New Year, New Book!

It's a brand new year and it's time to sweep out the cobwebs and get ready for a great time both reading and writing some fantastic fiction!

I'm pleased to announce that now that the "Blaze of Glory" superhero romance series is ended that I've been busy working not only on a sequel to "Blood of the Pride" but also to MORE books in the series!

Let's start off with an excerpt to "Claws Bared", book 2 coming out January 21^st from Carina Press…

...

I hadn't ordered any airline tickets.

I looked inside the open envelope with a mixture of surprise, dismay and confusion.

The bike courier let out a loud cough, covering his mouth with a gloved hand. I paused for a second, trying to figure out what he wanted. I'd already signed his clipboard and accepted delivery, expecting to find a court subpoena--I was used to having to testify on the stand both for and against my clients. Being a private investigator meant doing almost as much court time as investigating--the movies tend to leave that less glamorous part out.

Airline tickets weren't even on my radar.

He coughed again and wriggled his fingers. I caught on before he had to explain his chronic illness.

I dug in my pocket and found enough spare change to not embarrass myself. Handing it to the courier, I turned my attention back to the envelope.

The young man stuffed the coins into his pocket and threw me a jaunty salute before sprinting off through my small yard. He yanked his bike away from the rose bushes lining the front and jumped back out into traffic, the tires leaping in the air like some warped rearing horse.

I grimaced at the sound of screaming brakes coming from around the corner. Not hearing anyone calling for an ambulance, I closed the door and headed for my work desk. Running your business out of your home had certain advantages--like not having to worry about getting fully dressed for work. I wriggled my bare toes and sat down.

The drab brown envelope from a local travel agency held tickets from Toronto, Ontario to Pittsburgh, PA. Open return, one person in my name. Leaving that evening. I sat down at my desk and scowled at the elderly white cat sprawled over the file folders.

"This is your doing, isn't it? Revenge because I wouldn't let you be a little piglet and get sick on that tuna."

Jazz turned her steady gaze on me for another few seconds before licking her paws.

I turned my attention to the envelope. Standard brown envelope with nothing inside other than the travel agency's business card. No mention of who had sent it or who had paid for it.

I had a pretty good idea.

I lifted the envelope to my nose and inhaled. Human scent, nothing out of the ordinary. Multiple humans including my stinky messenger and a woman who wore way too much perfume.

The phone rang.

I snatched up the receiver, blowing away a wayward tuft of white cat fur. Jazz gave a short trill of approval.

"Reb." I clenched my fist at the low voice purring my name. "Glad to see you're home."

"Hi, Jess. Yes, just in time to receive this envelope." I tapped the thick folder on the varnished desktop. "I assume you've got something to do with this."

"Maybe."

"So why shouldn't I drop this into my shredder?" I snapped, harsher than I'd intended.

I was missing Bran something awful.

Jazz dropped from the desk and trotted out of the room, picking up on my mood.

"Reb, is that any way to talk to a Board member?" The snarl in her voice sent phantom pains over my back, where the scars were. I resisted the urge to sit up straight in my chair.

"Is that any way to talk to an outcast? I do you one favor and suddenly I'm on your mailing list? I'm not part of the Pride and I don't have to answer to you." I kept my voice steady despite the butterflies in my stomach. "You declared me outcast twenty years ago and threw me into foster care, banished me from the family. I haven't forgotten that."

Or forgiven. The scars throbbed, reminders of the thrashing I'd gotten at Jess's claws in a final test of my ability to Change.

I'd failed. Spectacularly.

.....

I'm also happy to say that "Family Pride", the third in the series, will be available in June with a fourth book tentatively scheduled for September this year!

I hope you'll come along for more adventures with a shifter who can't shift and the man who loves her…

 

 

 

 

A NaNoWriMo Success Story!

It's a good time, I think, with November drawing to a close and thousands of NaNoWriMo authors gasping over their keyboards to give them a bit of inspiration. I've written on my blog other thoughts on the month-long exercise in insanity and how to get the most you can out of it with or without finishing the 50K run.

Here's another one.

"Blood of the Pride" started off as a NaNo project a few years ago, a second try at winning the contest after doing so the previous year with "Blaze of Glory". That book was still in edits and I wanted to do something different, something away from the superhero romance. The first sentence came to me...

"I smelled the blood before I had a chance to look for it, the tangy, dense scent landing on the back of my tongue."

Right then I knew this was going to be a detective novel of a different sort, of a cat shifter who couldn't shift and was outcast from her people. Rebecca Desjardin talked her way through the book and I pulled it off, finishing the first draft before the end of the month.

And, as you can see... it sold.

In fact, it sold so well to Carina Press that not only is there an audiobook out for "Blood of the Pride" but it's also been included in the Direct-To-Consumer for Harlequin's February 2013 paranormal shipment to their subscribers. So it's going to print.

And then there's this:

Yep. A sequel.

The second in four books under contract with Carina Press. "Claws Bared" comes out in January 2013 in ebook and in audiobook format. The third and fourth books are due in June and September. I'm hoping for them to also go to print.

This was a NaNoWriMo project. This is a project I worked on long after the month was over and edited to death before submitting it.

This is a NaNo success story as far as I'm concerned.

And if it could happen to me it could happen to you.

You may feel overwhelmed with the words on the page. You might feel like you're floundering and just can't get up; wallowing in the speed writing.

It's okay. It's okay NOT to finish by the end of the month. But you have to finish.

And then, if you want, edit edit edit to death.

Because you CAN sell a NaNo novel.

I did.

And you can too.

Now get back to that keyboard!