Tales of the Were: Red - Excerpt

I have a new book out! Here's a little taste of it...

Tales of the Were: Red
Redstone Clan #2

A water nymph and a werecougar meet in a bar fight… No joke.

Steve Redstone agrees to keep an eye on his friend’s little sister while she’s partying in Las Vegas. He’s happy to do the favor for an old Army buddy. What he doesn’t expect is the wild woman who heats his blood and attracts too much attention from Others in the area.

Steve ends up defending her honor, breaking his cover and seducing the woman all within hours of meeting her, but he’s helpless to resist her. She is his mate and that startling fact is going to open up a whole can of worms with her, her brother and the rest of the Redstone Clan.

EXCERPT (c) 2013 Bianca D’Arc

“Hey, Red! How’s it hanging?”
“Damn. I knew I shouldn’t have answered the phone.” Steve Redstone’s smile belied his gruff tone. The call was from one of his oldest and best Army buddies—Derek “Deke” Morrow—an entirely human soldier, but a great guy nonetheless. He was also one of the most skilled warriors Steve had ever known.
“Man, I’ve got a big favor to ask you.” Deke’s tone was serious and Steve sobered.
“Spill, bro. You know I’ll do what I can for you.”
“Thanks, man. Knew I could count on you. Thing is, my baby sister is heading your way. One of her girlfriends decided it would be fun to have her bachelorette party in Sin City. It’s not that I don’t trust Trish, as much as I don’t trust her friends. This is an accident waiting to happen and I need some backup. I can’t go. She’d kill me if I showed my face, but she doesn’t know you and you’re local.”
“So you want me to show her a good time?” Steve relaxed. Babysitting, he could do. Teasing his friend just came naturally.
“You do, and I’ll break both your legs.” The tone said Deke was only half-joking.
“Relax. I’ve got you covered. What hotel are they staying at?”
A few minutes later, the call ended and Steve had all the information he’d need to track down his good friend’s wayward sister. He’d establish surveillance first. Check the lay of the land and see what kind of mischief the girls were getting up to. If necessary, he could call on some members of his Clan to help him keep an eye on things, but he didn’t really think that would be necessary. How much trouble could a few young human girls get into, after all?

Steve cursed himself for even thinking that a few hours later as he leaned against the wall of a dark club, watching the half-dozen women who had stormed the Las Vegas strip with the way-too-gorgeous little sister of his friend. Trisha Morrow was a knockout. That was something Steve hadn’t counted on.
When Derek talked about his kid sister, he always made her sound like a teenager. The woman currently knocking back an entire row of colorful, questionable test tube shots at the bar was no teenager. Far from it. She was an adult and as lovely as her brother was deadly.
Steve’s first sight of her had nearly knocked him off his feet, and his reaction hadn’t tamed any in the two hours since. He’d followed the gaggle of women out of the hotel where they were staying and tailed them to this club. They were enjoying the live band, some dancing and a whole lot of drinking. Too much drinking, by his standards. Some of the girls were getting sloppy drunk, but Trisha Morrow seemed to be able to hold her liquor with a little more dignity than her friends. That was something, at least.
He knew she was just as shitfaced as the other women though. She was unsteady on those sexy high heels and the way her short skirt rode up when she tried to get on the barstool had nearly given him a heart attack. She was tall for a human woman. Just a little shorter than her brother, who was about six foot. Trish had to be about five-nine or so. A nice height to match Steve’s six-foot-two.
And he really shouldn’t be thinking thoughts like that. No, not at all. Her brother would kill him if he even thought Steve was thinking about his little sister in an inappropriate way. It would end a friendship Steve valued, and he wasn’t willing to give up that relationship over a woman. Even a woman as knock-out gorgeous as Trisha Morrow.
Steve kept watch from afar. He didn’t want to know her scent. He stayed well upwind so he wouldn’t accidentally smell the sexy, feminine aroma he just knew would rev his engine to full throttle. It was bad enough seeing her. He didn’t want to know the intimate details her scent would reveal to him.
If he wanted to keep his friend, it was better he didn’t know. Even though his inner cougar clawed at his insides to learn more about the pretty female. The cat appreciated Trisha’s beauty and its innate curiosity pushed at Steve to find out more about her, but he couldn’t. He was a babysitter. That’s it.
Steve was so busy watching the woman and thinking about how he mustn’t get too close to her that he almost missed the danger when it struck. One of Trisha’s friends—the bride-to-be, in fact—went out onto the dance floor with a creature Steve recognized. A creature he had no respect for and would not let interfere with this particular group of women.
He had to act. Pushing away from the wall, Steve strolled onto the dance floor and positioned himself opposite Jorge, a Peruvian vampire who’d moved to the area recently. The bloodletter was already treading on thin ice with the local Master of his kind for preying a little too openly on humans. He hadn’t killed anyone yet—that they knew of—but he’d been warned repeatedly to be more discrete in his feeding.
Steve made sure he caught Jorge’s eye, and with a grudging sort of compliance, Jorge finished the dance and escorted the woman back to her friends. He left her with them and glanced over at Steve, cocking his head. Steve looked toward a quiet corner and Jorge nodded almost imperceptibly.
They both moved toward the corner. Steve stood for a moment while the vampire did one of his magic tricks and dampened the sound so they could talk. It was amazing what some of the older vamps could do. They had a weird sort of magic all their own, very unlike anything Steve had seen human magic users do.
“Handy,” Steve mused. “Thanks for the moment of quiet.”
“You wanted to talk with me?” Jorge prompted, clearly annoyed, but Steve didn’t give a shit.
The Redstone Clan was the most powerful group in this city, and even the Master knew it. This guy should show a little more respect, even if he was a few hundred years old. Steve could still crush him like an egg. And he wouldn’t even need backup from his Clan to do it. Jorge just wasn’t as tough as he apparently thought he was.
“I’d like you to leave those women alone.” Steve didn’t owe the vampire any more explanation than that, though he sensed Jorge was going to be difficult.
“Why should I? They are human, are they not?” Jorge looked over the small group who went on talking, laughing and drinking, unaware of the discussion in the corner.
“Yep. Human,” Steve agreed. “And under my protection. Got it?” He leaned forward, doing his best to intimidate the shorter man.
“What’s in it for me if I do you this favor?”
Steve had to stifle a sigh. This little twerp really didn’t understand the gravity of the situation, and he certainly didn’t know his place in the hierarchy around these parts. But Steve didn’t want to be the heavy. It wasn’t necessary and it would take too much time.
“I would be grateful. And I won’t tell Tony you’ve been sniffing around the tourists again. I heard he warned you off…what was it? Three times, already? You should know better by now, Jorge.”
Antoine de Latourette was the local Master vampire. His friends called him Tony. He was more than seven hundred years old and not someone to cross lightly.
Jorge finally got the message and straightened from his insolent slouch against the wall. He looked miffed, but Steve didn’t care. It was time somebody taught this little pipsqueak a lesson.
“Instead of harassing me, maybe you ought to put a leash on some of your own.” Jorge sneered as he looked pointedly over at the group of women.
Steve looked too.
“Shit.” Things were getting more complicated by the moment. He turned back to Jorge. “Do we have an understanding?”
Jorge nodded, dropped the barrier he’d held that kept the blaring sound of the club at bay and turned to go without another word. It was disrespectful, but Steve didn’t care at the moment. The group of seven women had been joined by a small Pack of wolves he knew well.
What was it with Derek’s little sister that she—or her group of friends—were drawing out all the Others tonight? It couldn’t be helped. Steve was going to find out for himself.
He set out across the crowded room just as a fight broke out. The violence quickly spread toward him, but he had his objective clear in mind. He wasn’t going to let anything stop him from making it to the small group of women. He’d promised Derek he’d take care of his sister. Letting her get hurt in a bar fight was not going to happen on his watch.
Somebody threw a punch at Steve. He barely paused to return the favor, sending the stupid human flying several feet back, out of Steve’s way. Another idiot tried to block his way with a barstool. Steve made short work of him but he started to wonder why seemingly disinterested bystanders were suddenly keen to stop him from getting to the women.
Steve whistled and one of the wolves perked up, looking through the crowd. Steve caught his eye and gave him a silent signal. Guard. Protect. Instantly, the stance of the young wolves went from merely protective of the women, which they’d been already, to on guard. Good dogs, Steve thought with a fleeting moment of humor as yet another human tried to block his path.
One of the wolves made as if to come help him, but Steve signaled him back. Protect the women, he sent via the hand signals everyone in the Redstone Clan knew. This group of wolves was part of one of the construction crews and they were mostly reputable. A little rough around the edges maybe, but good men all. Steve was sort of relieved to have them here now that the situation had taken an unexpected turn.
Steve paused momentarily to parry a few punches aimed his way but he didn’t let the concerted attacks slow him down. He kept his eyes on the prize, making his way one opponent at a time, toward Trisha Morrow.

