Category Archives: Novels
A Taste of Mercy for the Damned
I’m done with my first round of edits for Mercy for the Damned, and now I get a little breathing room while my editing team takes over. I thought I’d share an excerpt from what’s been keeping me busy for the past month and a half.
I slipped out of the car, hurrying across the street to follow after the dark figure whose absence of a soul marked him a demon.
He turned off the sidewalk into an alley and as soon as my eyes adjusted to the change in light, I realized I couldn’t see him anymore. Figuring my cover was blown, and he could see me better than I could see him in the shadows, I changed tactics, slowing my step to draw him out. “Come out, come out, wherever you are…” I called out in a sing song voice.
“All alone are we?” came from up high, maybe on top of the dumpster, it was hard to tell. “A bit dangerous for the likes of you, ain’t it?”
I knew my Grace would be too much temptation for him to pass by, and I suppressed a smile as I recognized his gravely voice. “I can handle myself.”
The demon himself stepped out of the shadows, all casual as if he held all the cards. Still dressed shabbily like one of the unwashed homeless, he’d added a ratty bowler to the ensemble. “If you need a bit of protection, just ask old Cephas. I’ll keep you safe from the other rabble for a taste now and then.” He smiled, showing the sharp teeth I sometimes still dreamt about, but I gathered my courage around me. I wasn’t the same girl who he’d met on the church steps months ago.
“Who says I need protection? Do you see me quaking in my boots?” my chin came up in challenge.
“I ‘ear your boy is in chains under Raum’s boot. I ‘ear your boy bleeds real pretty-like,” he chortled, and I got a flash of an image I’d been trying to ignore ever since Adam left.
“Okay, you know what? I’m done playing.” I wasn’t there to verbally spar with the scumbag, I was after some answers.
So Far, So Good
Seems to be the theme of the day. Week four of the new year is done, and I’ve kept to phase one of my New Year’s resolution of exercising 5 days a week. They say you develop a habit by doing something consistently for 21 days, so I’m hopeful this is now a habit that’ll stick with me for a long time. Phase two will be to give up fried foods. This one’s gonna hurt, as I love me some french fries. But, I’m still inspired to get healthier this year, so I’m motivated to give it a try.
Mercy for the Damned is coming along well. I’m just shy of the 50K mark, and Mercy is really in the thick of things now. She’s got Adam back, but not without a price, and they still have to rescue Ben and get Azazael out of him without releasing him completely. But they have a plan and the second jaunt into Midian is just about to get off the ground.
I’ve also got a book giveaway going for Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down through Goodreads. You can check it out here, I’m giving away two print copies of the book, the giveaway runs through February 17th. I’m working on getting some cool bookmarks printed up to give away with them too.
So far not so good is the Kindle lending library. I signed up Pretty Witches All in a Row, and have lent a whopping 3 copies so far this year. So far that’s not very worth it for having to remove it from Barnes and Noble and Smashwords, since Amazon demands they have sole distribution rights for the ebook. So, I probably won’t do that again when the period is up.
Wake Me When The Sun Goes Down is now available in print!
The first book in my new vampire series Forged Bloodlines is available through Amazon.com in print! To celebrate, here is another little excerpt that takes place after Bishop has brought Anja back to his place to decide what to do with her.
“You live here?” I asked in surprise, stepping deeper into the room, my eyes lighting on the grand piano tucked incongruously into the corner. Bishop seemed content to leave me to explore on my own, heading straight for the kitchen counter, which was littered with tactical gear and electronic gadgets I didn’t recognize.
“Yes.”
“Huh, I would have thought you’d have a place underground, not on the top floor.” I went to the window and looked down to the quiet street below. There were also a bakery and a book store in the same building and a bank across the street.
“There isn’t a basement in the building, and it would have attracted too much attention at the time I bought the place to have one excavated,” he replied, pulling off his jacket and tossing it at a coat hook mounted to the wall. With the jacket off, I could see he had several weapons strapped to his body, and with as close as I’d been to him, I wondered why I hadn’t noticed at the time. While I watched, he unstrapped them all, laying the holsters neatly along the breakfast bar.
“You own the whole building?” For some reason that struck me as odd, vampires owning property, but it made sense. Better to be your own landlord than risk someone snooping through your private affairs.
“I do, as well as the one across the street. And no, I wouldn’t rather sleep in the vault. This place suits me just fine.”
“What about the sun? Isn’t that a problem?”
Bishop picked up a small electronic device. “Not for the prepared. I have automatic shutters at every window, they block out the light. Come here for a minute, I want to check something.”
I obeyed him without question, curious to see what he had in his hands. “What is that thing?”
“I want to test your blood.” He held his hand out for mine, sticking my finger into a little lead attached to the box. It reminded me a little of the thing they use to check the oxygen in your blood at the doctor’s office.
“Will it hurt? Ow!” I scowled at the prick of the needle; the machine at the doctor’s never did that.
