IWSG and Zyan Star Series, Character Profile: Donovan

Hi, friends! Today my Zyan Star character profile series continues with Donovan! If you missed the previous three, you can see them here: Quinn, Riley and Pan.

But it's also IWSG day, our monthly blog hop of insecure writers led by Alex Cavanaugh. The last month for me was an intense one, because I released Martinis with the Devil, the first book in my Zyan Star urban fantasy series. It came out in two parts, part one on the 11th and part two on the 25th. With book releases comes a lot of checking of your sales numbers and rankings, and wondering if you're doing well or not. Well, compared to well established authors my numbers aren't anything special, but that's the key to happiness - don't compare yourself to others! I'm pretty happy with my humble numbers as a newbie author. And the adventure just keeps on, with the second book in the series coming out next month (exact date TBD)! Click here to see the other lovely IWSG posts.

And now back to the sexy Irishman Donovan!

Name: Donovan

Supernatural powers: Shapeshifting Panther

Appearance (when not a steel gray panther): Tan skin, short medium brown hair, jade green eyes

See my Pinterest board here for more pics 

Favorite drink: Whiskey

Weapon of choice: Claw and teeth

Donovan is Zy's ex-boyfriend. They first meet in Black Magic & Mojitos, the prequel to Martinis with the Devil. They're both from Ireland, and both bounty hunters, so the sparks fly instantly. In Martinis, it's about five years later and they've broken up. Donovan wants to get back together, but he's got some competition this time around: Eli, the hot angelic warrior. Zy doesn't really want to work with him, but she needs some help, and Donovan's the best in the business (other than her).

Here's one of my favorite Donovan excerpts from Martinis with the Devil: 

Donovan took us into a large room that looked like a library. “Have a seat.” He gestured towards the empty chairs across from his seat at a large mahogany desk.

“You’ve gotten all high-brow, huh?” I asked, folding into one of the chairs and kicking my feet up on the desk. Good thing I’d had some extra boots in the Porsche since I tossed my heels into the ocean. And was tracking down my archenemy tonight.

Donovan shrugged, leaning back in his chair. He was playing it cool, too. “What can I help you with?”

“I want to kill my ex,” I said casually. When he tensed, I clarified. “My first ex. He’s almost two thousand years old. Riley thought I might need some help.”

“Forced your hand, did he?” Donovan said with a smirk. “I didn’t think that was possible.”

“Well, Riley and Quinn can be quite persuasive.”

Donovan shot them both a grin. “I know they can.” He sighed, fingers laced behind his head as he contemplated the ceiling. “It’s like old times, all of us in the same room, planning some crazy suicide mission.” A chuckle escaped his lips as he looked at me. “Remember when we were trying to bring in that rogue harpie, and she spewed green goo all over your face?”

“I think the Nightmares were my favorite,” Riley said, sharing a conspiratorial smile with Donovan. “The first mission we worked with you. Though Rio de Janeiro was hot as Hell itself.”

I shot Riley a look and he wiped his smile.

Donovan smiled even bigger, his eyes lingering on mine. “Yes, back when we first met. But that was a long time ago. Why would I risk my ass to help you now?”

“Why, money of course,” I answered without hesitation. “Alexander, the delight that he is, has been trying to assassinate the HR. They contacted me to protect him. I’m just trying to get some good mercs.”

Donovan smiled. “Okay. Fifty percent of your take.”

“Please,” I scoffed. “Try thirty.”

“Forty-five.” His lips turned up even more. He was enjoying this.

I rolled my eyes. “Forty.”

“Forty and a favor.” His eyes had a gleam in them I didn’t care for at all.

Mine narrowed. “What kind of favor?”    

He leaned back even further in his chair. “I’ve missed the taste of those lips something awful.”

Riley busted out laughing and even Quinn’s lips twitched upwards. “Excuse us a minute?” I said to them without turning my eyes from Donovan’s wolfish grin. They got up and walked for the door. Riley cast one last look over his shoulder.

I looked up at Donovan. God, but Irish boys could be such trouble…

“Zyan, what happened to us?” Donovan’s green eyes burned into mine.

Okay, so apparently he wasn’t playing it cool. I smiled sweetly. “You cheated on me, remember?”