The club was great, but when the fight broke out on the other side of the packed dance floor, Trisha sobered enough to realize they probably should leave. Only there were a bunch of handsome men—big bruisers, most of them—flirting with the girls and none of her friends seemed sober enough to realize there might be danger if the fight kept escalating in their direction.
Trisha looked around and her gaze was caught by one man. A big, muscular man. He was as big as her brother, Deke, and just as good in a fight. He was walking toward her but kept getting waylaid by idiots who wanted to fight. Why they tried to hit him, she’d never know. Even she could see he wasn’t interested in the melee. He was just trying to get from one side of the club to the other, and he didn’t really seem to care who he had to mow down to do it.
There was something so elemental about the way he moved. Like a panther on the prowl. He vanquished one opponent after another—sometimes more than one at a time—sweeping them out of his way as if they were nothing. He sent a few guys sailing through the air. Some went down hard on the grimy floor. A few turned away when he growled at them.
He actually growled. She could hear the low rumble of it, even across the distance that still separated them. Why in the world did she find that sexy?
“Guys?” Trisha tried to get the attention of her drunk friends while her gaze remained on the warrior.
That’s the only word she could think of to describe him. He had to be like Deke and most of the guys in her family. Military. Spec Ops. If not, then some kind of mercenary or professional killer.
That last thought almost made her giggle with nerves as their eyes met. And held.
Even as he threw two more would-be fighters aside, he kept his gaze on her. When he had to look away to throw a punch or block a barstool being thrown at him, it was only momentary. As soon as he’d dealt with the obstacle, he looked straight back at her again.
It was about that time she realized he wasn’t just moving across the room. He was actually aiming for her table. For her.
Her foggy mind didn’t understand the animal attraction that reared up and made her want to purr when she realized that hunk of dangerous manhood was making a beeline to her side. The rest of the raucous room faded to nothing as she watched his muscles bunch and flex as he dealt with one miscreant after another. Yowza. He was hot.
Hot and dangerous. The ultimate bad boy. Mrawr.

Buy your copy of RED now from: Amazon – B&N – ARe – Smashwords or wherever ebooks are sold. Also coming in print very soon!

Blue Moon for Bianca

Well, it's my own little version of a Blue Moon - this month I get to blog TWICE on BTV! The Keeper of the Calendar schedules us all every so many weeks (I think it's 4) and this month, I ended up blogging at both the beginning of the month and now, just before the end of the month. Neat, huh?

I'm happy to say, a lot has been going on. First, I should mention that the rest of the Dragon Knights books will be coming out in print - one per month - until next March. So next up is Border Lair on October 1st, I believe.

This new print edition has a bonus in it. It also contains the new novella, Master at Arms, which was written expressly for this purpose. So you get two stories in one book. You can pre-order this new print edition at Amazon, B&N, Samhain, and wherever print books are sold.

I'm hard at work on a few different projects at the moment. We're in the middle of edits on a book that will probably be releasing next March, called Harry's Sacrifice. It's the 5th and final book in my award-winning Resonance Mates series and I'm glad to finally have the book on its way to publication. I know a few die hard fans have been waiting a long time for it!

I'm also finalizing the 2nd book in my Tales of the Were - Redstone Clan series. It's called Red, and it will be out later this month in both ebook and print. Here's a little bit about it...

Steve Redstone agrees to keep an eye on his friend's little sister while she's partying in Las Vegas. He's happy to do the small favor to an old Army buddy. What he doesn't expect is the wild woman who heats his blood and attracts too much attention from Others in the area.

Steve ends up defending her honor, breaking his cover and seducing the woman all within hours of meeting her, but he's helpless to resist her. She is his mate and that startling fact is going to open up a whole can of worms with her, her brother and the rest of the Redstone Clan.

As I said, it will be out mid-October. I don't have a final date yet, but stay tuned to my website, blog, etc. I'll be announcing the date as soon as I know. Meanwhile, I have another book that is now available for pre-order...

Wolf Quest is the much-anticipated sequel to last year's RT Award Nominated Wolf Hills. It releases on December 10th, but you can pre-order it now! Here's a little bit about it...

Love and magic lie at the heart of this storm... as well as a whole lot of danger.

When Major Jesse Moore, brother to the Wyoming Pack Alpha, is sent to Iowa to check on his sister-in-law's cousin, knocking politely isn't an option. Sounds of a struggle send him storming into her kitchen -- where he finds anything but a damsel in distress. The tiny human woman knows how to handle herself in a fight, and all Jesse's senses shout she's his mate.

Exotic-animal vet, Maria Garibaldi has never trusted the magic her aunt and grandmother claim is her birthright. She's always known about the Others, but she had no idea she was also part of their world. When Maria sets out with Jesse to find the parents of a young grizzly shifter she found and treated, she learns the meaning of temptation in the form of the ex-Special Forces soldier.

As passion flares, the trail leads them toward the eye of a massive storm... where an unspeakable evil awaits the right moment to destroy the good in the magical world.

Warning: Things get explicit when a werewolf wants his mate and he doesn't care where they are. Outdoors, indoors, wherever and whenever -- never get between a wolf and his woman.

Pre-Order Now from Amazon, B&N, Samhain and wherever ebooks are sold.

As always, you can get more information on all my books on my website: WWW.BIANCADARC.COM

See you next month!

- Bianca

Aliens, Shifters & Dragons! Oh my!

Happy Labor Day, everyone! Well, everyone in the U.S., that is. ;-) I'm enjoying my "day off" by... working! Big surprise there. A writer never really gets a day off.

I opened my email this morning to find edits for Harry's Sacrifice - a book that will (hopefully) be out next March, though I don't have a firm release date for it yet from the publisher. It's the fifth and final book in my award winning Resonance Mates series and I'm really happy to finally have it in the pipeline for publication. It's been a long time coming.

I'm also putting the finishing touches on my next Redstone Clan book, titled simply Red. The hero is Steve Redstone, the second eldest cougar shifter in a family of five brothers. Each will be getting his own story either later this year or early next year. With any luck, Red will be out in mid-October.

