Your Questions about the World of True North answered!
What the heck is the World of True North?
It’s 46 books in four different series, all set in Vermont, each one inspired by my original True North series. There are—depending on the book—some overlapping characters from True North. And since this was a team effort, the World books overlap one another, too!
Did you do all this work yourself?
Oh hell no! The unsung hero behind the WOTN is Jane, the series coordinator. Jane worked with me to decide which proposals fit together as a series. It was Jane who edited all the outlines and the blurbs, helping them to shine before they were finalized. And of course the writing was done completely by people who are not me. That goes without saying.
Are they all standalones or should better be read in order?
They are intended to each stand alone. But the authors have taken care to incorporate characters from books released around the same time period as their own. And to that end, we are publishing an “order” for those readers who feel strongly about reading their books in the right order. You can see the order on the Heart Eyes Press website.
Can anyone write a WOTN book?
Yes and no! We originally had 250 applicants. That unfortunately meant we could accept fewer than one fifth of those.
Are the genres consistent with True North?
Yes! For example, we did not accept any historical or paranormal books, because I didn’t want to confuse readers. I don’t know how to market outside of my genre, either, and I didn’t want to use someone else’s hard work to try to figure it out.
How were the books chosen? Did you approve them all? Did you read all of them ahead of time?
We began by asking for proposals from those authors whose existing work was in alignment with the World of True North. But those proposals contained some overlap, of course, so we had to winnow even further. We even cut a whole series because we realized that one of my series ideas wasn’t going to work as well as the other ones.
Authors submitted proposals with basic character and storyline elements. From those proposals, Jane and I had the difficult task of deciding which ones fit together as a series. We had to let some perfectly wonderful ideas go, because they would have clashed with other perfectly wonderful ideas.
Then, after we greenlit the books, authors were asked to develop a full outline as they wrote. Jane worked on those outlines to help each author meet their goals. But we did not always get to read and approve the full manuscripts ahead of publication.
Do all of these books read like your original True North books?
Nope! And that is kind of the point. Every time I’ve collaborated on anything, the result is always a book that I could not have created by myself. The World of True North will be written by people who have lived different lives than I have. They hold different viewpoints than I do. And their voices sound like them, not me. You may not like all the books. Or you may like them better than you like mine! Only time will tell.
It’s a world you created, was it hard to let others in?
Yes and no! I’m trapped here in my own little viewpoint, and it’s been awfully refreshing to hear other peoples’ interpretations of Vermont. Now, it’s possible that somewhere in the World of True North, an author will write a line for Griffin or Audrey or Roderick that I don’t like. And there will be moments when an author takes a story in a direction I would not have chosen. But that’s the price of letting other voices in. The payoff is that we’re getting voices from New Zealand, and voices from the American South, and voices from different ethnicities, we’re getting F/F love stories. For that, it’s worth the risk.
Have you enjoyed the whole process?
Yes! Mostly! I mean, define “whole process.” It’s scary to be responsible for publishing someone else’s words. I’ve had some publishing stress dreams for sure. I want to do a good job for both the authors and the readers. Aside from those moments when my little Type A personality got in the way, I’ve loved this process and all the new friends I’ve made along the way.
I also did not enjoy turning away any of my colleagues’ ideas. But since it’s simply not possible to publish all those books, this was a necessary evil.
I love that Kaitlyn (from Heartland) got her redemption story in Slapshot (by Rebecca Jenshak)! How did it get brought up that she was going to be the heroine in a book? Was it Rebecca’s idea and how did you feel to see her in a new light?
Funny story! Rebecca submitted a brief proposal that reflects the plot line of Slapshot. I read it and then called her to ask, “Hey, do you think you could use Kaitlyn here?” I definitely made Rebecca’s job more difficult this way. Redeeming people is hard. But I knew she could do it and I love the outcome!
Will you be incorporating details written by other authors between the world in your future books?
Possibly! But please know that I already struggle to keep track of all the details I’ve written by myself. Keeping track of everyone else’s characters is probably beyond my capabilities.
Are all the Moo U books going to M/F or are any M/M outside of Vino and Veritas?
There are LGBTQ hockey players in the World, and those books are “shelved” at V&V.
I haven’t read the original True North books (except Roommate, which I didn’t know was related). Do I need to read them before starting the WoTN books?
Nope! Each series was designed to stand alone. Moo U and Vino & Veritas are the most new and separate. Busy Bean and Speakeasy will be the most familiar settings to diehard True North fans.
How does Moo U tie in?
Moo U is the nickname for Burlington University, where Dylan, Chastity, Daphne and Rickie (from Heartland) all attend. But the hockey team, where the Moo U characters play, was not addressed in Heartland, so the Moo U books mostly cover fresh ground.
How does Vino & Veritas tie in?
At the end of Roommate, Roderick and Kieran visit V&V when it has newly opened. So V&V is quite fresh to the series. It came about because I love wine bars and bookstores, and I thought there needed to be an LGBTQ bookstore wine bar in central Burlington. Also, Burlington is a kick-ass little city and it gave me a chance to stretch the World of True North in a more urban direction.
How do the Busy Bean and Speakeasy books tie in?
The Busy Bean gets its start in Keepsake and Bountiful. It’s owned by Audrey and Zara, and both Roddy and Kieran from Roommate work there! In the Busy Bean books, you will meet lots of new employees and customers of the coffee shop as the shop expands and grows.
Speakeasy is created in—wait for it—Speakeasy. It’s owned by Otto, Lyle, Alec and Griffin. There’s a party there in Fireworks, but the actual everyday running of the place was never covered in a True North book. Until now!
Where can I read these World of True North books?
The Moo U series will start off at Amazon KU, as will the Vino & Veritas books.
The Busy Bean books are available at all retailers!
The Speakeasy books are TBD. ;)