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

I swear I would have.

Actually, it’s my own self-imposed deadline for the first draft of LYNX REVEALED, so no one’s wringing their hands or cursing over me.

I’ve already made word count, and I’m days away from meeting and beating my Friday deadline–which was generated with the knowledge of how long it should take me vs. polishing the results vs. other working obligations.

Part of being a self-employed writer is knowing how to juggle all these things, and that means such deadlines–even self-imposed–really do matter.

And then, lo…copyedits.

These are for CLAIMED BY THE DEMON, so I’m really excited to see that book making its way toward the shelves.  But…they’re short-turnaround (I should have two business weeks; these are due in four business days after receipt).  And I had no notice, so…I had other work scheduled.  Other appointments.  ‘N stuff.

A view of the CE process, thanks to Word(spit) and very much thanks to Mouse Without Borders

Let’s not talk about taxes.

Well, I wrangled a few more days to get it done, but basically everything I take for CEs will be taken away from my time to do proofs.  Yay.  So for several days, I’ve tried to do both first draft and CEs–much to the detriment of my health, my cognitive ability, and my other obligations.

Today, I’m giving up.   LYNX REVEALED will have to wait.

Let’s not talk about how the muse feels about this.  (Hint: temper tantrums.  Mourning.  That sensation of being riiiipped away from immersion in the home stretch of the story.)

Deadlines, even self-imposed ones, are important to me.  This one was especially so–after years of household transitions and relocation, I’ve finally found a writing routine that works for me.  In winter, anyway–I’m not sure how it’ll turn out for summer, when the heat dictates the timing of other activities.

After years of writing at night, with a natural window of between 10pm and 4am (not kidding, though I haven’t allowed myself that one for a while), I’m now writing the very first thing in an early day.  It still kind of boggles me.  But it’s working, and I’m racking up words the way I used to before all the transitions, and it was…

REALLY REALLY IMPORTANT to me to make this deadline.

A view of the LYNX REVEALED workspace about 10K words ago… “Come back–! Come back to me!” Can’t you hear it?

I coulda done it.  I swear.

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?

by Doranna

I’m slow off the mark on this one. I should have been celebrating out loud at least a week ago.  But it turns out that TAMING THE DEMON should have gone into production right about the time Sandy hit, so by the time they were able to get to it a couple of weeks ago, the time crunch was pretty crunchy.  And that means I’ve just done two weeks of back-to-back production rush.

*blink*  What day is it, anyway?

So I have good news, and I have good news!

For starters, I’ve just signed on to do four more Nocturnes.  Two will be in the Sentinels series, and the remaining two have yet to be decided.  We get to see how things go–after all, next year will see the release of the Demon Blade series.  Who knows?  Maybe we’ll decide to play in that seriesverse some more…

And speaking of the Sentinels…there’s a new book in the line-up, oh yes there is!  KODIAK CHAINED just hit the shelves!

by Doranna

Things are starting to pick up in DuncanHorse World.  But first, a random bit of goodness:

Tiger Bound from England!

It’s an overseas version of Tiger Bound!  How cool is that?  I’m supposed to get copies of all international versions and I usually do (I have a small batch of foreign language books here that I admire every now and then), but this set came pretty promptly on the heels of the US version.  Neat!

Ahem.  So back to the big white pony, who is still dealing with flares from his severe reaction to the spring shots (which he’ll likely never get again, aside from tetanus).  A week or so ago I ordered him some $$$TransferFactor$$$, since my consulting vet has seen it work wonders for situations like his.  I wouldn’t know yet…they don’t seem to be in any great hurry to send it.

HURRY UP, PEOPLE!  Duncan and I are waiting.

Consulting Vet is ConneryBeagle’s chiropractic vet, and we’ve had some helpful casual conversations about Duncan’s situation over the summer.  I decided to make it official so I could really grill her (without friend-guilt!), so here we are.

Last week Consulting Vet also came by to poke around his furry white sides, chat about his diet, and ponder how to best manage the ongoing symptoms.  Duncan was sleepy in the sun in his early winter coat, and so willingly gave blood, schmoozed, and let himself be admired.

The blood work is just to eliminate certain concerns, after which we’re likely to do what I’ve been doing all summer–daily reality checks for the three subtle signs that he’s at the front edge of a flare, and tossing dexamethasone at him if I find anything.  It only seems to occur every couple of weeks–the heat seems to be a problem, so maybe winter will help, too–and at those doses, the steroids aren’t a big issue (barring ugly results on the blood work–I hope to know something this week).

