WordPlay

Every once in a while we get a special guest blogger around here.  ;>  As it happens, we’re celebrating TAMING THE DEMON release month with Supernatural Smackdown participation.  As I’m not pushing any particular drive for votes (it’s one of those things), I expect us to get smacked down, indeed.  But that’s okay.  Devin and I know where he stands.  In his own words… 

Here’s the thing about me and the blade…at any given time, one of us is just a little bit mad.

Usually it’s the blade, but you never really know.

Anheriel is its name, and it thinks a lot of itself.  I suppose it has reason, the little bastard.  I didn’t understand its nature when it latched onto my brother, and neither did he. Eventually it drove him to the wild road.

That’s the nice way to say it.  Bug-fuck crazy is another.  Or just plain evil…take your pick.  So when my brother died and the blade moved onto me, I knew what was coming.

I’m fighting it, let’s put it that way.

But damn, the thing comes in handy, too.  How could it not?  Yeah, it goes looking for trouble.  That’s its whole gig.  Elemental spirit trapped in a blade and turned into living metal, now on a search for redemption.  So yeah, it can take the form of whatever bladed weapon it wants.  Anheriel hangs out as a pocket knife most of the time, but if someone calls up the asshole factor, they’re gonna be looking at a specialty tactical blade–agate handle, sweet sharp blade, strong cut-back…deadly.

I told you it thinks a lot of itself.

Now and then it has an excuse to show up as a saber.  It likes that.  Things never end well for the other guy when that happens.

They never end well for the blade wielder, either.  Not in the long run.  A demon blade needs a human to get the job done–the looking for trouble, the resolving it.  The redemption.  But the damned things can’t help but be what they are–insidious, devious darkness.  So they get into a wielder’s head…into his soul.  They use up wielders and throw them away, hunting for the one who’ll be strong enough to hold fast.  Because it’s always there–that little whisper, that little suggestion to go too far.  To take advantage of the strengths it provides.  Because unless the bad guy has a blade, he won’t be faster than I am.  Simple truth, that.  And if he hurts me, I’m not staying down.  Healing fast is a bitch and I pay the price, but I can take a licking and come back for more.  And the way the blade cleans up the scene…it’s so easy to take that one step too far. To go from stopping trouble to being the trouble.

That’s okay.  As it turns out, I intend to be the one who’s strong enough–maybe the first one.  And I’ve already gotten this far.

So what am I doing here?  You’d think I’d have enough of this kind of thing.  But one thing I’ve learned from Natalie is this:  If I’m going to fight this bastard of a blade, I’ve got to get in its face.  I don’t wait for it to come to me with its trouble–not any longer.  I go looking.  And I make my own choices.  And this little gathering…hell, yeah, it’ll keep that demon busy.

Hear that, Anheriel?  Bring it on.
_______________

So there you are.  Devin James, ladies and germs.

And as it happens, I’m giving away a couple of copies of the book along with the Smackdown blog.  The giveaway closes at the end of the month, and it uses one of those easy Rafflecopter entry systems–it’s over on Devin’s post at the Supernatural Smackdown, where I also had fun providing Devin’s unique stats.  Go for it!

by Doranna

That’s right.  It’s a post that includes both the Demon Blade series and the small new Beagle girl!  I’m not even going to try to be clever enough to tie those together…

TAMING THE DEMON is juuuust about on the shelves–any day now!–and I’m getting ready for the Supernatural Smackdown that will ensue.  Not that I had any clue what this was until recently, but I was delighted to receive the invitation to join in the fun and I suspect I’ll figure it out as I go along.

Mind you, I don’t expect to emerge with any sort of victorious flavor, because I totally don’t have the time or inclination to batter people to vote for my guy.  But we’ll have fun nonetheless, and the people who derive glee from harvesting votes will find me a usefully easy stepping stone.