“I can’t imagine now why I ever would have done such a foolish thing,” he said, his voice low. I had long ago lost my Irish lilt, but he’d kept his and it was sexy as hell. Damn him.

“Well, you did. So the way I figure it, you owe me a favor, not the other way around.” I stood up and placed my palms on his desk.

“I never said you owed me a favor,” he said, his grin returning. “I just asked for one.”

I walked slowly around the edge of his desk, the heels of my boots sinking down into the carpet. Stopping before him, I rested my hands on his arms and leaned forward until my lips hovered right over his. His breath washed warm over my skin, and with it the scent of aftershave and a tang of whiskey. I heard his heartbeat quicken. “You should have thought of how much you’d miss me before you cheated,” I murmured.

“I’ll remember that next time,” he said, his lips brushing into mine as he spoke. One hand reached up to cup my cheek.

“There won’t be a next time,” I whispered. Then I was standing across the room. He blinked in surprise at my little disappearing act, which was pretty satisfying, even if it was the most basic of Anam Gatai tricks. “So, are you in or are you out?”

“Ah, hell, Zyan,” he said, “I’ll always be in if you are.”

Hope you enjoyed that taste of Donovan! If you want more, Martinis with the Devil Part One is free on Smashwords, B&N, iTunes and Kobo for the forseeable future, and only 99 cents on Amazon. 

IWSG friends and other friends, have an awesome rest of the week!

Zyan Star Series, Character Profile: Pan

Hi, friends! A quick note before we dive into the juiciness of Pan: Martinis with the Devil Part 2 is now out! I will run some free days this week, otherwise it'll be 99 cents at all the retailers. Check my Goodreads links in the right sidebar. Also, if you missed my previous character profiles of Quinn and Riley, check them out.

Now on to Pan!

Name: Pan

Supernatural powers: The Faerie God of Nature

Appearance: Pale skin, long red hair, bright green eyes, tends to wear boots, breeches and vests

See my Pinterest board here for a pic. I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for, they're all too young, but you'll get the general idea

Favorite drink: Faerie mead

Weapon of choice: Magic, though he does have a badass silver staff

Pan comes into the story in part two of Martinis with the Devil (so, perfect timing for release day - I actually didn't plan that). Zyan and Eli convince him to help them find some people that have been abducted and taken to the realm of Faerie (can't say more or it'll spoil it). But his help comes at a high price - they will each owe him a favor, any favor he desires. Pan would just as soon kiss you as kill you, and it merely depends on his mood. He's an incredibly fun character to write :)

Here's one of my fave Pan excerpts from the book. I had to modify it ever so slightly to remove spoilers. Zyan, Eli and Pan are in Faerie, and Zy has just fought in their gladiatorial competition.

“Since my champion has defeated the reigning champion,” Pan called for everyone to hear, “I invoke the right of victor’s challenge.”

A resounding gasp of surprise mixed with delight rang from the crowd. Apparently this was an infrequent treat. After a few moments of heavy silence, a figure walked to the edge of one of the balconies. I recognized him immediately. Taryn Blackflame.

“Our friend Taryn was the master of Jintara, who you have defeated,” Pan said softly to me. “And since I am the—” he paused as I turned to glare at him, “Let’s just say ‘manager’ of you, I am entitled to challenge Taryn to a fight.”

“What are your terms?” Taryn called to Pan.

“I am here for the three that you abducted.”

“I have other plans for them,” Taryn said with a smile. “They are to fight in the stadium.” 

The audience cheered in approval.

“Am I to understand that you are refusing the right of victor’s challenge?” Pan called, pleasantly enough.

“I will battle you Pan, but my new toys are not available as the spoils.”

“Well in that case, I withdraw my victor’s challenge.” I stared at Pan as he gave a little bow to Taryn. His green eyes sparked. “If you won’t offer them as prizes in a fair fight, I suppose I’ll just have to take them.”

As the words fell from his mouth, Taryn’s face twisted in rage, the crowd began to yell in a mixture of excitement and disapproval, and the earth rolled beneath our feet. Sand flew up into the air as something sharp penetrated the floor of the arena. As it rose further up, I could see a point of stone, granite or something similar. It pushed further and further, a small mountain forcing its way out of the ground.

