There are two facts you should know about me:

• I have atrocious spelling skills. (This sequence of words took a few attempts before spellcheck could figure out what I was trying to write.)
• I’m really bad with names.

These two qualities caused me nothing but problems with Dagny, one of the leading characters in my latest, Kismet.

You might be wondering why?

When I was a kid, I loved Scooby-Doo. Hands down the best show. Inspector Gadget is a close second, but Scooby-Doo rocks.

When I was coming up with names for the characters in Kismet, I kept thinking of one of the characters: Daphne.

But I wasn’t entirely sure of her name, and for many years I convinced myself it was Dagny. I have no idea why. Basically, Dagny should really be called Daphne, but by the time I figured out it was wrong, it was way too late in the writing game to alter it without it becoming a bloody nightmare.

You might be wondering how I finally figured this out. I was Skyping with Miranda MacLeod when I hit a difficult plot point. As I was explaining where I was stuck, we got onto Dagny’s name, and I tossed out, “What can I say? I’m that much of a Scooby-Doo fan.”

Now, Miranda is used to my idiocy, but even this stumped her, and I explained, “You know. Not the smart chick but the other one in the show.”

That’s when the lightbulb went off over Miranda’s head, and she said, “You mean Daphne.”

In my defense, I got two of the letters right, which is pretty good for me. Hold on a second… I think I got three of the letters right. Let me compare: Dagny and Daphne. Yep, three letters.

Okay, so that explains the first part of why I struggled with Dagny, but what about the other problem?

I don’t really get names that have a Y, especially when it’s at the end. I love to add an E before the Y. Such as: Dagney. I think I drove my editor bonkers with this particular tick.

It would have been better if I started off with Daphne. No Y at all.

To prove it’s not just this particular name with a Y, here’s another story. I once dated a woman named Kelly. If you’re wondering if I ever misspelled her name, yes, I did. Many times. Oddly, she didn’t find my tick all that cute and laugh it off. Meaning she wasn’t the woman for me. If you can’t find my weirdness funny, then honestly, it’s best for both of us to go our separate ways because there’s no fixing how my brain processes things. Many have tried, but my noggin keeps persevering.

Luckily, not all women have a name that ends with a Y, but remind me sometime to tell you the trouble I have with the name: Lynn. I don’t get it. Not at all. Why the Y instead of an I? My brain just can’t handle it.

What do you do when love strikes at the worst possible moment?

Dagny is convinced she’s about to get engaged while on holiday in England. What she doesn’t expect is getting dumped. To make matters worse, it happens on Christmas Eve.

Allison receives an assignment from her boss that will make Allison’s journalistic career. The investigation will call for one thing: her complete dedication to the story and nothing else.

The two meet on Christmas Eve night, and while Allison is brimming with joy, Dagny wants nothing to do with anyone. However, what’s worse? Being alone on a holiday or spending it with a stranger neither will probably ever see again?

There’s one major problem. They just might be perfect for each other despite the terrible timing.

Is it kismet or a curse?

Best-selling lesbian fiction author TB Markinson has written a heart-warming romance about letting fate take its course to live life to the fullest. Read it today!

Please note: This story started as a 20K novella that was originally published in a limited-time lesfic box set back in the winter of 2018. Some of the elements of the original idea have remained the same, but the project has expanded to over 65K, making it a full-length novel.