Welcome to Running With Quills, your online newsletter designed to keep you up to date with what your favorite authors (that would be us) are doing throughout the year. Here you will find the release dates of our new books and get information about our backlists. We'll preview our cover art here long before the books hit the stores and we'll keep you informed about works-in-progress and special projects. You'll also receive advance notice of signings and appearances. From time to time we'll give you a peek at our worlds, tell you what we're reading, and introduce you to some new authors.
Well, READING RELIEVES STRESS is not exactly news to most of us, but now I’m reading this information as if the rest of us haven’t been picking up books to “get away from it all” for just about as long as we can remember.
However, if there should be anyone who hasn’t realized the deeply beneficial results reading induces, now you know. Which brings me to my Court of Angels and the first book in the series, OUT OF BODY.
Neat segue, huh? Except that I believe there will be more than a few moments when the book produces more excitement than peace:) If I’m wrong, I haven’t done my job.
An even more blatant commercial here: If you are moved to pre-order the books from your favorite source, that would be great.
Special collector’s packets are available only through the book shops listed at www.purplepapayallc.com . For copies that I’ll sign for you, please use Seattle Mystery Bookshop, also listed at Purple Papaya or go directly to www.seattlemystery.com . They are happy to mail to any location.
Switching topics just a little. Wazoo and her “friend,” Nat Archer, want to take over the keyboard for an instant and I’m going to give in to them to get a little of that peace I mentioned.
Wazoo and Nat Archer here. We got two words for you, “WHO DAT!”
Stella back again. Okay, anyone know what that means?
Peace and regular excitement to all,
Stella
Q: What is your favorite way of dealing with stress/tension/the blahs? I’m always looking for more techniques.
Okay, for absolutely no reason other than the fact I'm wired weird, I've been thinking about secondary characters and what it is about them, at times, that gives them the power to hijack a story. As writers, we've all had it happen, but why is that? Where do they come from?No. Don't tell me. I probably don't want to know, though I must admit, when it happens it's almost always a good thing.
In DemonFire, I knew I was going to have my protagonists travel to the mythological world of Lemuria, but I had no idea what a big part of the series my Lemurian characters would play.For the record, the legend of Lemuria is real. Lemurians were supposedly forced from their island continent by a huge cataclysm, similar to what happened to Atlantis. Unlike the Atlanteans, though, Lemurians ended up relocating to a new home inside the dormant volcano known as Mount Shasta. They supposedly live in rooms lined with gold and jewels, and on occasion their jeweled homes are visible to the local residents if the sunlight hits the mountain just right. Looking at the picture I took of Shasta last year, it's easy for me to imagine an entire civilization deep inside that huge old volcano, but I digress...
When I was working on DemonFire, I met Alton. He's the son of the Lemurian leader, heir to the Chancellor's seat on the Ruling Council of Nine, but as the son of an immortal, he knows the potential for job advancement isn't all that great. He gets caught up in the battle between Earth and demonkind, but he doesn't do it from the sidelines. Nope. He goes and falls in love with a human woman.
Ginny Jones was another minor secondary character, sort of the foil for my heroine, Eddy Marks. Mouthy and hard-headed as she is, Ginny doesn't stay in her supporting role for long, though she really doesn't want anything to do with that big, tall blond guy who claims he's Eddy's friend from college. Yeah, right... like she's gonna believe that? Here's a quick look at what happens when the secondaries start jostling for the lead spots in a book:
She brushed her hands over her face, scrubbed at her eyes. Planted her hands on her hips and glared at Alton.
Standing behind Ginny, Ed shrugged helplessly and shook his head. They couldn’t let her remember what she’d seen.
Alton wasn’t sure it would work, but he reached for Ginny, lifted her up to her toes and leaned over and kissed her. Their mouths connected, hers slightly parted in shock, his firmly covering her soft, full lips and he poured the strength of his hypnotic powers into her startled mind.
She fought him for but a second, until the strength of his mental touch calmed her, confused her, left her breathless and wondering who she just kissed and why. Alton felt her confusion, sensed her blossoming desire and realized he could end the kiss at any time.
Slowly, reluctantly, he moved his lips over hers for one, last taste and then set her gently back on her feet. Ginny blinked, touched her fingertips to her mouth and then turned away.
Ed gently took Ginny’s arm and walked with her into her house.
Alton waited impatiently. He refused to think about the kiss, but it had been the only way he knew of to overwhelm her strong will. He couldn’t risk her recalling that she’d almost been killed by a concrete statue of a grizzly bear.
One that was powered by not one, but four demons. Four of the evil beings, cooperating...demons, working together.