I saw Taryn gesture to several faeries I assumed were his guards. He was going to move his prisoners. I dashed forward and sprang up to the balcony, knocking a surprised Taryn out of my way. A rush of wings at my back told me Eli had joined the fight. At that moment I heard a gasp from the audience and turned to see what was transpiring in the arena.

The mountain now shimmered and moved, elongating in some places and shortening in others. After a moment during which my eyes struggled to see what shape it was taking, I saw what definitely looked like a head. And from that head came a deafening roar. The form rippled, and two huge wings stretched out. The gray stone glowed orange for a moment as if turning to molten metal, and then cooled back down to a glistening gray. A tail whipped around, bashing in one of the columns of the arena.

Holy shit. Pan had created a dragon.

Ah, I love Pan. Hope you enjoyed that, and have an awesome week. TTFN!

Zyan Star Series, Character Profile: Riley

Hello and welcome! My Zyan Star character profile series continues with Riley. If you missed the previous profile of Quinn, click here. These guys are from Martinis with the Devil, my urban fantasy that released on April 11th. Martinis and its prequel Black Magic and Mojitos are both FREE until April 25th on Smashwords and B&N. Without further ado, I give you Riley:

Name: Riley

Supernatural powers: Werewolf

Appearance: Black hair, hazel eyes, cocoa skin, muscular

See my Pinterest board here for a pic (swoon all you want ladies, but Riley goes for guys)

Favorite drink: Brimstone liquor

Weapon of choice: Teeth and claws

Riley is Zyan's other best friend, along with Quinn. The three of them are roommates, and work in Zyan's bar Noir together. He also goes with them on supernatural bounty hunts. He's a total exercise-a-holic and adrenaline junkie, often riding his motorcycle without a helmet and other daredevil stunts. He's gained mastery over his inner wolf, so he can change between human and wolf shape at will, not just on the full moon.

And now one of my favorite Riley excerpts. This is actually from Martinis with the Devil Part 2, which comes out on April 25th. So, a sneak peek! Riley is helping Zy learn to control her inner magic, which she's suppressed for over a century.

The next day it was Riley’s turn. When I woke up late in the afternoon, he was standing in the living room with an expectant look on his face.

“Let me guess—a training session for my inner beast is about to go down?”

Riley nodded. “You bet. Little witch isn’t going to have a monopoly on your training program.”

I simply groaned in response and sat down on the sofa. 

“What are you doing? This is not a lecture. We’re heading out into the field.” Riley started for the door.

“What?”

He looked at me with his dark eyes. “Sitting in the house is not where you have a problem. It’s when you start to unleash your power.” He kept walking and I had to jog to keep up. “The last couple centuries since the incident with the village, you’ve only used the tiniest of bursts of your power, and mostly for simple, mundane things. Right?”

I nodded. Not to sound incredibly immodest, but my looks alone could lure any scumbag I wanted with no magical powers whatsoever. I’d kept my power under heavy lock and key when it came to hunting. Until the other day.

“So, what’s happened is that you’ve just suppressed your power so that it’s grown desperate like a starving animal. It’s not meant to be suppressed. You just need to learn a balance between nothing and everything. Let the racehorse out to run, so long as it understands that when you call it back, it’d better listen.”

“Okay, enough with the animal metaphors.” I rolled my eyes.

Riley ignored my comment and carried on. “You are the alpha, not your power. You just need to establish dominance.”

“You’re talking like it’s a completely different person.”

“It’s not a person at all. Your humanity is the person. Your supernatural side is the animal. They must work together.”

We’d reached the street now. Riley headed south. “As you know, being a werewolf I’m extremely compelled by the moon. When I was younger, I had no choice but to change on the full moon. My inner wolf would completely take over. I had to stay out in the middle of nowhere, or I undoubtedly would have killed someone.”

I nodded. That was all right out of the werewolf handbook.

“As you also know, I was in a pack in my early wolf days, the pack my family had been in for countless generations. Our alpha taught me over time how to control my wolf side without suppressing it too much. But even now, all these years later, I’ve not mastered things completely. Though I can resist the change on the full moon if I really need to, once I go wolf it’s still always a struggle to keep my human thoughts. When I’m a wolf, humans are just another animal to prey on.”

