Sharing rare finds is one of my hobbies. Yasmine Galenorn fits my rare finds category perfectly, Please welcome her and enjoy discovering more about "the way she ticks!"

Cheers, Stella

Follow the Winding Road

When Stella asked me if I'd like to blog with the RWQ group today, I almost missed the chance because cyberspace gobbled her email to me. The spam filter never even got a chance to hijack it. And cyberspace also gobbled several other emails I was supposed to get. I'm blaming the aliens.

2008 has been a really intense year so far--very mixed. I turned 40-something last month and for my birthday--well, a week or so befoore my birthday--my editor called me and asked me if I was sitting doown. I was. She proceeded to tell me that Darkling--the third in my Otherworld Series--hit the NYT extended list. I tried tto scream in her ear but considering I was down with a horrendous cold, the best I could do was squeak.

Now, you have to understand, hitting ANY part of the NYT list has been one of my major goals for many, many years. Since long before I held my first contract in my hands. So it was like Christmas all over, only better.

I know the gals here on RWQ are old friends with the NYT list but I'm a newbie to the experience. And I can't imagine ever feeling blase about seeing my name there. Oh sure, the newness must wear off but still...I felt like I was in the running for the Oscars. Sure, oonly one person each week can take that #1 slot but the fact that I'd managed a place on what's a very limited roster had me walking on clouds for a week. But that moment--achieving that goal--waswas a long time coming in my life.

I've been writing since I was three. Before I could even print my name I was making up stories. Published my first poem when I was fifteen. First short story came a decade later, along with a slew of articles. Seven novels in the closet later, I finally did it.

In 1996, I sat in the car crying with relief and joy as I held my first contract for a nonfiction book. Eight nonfiction books later, I broke into the mystery realm. Eight mysteries (in two series) later, I managed to land my first urban fantasy on the shelves. When Witchling hit the USA Today list, I knew that I was right where I needed to be.

Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to grow up and be a fantasy/SF author. My childhood was a flurry of Bradbury and Asimov, Heinlein and Pohl, Simak and Chalker, L'Engle and Clarke. Any book that remotely hinted of the extraordinary caught my eye. I lived for the future, for other worlds, other dimensions, other realms. As time went on, I discovered Anne McCaffrey, and Joan D. Vinge, and Ursula Le Guin. In ninth grade, I dove headfirst into Watership Down--my very favorite book. I considerr Watership Down to be epic fantasy. I never came up for air. That book stole my heart, held it captive, and I still cry every time I read the ending.

I skipped high school, went straight into college at age 15 and began to discover other authors outside of the Fan/SF realm. But my love for fantasy and SF never deserted me. And I swore--I knew it in my heart--I was meant to write books in that genre.

And now-- after seven novels in the closet that will never see thhe light of day, after nonfiction metaphysical, after paranormal mysteries, after chick lit mysteries, I'm finally writing a series I absolutely love. I'm living the dream I had since I was so very young.

Oh, the circumstances are different than I thought they'd be. And the route I took to get here was a winding on. But I've learned from everything and I use every bit of experience I've had in my work. The journey itself has been at times a nightmare, many times a dream. From leaving an abusive ex who turned me into a punching bag at the end, to living in a converted school bus on the back of five acres, to an unexpected whirlwind romance with my current husband...all these faerie tale liike adventures have made up who I am today. Cinderella lives, but she didn't wait for Prince Charming to take life in her own hands.

So now I write urban fantasy--the Otherworld Series. And I'm loving it. When people ask me to sum up what the books are about, I tell them--think Charlie's Angels meets Buffy meets Harry Pottter for adults. Think a group of misfits out to save the world, who are up against incredible odds, but they have to try.

Are they romance? Not really, though there's plenty of hot dragons and shapeshifters and relationships and sex. In my mind, the true relationship that weaves throughout the series is the one between the three sisters--their love and commitment to each other, to their family of friends, to doing what's right even when it's hard.

Ever wonder if the monsters under your bed are real....?

Meet the D'Artigo Sisters--three half human, half-Fae, wild and ssexy members of the OIA--the Otherworld Intelligence Agency. Camille,, a witch, Delilah, a werecat, and Menolly, an acrobat extraordinaire turned vampire, are sent Earthside to keep them out of trouble by their superiors, who consider the girls nothing but a bunch of bumbling half-breeds. But the girls soon find themselves smack in the middle of Demon-Central when Shadow Wing, the leader of the Subterranean Realms, decides to attempt a coup on both Earth and Otherworld.

From their home in a seedy suburb of Seattle, the sisters must use every ounce of erratic power they have to thwart the havoc about to unfold. Together with Camille's lust-crazed and not-quite-human boyfriends, an FBH (full-blood-human) detective named Chase Johnson who has a penchant for spicy beef tacos and wild women, a gorgeous hunk of dragon flesh named Smoky, Iris the house sprite, and Maggie--their baby calico gargoyle, they must use all of their collective talents to prevent the demons from taking over as the three sisters attempt to save two worlds, one monster at a time.

The books are first person, and rotate through the three sisters' points of view (Witchling is narrated by Camille, Changeling by Delilah, and Darkling is Menolly's story). Dragon Wytch--back to Camille's story--will be out on Ju July 1st. There will be at least nine books in the series.

To celebrate, I'm giving away a signed copy of the first three books to one winner here on the blog. Leave me a comment. Tell me what goals or dreams--big or small--you've accomplished in yourour life. Tell me one thing you've done that makes you proud of yourself. Or tell me what goal you're working toward--one that youu want with all your heart. I'll pick the winner randomly.

You never know whether you're going to succeed. Life offers no guarantees. But this, I can guarantee you: if you quit before you reach the end, you will most assuredly fail. When you try, you succeed--even iif the end result isn't what you thought it might be.

The joy is in the journey. The thrill of accomplishment comes at the end of a long, winding road. Let your passion shine through. Shake off those old goals and dreams--is there still something there you want to do? Don't wait for tomorrow--start today. Because today iis really all you ever have. Each day you wake up offers you another chance to follow your heart. There's no telling what's hiding around the corner, so make the most of it.

Yasmine Galenorn