It was worse than he’d thought.
So was his reaction to the woman. Ginny. Her name was Ginny and his kiss had made her forget.
Unfortunately, the taste of her lips, the soft curve of her breasts against his chest, the taste of her sweet mouth, was all he could think of. He’d never reacted to any female on such a visceral level, especially one so inappropriate. He had no time for a human woman. None at all for one with a will as strong as Ginny’s.
If you want to get to know Alton and Ginny, along with Dax, Eddy Marks, Eddy's dad, Willow the will 'o the wisp or Bumper the mutt, look for DemonFire, my first mass market release coming out on February 23rd, and there are first chapters of both DemonFire and HellFire posted at Kensington's site. And if you're at all into photography and want a chance to win an ARC of HellFire, Alton and Ginny's story, I'm doing sort of a fun contest--asking for readers to take photos of DemonFire wherever they see it displayed and send them to me at kate@katedouglas.com. I intend to post them on my Facebook page and the reason I'm doing this is to see all the different places the book shows up.
I'm published in trade erotic romance, and those books have limited distribution, so I'm absolutely jazzed about seeing my newest book in places where a lot of people go to buy books--like grocery store racks and Walmart or Target, and I can't wait to see what kinds of photos readers send me. If you want more details, join my newsletter. There's a link on the front page of my website. Or, you can find out more on my Facebook page.
So tell me--are there any secondary characters you've fallen for? Hoped they'd get their own story? So far I've been lucky--whenever I've read one, they've usually had a book written at some point, and whenever I meet one in my own work, they generally haunt me until I give in. They're tough, I tell ya. Tough and persistent, but that's probably what makes them so endearing!
She's baaaaaack! Join me in giving the always fun Kristan a big Quills welcome!
Thanks as ever to the lithe and beautiful Susan Andersen for inviting me to be here! Of course, I had to remind her that yes, she really did offer to have me back on RwQ, but lucky for me, I keep meticulous records and had the hard evidence. It’s truly a pleasure to be back, and a little surreal to be in even the virtual presence of such amazing authors.
When I think about romance novels, oneof the things I love best is when the hero and heroine are going to have a very hard time getting together. I think there are two fundamental questions that we author folk have to answer. The first is, Why are these two absolutely perfect for each other? And the second, of course, is, Why are these two so very, very wrong for each other?
In The Next Best Thing, my fifth romantic comedy, we find Lucy, a young widow. She deeply loved her husband, Jimmy, who died in a car accident five years ago…but it’s time to move on. She wants kids. She wants a husband (sort of). Someone she won’t love that way, because she never wants to have her heart crushed again. She figures she’ll pick someone decent, someone nice…but not The One. Husband #2 doesn’t have to be all that special. It’s fine. Lucy doesn’t need much.
First order of business, stop sleeping with Ethan, her dead husband’s brother. See, Ethan and Lucy have been friends for years. In fact, Ethan introduced Lucy to his big brother, and the rest was history. A few years afterJimmy’s death, Lucy and Ethan start the privileges part of their friendship…and things start to get complicated.
So obviously, it’s got that so wrong feeling…not just her friend, but her brother-in-law! Not only that, but…well, Ethan’s very loveable. Because she (A) doesn’t want to kill him…there’s something of a family curse, you see, and (B) isn’t looking for love this time around, she cuts the benefits package, and off she goes, looking for Mr. Not-Awful.
Now let me just state for the record that I’ve always imagined being widowed. My mom was widowed young, so it’s regrettably easy to picture. And McIrish, my sainted husband, is a firefighter. And yes, he has a very good-looking younger brother. I mean, McIrish is very cute and I love him very much, etc., etc.…but his brother is gorgeous! Six-foot-three, blue eyes, black hair, killer smile. Have I mentioned that he’s single? And so nice. Imagine my conversation with said relation one fine day as he, McIrish and I drove merrily along on our way to the beach.
Brother-in-law: “So, Kristan, what’s your new book about?”
KH: “Oh, it’s about a young widow who’s trying to move on a few years after her husband dies.”
B-I-L: “Cool. Who’s the hero?”
KH: “The dead husband’s younger brother.”
Uncomfortable glances exchanged between brothers. Silence ensues.
KH: “Who’s hungry?”
The Next Best Thing is further complicated because Ethan, our hero, is tired of living in his brother’s shadow. Over the years, Jimmy’s become a bit of a saint, and if Lucy wants to find someone else, fine. Well, not fine, of course. Ethan loves Lucy…he can’t help it. But if she’s moving on, he’ll try to find something else, too. But you know how it goes. The heart wants what the heart wants. Throw in some fabulous desserts — Lucy’s a pastry chef — an Italian restaurant, a Mafia don of a cat, a tiny town off the coast of Rhode Island, and I think you’ll have a lot of fun with The Next Best Thing.
