I need more than 24 hours in a day...

This will be a quickie because I have just taken a break from writing. Speaking of that, what am I working on now?

Well, Immortal Dawn: Book IV in The Vamp Saga, is coming along just fine. I am also working on a new series under my pen name and I will be creating a sub-category on the website for that alter-ego personality.

Mmm, do authors usually discuss their pen names? Well, it depends. If I ever ventured into YA then no, I wouldn't even mention that pen name but as this is not the case then I feel free talking about the issue.

The new series will all be novella length sexy times but not too sexy. I would say they are paranormal erotic romance. There has been a huge debate on what constitutes erotic romance versus erotica and the best explanation I have heard is this: in erotic romance, the sex can get explicit but there is a plot and even if you took out the sex, the story still stands; in erotica, the sex is the plot and if you took the sex out then there would be no story.

You are free to agree or disagree with this assessment but this is what I am basing my new series on as erotic romance is Elle Chardou's realm, not mine.

However, I have noticed that my own novels are heating up in the sex department so perhaps my alter-ego isn't so different from me. The biggest difference between The Supernaturals series and The Vamp Saga is where I choose to place my emphasis. Perhaps I am writing The Supernaturals under my alter-ego because it is a Lycan-based series and I am known for my vampire series under my real name.

Don't get me wrong, werewolves really take up a nice chunk of the new series that will premiere early next month, Hart Attack: Book I (The Hart Family Saga), however, it is still mostly from a vampire's point of view because I happen to like vamps. :-)

Anyway, here is the new cover for the novella from Elle Chardou which will premiere before the end of this month.

The first novella is just a little under twenty-five thousand words or about one hundred pages or so. It will be priced at 99 cents for a while as I would love to pick up some of those readers who enjoy Cynthia Eden's Bound series and Lisa Renee Jones Vampire Wardens and The Werewolf Society.

Like their series', it is not necessary for one to read the novels in order or each one after the other as they will be complete stand alones.

Unlike their series', mine centers around the Gasquet Lycan pack of New Orleans. Four brothers and one sister; their family has been cursed by a Voodoo priestess a couple of centuries ago and their punishment is the diluting of their pureblood werewolf heritage. Each of the Gasquet siblings fall in love with another type of supernatural or someone who is not a pureblood werewolf, which is a major no-no.

I would like to think these are love stories above all so there won't be a lot of violence or clashes between packs. They are at heart all about a woman and a man who connect and cannot deny the feelings they have for one another. Yes, I realize this is a novel concept -- pun intended -- but sometimes going back to the basics is nice. I have enough angst in The Vamp Saga and The Hart Family Saga; this one is low on the angst but high on drama so they have been a joy to write.

After I finish up Immortal Dawn, it is on to Change of Hart: Book II in The Hart Family Saga. And after I finish Darkness Rising, it is on to The Dawn of Darkness, book two in the The Supernaturals. Sometime between now and the end of the year, I will work on editing Love Voodoo: Book I in the DeGeneration series, also a sexy time erotic romance by Ms. Chardou.

Unfortunately, I don't think Apocalypse 2012 will be written this year and will be definitely called Apocalypse 2013 as my heart isn't in it. I am only happy I didn't end Beginnings: Book I (The Plague) with a cliffhanger as those who do truly enjoy the series will have to wait until probably Spring of 2013 before they read the sequel. My apologies but I would rather wait for inspiration to strike than write a crappy novel everyone hates and thinks is sub-par. I have to go with my muse and it's paranormal/urban fantasy/gothic-lite all the way at the moment.

The same will be the case with The Pop Stars series (which did end on a cliffhanger). Although that one should be finished the first part of January so although it is a wait, it won't be as long as The Plague series.

Until next time, happy reading and have a wonderful day.

P.S. I am almost a third of the way finished with Immortal Dawn so it will probably come out late September, early October (my editor is backed up at the moment). Queen of the Immortals will premiere mid- to late-August so I wanted to give a bit of space between the novels.

