Category Archives: Novels
Nine Steps to Sara is out in print!
I’ve been so busy writing I’ve completely neglected to mention that Nine Steps to Sara is now available in print through Amazon.com!
Here is a little sample to whet your appetite:
Lying in the dark, Sara’s mind started to drift when the squeak of the door’s hinges made her eyes snap open. Instead of the comforting hall light, the room was pitch black, the window coverings doing their duty after she’d made sure the windows were locked up tight to avoid a repeat of the freeze out that morning. The creak of floorboards told her someone was in the room, but she couldn’t so much as glimpse a hint of movement in the inky blackness.
“Katie?” she whispered, thinking the maid might be sneaking in to leave or retrieve something, and the noise stopped. Long seconds passed, Sara’s heart pounding loudly in her ears as she waited for the intruder to identify itself, but the next sound that came was another footfall at the side of the bed. Quick like a fox, Sara reached over and snapped on the bedside lamp, squinting at the sudden burst of light, but there wasn’t anyone standing there. “Seriously losing my mind…” her head fell back against the pillow in disgust.
That’s when she noticed the bedroom door stood a few inches open.
“I know I shut that door,” Sara muttered, but now she wasn’t sure what to believe. There was no one in the room as far as she could see. Unless they were hiding under the bed…
“Hello?” she tried, her voice sounding small in the stillness of the room. Deciding she was being an idiot, she jumped out of bed and ducked her head under it, prepared to spring away at the first sign of a murderous asylum escapee. “You’re the one who belongs in an asylum,” she sighed, not finding so much as a dust bunny under there. Grabbing a fireplace poker, she methodically checked the bathroom, and the dressing room, but she was completely alone. Deciding to chalk it up to an overzealous imagination, she shut the bedroom door again, turning the key in the lock; Katie could knock the next morning.
“Seriously losing my mind…”
Dreamcasting – Nine Steps to Sara
Once again it’s time to share who I would cast in a movie version of my lastest book, Nine Steps to Sara.
I’ve got every role cast down to the cook’s assistant, but I’ll try to just hit the main characters or it’ll stretch on forever!
Sara Darling: Liv Tyler – She has such a sweet, open smile, I could really picture her as a caring mom who’s open to new things from staying at a haunted house to giving love another chance.
Jackson Darling: Kieran Culkin – He was such a cutie as a little boy, and I can see him delivering some of the precocious things Jack says.
Will Talbot: Jake Gyllenhaal – Okay, I know I might catch a little flack for this, not casting a Brit for this role, but when I was thinking about what Will looked like, I kept coming back to this little half smile Jake has. That cinched it for me, plus I could see him relating to both Sara and Jack alike.
Joanie Wilson: Emma Stone – Can I just say that I love Emma Stone, and I don’t really think of her as a bitch at all. But I think she could handle some of Joanie’s bitchier moments while bringing the humor.
Mrs. Poole: Maggie Smith – I actually started with a completely different actress in mind for this role, but about two chapters in, I realized I was picturing Maggie in my head whenever she spoke.
Thomas Poole: John Hurt – Love this actor, he has such great range!
Hugh Cole: Rufus Sewell – So good at playing as asshole! And I could really see Joanie being taken with him despite his asshattery.
Gemma Darling: Gemma Arterton – I had her in mind before I picked a name, and ended up just going with it. I can see her as being both ethereal and spooky as well as breathing real life into the dead character.
Katie: Felicity Jones – Such a fresh faced beauty. She deserves her own book really, but I thought she captured Katie’s wide eyed innocence particularly well.
Pottinger: Christopher Plummer – I knew I wanted a kooky old man character, and I have always loved the way he looked as “Shitty” in Where the Heart Is. I couldn’t find a picture from that obscure movie, but I think this one is nearly scruffy enough.
Nine Steps to Sara is now available online!
My new ghosty thriller Nine Steps to Sara is now available for sale on Amazon.comand BarnesAndNoble.com! It’s out as an e-book for $3.99 but you don’t have to have a Kindle or Nook to read it, they have free downloadable apps so you can read it on your PC, or even your phone. It’ll be available in print as well in a couple of weeks through Amazon.
When single mom Sara Darling inherits an estate in the remote English countryside, she jumps at the chance to become Lady of the Manor. With 8 year old son Jack and best friend Joanie in tow, they explore the nearly deserted mansion, isolated from the rest of the world except for the nearby village where everybody seems to know her business. Distracted by the charming chauffeur, Will, soon Sara never wants to leave her newfound home.
But the eerie manor house is hiding more than a ruined garden and plumbing issues, and it’s up to Sara to find out what the loyal staff isn’t telling. When Sara finds Jack talking to an empty room, she begins to wonder if she made the right decision uprooting her tiny family as the spooky surroundings fuel her imagination.
Especially when she starts to hear the voice talk back.
Is her ancestor’s unnatural attachment to Jack borne of concern or something more sinister? When she discovers the truth, will Sara accept the legacy she’s inherited, or run for her life?
I’m just about ready to start writing on the next book Meet Me When the Sun Goes Down, the next in my vampire series Forged bloodlines.
Endings and Beginnings
I was going to post about finishing Nine Steps to Sara when it struck me, it’s not really an ending; it’s a beginning. Sure, I’m done laboring over it, but it’s really the beginning of the book’s life now that it’ll be available for public consumption in the next few days. Huh.
Okay, wasn’t meaning to get all philosophical on you guys, really just reporting that I’m days away from publishing Nine Steps to Sara and starting in on the sequel to Wake Me, Meet Me When the Sun Goes Down. I’ve pretty much got the plot all laid out and I can’t wait to get started!!! I had a lot of fun re-reading Wake Me and getting back into Anja’s head.
I couldn’t resist getting in a little fanfiction oneshot in there before I get started on the new book though, so I posted a Vampire Diaries Delena fic Hate to Love You. Holy crap I missed writing for those guys! It’s so tempting not to take them on another epic adventure, but I’m trying to stick to my timetable and still get another two books written this year.
Happy Anniversary to me!
Bring on the hearts and flowers! It’s been exactly one year since I took the plunge and decided to self publish Angel of Mercy instead of waiting on my literary agent who was pretty unresponsive in her efforts to try and sell Pretty Witches All in a Row. Since then I’ve published six more books, fired my agent, and couldn’t be happier with the self publishing experience! In the past year I’ve sold over 6700 books (most of that in the past three months), and I’m still learning every day what does and doesn’t work in marketing my own books. Sadly there is no magic ticket to runaway sales, but I’m still hopeful I’ll be able to support myself with my writing at some point.
Nine Steps to Sara should be available in a couple of weeks and I’ve got two other books planned for this year (sequels to Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down and the next Mercy book), so here’s to more success in the year to come!
New Cover for Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down
Despite the recent success from the last Pretty Witches All in a Row giveaway, Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down
has continued to sell the least out of my books, despite the fact that I get the most fan mail about that one.
So, we’ve decided to try and shake things up a little and redesign the cover. What do you guys think?
In other news, I finished my first draft of Nine Steps to Sara and have just started the editing process! Woot!