So here’s a question for you…have you ever fallen for someone who really seems off limits? A priest, for example? Your friend’s honey? Your sister’s ex? I’ll send a signed copy of The Next Best Thing to one of today’s responders. Alas, I did ask my gorgeous brother-in-law if he’d be willing to date one of the responders, but he took the high road and refused to let me auction him off. Sorry. You’ll have to settle for a book.
Jayne, here, to welcome back romantic-suspense author Paula Graves. She's got a hot new series debuting and the best part is that the first two books are being published back-to-back this month and next so you don't have to wait to read the second book!
Hi, y'all. Thanks for letting me talk a little bit about my new series from Harlequin Intrigue, "Cooper Justice." The books center around the Coopers, a large, boisterous family who runs a fishing camp and marina on Gossamer Lake in Chickasaw County, Alabama. Some have moved away, while others have stayed, but they all feel the inescapable pull of family and home.
And love, of course. Growing up with parents still happy and in love after over forty years, the Cooper siblings all secretly yearn to find that same forever kind of love.
The first two books in the series, CASE FILE: CANYON CREEK, WYOMING and CHICKASAW COUNTY CAPTIVE, come out back to back this month and next. And the heroes in both books, Riley Patterson and Sam Cooper, share one attribute: they both need a second chance at forever love.
I love stories about love the second time around. I think people are hotwired to seek love in their lives, and just because you've known love, and lost it, doesn't mean you can't find love again, does it? Sometimes, we're lucky enough to find a powerful, fulfilling love more than once in our lives. And sometimes, we find the love we thought we had before but never really did. Those are themes I explore in the first two books of the Cooper Justice series.
When the only Cooper sister, Hannah, is ambushed by a serial killer posing as a cop during her Wyoming vacation, she's the only one of the killer's victims who escaped to tell about it. She's now a person of extreme interest to Wyoming cop Riley Patterson, who's been hunting the killer since the murder of his own wife three years earlier. But there's a big problem: Hannah can't remember much about the attack. Now, she and Riley are in a race to figure out just what it is she can't remember before the killer finishes what he started.
Riley starts the story very much in love with another woman, his deceased wife. But she's gone and he's still young, vital and alive. When he finds himself drawn to feisty Hannah, will he take a second chance on love?
Then, in February 2010's CHICKASAW COUNTY CAPTIVE, we meet Sam Cooper, a prosecutor who has just returned to Chickasaw County. Someone is targeting Sam, using his daughter Maddy to do it. After an attempted kidnapping leaves four-year-old daughter Maddy traumatized and her teenaged cousin/babysitter in a coma, Sam knows he needs help protecting his family and finding out who's behind the attack. But he's not sure Kristen Tandy, a young female police detective with a notoriously tragic past, is the right person for the job.
Sam's not pining for a dead wife. Instead, he's dealing with a living ex-wife, his daughter Maddy's mother Norah, who didn't love him enough to stick around for marriage once motherhood was involved. So the last thing he needs to do is fall for a woman who has a phobia about children. Kristen's tragic past explains her aversion, but can Sam help her work through her fears? Or, for his daughter's sake, will he have to walk away from a second chance at love?
Here's a sneak peek at my February book, CHICKASAW COUNTY CAPTIVE, featuring Sam and Kristen:
* * * * *
Blue and cherry lights strobed the night sky as Sam Cooper muscled his Jeep into a tight turn onto Mission Road. Ahead, a phalanx of police cars and rescue units spread haphazardly across the narrow road in front of his house.
He parked the Cherokee behind the nearest police cruiser, his pounding heart outracing the pulses of light. Ignoring the gaggle of curious onlookers, he took the porch steps two at a time and pushed past the uniformed cop standing in the doorway.
"Sir, you can't—"
Sam ignored him, scanning the narrow foyer until he caught sight of his older brother's terrified face. "J.D.?"
J. D. Cooper turned at the sound of his name. The look on his face made Sam's stomach turn queasy flips. "Is Cissy okay?" he asked J.D. "Where's Maddy?"
J.D.'s gaze flickered back to the paramedics working over the unconscious body of his teenage daughter lying on the woven rug in the middle of the foyer. "Cissy's alive but they can't get her to respond."
Sam's heart skipped a beat. "What the hell happened? What about Maddy?"
J.D. looked at him again. "We don't know."