The next story, Magnus, is slated for either late December of January release, but I already have the cover. Isn't he yummy? He's a werecougar, but he has this thing for a woman from his past. A woman with fangs...

I'm also working at drumming up some more votes for Dragon Knights: Master at Arms, which is up for Book of the Month over at LASR. If you feel so inclined, please go over and vote. I think the voting ends today. The book came out on 8/20 and I'm really pleased with how well it's doing. Here's a little bit about it...

Master at Arms

When Cara's half-brother is gravely wounded, she rallies the defenders of their keep as best she can. She knows how to fight, but is smart enough to realize she cannot-and should not-lead men into battle. No, that is the job of the Master at Arms, a mysteriously attractive foreign fighter named Tristan.

But when deadly, venomous creatures called skiths attack, only dragons can save them. A flight of dragons arrives in the nick of time-among them an unpartnered dragon named Rath and his mate with her handsome knight partner, Sir Thorn. Until Rath finds a knight and both knights find their lady, the dragons cannot be together. But fate may have just stepped in to help both dragons and men.

Caught on the ground, Rath is in serious danger from a rogue skith when Tristan comes to his rescue. His courage impresses the dragon greatly. This is a man who could be a knight... if his loyalties can be won by dragonkind.

And all is not as it seems with Cara's family and the half-brother who wants nothing more than to pack her off to a loveless marriage, sold to the highest bidder. It will take all the diplomacy and skill of both Thorn and Tristan to set things right... and win Lady Cara's heart for themselves.

Warning: When two dragons really want something, it's best not to stand in their way. And when their knights are focused on a single woman, nothing and no one will stop them from getting what they want. Beware! This trio gets up to all kinds of naughtiness in the pursuit of true love.

Buy Now from: Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Samhain - and other fine ebook sellers.


And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the sequel to Wolf Hills. It's called Wolf Quest and it'll be releasing on 12/10. I can't wait!!! It's a werewolf story with a twist. Lots of magic and magical creatures in a very action-oriented story. I really think people are going to like it! At least I hope they will!!!

So that's my Labor Day - work, work, work. I hope you all managed to get in a barbeque or something! It's pretty rainy here on Long Island today, so that wouldn't have really worked for me anyway, but it's nice to dream...

B.

Bianca D'Arc
www.biancadarc.com

When Old Ideas Turn Into New Books

For once, I'm able to contribute to this month's theme! The book I'm finalizing at the moment - Tales of the Were: Grif - started off as an idea way back in 2005 or so. I wrote a good portion of it - probably somewhere around 30,000 words or more - and then let it sit while I did other things.

Maybe I got "stuck". Maybe I just got busy with dragons or aliens or whatever. I can't really recall anymore. Suffice to say, the book sat. And sat. And SAT. Unloved. Unfinished. Unfortunate.

But always in the back of my mind, there were these characters and this situation. A werecougar Alpha who had just sustained terrible loss in his family, and his little sister, both seeking the solace of the mountains to try to heal. And a woman. A human who knew about shapeshifters, who had a debt of family honor to settle.

I wrote about them in other books. I used members of the werecougar family in other stories, all the while knowing there was this older brother out there and all this tragedy in the family's past. I knew these people. I wanted so badly to finish their story, but after so much time had passed, I really wasn't sure how to go about it.

Then, last Christmas, I started self-publishing some of my paranormal stories. The first was Tales of the Were: Rocky, a novella I had written for an anthology call years before. The story was ultimately turned down and my editor at the time wanted me to expand it into a novel. I never quite got around to it before that editor left and I had this great story sitting on my hard drive for years.

I finally polished it up and added to it. I turned it into the story I had really wanted to write originally, but was constrained by the terms of the anthology call to change. I gave Rocky new life and sent him out there, into the world, to see what people might think of my werebear creation.

The response was like nothing I ever expected.

I had figured on just self-publishing the story for my own enjoyment. And maybe for those few, die-hard fans who might like to know where Rocky - a character who had a bit of a cameo role in my book Lords of the Were - had come from and what had happened to him after we first meet him in Lords.

Rocky's book led to a new character. A mysterious shifter named Slade. I was enchanted by him and wanted to know more about him. I sat down and wrote his story in January and February, then published it in March of this year as Tales of the Were: Slade. He was an entirely new character who had come from that "old" book about Rocky.

And then I started to realize how I might circle back around to Griffon Redstone - the werecougar Alpha I had started to write about so many years ago. I finally understood how and where his story fit in among the others I had been writing all this time. Not only that, but I realized where his brothers' stories fit as well.

And now I've started work on a 5-book sub-series of werecougar tales revolving around the Redstone Clan of cougar shifters. The first story - the one I started work on all those years ago - will be out later this month and is called Tales of the Were: Grif (Redstone Clan #1). I know that's a bit of a mouthful, but I'm not sure how else to clarify that this story fits firmly under the Tales of the Were series, but is part of its own little sub-series of 5 stories - one for each brother in the Redstone family.

The first book is, of course, about Grif, the eldest of the five brothers. It is the same story I began so long ago, but I finally know how to end it! There will be other books, later this year, for Mag and his vampire mate, Steve, Bobcat, and the ever-popular Matt, who was also featured in my book Sweeter Than Wine.

It's been a long time coming, but I feel like I'm finally on the track to fulfilling the promise of that story I began writing so long ago. The old idea is new and the "new" ideas that helped me finally finish this story have made it blossom into something I never really expected. I hope you'll enjoy the ride as much as I will!

Tales of the Were: Grif will be releasing in ebook in late May on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. It will release in print in June. Look for it to arrive on iTunes, Kobo, and other fine ebook and print retail sites mid-June. For more information, please visit www.biancadarc.com.

13 Edits I Made In My Manuscript Recently

I'm writing a book set in the world of Pack and Coven. In this story, the hero is -- like the hero in Pack and Coven -- a shifter. He can turn into a wolf. I've been enjoying revisiting this world, but I'm finding myself somewhat indecisive about certain aspects of the manuscript... Read on for a glimpse into the writer-brain! Or just to feel sorry for me.

1: Just wrote a scene in hero POV when he's in wolf form and licks his no-no. Hahaha! So funny. I am amused.

2: Scene in hero POV where he's in wolf form and licks his no-no. Have I seen this in a book before? A book sort of like mine, I mean, not a spoof of paranormal romance. I didn't read Twilight. Did Jacob lick his no-no? Maybe I should take this scene back out. It might not be what genre readers are expecting.

3: Scene in hero POV where he's in wolf form and ... What's missing here? I have a note to myself to fill this spot in, and I don't know why. I should write better notes to myself. What's this about a no-no? OH WAIT. I remember. I've slept since then. Maybe I should put that back in, since it actually fits the pacing of the scene.

4: Yeah, delete delete delete.

5: I'm going to move on to the next scene. I AM! The scene where he... And finds his... Dammit. I can't move on to the next scene until the previous scene is done.

6: Scene in hero's POV where he's in wolf form... He's trying to really LOOK and ACT like an actual canine. Wouldn't it be realistic if he did lick his no-no? Yeah, better add that back in. Luckily I saved it.

7: There. That scene is done. Moving right along. Hero has managed to--while acting realistically like an animal instead of a shifter--sneak past the bad guys to the place where the heroine is. And when she sees him, since he's acting so much like an animal, she...

