Author: Manda Kay

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What Should Have Been Death (or a list of some triggers)

Manda Kay

Hey there, little love. If you’re here, you wanna know the dirty deets of what to expect for Vincent and Vivian.

Bad girl.

If you’re new here, hello! The Necromancy Series is a dark gothic romance. What Should Have Been Death is the second installment. Reading What Should Have Been Love is strongly recommended before diving in.

What Should Have Been Death ends on a cliffhanger. It contains the following content:

  • Language
  • Manipulation
  • Violence
  • Strangulation
  • Mild body horror
  • Prostitution
  • Coercion
  • Sexual trauma
  • Dub-con
  • Blatant non-con
  • Infidelity
  • Grooming
  • Trafficking of a minor
  • Revenge porn
  • DDLG
  • Blue-balling
  • Trauma-bonding
  • Drug use
  • Social anxiety
  • Questionable morals
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ARC Application Now Open!

Manda Kay

Hey there little love.

Did you vibe with What Should Have Been Love? Are you itching to be one of the first people to know what happens next between Vivian and Vincent?

I hear you. I gotchuuu.

If chosen, you’ll receive an ebook via Bookfunnel on March 1 (tentatively), with release day being March 25 (also tentatively).

Now…wanna hear the blurb???

A second chance, for better or worse, whether she likes it or not.

It’s taken over three long years and a three-story accident, but Vivian finally landed right where she deserves. At least, that’s what she thought. The more time that passes in this new state, the more that unfamiliar sensations flood her mind. There’s an uncanny awareness she can’t shake.

The rules have changed. No longer does Vincent need to keep his wife at a distance, always mindful to keep his hands to himself. While hope of finding a cure for his mistake has snuffed out, a new truth blooms. Finally, he is free to touch the one he loves most.

Vivian is desperate for the normalcy she left behind. Vincent is determined to turn their marriage around–no matter the cost.

If this sounds right up your alley, what are you waiting for? Click here!! Apply!!!

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What Should Have Been Love (or a list of some triggers)

Manda Kay

Hello, hello! I wanted to give a heads up to those who like to know what they are getting themselves into ahead of time.

What Should Have Been Love is the first in a planned spicy four book series, with the heat level increasing with each subsequent title. It is a slow burn–the absolute SLOWEST of burns–so plan to work for that HEA. The first installment ends on a cliffhanger. It has:

  • Language
  • Violence
  • Sex
  • Dub-con
  • Non-con
  • Cheating
  • Knife play
  • Grooming
  • Trafficking of a minor
  • DDLG
  • Self-harm
  • Suicide ideation

If you have questions about any of the above, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at manda@mandakaywrites.com.

Happy reading ❤

My Mind

What Should Have Been Love (or the inability to leave things alone until I get everything I need)

Manda Kay

Writing books is an absolute pain in the ass sometimes. Or at least it is when I make it be that way.

I gave out beta copies last month and promised myself I wouldn’t touch this draft until I get the copies back (which will be by the time this post goes live). That way, I could do one last run-through of the story from beginning to end before getting it ready to send off to agents and seeing where it sticks–if anywhere.

I. Promised.

Instead, the hell do I do? I add another almost 5k words in the name of fleshing things out further.

To be clear, I’m not one of those people who writes way too much and has to cut it down. I am guilty of writing too little, so that it’s barely even a draft and not just an outline, and then expanding from there so I can get all my thoughts down before they float away into the abyss. And to be even more fair, I went from having one stupidly long dark romance to wanting to break it up into three decent-sized books–namely so I would have the ability to expand enough to make it the story I want it to be.

I could have spent my time working on drafting the second book (which I have definitely done some of), but the ridiculous amount of sense of sheer wrongness won’t let me dive head first until book one is 100% good to go. Basically I don’t want my notes to mix in my notebook, and I don’t want to use a different notebook until this one is full. I don’t know, man, it’s a lot of excuses, but it’s fine.

So anyway, I guess my point is that the copy I sent out for beta is not the most current. Whoops.

I guess I just wanted to check in to say that work is being done, and I am nervous to send it out, namely because dark romance is more niche than I would have thought. There’s a billion agents taking romance, but like five who might maybe consider dark romance. At least ones I’m finding on QT.

Anyway, I’m a failure, but I’m also feeling pretty good about being a failure. 🙂

My Work

Vincent Blaire (or an informal introduction)

Manda Kay

Vincent Blaire, world-renowned masked magician and Illusionist from Hell, carries his eccentricities with him everywhere he goes, both on stage and off. No one has ever seen him without his trademark mask and gloves, not even the love of his life. He keeps a cool distance, and while he would give her the world if she’d ask for it, he is always careful to never lay a hand on her.

Vincent is a master of avoidance, whether it be direct answers to questions or accepting his own emotions. He drowns himself in a cocktail of bourbon and opium whenever he feels the world crashing down around him, content to lean back and notice the beauty in the way it crumbles. When he loves, he’s unapologetically loyal, putting them upon a pedestal where they can do no wrong and nothing can touch them.

Vincent is as pale as he is tall (very). Though he enjoys the thrill of having all eyes on him on stage, he enjoys his privacy more. His favorite place to be is home, preferably with his wife breathing the same air as him, but lately those terms seem to be happening less and less.