The panic Sam had held in check broke free, suffocating him. He started toward the stairs up to the bedroom, where he'd last seen his daughter when he kissed her good-night before leaving for his business dinner.
J.D. caught his arm, jerking him to a stop. "She's not up there. We looked."
Sam tugged his arm away. "Maybe she's in another room—"
J.D. gestured at the obvious signs of a struggle. "Cissy didn't just fall down and hit her head, Sam! Someone did this to her! Someone took Maddy."
Sam shook his head, not willing to believe it.
A pair of detectives moved toward them, their badges hooked to their waistbands. All that broke through the haze of Sam's panic was the sympathy in the man's eyes and the complete lack of expression on the woman's face.
The female introduced herself. "Kristen Tandy, Gossamer Ridge Police Department. This is Detective Jason Foley. You're the home owner?"
"Sam Cooper." He bit back impatience. "My daughter's missing."
"Yes, sir, we know," Detective Foley said.
His sympathetic tone only ramped up Sam's agitation. "What else do you know?"
"We've searched the house and the property, and we have officers questioning neighbors, as well," Detective Tandy replied. Her flat, emotionless drawl lacked the practiced gentleness of her partner, but it better suited Sam's mood. He focused his eyes on her face, taking in the clear blue of her eyes and the fine, almost delicate bone structure.
Damn, she's young, he thought.
Foley took Sam's elbow. "Mr. Cooper, let's find somewhere to sit down—"
"Don't handle me," Sam snapped at Foley, jerking his arm away. "I'm a Jefferson County prosecutor. I know how this works. My four-year-old is missing. I want to know what you know about what happened here. Every detail—"
"We're not sure of every detail," Detective Foley began.
"Then tell me what you think you know."
"At 8:47 p.m. your brother J.D. called to check on your niece Cissy to see how she and your daughter were doing," Foley answered. Behind him, his partner wandered away from them, moving past the paramedics and out of view. Sam found his attention wandering with her, wondering if she knew something she didn't want him to know. Something bad.
Foley's voice dragged him away from his bleak thoughts. "When your niece didn't answer her cell phone, he tried your landline, with no luck. So he came by to check in person and found the front door ajar and your niece on the floor here in the foyer, unconscious."
Movement to their right drew the detective's attention for a moment. Sam followed his gaze and saw the paramedics putting his niece onto a stretcher. His chest tightened with worry. "How badly is she hurt?"
"She's been roughed up a little. There's a lump on the back of her head." Foley looked back at Sam. "There's some concern because she hasn't regained consciousness."
Pushing aside his own fear, Sam walked away from Foley and crossed to his niece's side, falling into step with J.D. "She's a fighter, J.D. You know that."
His brother's attempt at a smile broke Sam's heart. "She's a Cooper, right?"
"Mom and Dad have Mike?" Sam asked, referring to J. D.'s eleven-year-old son. Poor kid, growing up without a mother and now facing another possible loss…
"Yeah. I'd better call 'em." J.D. headed out behind the paramedics carrying his daughter out to the ambulance.
"Mr. Cooper?" Detective Foley stepped into the space J.D. just vacated. "We have some questions—"
Sam turned to look at him. Foley's gaze was tinged with pity disguised as sympathy.
"What?" Sam asked impatiently.
"What was Maddy wearing tonight?" Foley asked.
"She was in jeans and a 'Bama sweatshirt when I left her in her bedroom with Cissy," Sam answered, the memory of his daughter's earlier goodbye kiss haunting him. "She didn't want me to leave. Tuesday is extra-story night."
"We found those clothes in the hamper outside her room," Foley said. "Maybe she'd already dressed for bed?"
"Then she's in Winnie the Pooh pajamas. Blue ones. She won't wear anything else to bed. I had to buy three identical sets." He fought a tidal wave of despair. He knew the odds against finding Maddy alive grew exponentially the longer she was missing.
"We'll put out an Amber Alert," Foley said.
Sam walked away, needing space to breathe. The thought that he might never see his daughter alive again made his knees shake and his chest tighten.
"Mr. Cooper?" The sympathy in Foley's voice was almost more than Sam could bear.
"I need a minute," Sam said.
"Sure. Take all the time you need." Foley stepped away. A few feet away, Sam saw the female detective edge toward the staircase. Her eyes met his briefly, her expression grim. Then she turned and headed up the stairs.
Sam's heart squeezed into a knot. Take all the time he needed? Time was the one thing he didn't have. Not if he wanted to find his child alive.
* * * * *
The house was clean but lived-in, the carpet runner in the upstairs hallway slightly askew, as if someone had hit it at a run.