8: She'd know it was him, right? Does he need her to believe he's an animal? Should he act very much like a real animal HERE? Should I put the scene of him acting very much like a no-no licking animal HERE, to fool the heroine, so her expression doesn't give them away?

9: Come on. She knows it's him even if he does lick his no-no. And if he licks his no-no, she's never going to let him live that down. Her snort of laughter when he actually licks his no-no is going to clue the bad guys in that something is amiss, and I'm not ready for the big confrontation scene yet. So he absolutely cannot lick his no-no here.

10: But what about in the original spot, where he's just sneaking past the bad guys? And--I hate to say this--but I think I need to add details, so I should probably consider senses beyond vision in this scene. Hearing, smell, taste... OH GOD I AM SO CUTTING THIS PART.

11: NO! I am GENIUS! I'll make him PRETEND to lick his no-no, consciously, because he's good at subterfuge! He's layered!

12: He's... Yeah, I'm taking that back out.

13: This scene is so damn long! I think I may have a writerly disorder called "Cantshutupitis". I conceive of a story idea and flesh it out and worldbuild it and start writing it and it goes on and on and on and suddenly I'm at 80K but the story is only halfway over, so I have to keep going if I want to find out what happens. You know how it is. But I'm not about to toss 80K worth of work out the window just because it's not done yet since that would be wasted effort on my part, so I roll up my sleeves and plug in my laptop and get serious and try to finish it in 20K...40K...some reasonable amount of time, fearing, of course, that "rushed ending" syndrome I've seen readers complain about with books that are paced well until the end when it seemed like, I dunno, the author had to wrap things up in 10K because she had a 90K publisher-set limit? Something like that. Anyway, I just don't know what's wrong with me! Why can't I write 80K books? Where do all these words and plot twists COME from and why do they all have to be every book? I don't...

***

Hopefully when I finish this book, I'll land my publisher of preference and you'll be able to see this scene in action!

Jody W.
www.jodywallace.com * www.meankitty.com

What's Happening in Bianca D'Arc's Worlds Lately...

So much has been going on over here since the last time I visited this blog... I'm sure I'll miss a few things, but the biggest recent thing has been the release of TALES OF THE WERE: ROCKY, which is still burning up the charts. Here's a little bit about it:

On the run from her husband's killers, there is only one man who can help her now... her Rock.

Maggie is on the run from those who killed her husband nine months ago. She knows the only one who can help her is Rocco, a grizzly shifter she knew in her youth. She arrives on his doorstep in labor with twins. Magical, shapeshifting, bear cub twins destined to lead the next generation of werecreatures in North America.

Rocky is devastated by the news of his Clan brother's death, but he cannot deny the attraction that has never waned for the small human woman who stole his heart a long time ago. Rocky absented himself from her life when she chose to marry his childhood friend, but the years haven't changed the way he feels for her.

And now there are two young lives to protect. Rocky will do everything in his power to end the threat to the small family and claim them for himself. He knows he is the perfect Alpha to teach the cubs as they grow into their power... if their mother will let him love her as he has always longed to do.

Buy it now from: Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Smashwords - and other etailers.

How about we look at some upcoming releases? I actually have one next week that will mark a bit of a milestone for me...

On Tuesday, 1/29, the last of my old Dragon Knights novels is being re-released. DRAGON STORM was revised for the release a bit more than the other five books in the series and marks the end of the re-releases. From now on, we will be having all NEW books in the series. Three new stories are slated for 2013 - one new novel, KEEPER OF THE FLAME, releasing on 2/26 and two new novellas - THE DRAGON HEALER and MASTER AT ARMS - which will be out in July and August of 2013.

First a bit about DRAGON STORM, in case it's new to you:

Their love will span the ages... and two very different worlds.Caught in a magical storm and deposited in modern-day Oregon, twin dragon princes Darius and Connor are looking for a way home. Instead they find something most unexpected - their mate. The one woman who holds both their hearts in the palm of her healing hand - along with secrets about her origins that link their shared destinies.

When Josie patches up the injured man on her doorstep, her snowcat instincts tell her he’s much more than a man. And so is his brother. She also knows her dragon lovers cannot fly free in the modern world. The only way to return them to their rightful place is to face the failures of her past, and leave the safety of her forest cabin to seek her estranged grandfather’s counsel. There she learns the painful truth: returning Darius and Connor to where they belong could mean giving up everything. Even her only chance for true love.

But fate has other plans for the trio. Magic swirls all around them. Whether it is for good or ill, only time will tell...

Warning: Contains a fiery hot ménage a trois, a wild cat-woman and two hunky dragon studs in black leather. A little time travel makes everything more interesting, doesn’t it?

Available for pre-order from: Amazon - Samhain

And in a surprise move, THE DRAGON HEALER is already up for pre-order, so here's a little bit about it:

What’s better than a knight sweeping you off your feet? Two knights.

Silla is a healer riding circuit on the border, helping those in need. When she hears the pained cries of a dragon in distress, she comes to his aid, using most of her precious supplies to help the badly injured creature.

The dragon’s knight, Brodie, is fascinated by the woman—the miracle worker—who has come to help his friend. She is both beautiful and kind hearted and he quickly realizes she is his destined mate. And if she is Brodie’s mate, she is Geoff’s as well, for Brodie’s dragon was mated to Geoff’s dragon many years ago.

Geoff doesn’t believe in the tales of love at first sight among knights, but he knows that when either he or Brodie finds a wife, they will share her. Hearing about the dragon’s injury, Geoff and his dragon race to help, only to find the dragon on the mend and Brodie in bed with the most stunning woman Geoff has ever seen.

Love at first sight turns out to be real and it strikes them all as they come together and realize that no matter what the obstacles, they are meant to be together. Silla is the missing link that will join their lives and make them a true Lair family.

Warning: Knights like to get frisky and these two are no exception. Beware the passion, playfulness, a bit of bondage and a whole lot of three-way loving with a tiny bit of exhibitionism thrown in for good measure.

Pre-order it now from: Amazon

And if paranormal or epic fantasy menage isn't  your thing, I also had a recent short story release in THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF FUTURISTIC ROMANCE, which is also available as a standalone ebook called END OF THE LINE. Here's a bit about that one:

Jit'suku Captain Fedroval - Val for short - shoots down a one-man fighter out near the Galactic Rim, but the pilot, much to his surprise and horror, is a woman named Lisbet Duncan. The alien jit'suku have a strict warrior code. In their culture, making war on females of any species is a shameful stain on one's honor. The captain doesn't quite know what to do with Lisbet, but he can't let her die alone in space. He orders his men to tow her life pod into his much larger battle ship.

Val is the last of his line - heir to a legacy that cannot be continued on his own world - because no respectable jit'suku woman will have him after the destruction of his family. He has put all his considerable resources into building his state of the art battleship and joining the fight to take the human galaxy, hoping to restore his honor in some small way. This is Val's first foray into human space and his first encounter with a human female. And wouldn't you know it? He falls for her, head over heels for her.

Lisbet is attracted to Val as well. When he puts the moves on her, she can't resist his masculine charm, but she doesn't like being a prisoner - even if she is being kept in a gilded cage, treated more like a guest. She doesn't know a lot about jit'suku culture and it's pretty clear they don't understand much about humans. It's going to be fun educating her captor about just how headstrong, fierce... and loving... a human woman can be.

Buy it now from: Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Smashwords - and other etailers...

