Before I get the classic eye-rolls, the novel is what you expect from me and no, it isn't merely a 50k novella I am passing off as novel either. It is 95k (as of right now but I do add and subtract during the proofing process so it might end up as long as 100k or as short as 90k depending upon how happy Felicia gets in terms of cutting during the editing process...lol)
Don't get too excited gals and fellas as I will be taking a much needed hiatus from this series to focus on some of my other projects. Love Voodoo from DeGeneration should be released before the end of May. Also lined up for the summer/fall-autumn are Hart Attack: Book I in The Hart Family Saga and Apocalypse 2012: Book II from The Plague series. In the winter, I will be releasing The Making of a Star from The Pop Stars series.
Then, I will get back to what y'all want me to...that is The Vamp Saga, of course, when I will begin writing the fourth book in the series: Dawn of Death. I fear that one might be a magnum opus and could be as long as 120 to 130k in word length as there is a lot going on and I am not sure whether or not I will be able to end it somewhere around my usual page length if I sense a cliffhanger in sight...
Okay, enough gabbing...here is a sneak peak (totally unedited though it has been proofed but I can't guarantee it is perfect) of Queen of the Undead: Book III.
Excerpt from Queen of the Undead
I sat through yet another exhaustive meeting and
waited with expectation for it to be over. As Mikkel still had not returned
from his “two week” excursion which had begun almost six months ago, Idallys
had been filling in for him so we had a full Council of twenty.
I should have been looking for guidance as no
doubt my father would gladly provide it for me but at the same time I didn’t
know exactly what I needed. I was the Queen and I had to conduct these meetings
with a sense of decorum and taste. My personal problems were my own and never
were they to get in the way of real Council Business. I was to steel myself and
overlook any of my own heartache.
Mikkel had begun to send me old fashioned, hand
written notes in mid January and to that day, had not missed a week. I suppose
these were to insure he was okay as they were definitely in his handwriting.
There were occasions I still worried about him
and what had begun as a quick trip had turned into something else entirely.
“Your Majesty, do you have anything to add?”
Armand inquired, snapping me out of my contemplative mood.
I sipped from my VA Neg before I questioned,
“What were we talking about?”
From the corner of my eye, I could see Chiyoko
and Siobhán look at one another before doing an eye roll.
Emmerik cleared his voice. “I was just reporting
the latest figures, your Majesty. The virus is spreading and although it hasn’t
reached Western Europe or North America, it is only a matter of time. Cases
have already been reported in Central and South America just as cases have been
reported as far west as Hungary.
“It is imperative I am given an unlimited budget
and I need more staff to help find a cure as soon as possible. The Lycan People
are definitely in danger of succumbing to this illness, which carries a
ninety-five percent mortality rate with werewolves versus a twenty percent
mortality rate with humans and less than a one percent mortality rate for
Faeries, Demi-feys included.”
“Well, I’m grateful it was only supposition the
Demi-feys would be harmed by this virus though I must say that we will do
everything in our power from stopping the spread of the virus to the Lycan
community. I’m assuming there are members of the Vampire Mercenary Squad with
medical training?”
Armand brought up the figures on a laptop in
front of him. “Yes. Approximately twenty-five percent are skilled in medicine
and science.”
I stood which was a clear message the meeting
was to be dismissed shortly. “Bring them here and Emmerik, I trust you can
choose the cream of the crop. They will be at your disposal with full pay. This
has to come to an end. The IVC will not be blackmailed by GenMods who only care
about money and some deranged form of revenge Zahara has worked out in that
head of hers.”
“Surely you would want to meet them?”
I stared from Emmerik to my father. “Yes, of
course but first allow my father and I some private time first.”
***
It was still so amazing to me.
My father and I had spent over eighteen years
apart and even when I knew of him, I had no idea we were related.
Regardless, we’d managed to repair a relationship
in six months and were closer now than I’d ever been with the man I assumed was
my father.
He was my confidant and regardless what issues I
had, I always sought out his council first.
I had no illusions I was the perfect vampire
Queen—I was probably one of the worst, bestowed my position not because of my
beauty but merely because I was the first and therefore the most powerful. I
would never say there was anyone else who would have made a better Queen than I
as I knew of no woman but the point was, I felt like I was failing and it was
not an emotion I was equipped to handle.
My mortal life had been no picnic and although
many of my problems had been caused by me, I was often my own worst enemy by
taking one mistake and making it that much worse. I wondered if this is what
was going on when it came to my husband’s unexplained absence.
How long would people accept he was on a
self-imposed sabbatical? When would the talk turn malicious and cruel;
whisperings of me having him murdered or better yet, him tiring of me and he
decided to leave me? It made no difference if he was gone one month or one
hundred years, we were still married and therefore I could never promise myself
to another.
It wasn’t the same kind of lose-lose situation
humans found themselves in because I could sleep with as many men and women as
I wanted to but I could never declare love for another and this was a definite
problem, especially when I was in love with someone other than my husband.
Emmerik.
The torture it had been to see him gracing the
halls of the château yet he was unavailable to me. I couldn’t dare sleep with
him now that Mikkel was gone. It would seem like more of a betrayal than his
loss already felt.
My father immediately sensed my anxiety as soon
as he sat down next to me on the sofa in the Salon Bleu. The sitting room was
aptly named because everything in the sitting room was various shades of blue.
It matched my mood and had become one of my favorite rooms in the château
because of the ambience and the soothing feeling I received there. I also felt
closest to Mikkel in this room once I found out it had been Adrienne’s favorite
room as well.
He slipped an arm around my shoulders and held
me close. “My love, what is the matter? You seem very out of sorts and you were
distracted the whole meeting. A Queen never shows her minions how she is
feeling, not even us on the IVC. We aren’t your equals and therefore we should
never be privy to your moods.”
I glared at him with fresh tears in my eyes and
realized I should have never worn any shade in the white family today. “Papa,
I’m so conflicted and I have been for the longest time now. I don’t understand
and I feel so out of sorts. Who is my equal and with whom can I share my
deepest darkest secrets?”
He passed me a black Hermès scarf and I wiped my
eyes. “Unfortunately, the Queen has no equals and you aren’t any different.
However, you can share your deepest fears with Emmerik—”
“Papa, no! I can’t…I can’t be around him; I
can’t smile and pretend everything is okay between us when it is not. I love
him…my God, I really do. I’m in love with him and for the first time, I can see
that although I love Mikkel with all my heart my feelings for Emmerik surpass
the emotions I feel for my own husband.”
I hope you all enjoyed the preview as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you! Feel free to leave a comment if you want to add your two cents and don't forget the second novel, Better Off Dead, is already available so grab a copy (though it isn't compulsory). ;-) Until next time, have a wonderful weekend and happy reading!
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