Kristen Tandy moved past Mark Goddard, one of the two uniformed officers tasked with evidence collection, and crossed to a door standing slightly ajar. "Checked in here?" she asked.
Goddard looked up at her. "It's a storage area. Full of boxes. Didn't look like much had been touched, but I'll get to it before we leave."
She donned a pair of latex gloves. "Can I take a look?"
Goddard frowned. "Do you have to?"
But she'd already opened the door and flicked on the light.
Inside, the room was a mess. Stacks of boxes, mostly full, filled the spare bedroom. The Coopers hadn't been living here long, she guessed. Hadn't finished unpacking from the move.
"Maddy?" She stopped and listened. She heard no response, but the hairs on the back of her neck prickled. She stepped deeper into the room, squeezing between two stacks of boxes. "Are you in here?"
There was still no answer, but Kristen thought she heard a noise behind the boxes ahead. She froze in place, her head cocked. The sound of Goddard at work just outside the room mingled with a faint hum of conversation from downstairs.
"When I was a little girl, my favorite game was hide-and-seek." She formed the words from her frozen lips. "I was good at it, you see, because I was so little. I could go places nobody else could go. So they never, ever found me until I was ready to be found."
She eased forward, past a large box in the middle of the room, ignoring the tremble in her belly. "I bet you're good at hiding, too, aren't you, Maddy?"
A faint rustling noise came from the back of the room. Beyond the stack of boxes in front of her, she spotted a door. The closet, she guessed.
"My name is Kristen Tandy. I'm a police officer. I came here to help your cousin Cissy."
A faint hiccough sent a ripple of triumph racing through Kristen's gut, followed quickly by a rush of sheer dread. Taking a bracing breath, she pushed aside a box to get to the closet and pulled open the door.
Four-year-old Maddy Cooper gazed up at Kristen with tear-stained green eyes, her face damp and flushed. "I want my Daddy," she whimpered.
Kristen crouched in front of Maddy, helping her to her feet. The little girl's hands were soft and tiny, and up close, she smelled sweet. Kristen felt her knees wobble and she put one hand on the door frame to steady herself.
Do your job, Tandy.
She looked Maddy over quickly. No obvious signs of injury, she noted with almost crushing relief. "Are you okay, Maddy? Do you hurt anywhere?"
"Kristen?" Foley called from somewhere behind them.
Maddy Cooper flung herself at Kristen, her arms tightening around her. The little girl buried her tear-damp face in Kristen's neck, shaking with fear.
"It's okay," she soothed, fighting the primal urge to push the little girl away and run as fast and as far as she could—the way she felt every time she was this close to a child. Instead, she picked Maddy up and turned to face her partner. The scent of baby shampoo filled her lungs, making her feel weak, but she clung to her equilibrium.
Sam Cooper stood by Foley, staring at her with eyes full of shock and fragile hope. "Maddy?"
At the sound of her father's voice, Maddy wriggled to get away. Kristen put her down, and the child weaved through the stacks of boxes to reach her father.
He scooped her into his arms and smothered her face with kisses. "Oh, baby, are you okay?" Sam held his daughter away to get a good look.
Kristen looked away, a powerful ache spreading like poison in her chest.
"The bad man hurt Cissy!" Maddy wailed.
"I know, baby, but the bad man is gone now. And Cissy's getting help. It'll be all right now, okay?" Out of the corner of her eye, Kristen saw Sam Cooper thumb away the tears spilling from his daughter's eyes.
"Mr. Cooper, we need to ask Maddy—" Foley began.
"Enough, Foley," Kristen said flatly, joining them in the doorway. "You might want to take her to the hospital, too, let a doctor check her over," she said to Sam. "We'll talk to you soon." She grabbed her partner's arm, tugging him with her as she headed out of the room. She couldn't stay there one minute longer, she knew.
Foley stopped in the middle of the hallway. "How the hell did you know—?"
"Kids like to play hide-and-seek," she said, moving ahead of him down the hallway.
She knew from experience.
* * * * *
So what about you? Do you believe in second chances at love? Do you like to read those kinds of stories? Do you have a second chance at love story of your own to share?
Feb 2nd is the release of my single title, BACK IN BLACK. I've got my fingers and toes crossed (and sometimes my eyes too) hoping that readers will enjoy the story!
For anyone who read the previous books in the SBC fighter series, this is Drew Black's story. He's the president of the SBC organization, and he's a real character.
Here's the back cover blurb:
SBC president Drew Black is as controversial as they come. But the hot-headed entrepreneur is a perfect match for his popular sports club venture: uncompromising and extreme. Maybe too extreme. With a reputation for saying what he thinks, Drew's been causing a lot of friction. That's why someone's been called in to clean up his image—before he does any permanent damage.