I have hopes for a few more releases this year but no solid news except for the sequel to WOLF HILLS, which is called WOLF QUEST and is currently scheduled for release in December from Samhain Publishing.

So we're all caught up for now, I think. If I missed anything, you can always find information on my website: www.biancadarc.com or catch me on facebook. I'm on there as "biancadarc" if you want to find me. ;-)

Happy New Year!!!

A Moment to Crow

I'm just taking a moment today to crow about a surprise that still has me tickled every time I think about it or look at this picture:

Samhain took out an ad on a jumbotron in Times Square and this is the second panel of the ad. Notice that book cover all the way to the right? Yup, that's my latest hot paranormal romance, WOLF HILLS!

My birthday was last week and since I had no idea Samhain planned to do this, it sure feels like the Best. Birthday. Present. EVER! :D

Hope you don't mind a little squeeing. I did a happy dance when I saw this and I'm still grinning!

Now back to our regularly scheduled program...

Brotherhood of Blood: Wolf Hills

For some odd reason, blogger has been acting weird about certain posts on this blog. One of them happens to be my blog from last month talking about my newest book - Brotherhood of Blood: Wolf Hills. So here's a bit about it, in case you missed it...

RT Book Reviews Magazine gave Wolf Hills a coveted TOP PICK and called it "A truly fantastic read! With a page-turning plot, dynamic characters and plenty of heat, readers will devour every last delicious page."

Sally Decker is a big city police detective vacationing in Wyoming to visit an old friend who is newlywed to a mysterious foreigner. When Sally arrives in Wyoming, she quickly learns that her friend's new husband is the Master Vampire of the region and there's a werewolf Pack living just up the road.

Jason Moore is an Alpha on a mission. When he sees Sally for the first time, he knows there's something special about her. He's drawn to her and makes it his business to be her tour guide. He invites her to take her meals at the Pack house, in his company, not realizing his favoritism is going to wreak havoc among the single females in his Pack. But Sally can handle just about anything, including any werewolf bitch stupid enough to challenge her.

When werewolf children are targeted by evil hunters in the area, Sally refuses to sit on the sidelines. She helps the Alpha hunt the perps and free a child they've kidnapped, facing bombs, bullets and a lusty Alpha along the way. Unexpected allies and devastating attraction turn the rescue mission into a mating dance between Jason and Sally, who learns she's not entirely human. His magic sparks against hers, creating something entirely new and totally hot between the two. Will fate help them bridge the chasm between their separate worlds?

Buy now from Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Samhain - and other ebook retailers. Enjoy!

Learning from Reviews: Is It Possible?

I've had books published since 2005 and have been getting reviews all that time. Not as many as most authors, but enough that I've seen the ups and downs of that aspect of the industry. Here is a compilation of what I have learned from reviews and reader responses, both for my books and other people's books:

1) Don't put a secondary plot in your erotic romance. The focus should be on the couple's relationship and sexxoring.

2) Don't forget to put a secondary plot in your erotic romance that is outside the bedroom. If the focus is only on the sexxoring, the book and characters can come across as shallow and self-centered.

3) Don't write one dimensional villains who exist only to be evil toward the protagonists.

4) Don't focus on your villains so much that the protagonists become bland by comparison. The villian cannot be the most interesting part of the book or it's not a romance.

5) Don't forget to do your research and include it in the book. And be sure to research everything, like whether or not the story takes place in a state where people are allowed to pump their own gas. No details can be left unturned. Otherwise readers will know you don't care about providing a quality product.

6) Don't overwhelm your readers with your research. Otherwise readers will put your book down because it is boring and infodumpy.

7) Don't write any more books about vampires and werewolves...please! They are overdone, and readers long for something new.

8) Please write more books about vampires and werewolves. They are fascinating, and readers long for more exciting stories about character types they love.

9) Don't include too much profanity in your fiction. While it may be accurate in your chosen setting or time period, it gets old, fast, and readers would rather see a varied vocabulary.

10) Don't exclude profanity from your fiction if you're writing characters who would naturally curse. Otherwise it comes off as unrealistic and readers will know you didn't do the research (see #5).

11) Don't write your female characters as passive, childlike or TSTL, and OMG don't describe their hands as "tiny". It's 2012. Females can be...anything. They can be proactive and strong. Probably they can even pee while standing up AND hit the bowl if they work really hard at it. (But, yanno, don't describe THAT.)

12) Don't let your kick-ass female protagonist overshadow your male protagonist(s) or he will come across as weak. If she is strong, he must show that he is strong enough for (or, yanno, stronger than) her or he is not sexy.

13) Don't expound on certain details, like food and drink items. Sure, it's delicious, but that's not what the book is about, is it? Unless you're writing a cookbook.

14) Don't forget to leave in certain details, like the deliciousness of food and drink items. It's realistic, it enhances character POV and really brings a reader into a story world.

15) Don't write any more secret baby plots. It's an irresponsible way for characters to behave.

16) Don't forget to write more secret baby plots. Readers love them; they're so heart-wrenching.

17) Don't include "issues" in romance novels. That isn't why readers like to read romance.

18) Don't forget to include some serious content, even "issues", in some romance novels. There's no reason they can't be about realistic aspects of life and people surviving it and fighting for what they believe.

19) Don't make the female character overweight or plain while the male character is totally gorgeous. That is not believable. Like marries like.

20) Don't make the female character totally gorgeous. Many readers find it hard to relate to her, especially if she doesn't know she's gorgeous ("mouth too wide for beauty"..."bosom too lush for the current fashion"). Or if does know she's gorgeous, because then she's a bitch. I forget which -- maybe both. However, the male character needs to be quite attractive. Otherwise the reader can't fall in love with him too.

21) Don't write in first person. So sick of that!

22) Don't write everything in third person. Books in first person are a great, refreshing change.

23) Don't include epilogues. If it's worth sharing, it goes in the body of the story, and an epilogue is lazy.

24) Don't forget epilogues. Readers love to drop in on the characters down the road, however briefly. It's like an unexpected gift after a story is over.

25) Don't make fun of readers and reviewers, not even with your tongue in your cheek.

Oopsie!

***

I defied item #7 this month because I released a book about werewolves and witches. It's called Pack and Coven, in which the hairy, but not too hairy, hero and the witchy, but not bitchy, heroine have quite the adventure. I'm also running a contest for a $25 gift card on my blog until February 29. All you have to do to enter is violate item #13 and tell me about the deliciousness of some tea-room style food you'd like to eat. http://blog.jodywallace.com/2012/02/pack-and-coven-release-and-contest.html

Jody Wallace
When is an alpha not an alph-ass?
Pack and Coven: http://www.jodywallace.com

PS: I confess. It's possible I took a lot of this from this fun, 4-year thread in the Amazon forums and not actually from reviews! http://www.amazon.com/forum/romance?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=FxM42D5QN2YZ1D&cdThread=Tx1U9IFOLVQRGXV  So if you like to talk to other readers about your reading preferences -- and you promise not to self promote, should you happen to be a writer in your secret life -- you may like that forum! But don't tell them I sent you, considering what I did re: item #25.

Dragons in Love/In Love with Dragons

Greetings, Kittens!


This has been a lovely month of monsters and mayhem and it’s my turn to talk about the creatures that move me the most. Turns out, it’s all of them!