P.P.S. The Supernaturals will work very much like The Beautiful People series. I hope to come out with a novella every other month depending upon how popular they are.

Done & Dusted!

Hey everyone! Well, very good news...Hart Attack is finished. As in the first draft is done and now comes the hard part. Proofing, making changes and then sending it off to the editor. Anyway, I thought I would share a part of it with you but it's not from the beginning...thought I would leave you guys with a little flavor with this new paranormal romance I have created. Yes, it's got a very heavy urban fantasy feel too so be prepared...

Hart Attack is a full length novel at 89k words (it might end up longer -- up to 95k -- or shorter -- down to 85k) at the moment and I really do hope these characters grow on you.

In the scene I am sharing with you, one of the main character's has been kidnapped and this is her in full panic mode. Enjoy!

Part of Lena’s brain had gone into shutdown mode.

What could she remember she questioned herself angrily as she awoke in a black hole? What was she doing and how long had she been there?

For the first time since she could remember, she hated she denied her mother the right to teach her how to shift. Why would she want to become any kind of animal? She never understood how it would ever be able to help her but locked in the dark with nothing but her own screams for company was enough to change her mind.

She scraped against the walls and felt fingernails break but she didn’t give a damn. If she could just get out of here, Andreas would buy her anything she wanted.

Lena thought back on her sister’s smiling face with their bright amber-tinged brown eyes and gorgeous features. She had been angry with her because the way both Andreas and Sebastiaan were drooling over her like she was their own personal bitch in heat. She’d taken a couple of bathroom breaks and ran directly into Fitch.

Goddamn, it had been a long time since she’d seen him. Andreas had banned him from Thirst for the longest time but someone had let him in. No, not someone, he was with Kandace. They were doing Thirst in the unisex bathroom and she joined them.

How many lines had she done? No more than a few. She remembered laughing with them and then her head began to spin and she blacked out.

Did they have anything to do with this? Were they punishing her for Sebastiaan and his piss poor leadership abilities since she’d broken up with him? No, he didn’t give two shits about her; he only wanted that fucking kid because he or she would have been an heir he badly needed to display.

Her mind seemed to fracture again and she screamed again. “Please help me, I beg you…”

No one came to her rescue but what ever she was in—yes, it was the trunk of a vehicle—came to a stop. Her heart began to thump in her chest with an intensity she despised. Fueled by too much Thirst and Andreas’ own blood, she felt like she was on the verge of losing her mind.

Someone released the latch from inside the car and she threw it open. It was pitch black and it took her a moment to realize she was wearing a blindfold. She ripped it from her eyes, injuring her own flesh in the process with her jagged nails but plastic surgery could take care of that.

Without the blind fold, the situation wasn’t much better. She was in the middle of the bayou and with a moon three quarters full, plenty of weres would be out.

They didn’t need a full moon to shift but anytime nearing a full moon, they possessed much greater powers than when the moon was more subdued.

Lena didn’t give a damn, she struggled out of the trunk and fell on her ass into a thread-bare patch of grass. Her whole body ached but she got to her feet. She would never be able to run in the ridiculously high heels she wore so she tore them away viciously, cutting her ankles in the process but the pain barely registered.

       She tossed the heels and took off running.

The bayou was a scary place at night but she avoided puddles and anywhere near the water. It didn’t stop her from running into all sorts of bayou creatures but she was more afraid of the people who had kidnapped her than she was a few water moccasins and lizards.

How long had she been running? Not long enough but she stopped and tried to catch her breath while looking around.

She closed her eyes and tried to focus but all the alcohol she’d consumed made her head spin.

Lena opened her eyes and listened with the vampire blood coursing through her veins. The Thirst was interfering with her abilities and she now regretted she had done any lines of it at all.

“Where are you going, sweetie?” a southern voice inquired out loud.