Here’s what Dark Faerie Tales has to say about the event so far!:

It’s that time again…Supernatural Smackdown. We wanted to create a fun and interactive event that would highlight all the new paranormal titles releasing over the next few months. We thought a battle theme would be perfect since everyone loves action!

So the second annual Supernatural Smackdown has arrived!  Characters from all over the world unite for the premiere entertainment event.  Held in a super secret location, supernatural characters will pit their talents to win the World Champion title and everything that comes along with it.  [ed note: have no idea what this means, but it's gotta be good, right?  Right?!]

Readers will vote to move characters into the next round.  Final end on May 31st  and the supernatural bad ass will be officially announced a week later.

Are you ready, supernatural fans? Let’s get ready to rumble!

So there you are.  Devin James from Demon Blade will be in the middle of it.  He’s not much for a random brawl, but that demon blade…well, let’s just say it’s sharpening itself as I type.

In part two of the fun parade, BEAGLES!

ConneryBeagle is still working his rehab and will be seeing a new vet on Thursday (a second opinion sort of thing on a particular therapy, about which I’m wavering), Dart Beagle is gearing up for another stab at that novice obedience title, and both boys are completely enthralled with newly arrived Rena Beagle.

Except for a few introductory moments, she’s never had to do anything other than vibe at them to get them to behave.  She owns all the best beds and doesn’t think twice about it, and she says this is how it should be.

Rena herself is slowly settling in.  She has a big adjustment to make–the environment didn’t have her permission to change so radically around her, she says–and of course she misses her old pack terribly.  However, she visibly settles in a little more each day, and her personality is starting to peek through.  Although she’s got a lot of training on her, I’m making it easy right now–all of what we’re doing falls into the category of “play” and “party.”

And here we are with a little of that from the weekend, when she came along to Dart’s VST (urban tracking) practice.

Rena shows off her snappy side gait and a little bit of her fun attitude.

And then she shows off her little strut!

by Doranna

You may or may not have seen discussion of the recent hooded man phenomenon…there’s been some conversation.  Like here.  And here.  And just try googling “hooded man book covers” in Google images!

Well, now I have one of my very own.  Though I just want to say, it’s not my fault.

I swear, nowhere along the line did I suggest that Devin should wear some sort of…

Sweater-hoodie?

With a spiffy black stripe down the center?  And is that a…zipper?

Don’t worry.  He doesn’t wear it in the book.  In the book, he’s rocking a leather jacket.  One that fits him, even.

And he’s rocking a demon blade, too, which makes everything more interesting than it really probably ought to be (which as far as my muse is concerned, is exactly how it ought to be).

But hey!  In years hence, I can say I was part of the great Hooded Man Craze Phenomenon!  And hey, when push comes to shove, Natalie and Devin look like they’re facing something just a little bit bigger than they are…and they’re facing it together.  Works for me!

TAMING THE DEMON

Miniseries: Demon Blade
Harlequin Nocturne (#160)
May 7, 2013
ISBN-10: 0373885709
ISBN-13: 9780373885701

PRE-ORDER PRINT: Harlequin | Amazon
Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million
IndieBound | The Book Depository
PRE-ORDER EBOOK: Kindle | Nook

Their passion threatens her life and his tortured soul…

Devin James wields a demon blade. Or does the demon blade wield him? The bond between man and steel is soul deep, the source of Devin’s power and an ever-present torment. Struggling against the evil forged within the blade, Devin patrols the dark streets of Albuquerque, searching for innocents to rescue. That’s how he finds Natalie Chambers….

Natalie is sure that helping Devin is another in a long series of very bad decisions, but she can’t abandon the man who saved her life—a man who believes that the demon blade might turn him into a monster. She is powerless to resist their fierce attraction.

But love is their only chance at salvation. Can they now find the faith to take that chance? And can they keep the demon blade from the man who would destroy them both?

It’s my own fault.  I waited a couple weeks, and then I put that new book release schedule on the blog this past Monday morning.  Right out there for the world to see.