I glanced over at Riley as he spoke. Like me, he didn’t like to talk about his past too much. When I’d met him, he’d separated from his pack and was a loner. I knew his parents had been killed in some sort of pack fight, but he had never shared the details. We all had our secrets to keep.

Hope you love Riley as much as I do! Stay tuned over the next couple weeks for profiles of Pan, Donovan, Eli and of course Zyan herself.

Zyan Star Series, Character Profile: Quinn

Hi, friends! Since yesterday I released Martinis with the Devil, book one in my Zyan Star urban fantasy series (woot!), I am kicking off a series of character profile posts. I love these guys, and I hope you do, too! Today I am featuring...

Name: Quinn

Supernatural powers: Witch

Appearance: Long blonde hair, golden eyes (a characteristic of witches in this series), pale skin

See my Pinterest board here for a pic

Favorite drink: Pixie Dust Martini

Weapon of choice: Magic

Quinn is one of Zyan's best friends, as well as her roommate and fellow bartender and supernatural bounty hunter. She's a boy chaser, vegetarian, and usually a peacekeeper but can hold her own in a fight. Don't let her innocent appearance fool you. A powerful witch, she coaches Zy on controlling her untamed magical powers.

Here's one of my favorite Quinn excerpts from Martinis with the Devil. Zy has just told Quinn that she's going after her ex, Alexander, who is trying to assassinate the Holy Representative of Northwest America. FYI, if foul language seriously offends you, I wouldn't read on (or for that matter, read the book - there's a lot of it!).

“So, what are you going to do?” Quinn's golden witch eyes looked like glowing suns in the darkness.

“I’m going to find him. And I’m going to kill him.” I cast one last look out over Puget Sound, then headed for the parking lot.

“You don’t mean tonight, do you?” Quinn chased after me.

“It’s not even midnight. I’ve got the whole night. When’s a better time?”

She was quiet for a moment. “I’ve never felt a vamp as powerful as him. How old is he, Zy?”

“Let’s just say he may have known Jesus Christ.” I had reached the pavement and pulled out the keys to the Porsche. I pressed the unlock button and the car blinked to life.

“Holy shit! Don’t you think we need to think about this?  Come up with a plan to kill a vamp that’s almost two millennia your senior?” She stepped in front of me, blocking the door. Her black dress blended into the glossy paint like the car was absorbing her.

“I have a plan. Find that bastard, and kill his sorry ass. It has a beautiful simplicity, don’t you think?” I smiled a smile I knew was not pretty at all.

“No, I don’t think. Riley!”

Damn her. She knew he’d hear with his freaking super-wolf ears. “Listen, I’m not asking you to come with me. I know this isn’t your vendetta.” I caught her eyes with mine.

Riley pushed the door of the bar open and started towards us, Dan and a couple others on his tail. “What’s going on?”

“Tell him,” Quinn said, a stubborn set to her jaw.

I sighed. “Sweet Quinn is upset because I’m going to kill Alexander. Okay? Sharing time’s over now, let me get in my car.”

“He’s two thousand years old,” Quinn snapped. “She left that little detail out.”

Dan let out a low whistle and Riley’s face got stormy. “So basically, you’re just going to end your existence in a blaze of glory, going up against someone like that alone? That’s just dumb.”

“Alright, I’ve had enough of this.” I picked Quinn up, moved her, and slid in behind the wheel. And proceeded to become frozen in place. Except for my mouth. “God damn it, Quinn.”

“I’ll release my spell if you stop and listen like a rational person,” she said. Power rolled off her like a lightning storm.

“I don’t suppose you can be persuaded to give up your suicide mission?” Riley asked, his eyes hard.

I shook my head. “Fuck no.”

“Well, then let’s come up with some sort of compromise. Like, a little extra backup.”

“From who?”

“Well, I know a certain shapeshifter who’d be happy to help you out.” Riley’s expression was innocent.

“Are you joking? Sure, let’s just bring together all the ex-boyfriends I hate for one big night of fun.” I pushed hard against Quinn’s bonds with my own burst of power, but she had me locked down good.

Riley smirked. “I’m just talking about two of them, not a thousand.”

“Cock,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

“So, that’s a yes then?” he responded with a knowing smile.