The lucky lady is Gillian Noode, a PR expert who's smoothed out the rough edges on many a man. But Drew is rougher than anyone she's ever met, and he refuses to change for any woman, for any reason. To make matters more complicated, Gillian's starting to like him raw. Now, opposites aren't only attracting, they're igniting. But in the rising heat, which one of them will end up on top?
Yes, before anyone asks, Gillian gets teased about her last name, Noode. She's used to that. What she isn't used to is a guy like Drew. He's someone who doesn't give a flip what anyone else thinks of him. He trusts his instincts and has complete confidence in his ability to make good - even great - decisions, in business and out. Of course, Gillian finds out that appearances can be deceiving, because Drew is also a caring, responsible, giving person too. But... yeah, he's far from perfect! Hubby loves to help with my promo stuff, and he's pretty much taken over the book trailer stuff. He came up with the idea for the BACK IN BLACK trailer, incorporating an interview (from the Get Together last June, when I was plenty worn out from prep work!) with the actual storyline of the book.
I wanted to post an excerpt, but... well, Drew has a very foul mouth and I couldn't find anything I considered appropriate to this blog. LOL. If you're interested, pretty please go here to read an excerpt:http://www.lorifoster.com/books/black/index.php
RT Magazine gave the book 4.5 stars and said:
HOT! Foster's latest is pure entertainment and a joy to read. Drew and Gillian are adversarial at first, but they soon develop a delightful back-and-forth relationship. The secondary romance has likable characters in Brett and Audrey, whose relationship is a true pleasure to follow. Cat aficionados will delight in Brett's relationship with his pet.
I like for really stubborn characters to find a special someone for whom they WANT to change. But I also like that special someone to realize that too much changing isn't necessary.
So, knowing that Drew Black has a foul mouth and doesn't really curb it for anyone, I'm curious... What do you think of characters who curse? If it fits the character and makes sense within in the book, does it bother you? Does it bother you in real life, or only if someone goes overboard?
Whatever books you're reading this February, I hope you find a lot of enjoyment! All my best,
We're just back from a few days in Boston, "our" city, but my mind is on the coast of Maine -- way "down east," above Bar Harbor, in places like Schoodic, Corea, Milbridge, the Bold Coast. It's the land of wild blueberries, lobster boats, rocky coastline and quiet coves. The Maine coast is often a part of my books. ON FIRE, for one. My publisher has reissued it with a fabulous new cover. Marine biologist Riley St. Joe finds a dead body -- and an FBI agent -- on a small, uninhabited Maine island.
There are over 3000 islands off the Maine coast. Hard to believe, isn't it? Many are uninhabited, and just over a dozen are inhabited year-round, including the stunning Mt. Desert Island, home to Acadia National Park,
where we've spent many happy hours hiking. If you're going, be sure to stop at Jordan Pond for popovers and tea!
According to the Maine Coast Guide, "There are more islands in the Maine archipelago than in the Caribbean, more than in Polynesia or on the Dalmatian Coast."
That's a lot of islands. The island in ON FIRE is pure fiction, of course, and I've never found a dead body in real life anywhere, much less kayaking in Maine. For me, Maine is one of the places I go to in my mind when I'm stressed and just need a mental break -- e.g., when things get a lot bumpy on a flight across the Atlantic! A lit
tle bumpy doesn't faze me but a lot bumpy...I close my eyes, and I'm kayaking in Maine, or I'm sitting on a boulder watching lobster boats in Narraguagus Bay and reading a good book, or I'm perched on a hilltop with a breathtaking view of a classic Maine lighthouse.
I'm going through my Maine photos and putting them up on my photo blog all month -- it's my way of celebrating ON FIRE's return to print. Stop by if you get a chance, and if you have your own "happy place," I hope you'll share it with us...or just take a moment and go there now. :-)
Yes, I'm having my own out of body experience. I think I'm looking in from the outside and I don't know how that woman at the keyboard will get everything on her list done. She also seems to be scattered while she is working which is not a good sign. So, send a few good thoughts her way that she'll settle down.
Today I'm sending you a bulletin on OUT OF BODY events. (There's that phrase again)
1. There is still time to join me on Facebook for a chance to win the copyedited manuscript of OUT OF BODY or a COURT OF ANGELS mug. Follow the Facebook link from www.stellacameron.com or http://purplepapayallc.com/client_promotions.aspx There is a contest for one of Jayne's ARCs there as well as the link to my Facebook Page.