For eight consecutive childhood Halloweens, I dressed as a vampire. I loved everything about the vampire concept, from immortality to inhuman fascination. As a product of the Anne Rice Generation, I didn’t see them as monsters, but simply as people who were capable of monstrous things—just like everyone else. The paranormal romance trend couldn’t have come too soon for my taste. In fact, I would have liked to see it spread at least a decade sooner, to fill that ever growing cavern of how I regarded supernatural creatures vs. how they were portrayed in horror.


Fast forward twentyish years after reading, Interview with the Vampire, and I’m surrounded by exactly what I longed to see—preternaturals as the heroes rather than automatically the villains. That change was the first step in broadening my supernatural palate. It’s not that I didn’t feel for werewolves, the classic cursed just seemed too painful and sad to really be drawn to it. That element disappeared on the paranormal romance front and I was able to see them in the light that they always deserved.


Roleplaying games and fantasy novels moved the idea of werewolves to shape-shifters and an entire world of possibilities opened up. Feline shifters were an immediate favorite, but dragon shifters became a complete fascination. Fantasy rpgs and novels are filled with intelligent dragons that like to walk around among humankind and leave behind half-dragons, dragonkin, dragoons and pseudodragons to name a few variants. This predilection led to all sorts of ideas and opportunities to play with the dragon mythos, and the idea of sexy dragons plays into everything I wanted from every other creature.


They were ancient like vampires, could alter their shape like werewolves, were clever like fae/faries, and had layered emotions and complexities like humans, but with the wisdom of nature itself. They were people in the truest sense of the word, but a people that could be anything and everything else as well. What’s not to love?


Although I grew up on high fantasy that spawned my love of dragons, I’m not suited to write it. I’m more geared towards urban fantasy and romantic fantasy. Instead of high fantasy’s epic battles, I’d prefer dealing with the battles of the sexes and the battles of the heart. Yep, I have no classic sword and sorcery in my future to be sure. What I do have, is a paranormal romance with dragon shifters. It’s in the immediate future, Halloween Day in fact. And it won’t be the only one!


A Way To A Dragon’s Heart is the first introduction of dragons into my Therian World. The reception has led to many more ideas, one of which may be the closet fantasy/kingdoms/king’s honor type stories I’ve ever written or will write, and I’m excited. But that particular idea is a tale for another time, let me introduce you to A Way To A Dragon’s Heart.

Dragon Shifter Kryssa Drake works twenty-hour days, seven days a week racing toward a sabbatical and hiding from the dating world after a devastating break-up that left her questioning her sense of self. The highlight of her day is the two hour lunches spent listening to Near Human, Xander Luciano, co-owner of Luciano's Deli across the street, and living vicariously through his on-again, off-again relationship with Avian, Caleb James. Over the years and countless intimacies of their friendship, Kryssa has grown to love Xander and the idea of Xander and Caleb but ideas and potential are not enough to brave the pain of the past so soon.


Pastry Chef and Near Human, Xander Luciano, has spent the last two years trying to charm Kryssa out of her vow of a five year isolation following her break-up. He's spent that same two years sorting out his feelings for his college sweetheart, Caleb, and trying to figure out a way to pin the restless Avian down or to finally make peace with a few months of happiness at a time. When Caleb opens the pastry café they always dreamed about and invites him to become a partner, Xander sees the flicker of hope that maybe half of his dream is about to come true. When he's volunteered by Kryssa's brother and boss to assist her in her current projects as well as help her relax in his cabin up north, Xander thinks his persistence and culinary skills just might help him have it all.


Sometimes the only way to get a good man to settle down is to have a good woman help. And oft times the most direct way to a Dragon's heart is through her stomach.

Vampires Vs. Werewolves

Capclave Guests of Honor Carrie Vaughn (left) and Catherynne M. Valente compare the charms of vampires and werewolves at Capclave, October 15.




With Carrie Vaughn (whose most famous series features a werewolf named Kitty) and Catherynne M. Valente (who's explored the mythology of just about everything) as its guests of honor, it was inevitable that Capclave 2011, the Washington DC area's hometown con, would address the eternal question:

Fangs or fur?

Death or life?

Edward or Jason?

Well, maybe not the last so much, but the relative popularity of vampires vs. werewolves--and the apparent reasons for it--dominated the con's guest of honor chat Saturday evening, October 15.

On the face of it, the odds would seem stacked in the werewolf's favor. After all, werewolves represent life; vampires, death. But as the panelists said, some people have a problem with the fur.

Then there's the whole "daddy thing". Ms. Valente pointed out the modern vampire myth ultimately comes down to the seduction of an inexperienced young woman by an older, infinitely experienced male. He is the ultimate father figure--all-powerful and wise, even when for some inexplicable reason, he's still in high school. It's one of the evergreen romance plots: Beauty and the Beast, Jane and Rochester, Persephone and Hades (minus the crazy mother-in-law).

In contrast, the werewolf has, in Ms. Vaughn's words, "...gotten short shrift over the last hundred years of storytelling. It's always: The beast within takes over. You can't control yourself. You do horrible things, and then you die."

Larry Talbot and his cinematic descendants have a lot to answer for.

But the nice thing is the core myth (or metaphor, if you prefer) can change. In fiction, nothing's set in stone. Vampires can become heroes. Werewolves can take control of their destiny. Ms. Vaughn's werewolf DJ Kitty Norville is a prime example.

"I thought, let's get past the [standard Wolfman plot]. Let's assume werewolves are okay and can handle it. What stories can we tell then?"

Plenty, apparently, since the Kitty Norville series is up to ten books, with four more under contract. And Ms. Vaughn's books aren't the only ones redefining the myth. My Beyond the Veil blog mates have been very busy on that score, too. If they keep this up, who knows, within ten years the balance of attraction may tip. There's a lot to be said for fur, though I confess, I prefer mine in a coat. ;-)

#

I apologize for the quality of my Guests of Honor photo. My Capclave camera karma was definitely lacking. I posted my best shots, such as they are, at my Flickr account. I have an ulterior motive in providing the link. There are two photos near the end I'm unreasonably proud of. Yes, that's me sitting on the dais with Ms. Valente, Ms. Vaughn and Danielle Ackley-McPhail, the editor of Dragon's Lure, the anthology containing my short story "Lord Bai's Discovery".

"Lord Bai's Discovery", along with Ms. Valente's "Days of Flaming Motorcycles" and Ms. Vaughn's "Amaryllis" were among the finalists for the Washington Science Fiction Association's 2011 Small Press Award. I wasn't surprised "Amaryllis" took the prize. It was nominated for a Hugo, too. I was surprised, however, and incredibly honored to be included in such company.

It's Not The Vampire You Need To Worry About.

The cast of Criminal Minds 

This month my co-bloggers will write about many different types of creatures. Most scary. And I have to say, I love me a good ghost, werewolf, vampire, bigfoot, or leprechaun story. Most of these critters are, or can be, evil. There is, however, one creature that pales in comparison to the rest. We see these creatures every day at work, school, shops, and restaurants. We see one every time we look in the mirror. As the Pogo quote goes, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

Obviously not all humans are evil. Homo sapiens are actually a pretty civilized lot. In spite of how it sometimes seems, most folks go about their business without the need to hurt, maim, or kill. Still, there are plenty of people out there who could give the worst werewolves, vampires, or soul sucking demons a run for their money. These are the two-legged creatures of true evil.

Some of these evil humans blur the line between human and mythology. For example the infamous Vlad Tepes, could possibly have been the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. His name Dracul or Dracula is translated by some sources as “dragon” and others as “devil” or “son of the devil”. Vlad impaled millions of people alive, and is rumored to have drunk blood. Still, even today, he is considered a hero to his country.