I knew they were right. I could see the only thing I’d gain tonight was my own death. Which wouldn’t be so bad, other than hanging out in that hot-as-hell shithole smelling brimstone for the rest of eternity. But, then Alexander would just kill the HR, and keep taking advantage of other innocent girls. And nothing would come of my noble sacrifice. I sighed again. “Fine. But only so you guys will shut the hell up.”

Quinn smiled and released me. I started the car with my power and floored it in reverse. Ah, the looks on their faces. I smiled, then slammed on the brakes. “Just joking. Get the hell in.”

Hope you enjoyed that little nibble! I'll be posting Riley, Donovan, Pan, Eli and Zyan over the next couple weeks, so stop on by. TTFN!

Martinis with the Devil Release Day!!!

I am thrilled to announce Martinis with the Devil Part One is now available!! And it's FREE for two weeks on Smashwords and Barnes and Noble (99cents on Amazon).

Smashwords     B&N     Amazon

About the book:

When offered a job on the Holy Representative’s special security team, bounty hunter Zyan Star couldn’t be less interested – until she finds out it’s her most hated of exes that they’re trying to track down. He broke her heart and dumped her, which in turn led to the loss of her soul at the hands of an immortal soul thief. Now she too exists on a diet of souls, with the occasional martini thrown in for good measure, and she’s had over two hundred years to fantasize about revenge. She just didn’t quite imagine it playing out alongside the emissaries of Heaven.

Working with Eli, the uptight angel that heads up the HR’s security, is just about as much fun as Zy expects. He of course wants her vampire ex brought to justice through legal avenues, which is very inconvenient and incredibly boring. As she dives into the case, however, she realizes there’s more at stake than her plot for payback. Like, the free will of mankind, and preventing the minions of hell from taking over the sovereign dimensions.

This job is going to push her to the limits of her abilities, and there’s just a slight problem with that: the powers she’s suppressed for centuries after losing control of them are exactly the powers she’s going to need to save the HR, end her millennia-old ex and stop Lucifer’s little plot to join the party and invade Earth.

Savior of humanity? Not so much. Or so she thought.

Sound fun? If you like urban fantasy, kickass women with swords, foul language, cocktails, humor, and sexy bits, this might be up your alley.

So let's throw some confetti and raise a toast to Zyan!! Thanks for stopping by to celebrate with me :)

Almost Here!!!!

Hi, friends! I'm posting with the IWSG (Insecure Writer's Support Group) today. And my insecurity of the month is classic. I have a book releasing Monday - how will it do??? Unless you're Neil Gaiman or something, I think all of us have that butterfly feeling in our stomach for weeks before and after one of our books releases. You're exposing a piece of your soul to the world and hoping everyone likes it. Plus, making a pinch of money would be nice, right?

Well, Martinis with the Devil is definitely a piece of my soul. It was the second book I wrote, and I wrote it in 2012. It went through a major rewrite and dozens of rounds of edits over the next couple years. It had some near misses with agents that liked it a lot, but urban fantasy is a hard sell in the traditional market now. So I decided to self-publish it last year. And then I got an agent for a different series, and postponed its release. But now the time is nigh - it's coming out Monday, April 11th!!

It's going to be free for the first couple of weeks, so if you want to stroke my ego, download a copy, check out Zyan's fan page (link on the menu above), or add to Goodreads. Or all of the above and you'll be on my rock star list forever!

Also, show some love to the other IWSG bloggers, and of course the IWSG captain Alex Cavanaugh. See the other posts here!

What's up in your literary world this month?

Zyan Star Book News!

At long last, Martinis with the Devil, the first book in my Zyan Star urban fantasy series, is coming out on April 11th!

As some of you may know, I was all ready to release it last fall. Then, I signed with my agent, and we decided to wait to release it while shopping for publishers for my other fantasy series. Well, we're still on sub, and have a third of the publishers yet to respond, but Sandy gave me the go ahead to move ahead with the Zyan series! What I'm going to do is release each book in halves, part one and two, so that they're published as novellas and my debut novel status is preserved for my other series. I'm so excited!