She hid behind a tree but the voice seemed too close and she hated the tears which belied her emotions and began to run. She wiped them away and held her breath. If she could only discern what direction the voice was coming from then she’d know which direction to run.

Fuck it, she thought and took off running. If they wanted her then they would have to chase her with as much fervor as she had.

The sound of a wolf’s howl chilled her blood. They’d shifted so they could capture her.

She rounded a corner and faced a whole pack but only the leader turned human and walked toward her. He was nude as the day he was born with an erection which looked dangerously large and frightening. She began to back away but several wolves howled behind her and she knew she was surrounded.

“What the hell do you want from me? I don’t have anything!”

He walked toward her and revealed his face in the moonlight.

Shit! It was him.

“Fuck me, you scared me. What are you doing? Are you doing some kind of favor for Sebastiaan? I don’t think he would approve of your methods,” she murmured in a confident voice.

His blue-green eyes glared at her with that amber tint of a wolf’s. He could shift again any moment. “No, this isn’t a favor for him but it’s a good theory. Unfortunately, my co-conspirators dragged you out here for my benefit.”

I hope you enjoy the preview. The book's release date will be in either late July or early August, depending upon my editor and her summer schedule.

In the meantime, have a wonderful day and keep cool until I blog again... ;-)

Ch-Ch-Changes...

Who ever accused artists of being temperamental creatures and absolute train wrecks wasn't too wrong. This isn't so much a post I really wanted to write as what I am about to tell you is going to take the whole month of June before everything is the way it should be. Mind you, I am also busy writing and trading emails back and forth to my editor, chatting on Facebook (well, that goes out the window along with spending a choice amount of time on Kindleboards)...

Boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen: I have decided to do a major name change in regards to The Vamp Saga books. I have been thinking about it for some time now as if any paranormal fan who has picked up a Sookie Stackhouse book already knows, the word "dead" is in every title. I felt like a copycat using the same vein and tacking on "death" or "dead" in every title but I did it anyway.

Then I am perusing a website of a fellow paranormal author and she has a new book which will be released in July. Guess what it's called? Come on, take a wild guess! Death Wish of course...

Now, the same name for different books isn't new but a lot of paranormal authors have gimicks if you would like to call them that. JR Ward has "lover" in every Black Dagger Brotherhood novel; my friend Shea MacLeod uses "kissed" in every one of her Morgan Bailey novels; Jeaniene Frost loves the word "grave" in her Cat and Bones vampire series and it works quite well if I may say so myself.

A fellow author and I were talking and although the title changes for the novels which have already been released will be small, and as follows:

Death Lair will renamed Immortal Lair; Death Wish will be renamed Mortal Death, Better off Dead will become Better off Immortal and Queen of the Undead will be renamed Queen of the Immortals.

What does this mean for you? Well, as soon as I have made the changes on Amazon, I will let KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) know so everyone who bought a copy from there can have an updated copy with the updated title. Nothing in the books will change, mind you, except the title.

I hope this makes the series seem more of a paranormal romance series as opposed to one about women sleuths and female detectives (my friend told me some of my current titles had "thriller" written all over them).

As I said before, the only change is the title and the covers will eventually reflect that but I won't change the novels on any of the e-book websites until I have heard back from my cover designers and can get an ETA as to when the covers can be changed.

In the meantime, I have changed the cover for The Omnibus Collection (the only one in my control) and here it is:

Yeah, I know. My cover making skills are subpar at best which is why I hire professionals. The only bad part about that scenario is you have no control of when changes are actually made.

I hope this doesn't turn into a major deal and hopefully it will be a relatively smooth transition. I will also put some info about it on the actual page for The Vamp Saga too.

Thanks again for your support and happy Tuesday to all. ;-)

Sorry!

Okay, I'll get this out of the way, I have been a very horrible blogger lately but will you forgive me if I told you I have been hard at work?