Today we don’t make serial killers official heroes, but there are those who worship these horrible examples of malevolence. There are collectors of serial killer memorabilia. Women want to marry them (serial killers are almost always male). Some of them, like Charles Manson, for instance, have fan clubs. The reason for this gruesome hobby may someday be explained. For now, most just think those involved are somehow mentally ill. Even those of us wouldn’t be caught dead with a lock of a serial killer’s hair, love watching movies like Silence of the Lambs, and TV shows like Criminal Minds.

What’s creepier in the dead of night? When the sound of creaking and moaning reaches for you? Are you more afraid of a vampire, werewolf, demon? Or is the real threat to our being, and our sanity, that the mythological creature might come to life, or that the neighborhood animal torturer just moved up the food chain?

Sleep well tonight, and don’t let the vampires, or whatever, bite.

Cheryel
www.cheryelhutton.com

Bridge Over Troubled ... Months ...

Hmm. Maybe I should leave songwriting to the professionals. "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" is much more catchy as a title, no?

The paranormal: we are fascinated by it. We want to believe. We tell stories about ghosts and goblins, dragons and the fey. It’s what we see out of the corner of our eye, or what lives beyond the light at night. We follow spritualists and go to live performances, hoping that maybe it might be real and not a man behind a curtain.

Our tour through television has brought us many different kinds of entertainment, from reality to the outskirts of speculation. Our next theme, “Here There Be Dragons: and Werewolves and More” brings us to those edges and beyond.

As a bridge between September’s and October’s themes, I thought I’d talk a bit about some good dragon and werewolf stories that might not be as well known.

First, the well-known author Ursula K. LeGuin wrote the Earthsea trilogy, which she then continued with Tehanu, the fourth in what is now a cycle.

To my pleased surprise, a made for television miniseries was made of the story that is really interesting. Danny Glover is in it, and he rocks. The actor they chose for Ged, and the one for Vetch, are also awesome. The Shadow is deliciously creepy.

On the other end of the spectrum, I have a book called A Century of Lesbian Erotica. In it is “Blood and Silver,” by Pat Califia from 1997. This introduced me to a darker side of fantasy because the idea is a woman transforms into a werewolf, and then leads a secret life of dominating men and making them reveal their own animal natures. This was the first time I encountered the paranormal as a sexual object.

Then someone recommended Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake novels to me, and I loved them. It was a bridge between very hard-boiled paranormal mystery and erotica, and rather than the traditional fade-to-black at the moment of the bedroom scene, Laurell took us right inside the bedroom with her characters. Very fun.

From what I understand, though I’m hardly an expert, the idea of the vampire as sexually attractive is relatively new. Older legends and myths about them, and about werewolves, weren’t at all like that – they were considered very dangerous, evil predators.

I like the more sexy version. What about you?

Second question: which do you prefer, vampires or werewolves (or other lycanthropes)?

I was a rotten kid. As a child I loved to torment my brothers and boss around the other kids on my block. As a result, I didn’t have many friends. (Yeah, I know. Sad, but I deserved it.)

That’s when I started making up my imaginary playmates. My first playmate was a boy named Larry. I adored Larry and took him everywhere I went. He would sleep in the imaginary bed across from mine. He would sit next to me at the dinner table. Heck, he even played softball, standing right next to me, although he was never a very good player.

Best of all, Larry was as rotten as I was. Larry was the culprit whenever my hand developed a mind of its own and thumped my brother in the head. Larry took the blame whenever I “accidentally” bumped a bowl full of vegetables off the table to scatter awful-tasting peas across the floor. Larry was with me, egging me on when I dropped water balloons off the roof onto unsuspecting neighbors. Larry was the one who made me stay up late and miss the school bus. Larry was, for all the wrong reasons, the perfect playmate.

Then I grew up and Larry went away. Or did he?

I love writing all the characters in my books, both good and bad. Heroes and heroines alike find a place in my heart. But I have to admit that the bad boys claim a special corner. Why? Perhaps it’s because each of my bad boys, whether or not they turn out to be the villain or the hero, has a part of Larry in him.

For instance, the three Cannon brothers in my Cannon Pack werewolf series are different, but they all have a bit of Larry thrown into their personalities. Jason Cannon has Larry’s uninhibited streak. Devlin Cannon has Larry’s witty sarcasm and Daniel Cannon is the guy who acts more calloused than he really is. In my latest book, CLAWED (Wild Things, Book 3), Conan is a bear (literally) of a man who takes on Larry’s habit of one-word answers. Like Larry, he’s stoic, aloof and sometimes downright rude. But in the end, Conan─again like Larry─will do anything for his girl.

So you see, Larry continues to live. Sure, he went away while I grew up and developed other interests. But when I wanted him again, when I became a writer and needed a bad boy, Larry came back to stay.

Now here’s the question for you. Since most of us have had an imaginary friend at one time or another, does your friend still live on in you? Is your friend by your side whenever you shake your head and answer, “I don’t know who did it”? If no, don’t you wish you had your imaginary friend back in your life?

New Contract & New Release!

Great news! I just got an offer for a new Brotherhood of Blood story. It's called WOLF HILLS and it's the story of of Sally, a San Francisco police detective who goes to Wyoming on vacation to visit one of her best friends. Carly is newly wed to a mysterious foreigner. When Sally arrives in Wyoming, she quickly learns that Carly's new husband is the Master Vampire of the region and there's a werewolf Pack living just up the road. Because Carly has recently become a vampire too, the werewolves are tasked with showing Sally around during the day and keeping her company until the sun goes down.

Jason Moore is the Alpha of the werewolf Pack. When he sees Sally for the first time, he knows there's something special about her. He's drawn to her and makes it his business to be her tourguide. He invites her to take her meals at the Pack house, in his company, not realizing his favoritism is going to cause havoc among a few of the bitches in his Pack. But Sally can handle just about anything, including any werewolf bitch who challenges her.

When werewolf children are targeted by evil hunters in the area, Sally refuses to sit on the sidelines. She helps the Alpha hunt down the perps and free the child they've kidnapped, facing bombs, bullets and crazed killers along the way.

That's the gist of it. I haven't really written the blurb yet. We're just getting the contract together to formalize everything, but I thought it was worth sharing. This book has a lot of action and a great romance. It was a lot of fun to write and I expect it'll probably be out sometime around the beginning of 2012.

Just to be clear: I have an erotic science fiction book coming out in October called HIDDEN TALENT. And the last of the military paranormal zombie books, DEAD ALERT, arrives in stores on July 26th. Keep an eye out for it! This will be the last of the zombie books and it ends with a huge bang! :)

In fact, here's a little bit about it...

For Emily Parkington, the thrill of flying charter planes for Praxis Air has lately been tinged with dread. Mysterious cargo flights and a high number of fatal crashes lead Emily to suspect something sinister behind the scenes. And if her new colleague is involved, Emily won’t hesitate to turn him in, in spite of Sam Archer’s sexy charm and irresistibly easy confidence.

Enemy or potential ally? Sam can’t be sure of anything where Emily is concerned, except how much he wants her. Immune to the zombie virus created through military research, Sam is working undercover to find out if Praxis is trafficking forbidden technology. It was a potentially deadly assignment even before he found himself distracted by a woman he scarcely knows. And when a “controlled” experiment goes horribly wrong, there will be no limit to the danger they both face... or how far he’s willing to go to save her...