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New Email Signup!

Manda Kay

It’s been a real hot minute since I last did anything with a newsletter. When I went to revamp everything, imagine my surprise when everything on my last hosting site was magically behind a paywall!! Annoying. So annoying.

Anyway, I have a new signup form! If you want exclusive sneak peeks and an opportunity to be a beta reader or receive ARC’s, or if you just want a free short story that’s never been publicly released, click the link below!

CLICK HERE RIGHT HERE YES YES GOOD

Be sure to check your spam folder for confirmation!

My Work

Vivian Blaire (or an informal introduction)

Manda Kay

Vivian Blaire, former prostitute with a fiery temper, has everything she’s ever wanted, but that doesn’t stop her from craving more. While she is married to the man of her dreams, the man she fell in love with behind a television screen, it’s not all she hoped it would be. When she can’t get him to meet her needs, she decides to sneak out to sleep with the very man who trafficked her.

Vivian’s mind is a mess at the best of times. She’s prone to full-on meltdowns where she will shatter everything in her path. Her favorite way to deal with past trauma is to rationalize it, jumping through hoops and leaps of logic with ease so long as she can bury it back down. She doesn’t see the trafficking she was subjected to as a bad thing necessarily–rather, it was her choice to get into the lifestyle. She was never looking to be saved.

Vivian is mixed race (Latina and white, if she had to guess), petite in height, midsize in stature. Her favorite place to be is a toss up between the kitchen (snacks are bae), the den (movies and trashy tv let her mind shut down), and her room (no boys allowed or something like that); though she will often find a reason to leave the manor for hours at a time to get her kicks.

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What Should Have Been Love (or a second draft and a deadline)

Manda Kay

Hey there. Quick little update. I am ohhhhhhh about two chapters away from this second draft of the first book being donezo. It’s exciting and scary all at once. At the moment, I’m sitting pretty at 45k words, and I would like to be between 55-60k for the final product. Honestly, the jump in word count is a little concerning, but my original plan was just to have her ready to go to beta by the end of this month, so there’s some buffer to go back through and add as needed as plot points spring up at random times and all that jazz. Plus, I think I can have the two chapters done by the beginning of next week if everything falls into place like I hope. So it’ll be like draft 2.5 by the time it’s out of my hands and into the hands of someone else.

I’m also going to try recruiting a couple more people for beta over on Facebook here in the next couple days. If you’re not already, you should give me a follow over there.

That’s all I got for now. I’ve been in writing mode for the past several weeks with very little time for much else. I did finish A Light in the Flame by Jennifer Armentrout a while back and that story stuck with me, so in my free time (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA) I might pop over here and rant and rave about it and representation. I have a lot to say about it. For real. It’s been weeks since I put it down and Sera and Nyktos are still residing in my mind rent free.

Until next time, when I plan to write a little love letter to myself over a glass of champagne to celebrate another step closer to publishing, whether it be by the professionals or by little ol’ me.

My Mind

What Should Have Been Love (or an adventure in drafting)

Manda Kay

Well hello there, Void I Scream Into Sometimes. Just wanted to give a small update that as of yesterday evening, the first draft of my next project is complete. Now comes the fun part: fleshing out plot points and editing what’s already there. Basic structure is there; it just needs brought to life!

This whole story is out of my comfort zone for what I’ve written most recently, but it’s right up high school fanfiction me’s alley. Dark romance is the only romance worth reading or writing in my ever so humble opinion. And also in my ever so humble opinion, this will be the best thing I’ve written to date. It’s also the most ambitious. I made the executive decision to split up this story into three separate books. There’s just too much going on to have it all in one novel.

Where to go from here? I’ll write up a second draft of this first section with a tentative deadline of March 31st, where I’ll hand it off to someone to beta. Another polish, and I’ll employ an editor to polish it better. I want to shoot to get this one published traditionally, but the backup plan as always is to self pub through the company we all love to hate.

While I’ve been drafting this, I’ve been reading a lot more romance than I ever have in my life. I tried out some dark romances, but they weren’t the flavor I wanted to read. I guess they were more erotica between Person A and Person B, but that’s all they really gave me. I couldn’t find chemistry in any of them that lasted more than a couple pages. So I moved on to fantasy romance, since it’s more likely to touch on the dark themes that keep it interesting for me. ACOTAR was a good one. I’ve reviewed those books before, but the series ended, or at very least I reached the end of what’s published for now, so I delved into From Blood And Ash, fell in love, and then jumped into Shadow in the Ember, and now I’m a fan for life. Sera and Nyktos are just…ah, chef’s kiss.

What I’m trying to get at without getting too long winded is that I am striving to have that same captivating dynamic for Vincent and Vivian as Jennifer Armentrout created for her characters.

Reading this genre started as research and now I’m emotionally invested. It’s a fun time. 🙂

In the meantime, as I rewrite this baby, do you have any recommendations for dark romances that I should read? I crave dark themes, character introspection, and morally grey to villainous leads. Sexual tension and rocky moments where you aren’t sure if they will ever forgive each other are a must. Gothic vampire aesthetic is a bonus.