And lo, Monday afternoon, I exchanged a few words with my editor, in which we counted on our fingers, looked at what remained to be done, and decided that July for Tiger Bound was just a leeetle too optimistic.

So that book is now an August baby, and my editor and I get to keep our sanity.

Except for the part where I run around my web site, blog, FaceBook, newsgroup, and Twitter, cleaning up after that July thing!

The Sentinels

Night of the Tiger (Bite): Dec ’11
TIGER BOUND: Aug ’12
KODIAK CHAINED: Dec ’12

Demon Blade
Demon Touch (Bite): Sept ’11
DEMON BLADE: ’13
DARK BLADE: ’13:

No, really.  I MEAN IT!

Once upon a time…

I wrote some Nocturne books and I delivered them.  And then I went on to the next books, waiting for the usual to happen–editing requests, production, scheduling.

They kinda didn’t.

And then there was a bit of chaos driven by editorial promotions and transition, and lo…some years later, just as the first book is at the point of being reverted back to me due to non-publication, I’m on the schedule!

For starters–and ironically, thanks to the shuffling, this title was scheduled about a year sooner than expected ( real surprise to me when it wasn’t even slated to be written until next spring)–and look, it’s almost time–!

Night of the Tiger

December ’11
Nocturne Bite e-novella
An installment in the Sentinels series

Nook
Kindle

Marlee Cerrosa turned unwitting traitor to the shapeshifting Sentinels, and Scott O’Brien paid the price. Now, with another traitor amongst them, Marlee hunts redemption, and Scott hunts what he lost…and it looks like they can only find the answers in one another.

=================

But wait!  There’s MORE!

The Sentinels: Powerful and Passionate Protectors of the Land

Night of the Tiger (Bite): Dec ’11
TIGER BOUND: Aug ’12
KODIAK CHAINED: Dec ’12

Demon Blade
Demon Touch (Bite): Sept ’11
DEMON BLADE: ’13
DARK BLADE: ’13:

So finally, I get to the very best part about writing:  the sharing!

Just makes me want to write more…

Party time creeps closer!

(Is that disturbing, to have that sentence first thing after that title, or is it just me?)

Either way, here we are.  Demon Touch is available as a Nocturne Bite!

Actually, they’re calling it a Nocturne Craving.  This comes under the heading of, “Don’t ask me!” and “The author is always the last to know.”

The Bites line is transforming into Cravings, but it seems that somewhere along the way–even though the flavor of the stories between these two lines is substantially different–all of the Bites have retroactively become Cravings.  Even the one I had published several years ago.  Hmm.  It’s magic?

And, well, hmm.  I was about to send you to my web site, where I’ve just updated the various pages to reflect this release, but I just discovered I was interrupted in the middle of those updates and…

Well, I wouldn’t bother looking for them just yet.  

Luckily (and quite by coincidence), here are all the pertinent details, right HERE!

Demon Touch

Ever since the night Alex Donally found the demon blade in his hand—and in his thoughts—he has been driven to fight evil.

When he meets Deb Marchand, he is compelled to protect her from her violent ex—and aroused by the visions of passionate encounters they both experience when they touch. The blade is showing them what they can have—if Deb can risk giving her trust and heart to a vigilante…

Kindle
Nook

Not quite party time, but getting close!

For starters, there’s the Backlist eBooks site.  We’re running through a two-stage transition with the authors–currently, they’re pulling their individual author pages today; we’re about a third done with that and it’s looking way cool.

Mine is currently the only page with the complete bookshelf, simply because I’m working everything ahead as an example for the authors…won’t it be totally cool when all 100 of us have all our books up like this?

Definitely working up to a really big party.

Party #2! is this!

After a good long wait to get something on the schedule (I have completed books sitting in the queue), September is quite suddenly the release date for my Nocturne Bite, Demon Touch.

Not only that, it has a really…nice…cover.

Really nice.

Heh.