2. A giveaway for OUT OF BODY mugs will continue through February with a reader winning each week.
3. ARE YOU READY FOR THIS? Wazoo is the real reason I'm in a flap. She's "flapping" her mouth and threatening to give away all kinds of inside information about the first COURT OF ANGELS series. Cissy at Writerspace has given me an easier way to keep up with (or try to catch up with) the evil W. Either use the widget right here, go to www.stellacameron.com, or to Facebook to see what she is saying. And if that isn't confusing enough, Wazoo is parading around from Twitter at http://twitter.com/CourtOfAngels You can leave her a question there or you can tell her to behave--I would be very grateful for the help.
4. I'm working with some local booksellers to make goodie packets of an autographed COA logo bookplate, a COA bookmark, and a COA logo sticker available. For these you would need to order your book from the list of booksellers at http://purplepapayallc.com/ParticipatingBooksellers.aspx
5. Seattle Mystery Bookshop is taking orders for autographed books and these books will also include a goodie packet. There is always a link to Seattle Mystery Bookshop below and on my site.
If you aren't on overload, I am. I want to crawl back into my storyland. The only other thing I can think of right now (quit cheering:) is that you can mail away for autographed bookplates at Facebook or my website. Then, if you're quick, you'll have your plate to slap right inside your new book. I know, you can hardly control your excitement.
Q. And there will be a test... Is there anything that makes you really nervous, any situation you know you'll have to face whether you like it or not?
Note: Kate asked us to let you know that she's currently snowed in under a foot of snow and has no internet service, so she won't be able to respond to comments for awhile! (Power's on...I'm BACK!)
I'm sitting here in my office watching the snow fall and realizing that time seems to pass by a lot faster the older I get! It seemed like the release of my very first mass market paranormal romance was at least a gazillion years in the future, and now it's just a month away and I'm beginning to panic. What's funny is that this is far from my first book, and yet it's such an important step for me as I work at moving my career forward, that I'm sort of quietly freaking out about the whole thing.
Help me, ladies! I really need to put this in perspective!! I've had seventeen books out in the past four years alone, and not a one of them has made me as nervous as DemonFire's upcoming release. I think it's the distribution, to be honest, the fact that this one should show up in WalMart and Target and the grocery store where my neighbors shop--places where I've always bought books. I was actually doing okay for awhile, and then my video trailer arrived and reminded me that the release date is coming close...I do love trailers. Not sure if they actually sell books, but they are definitely cool! I had mine done by COS--take a look:
I have the first chapter of the book posted on my website if you'd like to take a look, and if you're the type who likes to preorder, I've got all kinds of ordering links on that page. (Gee, it's so unseemly to whimper, isn't it? I really REALLY need to relax or the next month is going to kill me!)
Anyway, if you get a chance I do hope you'll take a look at the excerpt, and if you'd like just a short taste, this will give you a feel for the dynamics between my heroine, Eddy Marks, a small-town newspaper reporter who does NOT believe in demons or anything at all to do with the paranormal, and Dax, a fallen demon, too good for hell, who's been given one week to save the world from demonkind and, just maybe, earn himself a spot in paradise.
Eddy couldn’t sit still any longer. She bounced to her feet and began pacing around the small living room. “Lemurians. They’re not real, unless you ask Dad.” She spun around and laughed. “He’s going to be thrilled when he finds out about you. Proof that some of his crazy theories are actually true.” Dax and the demons, she thought. It didn’t get any better.
“According to local lore, they’re a race of mystical beings, tall, beautiful people with strange powers who supposedly live inside Mount Shasta in rooms made of gold. Legend says they’re descendants of people from the lost continent of Lemuria that sank beneath the sea, that they had advanced science and technology thousands of years ago. They were even supposed to have flying machines, sort of like the old Atlantis myth.”
Dax shook his head. He twisted around in his seat so he could follow her erratic pacing. “Atlantis is no myth. It really existed and its descendents are still around. I’ve never heard of Lemuria. I’ll need to look into it. The vortex, though, is definitely real. How do you think I got here?”
Eddy stopped in her tracks and stared at him, looking for a twitch, a smile, anything to tell her he was teasing.
He wasn’t.
She glanced at Willow. As if the sprite knew she was being watched, she flashed bright blue and just as quickly faded.
Okay. Point made. Eddy took a deep breath. “Why don’t you tell me exactly how you did get here. Just promise to ignore me if I look incredulous.”
Dax stared at her for a long, slow moment. Then he shook his head and his gorgeous lips turned up in an unbelievably sexy grin. “Eddy Marks, I doubt I could ever ignore you...not for any reason.”
