Monthly Archives: January 2013
A taste of Find Me When the Sun Goes Down
Well, I’m on day ten of writing Find Me When the Sun Goes Down, and I’m at 40,186 words. This sucker’s going down quick, and so far I’ve been able to stick to my goal of 4k per day on weekdays and 2k per day on weekends without cranking my stress levels up too high. Can I just say how much I missed writing for Anja and Bishop? I’ve already got pages of notes for the next book after this one. 
Here’s a little taste:
Bishop came back about an hour before dawn and completed the rest of his packing, stowing more guns in the case than underwear.
“I’m pretty sure they have guns in England too.” Didn’t they? It seemed like the Order would have just as many toys for him to play with there, more even, with it being the big HQ.
“I like to be prepared,” he shrugged, laying his 9mm on the breakfast bar next to the case.
I was tired, feeling the sun creeping higher in the sky even though the shutters were locked up tight, but there was one thing I still wanted to talk to him about before he left. “You know we never really talked about what it means that you’ve claimed me.”
“It means what it sounds like.” Bishop stripped off his shirt and I watched the ripple of muscles in fascination as he undressed the rest of the way. “I’ve claimed you as my woman, you belong to me.”
The words cut through the haze of hormones surging at the casual striptease. “Like a Buick?”
Bishop chuckled, tossing his clothes away in the hamper in the closet. Neat until the end. “You’re under my protection. I’ve publicly proclaimed that you’re off limits.”
That didn’t sound so bad. “As in off the market? Like going steady?”
“It’s… a little deeper than that.”
“Like… we’re married?”
Bishop swallowed. “It’s… different from marriage. It’s its own thing. The ties that bind us together, they’re not so lightly broken.”
No complaints from me there.
“Also, no one else can taste you without my permission.”
“Interesting.” I quirked a single brow at him. “Any other body parts of mine you have ownership over besides my blood?”
“I’d be happy to show you,” he grinned wolfishly, sweeping me up into his arms. I barely felt him lay me back against the bed, I was too distracted by all the other interesting sensations going on between the cool sheets.
Bishop seemed bent on leaving me with a lasting impression to hold me through the time we’d be apart, and I had zero complaints with him claiming ownership to any part of my body when he treated it with such reverence and delight. I had a feeling it might have gone on much, much longer, but I was so tired after the sun rose, I couldn’t keep my eyes open.
I snuggled up beside him, falling into our natural sleeping position with my head tucked against his shoulder, fingers tracing the light dusting of hair across his chest. “You belong to me too, right?” It seemed an important distinction to make before sleep claimed me for the day.
“Definitely,” Bishop sighed contentedly, his fingers trailing across my back.
“And Jakob… Do you think he’s really accepted this?”
Bishop stiffened at the mention of my Sire. “He said he did, but… he could change his mind at any time. The Ellri have no laws to bind them.”
“Then you think there might be a chance that Jakob could be behind the transfer?”
“No, I don’t.” I relaxed at his reply. If Bishop wasn’t worried, I wouldn’t borrow trouble over it either. “He’d kill me if he changed his mind.”
Cool beans. Nothing to worry about at all…
Resolutions
So last year about this time I dreamed up a complicated series of resolutions designed to give up one bad thing a year. This year I’m going for something much more simple: balance.
I have no idea what that means for me this year as I’m trying something completely new. I have no idea what my schedule is going to be like, if I’ll have more time to fit things in or if all that extra time I save in quitting my day job will be swallowed up by new chaos of the home variety. It’ll be nice to spread housecleaning chores along the whole week instead of cramming them in on the weekends with everything else I want to do, and I’ll enjoy cooking on a daily basis too.
What I’m hoping for, is to carve out some free time for myself. To re-discover some forgotten hobbies like music, sewing and crafts that I can share with my daughter and to reclaim my evenings as a time to relax and recharge my batteries instead of holed up in my office away from my family, feverishly clacking away at the keys.
Of course, knowing me I’ll end up with a pretty rigid schedule for myself in no time, I like to make lists and schedules. I’ve already decided to set an alarm for myself so I don’t sleep away the productive morning hours. I don’t know that I’ll end up with more books published by the end of the year with this extra time (I’ve been averaging 5 per year while working full time) but I hope to end 2013 with much less stress.
Right now I’m deep in planning for Find Me When the Sun Goes Down and I’ve had a pretty major shift in plot from what I originally envisioned when I finished Meet Me. I’ll still get to those things I originally thought of, but they’ll come in later books. I think I was getting too ambitious with plot and the storylines weren’t as personal for Bishop and Anja as they needed to be. So, I’ve stripped away a lot of elements for another day and that’ll leave me room for more intimate moments between characters. My goal is to start writing next week sometime and have it out by Spring.
I hope the holidays treated you all well and here’s to hoping 2013 brings good things to all!