What's exciting for my readers is that Martinis with the Devil part one and two will be FREE for at least the first two weeks. I want to really come out of the gates strong, and that's where I need your help! I am using Thunderclap for spreading the word via Twitter, FB and Tumblr. It's a crowdspeaking platform that has supporters sign up ahead of time, and then it blasts out all the messages at once on my launch day. It's really cool, but I have to get 100 supporters or it won't blast out, kind of like crowdfundraising (Kickstarter and whatnot). So, most of my focus is going there, please sign up for a tweet, FB or Tumblr post!! I will love you forever :) Here's the link.

If you'd also like a free ARC, and/or want to help me spread the word via a blog tour, etc., please click here and fill out a super quick Google form so I can keep track. You can also fill this out if you are doing the Thunderclap I mentioned above, just so I know who's signed up.

If you want to read more about Martinis, click the My Books link on my blog menu. I'm so stoked to finally be sharing it with the world! The fun will keep coming too, because I also plan to release book two, Whiskey and Angelfire, and book three, Vengeance and Vermouth, over the next few months.

You guys rock, and as always, thanks for sharing this journey with me!

Cover Reveal and Free Literary Delights for You

So, I went back and forth on when I should do the cover reveal for Martinis with the Devil, because I still don't know the exact pub date yet. Once my super agent Sandy gets a pub deal for my other series (see what I did there - the power of positive affirmation ;) we can decide on a release date for Martinis. But honestly, I just can't wait anymore, so here it is!!

I hard core LOVE this cover so much, and my cover designer Steven, who is just freakin' amazeballs. Literally nailed it on the first try.

It's been SO incredibly flattering to get lots of requests for the release date of this. I heart you guys for loving Zyan and her friends as much as I do :) So, as a little thank you for that and for your patience, I've put the first five chapters up on Wattpad for your reading pleasure! 

I hope you enjoy both the cover and the chapters. And of course, I'll post news on the release date when I have it. TTFN!

My Whovian Adventure in the Great Northwest

A couple weeks ago my son and I went on a trip to Seattle and the surrounding area. I had told him years ago when he turned thirteen I'd let him pick anywhere domestically he wanted to go as his present. This is partially selfish, because I adore traveling. And, this year he turned thirteen! A terrifying prospect. And I had to pony up on paying for this trip :) His birthday was actually in February, but a friend that lives out there said the weather is awful in February, and that summer was best. So, we picked July, which happened to be my birthday. It was a pretty epic time. We had a blast, both in the city, and doing a lot of hiking in Olympic National Park, as well as Mt. Rainier. We went whale watching, too, though I didn't get any good pics of the whales due to the boat pitching back and forth. One other thing that was cool about the trip was that my novel Martinis with the Devil is set in Seattle, so I got to do some setting research since I'd never been there. Google Earth only gets you so far :)


Anyways, I thought I'd share some of my favorite pics!

The Chihuly Glass Museum

On the Needle with a jaded teenager (he loved it, he just kept pulling these ridiculous faces for the camera)

A Dalek at the EMP Sci-Fi/Fantasy Museum (my kinda museum!)

The Needle at night

Chihuly at night

The glittering lights of the city

Pikes Place (a magical place - the Diagon Alley of Seattle)

Atop Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park

Overlooking the Sol Duc Falls at Olympic

Rialto Beach (my absolute favorite - stark and gorgeous)

Rialto

Sunset at Rialto to finish up my birthday

Ruby Beach

Selfie at Ruby

Lake Quinnault I think

Mt. Rainier

The Paradise Visitors Center at Mt. Rainier

We're now back home safe and sound, but I wish we'd had more time to explore out there! How about you - any fun trips recently, or coming up? TTFN!

Novelette Finished! Help Me Pick a Title

Hi, friends! In my last post I announced that I'm self-pubbing my second novel, Martinis with the Devil, this November. As part of the ramp-up to the big release day, I'm writing a couple novelettes with the same characters. And yesterday I finished the rough draft of the first one! Huzzah!

I'm pretty pleased with it overall. It needs a ton of editing, but I'm really happy with how it ended up. My muse threw a surprise twist into the climax that I wasn't expecting, as I was in the middle of writing it. Love it when that happens! And the final scene wrapped up nicely too.