First of all, I am two thirds done with Hart Attack so I am very much on track with that novel. After comes the hard work: proofreading, making corrections and then sending it off to the editor but it should definitely be released by late July or early August!

The final cover will look like this:

Queen of the Undead? I'm finished proofreading and will just be doing some final polishing this weekend before I send it to my editor. That one is also on time and should be released late June or early July so that makes me very happy indeed.

That cover will look like this:

What's up next? Well, poor Apocalypse 2012 keeps getting pushed back but this paranormal muse won't leave me otherwise I would be working on it but it's getting kicked out of the way after the next two books on the agenda!

I will be starting to work on Dawn of Death: Book Four of The Vamp Saga after I finish Hart Attack.

After that comes Change of Hart: Book Two from The Hart Family Saga.

Somewhere while I am doing the above, I will be proofing Love Voodoo: Book I from DeGeneration for its Autumn release. Unless you like sexy, smoking hot times and a completely contemporary erotic romance without a speck of paranormal activity then this won't mean a bit to you as you probably won't purchase it unless you're a fanatic of mine. I am releasing it under my pseudonym, Elle Chardou.

Then I will start working on Apocalypse 2012. I should definitely be ready because there are incidents which are planned for DOD and CoH which will lead me into that whole military mode and a kick ass feeling of finally writing Apocalypse 2012.

So, what does that mean?

Well, books usually get released as they are written but Dawn of Death might come out in Autumn, followed by Apocalypse 2012 followed by Change of Hart. Even though Change of Hart would just be sitting on my laptop.

It really depends on how much I can get done but I promise Apocalypse 2012 will be released before 2013...otherwise the title is a bit off, don't you think?

In other news, I have revamped The Omnibus Collection for Death Lair - Death Wish. It is on sale at Amazon for $4.49 (when it gets out of the review stage that is). It is also has a new cover which looks like this:

So you can't miss the new cover and if it doesn't look like this then it's still the old version.
It will also be available at Barnes & Noble, All Romance and iBookstore.

Another totally cool announcement: all my books, including The Beautiful People series (come June 5th when my exclusive Select contract ends with Amazon) will now be available at All Romance along with Smashwords.

Well, except Beginnings: Book I (The Plague), which is now a Select exclusive. I will probably leave it an exclusive until Apocalypse 2012: Book II comes out to give it a nice push when it comes out.

Until then, keep reading all that great literature and I will try to write at least once a week but at the moment, it's either keep writing books or update my blog religiously. I know what most of you would rather I do and it's what I would rather do too. ;-)

Have a happy Memorial Day weekend to my followers in the States and to everyone else, I hope you have a lovely weekend with your friends and family. ;-)

New Cover reveal and Blog Tour!

I just wanted to announce my cover artist came through and the cover for Better Off Dead will be changing. This will be the new cover, at least on Barnes & Noble and Amazon starting tomorrow:

Cool, isn't it? Anyway, I am busy, busy, busy changing it for the paperback as well. I hope everyone enjoys the new cover.

Also, I am on a month-long blog tour through Innovative Book Tours and here are a list of all my stops! Come join me if you can. Thanks!

April 30^th   Minding Spot    (interview)

May 1^st       Lissette E. Manning  (review)

May 2^nd       Bibliophilia, Please  (interview)

May 3^rd       Red Headed Bookworm   (review)

May 4^th       Storm Goddess Book Reviews  (interview)

May 5^th      All Things Writing    (review)

May 11^th    Reader Girls (interview & review)

May 12^th  Book’s Reviewed by Bunny (review)

May 14^th  Doctorsnotes (interview)

                Where’s My Muse? (review)

May 15^th  Rea’s Reading and Reviews  (bio, blurb, excerpt )

May 16^th  Cocktails and Books (interview and review)

May 17^th LilyElement Book Reviews   (review and interview)

May 18^th  Ce-Ce`s Garden of Reviews (review)

May 19^th  Julie Bookaroo-ju (review)