She felt it right between her thighs. A hot lick of heat that had no business firing her senses and making her muscles clench, especially after a hokey come-on like that. It took a tremendous amount of will to continue gazing directly into those smoldering eyes of his. Demon’s eyes. She had to remind herself that, for all his appeal, Dax was not only a stranger, he’d already admitted to being one of the bad guys.
“I’m waiting,” she said, planting her hands on her hips, ignoring his innuendo and her body’s traitorous response.
He still had that cocky grin plastered on his gorgeous face, but at least Dax settled back against the couch. “I was a demon. An immortal in a world of evil. It suited me for a long time, and then it didn’t.” He shrugged. “For some reason, I began to question the life, the constant desire to cause pain, to kill.” He shook his head, shrugged. Gave her a self-deprecating grin. “I guess I learned the hard way. One does not question evil. I got tossed out of Abyss.”
The snake tattoo crawling out of his waistband slowly writhed across his belly and chest. Mesmerized, Eddy blinked. She must be more exhausted than she’d realized.
The subtle motion stopped. The tattoo stayed put. She swallowed and raised her eyes. It was too unsettling to steal even the quickest glance at his body, not when things like that happened. “Where does a demon go that’s worse than hell?”
Dax ran his fingers lightly over his tattoo. Had he felt it move? He stared at her for a moment before he answered.
“Earth.”
So, there you have it--when I first began working on The DemonSlayers series, I was terrified--the books are bigger than my Wolf Tales--120,000 words compared to around 85,000, which is a huge difference when you're juggling plot threads and characters and have the memory of a flea. My office looked like I'd had a "post it note" snowstorm by the time I finished the last page! I had to keep reminding myself that if I can keep over thirty characters through 20 books (Wolf Tales/Sexy Beast) straight, this shouldn't be a problem, but trust me, I can make trouble where none should be found!
Anyway, I do hope you'll take a chance on the book, and if you do, please let me know what you think! Also, I'm planning on a contest--not sure yet what the prize will be, but I'm asking readers who see DemonFire in out-of-the-way stores or cool displays, if they'll take a photo and send it to me with the date and where you see it. I'm going to post them on my Facebook page, just for fun.
What made me think of doing that was when I was shopping in Hardester's, the grocery store in our tiny little town of Cobb, California the other day and saw Jayne's paperback release of Running Hot. All I could think was, DAMN! She's in HARDESTER'S? I mean, if your book makes it to Hardesters, it must be just about everywhere!
Oh, and while I'm talking about contests, I was talking to my buddy Robyn Carr the other day--she's guest blogged here before and I know a lot of you are hooked on her Virgin River series. Anyway, her publisher is running a contest that sounds like fun--the winner will get their name in a new Virgin River book! If you want to be immortalized forever in a bestselling book, Robyn's got a link on her website.
I think that's about it for now--time to go back to chewing my non-existent fingernails and writing Wolf Tales 11--thank goodness I've got a full schedule so I can't spend too much time whining. Besides, at least around our place, no one really pays attention to me anyway! Take care all, and be safe. While I've been working on this blog, we've gotten at least two more inches of snow!
Good Morning, my flowers:
However, if there should be anyone who hasn’t realized the deeply beneficial results reading induces, now you know. Which brings me to my Court of Angels and the first book in the series, OUT OF BODY.
Hi, y'all. Thanks for letting me talk a little bit about my new series from Harlequin Intrigue, "Cooper Justice." The books center around the Coopers, a large, boisterous family who runs a fishing camp and marina on Gossamer Lake in Chickasaw County, Alabama. Some have moved away, while others have stayed, but they all feel the inescapable pull of family and home.
When the only Cooper sister, Hannah, is ambushed by a serial killer posing as a cop during her Wyoming vacation, she's the only one of the killer's victims who escaped to tell about it. She's now a person of extreme interest to Wyoming cop Riley Patterson, who's been hunting the killer since the murder of his own wife three years earlier. But there's a big problem: Hannah can't remember much about the attack. Now, she and Riley are in a race to figure out just what it is she can't remember before the killer finishes what he started.
Then, in February 2010's CHICKASAW COUNTY CAPTIVE, we meet Sam Cooper, a prosecutor who has just returned to Chickasaw County. Someone is targeting Sam, using his daughter Maddy to do it. After an attempted kidnapping leaves four-year-old daughter Maddy traumatized and her teenaged cousin/babysitter in a coma, Sam knows he needs help protecting his family and finding out who's behind the attack. But he's not sure Kristen Tandy, a young female police detective with a notoriously tragic past, is the right person for the job.
