Five Questions, One Final Book and a Whole Lot of Rockstars

Well, I've finally gone and done it.

BURN is published and that means that the Style Strike series is complete. I never thought I'd say that. It's been such a struggle to finish this series and now it's done, I keep wondering why it took me such a long time.

Five full-length novels, one prequel novella and a collection of fictional rockstars who've occupied huge spaces in my head for years.

I thought I'd feel a ridiculous sense of relief when I finally hit the publish button, which I did.

But there's also the strangest feeling that comes with finishing up something that's been living 'rent free' in your head for such a long time.

It's a bit like waving goodbye to family members who've been staying with you for years.

Don't get me wrong, I love my characters dearly, but bloody hell, when they've been a part of my life for as long as this lot have, they can be hard work.

Five questions about BURN

To celebrate the release, I decided to sit down in front of the camera and answer five questions about the book and the series.

Now, talking about my characters is something I can do for hours on end. But, talking to a camera, that's another matter entirely.

Anyway, nerves aside, I wanted to share some of "the story" behind the story.

One of the questions was why BURN took me so long to finish and that's such a good question.

And (like most things about me and my writing) the answer isn't particularly straightforward.

Sometimes life gets in the way of writing, sometimes other stories demand my attention and sometimes I have a character whose story I know I need to tell, but I'm not quite ready to tell it.

Sam MacAvoy's story has been one of those stories.

I've known Sam for years. He's Julian MacAvoy's younger brother and he's been part of my fictional world since the Private Love books.

He's talented, complicated and quite capable of making an absolute mess of things. To make things even more difficult, underneath all that, there's someone who desperately wants to be loved.

Then there's Dusty. I know some of my readers didn't take too well to Dusty, but she's 'complicated' as well.

She has her own dreams, her own ambitions and a career she's worked hard to build.

Writing Sam and Dusty's story meant giving both of them room to become the people they needed to be.

And neither of them were particularly interested in making that easy for me.

It's never just about the music

Something else I talked about in the video was the importance of music and band life in these stories, how the stage and the setting becomes its own character. Well, that's what I was trying to say, but sometimes, looking into a camera lens scrambles my brain!

I've always loved writing rockstar romance and that's hardly surprising, given that I grew up with a double bass and a vox amp in my bedroom, then I married a musician and I've spent time singing in a band with him too.

But for me, any of my rockstar romance books have never been just about gorgeous men on stages.

It's the relationships and what happens behind the scenes, when that gorgeous man gets off the stage that interest me.

The friendships. The rivalries. The people who've known each another from the beginning, before the fame and success.

The strange little family that develops when musicians spend years working together, travelling together and living in each another's pockets.

And then what happens when love complicates it all. An added dimension of emotion.

I'm not saying the Yoko broke up the Beatles...but...

So the emotion simmering below the surface, the tension backstage and on the road, that's what I've always wanted Style Strike to be about.

Not just the music, but the people making it.

So, what happens now?

And the answer is that I have plenty more stories waiting...well, screaming to be told if I'm honest.

Some familiar faces still have unfinished business--I'm looking at you Dylan King...

There are other characters I've known for years who are beginning to make themselves heard again.

And there's a certain fictional island in New Zealand that's becoming rather more populated than I'd originally anticipated.

It seems that finishing one series doesn't mean the people inside my head suddenly go quiet.

Who knew?

For now, though, I'm enjoying the wonderful feeling of having completed Style Strike, because it's been a long journey.

I continue to learn a great deal about writing, about my characters and a ridiculous number of things about myself along the way.

And I'm grateful to every reader who's spent time with these rockstars.

Whether you've been with me since VEGAS STYLE first appeared or you've only just discovered the band, THANK YOU SO MUCH.

For letting me, the characters in my head and the stories that demand to be written, entertain you.

There's something very special about knowing that people you've invented can become important to somebody else.

That's the real magic of writing fiction and (despite the trauma of some chapters...) I wouldn't swap it for anything.

Have you been following Style Strike from the beginning, or have you only recently discovered the band? I'd love to know.

Love from the word mines,

💕 Toni x

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