I've had a lot of fun with these stories, but that third book was probably my favorite to write, because I really had gotten to know both of my main guy characters. Evan is shy and definitely a more submissive wolf when it comes to the woman he loves, but that's okay because she's a "take charge" kinda gal. If you read the first book, you met Darnell Deya when she showed up with her friends from LA's Hollywood scene. The gutsy little makeup artist had great plans for Evan on her last night at the resort, but unfortunately she succumbed to the power of a Long Island Iced Tea. The one night they spent together, Darnell was passed out on the bed and Evan slept beside her, on top of the blankets, worried because she had obviously had way too much to drink. Well, she's back without a plan, merely the knowledge that she wants the sexy guy all for herself. Of course, she has absolutely NO IDEA he's a wolf, but she does know to watch how much she drinks. She's not about to blow this chance!
Trak's just about given up on finding the right woman. He needs one able to stand up to his alpha strength, and to fit his image of the perfect woman, she's got to be a tall, slim, leggy blonde to really get his attention. But when short and rather compact female rogue werewolf--Consuela de los Lobos, aka Chelo--shows up, terrified because she's being stalked by a crazy werewolf who wants her as his mate, Trak's protective side kicks in...along with his libido. In the course of protecting the woman, Trak falls hard, even though he's aware that by bringing her into the pack, he's inviting danger as well.
I hope you like this final story. Each of the covers above links to the page with a first chapter excerpt and links to the various places where you can place your orders. This is my final story with St. Martin's Press, but for those of you who like your books in print, Dangerous Passions will release in May in the HUNGER anthology.
As many of you have probably noticed, I didn't have a regular newsletter in December. The holidays are crazy, and I was finally making some headway on Dark Terror and really didn't want to take the time away from writing. What I did, instead, was to gather up all the books I collected from the RWA conference last year and the Rita entries I'd judged and put them all together in two boxes (fifteen books each) as prizes that were offered to members of my newsletter list. Unfortunately, I couldn't include my International readers because postage prices are horrible, and definitely out of my budget for now. To make up for that, I will be including international readers in my regular contest this month, and I'll be giving away copies of GROWL, which contains the first book in the Feral Passions series. This one has three complete novels in it, so it's a huge book. The number of copies I send out will depend entirely on how many entries I get.
Do NOT enter in the comments section below--I will delete your information and probably won't notify you, because it takes too much time and I'm really busy trying to get books done. DO ENTER using the form that says, CONTEST ENTRY FORM. Make sure you fill in your complete address with the zip code or, for international authors, address and country codes as needed.
Now...on to the next order of business!
On the home front, DARK TERROR is finally done! I'm waiting for edits from a couple more of my beta readers and then will give it a final read on my own before sending it to my editor. There will be more edits, I imagine, cover art to approve, formatting and uploading to the various sites. Right now, we're looking at a release in late March. Plans are to have it available for pre-order at a lower price then it will list on release day, so I'll be sure and let you know when it's available for pre-order, along with pricing orders.
I'm hoping to get a first chapter up by mid-February, but I don't like to do that until I have cover art available. As soon as I possibly can, okay? This book took me forever to write, but so far my betas really seem to like the story, and they definitely love the twin brother Berserkers who are embroiled in trying to stop a demonic plot to bring on Armageddon.
When authors get rights back from their publishers, they don't usually get the edited copy since the edits remain the property of the publisher, which means working from our original manuscripts. There's not much that needs to be changed, but I'm going to want to go through them and catch any typos that were caught in the first set of copy edits from Kensington, and then will have my beta readers go over them as well. We're also planning on new covers, though I'm not quite sure what style we're going with. It's going to be something different though. I'll put the new art up as soon as I have it.
Anyway, my winter, spring and summer are going to be busy with getting these books up along with others I've gotten back--my Dream Catchers series, and my DemonSlayers series from Kensington Zebra. Also, all my Ellora's Cave books. I can't wait to bring StarQuest back out. I loved those stories! Will also be working on a new Spirit Wild story. Lots of ideas, but none that have really grabbed me yet.
So, that's what's going on--I'm busy and loving it, seem to have worked my way through my writer's block, which is NOT fun, and I'm excited about the new stories and revisiting my old ones.
I hope you're well--the storms have been horrible and the politics in this nation right now pretty depressing for liberals like me. My husband asked me this morning if I'd be willing to attend the local Women's March being held on January 21 to coincide with the one in Washington, DC. I said yes. The last time I demonstrated was during the Vietnam War, but I feel equally obligated to attend this, and I'm really proud of my spouse for wanting to stand up for women's rights...along with everything else that is threatened.
I hope that you and yours are safe, that the weather is not proving dangerous to you, and that your holidays were everything you hoped for. I've not had much time to read, though I did just read one today called Shameless, by RG Alexander, that was absolutely wonderful. Unfortunately, it's also the 6th in a series, which means I need to go buy all the others...
I was also lucky enough to be asked for an author quote for Janine Ashbless's second installment in her Watchers series, BONDS OF THE EARTH. I'm still contemplating what to say about this beautifully written, utterly mesmerizing story of a young woman who, in the first book, released a fallen angel from his prison, and in the second, sets off to help him rescue more of the fallen. The writing is beautiful, erotic and poetic at the same time, and the story will stay with you long after you close the pages. The first book, COVER HIM WITH DARKNESS, was equally well done. I'm anxiously awaiting the third and final one in the series. Bonds of the Earth releases in March, I think.
I've got JR Ward's BLOOD VOW sitting here, and Jayne Ann Krentz's WHEN ALL THE GIRLS HAVE GONE. These are both books I've been dying to read, but I don't want to start them when I have a demanding project to work on. Both JAK and JR Ward are such favorites of mine that I want to read their books only when I can give them my complete attention. Besides, they're sitting on the floor beside my work space...no better incentive to get my butt in gear!
And on that note, I'm going to get this posted and take a break. It's been a very busy, very COLD day today. I don't think it got much over 40, and that's really cold for our little piece of wine country heaven! (and yes, I hear all of you in the cold Midwest and, Pacific Northwest, and Northeast laughing at me--not to mention my Canadian readers. Yes! I am the original weather wuss!)