Lily Writes

Call it tactical avoidance.

The international and national news cycle is enough to give anyone anxiety these days, so I’ve made a strategic decision: write more books.

And apparently it’s working, because this has been an incredibly productive month—and it’s only March 5th.

Love Struck, book two in the Pink Matchmakers series, is now off with my proofreaders. Bless proofreaders everywhere. Truly. I read fast. I write fast. I type fast. I talk fast.

Carefully reading a manuscript word by word to catch grammar, spelling, logic errors, and the occasional plot hole the size of Lake Michigan? That requires patience I simply cannot sustain for long.

Thankfully, they can.

So while Love Struck is in very capable hands, I started the next book in the series on March 1st.

This one—Love Code—is my first MM romance, and apparently I’ve been subconsciously writing it for months. The moment I gave myself permission to start, the story absolutely poured out.

Three days.

Three very long, caffeine-fueled, keyboard-hammering days.

But by the end of day three… the first draft was done.

Every night I crawled away from the keyboard exhausted—and ridiculously happy. When a story clicks like that, it feels a little like catching lightning in a bottle.

Normally this would be the moment where I start rewrites.

But something unexpected happened.

Another story started tapping on my shoulder.

Since my writing schedule is self-imposed (one of the great perks of this job), I decided to let Love Code rest for a bit while I jotted down the meet-cute for the next book: Love 911.

Just the meet-cute.

Maybe a couple chapters.

You can probably guess what happened next.

Love 911 is now 15,000 words in and still going strong.

Apparently the Pink Matchmakers universe has opinions about my productivity schedule.

And honestly? I love my characters, so I’m not complaining.

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What’s Coming Next

Love Code is Theodore “Teddy” Hartman’s story.

Teddy is the brilliant programmer behind the Pink Match app—the quiet genius who built the algorithm that helps everyone else find love.

Now the app has found his match.

When Aura announces his soulmate has been identified, Teddy nervously sets aside his carefully organized, logical worldview and shows up for the date with stars in his eyes.

Ready to fall in love.

Instead, he meets Simon.

Older. Commanding. Confident.
A man who checks every single one of Teddy’s boxes.

There’s just one problem.

Simon isn’t Teddy’s match.

He intercepted the date.

Simon is actually under contract to protect Teddy from a threat Teddy doesn’t even know exists—and getting close to him was the easiest way to keep him safe.

Unfortunately, Simon didn’t plan on falling for the man he’s supposed to be guarding.

So what happens when:

• The man you love doesn’t know who you really are
• His life is in danger
• And his real soulmate is about to show up?

Let’s just say slow burn meets high heat.

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Then there’s Love 911, which might be the most chaotic pairing in the series.

Oscar—Pink Match’s flamboyant graphic designer and event mastermind—has been waiting impatiently for his soulmate.

In the meantime, he’s happily flirting with the one man he absolutely cannot have:

Police Chief Ben Carver. (aka Sheriff Foxy)

Grumpy. Stoic. Completely, aggressively straight.

Or so he claims.

But one snowy night Oscar’s truck slides off the road, leaving him unconscious in a ditch.

Guess who finds him?

Chief Ben.

Ben pulls him out. Saves his life. Performs CPR. Then brings Oscar home from the hospital and deposits him on his couch to recover.

Oscar wakes up in his secret fantasy scenario and immediately begins asking important questions like:

Wait… why is the supposedly straight police chief taking care of me?

And:

Why does he look so nervous about it?

Meanwhile, the town mayor has a massive crush on Ben and is making his life miserable.

So yes.

Enemies to lovers. Forced proximity. Small-town chaos.

I’m having an absolute blast writing this one.

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And honestly?

It’s a much better use of my time than checking the news every ten minutes.

Yes, I call my elected officials.
Yes, I write letters and emails.

But my circle of influence there is… limited.

Sometimes I wish my college minor hadn’t been in History.

Actually—double minor.

History and Criminal Justice.

Which means I know exactly how many times humanity has repeated the same mistakes.

So for now, I’ll keep doing what I can… and write stories where people still find love, hope, and happily-ever-afters.

Some days that feels like the most useful magic I’ve got.