The Way the Story Goes (Magnolia Sound #7) - Samantha Chase Page 0,1

over and talk to the guy herself, but…she wasn’t confrontational. In her mind she was, but the reality? Not so much.

Now it was her fifth day here, she hadn’t written anything like she needed to, and her publisher and editor were breathing down her neck because the book was already a month overdue. It was the final book in her series and it didn’t matter how much she knew where the story needed to go, Mia just couldn’t make the words flow.

Tilting her head back, she closed her eyes and tried to relax—tried to get back in her heroine’s head. Sasha Blaire had been unravelling family secrets for four books. She’d seen the death of both her parents under suspicious circumstances, followed by a murder and suicide in the secret family her father had. She’d been kidnapped, tortured, and finally figured out who the real killer was. If she could just…

A string of curses ripped through the air. They were colorful and vulgar and…growly.

Wait…is that even a word?

Of course it is. I’m a writer.

Straightening, Mia glanced over at the neighboring house. She had yet to see this elusive disturber of her peace, but she’d certainly heard him. If he were a character in her story, she would have let someone kill him by now.

Or at the very least put him out of commission for a good long while.

More cursing flowed through the open sliding glass doors and then the sound of something crashing.

With a gasp, Mia was now seriously tempted to go over and make sure he was all right, but then the heavy metal music started up and she figured he was just fine.

Inconsiderate, but fine.

With a growl of her own, she stomped back into the house and slammed the door.

There had to be something she could do. There was no way she could spend three months here making herself crazy. The plan had been to finish the book in a month and then spend the next two plotting her new series, doing edits, and just relaxing, but at this rate, she’d be insane by the end of the first month!

Pacing around the luxurious living room, Mia did her best to calm down. With the windows closed, the noise was almost bearable—and if she put in her earbuds and some music, she wouldn’t hear it at all.

But she hated the earbuds almost as much as the guy who was probably going to force her to use them.

And on top of it, it wasn’t part of her normal writing routine and that, more than anything, was killing her.

Soft music, comfy clothes, and a room full of her favorite things always helped her get the words on the page. There was the pre-writing cup of coffee followed by a mid-morning iced coffee. Lunch consisted of her favorite salad—spinach and grilled chicken—along with a tall glass of water with lemon. After lunch she’d go for a walk around her neighborhood and by the time she was back home and sitting at her desk, she’d write until dinnertime. It was a safe—and boring—routine, but it got her through multiple books.

Until now.

“This is ridiculous,” she muttered. “This is a big house and there has to be a room where I don’t hear his stupid noise.” Walking over to the desk, she snatched up her laptop and stomped up the stairs to the bedroom in the furthest corner of the house. There wasn’t a desk but that wasn’t an issue; writing while sitting on the bed was something she’d done plenty of times, and who knows, maybe this little change of scenery and routine would help her get her mind back on Twisted Deception.

Honestly, she wasn’t a fan of the title, but her editor pitched it and the marketing team loved it. It was the one time she was outvoted on a title and it still stung.

The other titles in the series—Secrets and Scandals, Fall from Grace, Transgression, and Day of Damnation—were all hers and when she couldn’t come up with a title quick enough for marketing, her editor stepped in and took it upon herself to come up with one. When it was time to negotiate her contract for the new series, Mia had been emphatic on having it put in that no one titled her books but her from now on.

Luckily, they agreed.

It didn’t seem possible that this was her life, that her dream of being an author actually happened and she was having success with it. Not only had she written a