Nook
Kindle

Ever since the night Alex Donally found the demon blade in his hand—and in his thoughts—he has been driven to fight evil.

When he meets Deb Marchand, he is compelled to protect her from her violent ex—and aroused by the visions of passionate encounters they both experience when they touch. The blade is showing them what they can have—if Deb can risk giving her trust and heart to a vigilante…

Lookin’ for my party hat…

A year ago–which is approximately 3.72 centuries in digital revolution time–I was just putting up the first of my backlist.

I’d meant to have them all up by now, but that was before I expanded my own personal revolution into the Backlist eBooks project with partner Pat Ryan, and that’s required a massive amount of time, so…I’m about halfway through my various backlist books/stories.

When I started with the backlist, my focus was on creating a cover “look.”  You know…glance at the cover and instantly recognize it as mine.  I had a strategy and everything!

Well…the learning curve, it be steep.  It wasn’t too long before I realized my strategy was too restrictive, and shed it for new ideas.  Now my new covers have a new approach, and most of my old covers have been replaced–some by the aforementioned Pat Ryan (she of many talents), and some by my own self.  The change hasn’t propagated through all of the retail venues, but this is their doing, not mine.  *annoyed sniff*

When I put Fountane Of up for sale, I didn’t actually put it up for sale–I gave it away as a teaser, and didn’t worry too much about the cover.  Well, that all evolved, too, and currently Fountane Of is 99c like the rest of my short stories.  And LO.  It finally became time for a new cover, and that’s what fun I had this past weekend, in between the plumbing excitement moments.

Fountane Of

(That link?  It’s a peek at the new Backlist eBooks web site, and what all the book pages will look like when we’re done!  At the moment, we’re only just getting started)

I’m thinking Touched by Magic is the next project–I’m about halfway through it, and skipped over to get the non-series books done first.  Well, after I turn in the next Sentinels book, put the polishing touches on the new Nose for Trouble edition, launch the September Nocturne Demon Blade Bite, and get the Nocturne Sentinels Bite through production…

*runs away*

Yes.  I am writing.  Instead of working on the planned blog (which I wrote most of in draft while waiting for an appointment today, so I did have good intentions), I did another scene in the current book.  That’s Dark Blade of my Nocturne Demon Blade series, if anyone’s keeping track.

I am not feeling particularly guilty.  More like…smug.

smug smug smug smug

To assuage my not-guilt over my not-blog, here is a picture of a puppy owning the Best Toy:

This is THE BEST TOY. Ever. For the moment.

…Monday

What fun to start the week with babbling good news. I think next week I’ll MAKE UP some good new so I can do it again!

This week, though, I don’t have to. I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be writing three more Nocturnes, and two of the online Nocturne Bites along the way.

The Nocturnes are the ones I’ve gotten the most requests for so far…remember Maks, the straightforward bodyguard who’s played a role in all three of the Sentinels books so far? Maks takes the tiger as his other form; he’s a quiet guy with an unusual background. Not quite tame, for all his reliability–and with reason. The first Sentinels book is Tiger Bound, and that’s where I get to play with Maks’ story. Oh, gleeful, evil, rubbing of hands together!

Ruger is the character who first started getting the requests–right from the start. Was I ever going to write a book for him? Well, in fact…yes! Ruger is the healer who also spends time as a Kodiak bear, and who (in Lion Heart), took the brunt of an Atrum Core ambush. In the wake of that, he’s still looking for himself. Could be he just needs a little help, hmm?

But before I dive into those two books, I’ll be writing a second Demon Blade book. You haven’t seen that first one yet–it’s been waiting for scheduling, and to some extent waiting for this cycle of decisions to come around, to see if we’d be working it as a series or as a one-off. Well, guess what! I get to do a series!

And then there’s a Demon Blade Bite and a Sentinels Bite.

And there’s ME.

VERY HAPPY!

Getting to write books I love, knowing my schedule is planned for these next months, hummm hummm humm! The muse wins!

BLOG PARTEEEE!