The For-Funsies WIP | Why I Started Writing A New Book In A Different Subgenre

At the start of 2026, I told myself that I would only be focusing on A Tided Love, my second-chance Regency Era romance project that's been on and off (though admittedly mostly off lately) since I started it during NaNoWriMo 2023. It's a story I feel so deeply for and connected to in a way that I haven't felt with any of my other ongoing Regency stories. In a way, it feels like the one.

Despite my passion for A Tided Love, I've been feeling pretty stuck lately. I don't think it's because of any one particular thing. It's a culmination. Feeling like I've been running around in circles and digging one hole to fill another with all of the discarded outlines, changes made, and even more changes to come.

I've described the situation as having painted myself into a corner, where taking steps to try to get out of that corner would only cause a bigger mess, so the only thing I can do is let the paint dry before making any moves.

That's led me to take up what I've been referring to as a "for-funsies" project. Like the name implies, this story is something I'm writing entirely for fun. It's a sidestep out of my comfort zone because even though it's still a romance, it's a contemporary romance, being told in the first-person and present tense while I write in third-person and past tense for my Regency romances, and also the first story I've decided to Pants my way through as opposed to trying to outline first.

I realized I needed a change of pace, and that's come in a rather unexpected form.

After writing Regency Era romances since I was a teen, I'm taking a stab at writing a contemporary romance with a working title of Project Scrimmage.

Project Scrimmage is the working title for my contemporary romance WIP. From my Instagram post announcing the project:

An escape room game master and part-time gamer hesitant to take her streaming to the next level.

An NFL quarterback determined to bounce back.

After their last season ended with a game-losing Pick-Six, the Wolves are in dire need of regrouping. Liam's not exactly sure his coach's idea of a team-re-building outing at an escape room is the right call but has no choice but to go along with it.

The only thing Courtney enjoys more than being a game master is her gaming channel. What started as a hobby has become a casual but consistent side gig that covers her phone bill and dog food in the off-season, and she's content with that.

When a Wolves player recognizes her as his sister's favorite streamer, it only takes one selfie to throw Cozy_Courtney into the spotlight. Her online and personal lives are colliding and, while good for business, it's wreaking havoc.

And it doesn't help when dating rumors about her and Liam start making the rounds.

Liam's already fumbled in love. And now that he's starting to lose his love for the game he's devoted himself to, tackling his feelings for Courtney may be key to unlocking both of their potentials...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8pjrcpDogE

Project Scrimmage takes a dash of inspiration from my experience working at an escape room, but it's also partially inspired by a text conversation with a coworker. And, hey, it also gives me something to fill the void until fantasy football season rolls around again.

Jokes aside, though, having this "for-funsies" WIP has been a long-overdue shift in gears. It's honestly refreshing to be trying something entirely new after feeling stuck in a rut for so long.

This is the first time I've really given myself permission to Pants my way through a story. I do have a handful of scenes in mind, but I've made no attempt at outlining like I did (several times over) with A Tided Love. That feeling of defeat with every scrapped outline where a lot of my inertia stemmed from. That's not an issue with Project Scrimmage because, well, there IS no outline!! Just ✨vibes✨. That, of course, doesn't make me immune to writer's block, but it doesn't feel as intense because I don't have any specific dots to connect.

I don't know what the future holds for Project Scrimmage. I do think I'd like to eventually publish it, but while I intend to go the traditional publishing route for my Regency romances, I think Project Scrimmage is something I'd self-publish. That isn't to say it'd be lesser-than because it'd be self-published (which, sadly, is something I had been convinced of as a fledgling writer). I think self-publishing just feels more fitting since this story is something I set out to write for myself.

I was putting a lot of pressure on myself with A Tided Love. On a subconscious level, I think I was trying to set its place within the publishing market before I'd even finished the first draft. Like myself as a writer, I'd been unintentionally trying to cram it into a box and do it "right."

Project Scrimmage is helping me learn to let go of that mentality, and that's helping me rekindle the joy of writing.

I do plan to publish Project Scrimmage with a different pen name, just to keep it and any other future unexpected contemporary romance forays separate from the historical projects, so readers can differentiate between them.

As we head into the summer, I anticipate focusing more on Project Scrimmage than A Tided Love. There will still be days spent working on the latter because I remain so drawn to Thomas and Caroline still (and my writing group would 1000% riot if I kicked Giles to the curb).

But, like Liam in Project Scrimmage, I'm finding that I need to let go of overthinking plays and learn to simply play again.