help me know how far to go in the future. As always, I'll pick one person and send them a $5 gift card to Amazon or Starbucks.

Last week's winner is Stephanie J. The question was "what makes a book an instant *adds to cart*" and she said comp titles :) Stephanie, reach out to me and let me know if you want $5 to Starbucks or Amazon!

Best,

Sarah

P.S. - My friend/ book coach Jourdan is always on point with the book recs. If she's not on your radar yet, she totally should be. She also runs a book club which I highly recommend you check out. It's $5 a month, which goes toward the administrative overhead (website hosting fees, etc.), and is a legitimately cool way to connect with other readers and discover new authors. I'm a member too!

P.P.S. - More giveaways? Yes! Here's one that I'm running on my own and one that I helped sponsor. Also, Alex and I are teaming up for a joint giveaway because we both hit 2k on Instagram so keep an eye out for that as well! :)