Meanwhile, we’ve had some brisk mornings, and he does seem to be feeling a little better, yes he does.  But if a picture is worth a thousand words, a video…even better! Although I’m just now realizing that all the captions I put in the dark area in the video editor do not show up in the YouTube conversion. Oh, for pete’s sake..

(Don’t you wish you had that kind of energy?)

Every once in a while, publishers tell authors what’s going on.

Things like shifting publishing dates, changing word count expectations, and radically changed deadlines.

But not usually.

So I wasn’t really surprised when I was bopping around B&N the other day and I ran into the cover for Kodiak Chained (December release), even though I’d never seen it before, had no idea it was out, and would have gladly shared my glee over it had I known.

On the other hand, that’s the kind of surprise I don’t mind getting.  Because, look!  It’s Ruger!  And look!  Isn’t his bear self just awesome? (I think his human self pretty much stands without comment.  Maybe a moment of appreciative silence?)

It’s interesting to see what they did with the blurb, too…it’s like being on the outside of the book looking in…

One mission. One night. One costly misstep….

Don’t miss this scintillating romance from Doranna Durgin! [note:  that's me!  Scintillating!  wow!]

A mighty Kodiak shifter, Ruger is more than a Sentinel warrior. As a Healer, he willingly risks everything defending the sick and helpless. But after an ambush nearly kills him, he can do only so much-until a sensual lady black bear shifter arrives to provide him backup….

In human form, she is called Mariska. Feisty and self-assured, she has finagled her present assignment helping Ruger chase down a rising new threat. The moment Mariska scents the heroic, battle-scarred grizzly she knows he will be her only weakness…and greatest desire.

Mariska will do anything to aid Ruger-even if confronting the enemy puts everything she holds dear in jeopardy.

Ahhh, impending book release!  Can’t wait!

I hope you’ve had some good surprises lately, too!

Well…THIS shapeshifter, THIS book…THIS fictional world…

All mine.

Except for the part where I’m sharing with the world.  TODAY!

Tiger Bound

Sentinels Book 4
READ AN EXCERPT

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

ORDER EBOOK: Harlequin | Kindle | Nook

Two wounded souls courageously unite to vanquish a ruthless predator in Doranna Durgin’s highly emotional new romance…

Like the Siberian tiger whose form he takes, Maks Altán is a strong, ferocious fighter, and incredibly protective of his Sentinel kin–but thanks to a debilitating injury, he feels anything but capable. That is, until he’s sent to guard Katie Maddox, a gorgeous healer who awakens a dangerous lust within him. The problem is, in the shifter world, Katie’s deer alter ego is easy prey…and much too tempting for Maks.

As unnamed danger lurks just beyond her awareness, Katie has doubts–about her abilities, her role in the Sentinels, and the strong desire she feels toward her new protector. But somehow, the wounded predator and his wary prey must ignore their instincts, their fears, and their dangerous attraction to each other in order to defeat their common enemy…

Reviews for Tiger Bound:

“…creative ideas, ground-breaking characters and emotionally charged conflicts.” –Amelia Richards, Cataromance 4 Stars

“Maks Altan and Katie Rae Maddox couldn’t be any different if they tried…Maks and Katie are fully fleshed-out characters readers will love. –Alexandra Kay, Romantic Times 4 Stars

Reviews from Wolf Hunt, Sentinels #3:

“Durgin returns to the world of the Sentinels and the evil Atrum Core with a novel that nicely moves the story along.  Her characters are particularly well drawn.  Nick is clearly an alpha male, and Jet comes across as strong and determined in spite of her insecurities.” – Romantic Times; Four stars

“WOLF HUNT is a spellbinding combination of supernatural magic, emotional passions, and perilous danger.” –CataRomance 5 Stars

“If you enjoy your shape shifter books with equal parts of action and romance, then this book is one that you should definitely check out.” –Fresh Fiction

Because you should buy ALL the books!

Well, it would be possible to buy all my books on sale at Smashwords, anyway.  But only for another week, and then it’s over!

This is where you can go to find all the books, all the descriptions, and all the links.

And while I’m at it…I’m pretty sure that Tiger Bound has hit the shelves. But I’ll restrain myself from gushing about more than one book thing at one time.  See?  I have restraint.  Yes I do.  Excuse me while I go polish it up to a nice shine.

*moments of pained, restrained silence…*

GNAAAAURGH CAN’T STAND IT MY BOOK IS OUT MY BOOK IS OUT AND MY OTHER BOOKS ARE ON SALE!!

Erm.  Derp.

Got excitement?

 Well, there’s not much more to say than this…go for it!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Sentinels

by Doranna Durgin

Giveaway ends July 23, 2012.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

PS With apologies, the giveaway is limited to those within the US.  It’s a budget thing…