“Oh, it’s not that bad,” he chuckled, releasing my hand. I snatched it back to inspect the damage, but my body had already healed the pinprick.
“What are you testing for?” I leaned closer to study the readout, but it was all Greek to me. “Bishop?” I prompted when he didn’t reply.
“That can’t be right. Give me your other hand.”
“I’m pretty sure the same blood is running through that hand as this one,” I frowned, handing over the other one, bracing myself for the sting. Once again, there wasn’t a trace of the wound as soon as I pulled my hand free. “What does it say?” I asked, when he frowned over the display.
Pretty Witches All in a Row joins the Amazon Prime Lending Library
So I decided to give this lending library program a try, and list Pretty Witches All in a Row on Amazon Prime. What does this mean for you? Well, if you’re a member of Amazon Prime, you can download a copy for free for the next ninety days or so. What does this mean for me? Authors are supposed to share in a pool of money depending on how many people download your book. Do I expect to make any money at this? Um, no, not really. But I figure it’s a good way to get the book out there and gain some more readers. And if it doesn’t work, well it didn’t cost me anything but three months of availability as an e-book on any other format but Amazon. So, if you’ve been waiting to check out Pretty Witches, and are an Amazon Prime member, please give it a look-see, you can’t beat the price tag. 
New Year, New Logo, New Resolutions
So I’ve had this thing for a while, sort of an inside joke about me having a robot brain at work, and my husband James came up with this logo. Isn’t it cute?
I don’t, as a rule, set New Year’s resolutions because they seem destined to fail. At the same time I am in favor of making some lifestyle changes this year and I was inspired by Mike Saxton’s success at sticking to his resolutions from last year. So, being a planner and a maker of lists, I made a new list this year of resolutions I’d like to make, so that by the end of the year, I’ve affected real change. Instead of doing them all at once, because I know I don’t have the willpower to stick to that much change, I’ll pick a new one once a month and keep adding to it cumulatively.
Then some of them are just general resolutions I’d like to incorporate into my life. Like do something I want to do each day. So many times we do things we have to do, I want to take the time to do something I want to do every day, even if it’s a small thing. I’m hoping that helps me de-stress a little from the deadlines I put on myself coupled with my stressful job. Deadlines like… I’d like to publish 4 more books in 2012.
My resolution for the month of January? Exercise 5 days a week. I’ve been doing a fairly good job of this for the past few weeks, but it’ll be good to formalize it into a solid goal.
What about you guys? What are your resolutions for the New Year?
Dreamcasting – Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down
I can’t possibly release a book without sharing who I would cast if this sucker got made into a movie or a TV show. So without further ado, here is who I see the characters as:
Anja Evans: Teresa Palmer – So I haven’t cast a female lead as a blonde before, but since it went with the Viking ancestry link for this series, I decided to try something new. I like Teresa Palmer because she can play innocence well, but you get the feeling like she could seriously kick a little ass once she comes into her own.
Bishop: Chris Evans – Before I even nailed down this character I had Chris Evans in mind, as he looks in the movie Push, which is a little rough around the edges, but definitely formidable. He’s got that ability to play tough, but with a vulnerability that makes him relatable. Plus, he’s so damn pretty to look at.
Bridget Russo: Kat Dennings – Such a sassy actress, I could totally picture her delivering the lines with just the right balance of bitter bite mixed with playfulness.
Mason: Ryan Reynolds: a la Hannibal King in Blade Trinity. No one else could play his goofball humor while still conveying that he could break your spine with one hand if he wanted to. Overall a great contrast to Bishop’s strong, silent type.
Hanna Evans: Kristin Bell – Because a) I put her into every book I can, and b) her coloring went well as Anja’s sister and c) I love the thought of her verbally sparring against Mason later.
Detective Andrew Lucas: Matt Passmore – Have you seen The Glades? God he cracks me up in that show! I wanted that kind of light hearted banter from him, like he takes everything as a big joke, but he’s also crazy smart and he’ll figure out all your secrets in the end…
Aleksandr Kursik: Daniel Craig – I could just picture him as the suave, powerful vampire, alternately charming and brutal depending on the situation at hand.
Booth: Ron Perlman – Isn’t he in every sci-fi movie?
Rob: Jason Statham - Rob is a character I borrowed from my True Blood fanfic, and I pictured him as Handsome Rob from The Italian Job at the time and the name just stuck.
Jakob: Alexander Skaarsgard - Okay so I'm typecasting a little here, but who else can you picture as a Viking with flowing blonde hair? Okay, maybe the guy from Thor, but he was the wrong type for this role, knowing what's coming ahead. I couldn't find a good picture of him with long hair that didn't look kinda derpy though.
Now I've got just about every other bit player assigned to a celebrity as well, but this is getting long enough, so I'll save some for the next book, Meet Me When the Sun Goes Down.