So! I need to pick a title so I can get my cover artist going on the design. I was hoping to find something jazzy and fun continuing with my alcohol theme (doesn't have to be a martini, but something). I usually make a list of keywords that represent imagery or themes from the book, and then play with those. And this novelette is set in Rio de Janeiro, so I want to reflect that somehow. These are the three contenders:

Tequila Moonrise
Revenge on the Rocks
Black Magic Tango

**Late entry: Black Magic and Mojitos** New fave I think!


The last one is my favorite. I think it sounds appropriate for the urban fantasy genre, has a Latin flare, and also sounds fun and sassy like Martinis with the Devil. But no cute drink reference or pun.

What do you think? What's your favorite? Any additional contenders to throw into the ring?

TTFN!

Focus

So, my last blog post was about balancing my passions in life, and how over the last year I've reconnected with my passion for horses and have been training my horse Max. Last year my life went through a big transition period, and I haven't written as much as in previous years. Part of that was the big upheaval of my personal life (divorce and move) and part of it was finding balance with other aspects of my life (more time with my horse and doing yoga and other healthy things). And a big part of it that I didn't talk about was that I've had a hard time finding a focus because I wasn't sure what direction my writing was headed. I joined my first critique group and started querying my latest book, and didn't know whether to start a new project, or work on the second book of the series I'm querying, or edit one of my older books.


The optimist in me thought, if I get an agent and pub deal, I'll need to focus on the various rounds of edits that they'll want, and not be distracted by another project. So I waited, and I couldn't decide. And that was fine - I needed the time to mull things over and find my direction. Pretty much the day after I wrote that last post, I made a decision: I will self-publish my second book, Martinis with the Devil, by the end of the year. Even if I get an agent for my latest book, I think this will be a good move. Martinis is urban fantasy, and most publishers aren't touching that genre right now because it's fairly saturated. But people still love reading it (including myself!), and it's such a fun book. When people say to write the book you want to read, Martinis is pretty much the epitome of that for me. It's just fun, sassy urban fantasy with a kickass cast of characters. Nothing dark and serious like a lot of the urban fantasy out there. So, unless I get an agent and they don't want me to self-pub, that's the plan.


With that decision made, I've had a blast the last week or so outlining the sequel to Martinis. The second book is set in Dublin, so I'm tentatively thinking of a title like Whiskey and Angelfire. Whatcha think? And have you made any big decisions lately?


TTFN!

All About Martinis with the Devil

Hi, blog friends! I was tagged by my new blog and Twitter friend Yelena Casale to participate in the 18th week of The Next Big Thing Bloghop. It's fun because you get to talk about one of your WIPs, and I've chosen Martinis with the Devil, my adult urban fantasy. So, here goes.

What is the working title of your book?

Already spilled that one.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

Hmmm... should I admit this? Haven't shared this before. So, I had read Twilight recently (no, don't groan, it's not going in the direction you think it is). And suddenly this voice just pops into my head and starts chattering away. Since Twilight is all about a 17-year-old falling in love so desperately she wants to become immortal to stay with this person, the sarcastic voice in my head wanted to know what happens when you're so sure of something, and you become immortal - and then you get dumped and have to spend eternity contemplating your stupidity. So, it was around this loud, sassy, sarcastic voice that the whole story was born. Zyan would simply not leave me alone.

What genre does your book fall under?

Urban fantasy.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Actually, you can see my characters on my Pinterest board for Martinis here.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Haven't really polished my one-liner yet, so this is a bit rough: A rogue witch/vampire must choose between the revenge she's sought for over 200 years and working within the law to save the planet from a demon invasion.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Repped by an agency I hope. I'm still working on that :)

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Four months.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

It has some of the snark of the Anita Blake series, but without the (IMO) over-the-top sex and violence that developed later in the series.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

Kind of covered this above - I guess you could say it was Twilight in a way. Mostly my main character bugging me relentlessly until I wrote her story.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Martinis is a fun, sexy, fast read. It has a great mix up vamps, witches, shifters, weres, faeries, angels, demons and even cyclops. I've had a lot of people that have read an excerpt say they loved it even if they're not usually fans of fantasy or vampire books.

So, that's it for my answers! I have tagged my dear blog friend Rachna Chabbria for next week's post! Please go see her post next week, and don't forget to check out my tagger Yelena, especially if you like urban fantasy.

Hope everyone has a rad week!