It's available now for pre-order on Amazon or B&N. Reserve yours today! :) And another odd thing - the pricing on this book is weird. It's actually cheaper to buy the paperback than the ebook! That just seems wrong to me, but I have no control over how the publisher prices things. *sigh*

That's the news for now. I've been writing a bit more than I have over the past year, so I hope to have more news for you next time my turn to blog rolls around. In the meantime, have fun with the zombies! :)

Bianca
Come over to The D'Arc Side... www.biancadarc.com

A Tidbit for Sampling from Moondancer Drake

Since this is my first post at Beyond the Veil, it seems appropriate to introduce myself. I’m an Eastern band Cherokee, a two-spirit woman (Native LGBTQ), a mother, a practitioner of earth-based spirituality, an environmentalist, an activist, in fact there are many sides to Moondancer.

The reason I say all this is that as a writer all these ingredients that make up who I am, are part of everything I write. Being a Native American woman growing up loving speculative fiction yet never finding anyone like me in the stories I read, all the fiction I write now is multicultural. My real live experiences and passions effect my writing as well. In the city where I live so many people are separated, segregated, in fact from very young our Western culture is taught to be selfish, to “look out for #1”. Culturally and personally I believe strong and supportive communities are crucial to a society’s well being, even to a personal physical and mental health. I love reading about women living in strong, supportive of communities where belief systems like mine (and other non-mainstream spirituality’s) are fully accepted and even embraced. As a writer of paranormal fiction I can create these communities I wish I lived in. I can fight the fights against the evil of this world that we also often feel helpless against by bringing that evil into my world and having my heroines fight it there. It’s an empowering feeling for me as the author of the stories, and I hope for my readers as well.

Currently I have two published novels; Ancestral Magic and Natural Order, a new ebook novella called Seeking Light in the Shadows, as well as numerous short stories published in anthologies. Today I thought I would leave you with a taste from my new urban fantasy coming out next week or so, Worlds Collide.

***

Once she was in place on the garage roof, Rune pushed the ladder away from the edge and watched it fall back to the grass with a low thud. She wouldn’t need it to get down and didn’t want to draw attention to her presence. Rune hung her torso over the gable of the garage and peered into the window below.

Beyond the glass, one man walked across the room with his armed wrapped around a busty blonde. Past him, Rune could pick out five more women and another ten men moving about the flat. They all looked normal enough, but that was the trouble with vampires — as long as they fed well, the leeches looked just like everyone else. It was their scent — a rancid mixture of sweat and old blood — that made them stand out to a hunter like herself. Vampires didn’t sweat, because they had no need to; neither heat nor cold affected them in any but the rarest of cases. The sweat she smelled was from the humans on whom they feasted.

Laughter from the back of the room caught her attention. A group of four vampires was gathered in a corner of the room. Above the din of the music, Rune could just pick out the sound of a woman’s voice behind them. A vampire roared with amusement, taking a step forward, and Rune realized it was his laughter that had first drawn her attention. That was when she heard the woman scream.

Rune grabbed the edge of the gable and lowered herself, dangling by her arms. There was barely enough time to shift before she swung back and crashed through the window. She landed on the carpeted floor, legs bent and spread in a combat stance. She had not taken the form of a wolf this time. The eyes of many of the vampires widened with fear to suddenly find a werewolf in their midst.

Pandemonium raged as the smarter of the vampires hurtled for the door. The bouncer took a step back and the crowd scrambled past him, stampeding down the stairs. He glanced at Rune, the group in the corner, and back again. She braced herself for the charge that never came as he swore under his breath and dashed out the door.

Smart man. She grinned and turned back to those remaining.

The vampires fanned out from the corner and Rune glimpsed the three people on the floor. The man’s body was stretched out on a wide strip of wood flooring just beyond the carpet, while his two female companions hugged each other and shivered, eyes closed.

“You know, Farrell, I’ve always wondered what shifter tastes like.” The vampire ran a hand over his shaven head and licked his lips hungrily. “You boys help me bag this one, and we can all have a treat.” Pete and Jumala glanced nervously at each other, but didn’t move forward.

Her eyes narrowing malevolently, Rune snarled at the bald man, “You’ll never live to find out, parasite.

Lots going on in my world. I've recently finished writing the fourth military paranormal (with zombies!) story for Kensington Brava - a novel titled A DARKER SHADE OF DEAD, which will be out in November and is already available for pre-order on Amazon. Before that, though, a novella in the series will be included in THE BEAST WITHIN, a Halloween Brava anthology anchored by Erin McCarthy. My story in the anthology, which will be out in September is called "Smoke on the Water."

Isn't the cover great? Too bad my story isn't a werewolf tale, but it is definitely paranormal and I think it'll be a fun and sexy addition to the anthology.

The first two stories in the series, HALF PAST DEAD and ONCE BITTEN, TWICE DEAD are receiving great reviews and seem to be doing well. I've had lots of comments from readers who had some concern about the whole zombie thing, but were "converted" after reading my take on the myth. Hopefully you will be too! So if the zombie thing is keeping you from trying the books, don't let it scare you. I really don't write horror. (At least I don't think I do - sure there are tense moments and a few scary parts, but I doubt anything in my books would qualify as true horror.)

I seem to have a lot of print releases this year, including the most recent, INFERNO. Here's a little bit about the book...

A forbidden union forged in love-and tempered in hellfire.

One last task and Megan will be free of the debt of honor owed by her family. Spying on Dante, a powerful vampire with questionable friends, sounds simple enough. But her mission is complicated by the fact she’s got something every vampire wants-tangy, powerful, werewolf blood.

It’s easy to capture his attention. The hard part will be getting out with her heart — and soul — intact. Not to mention her life, thanks to a crazed bomber.

Dante isn’t the kind to forgive or forget easily, especially the grudge he holds against werewolves. Still, he is instantly drawn to the injured lone wolf in his care. When he and his friend Duncan treat her wounds, they discover something that marks her as much more than she seems.

The mark is a neon sign warning to be careful, but Dante can’t help himself. He wants her and nothing will stand in his way. Not her species. Not his. Not the strange woman who keeps trying to kill him.

Not even the magical poison in Megan’s blood…

Buy in Print from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1605046027

Buy in Print from B&N: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Inferno/Bianca-DArc/e/9781605046020/?itm=1&USRI=inferno+bianca+d%27arc

Isn’t it gorgeous? The Tickle My Fantasy anthology is out in print today!!

Go ahead. Try to resist the magic. We dare you!

Carolina Wolf by Sela Carsen (psst! This is me!)
Debra knows that the teensy amount of witchcraft in her veins isn’t worth getting excited about. Yet someone—or something—thinks it’s worth attacking her. Rescuing her seals Maddox’s fate, but only if he can protect her from a rogue of his kind. A werewolf with a nasty streak…and a preference for raw meat.

The Ghost Shrink, the Accidental Gigolo and the Poltergeist Accountant by Vivi Andrews
Lucy is doomed. Not to death. To nightly visits from recently deceased Casanovas without the bodies to scratch her itch. Then a living fantasy arrives on her doorstep. Is her dry spell at an end? Not hardly. Jake has been sent to prevent her from getting laid until a particular horny phantom—and key witness in his investigation—pays her a visit.

ParaMatch.com by MK Mancos (hi Kat!)
Even though she lives without a paranormalady, Lucille has managed to carve a niche for herself with a paranormal matchmaking service. Enter Jager, deposed king of the Titans and successful paratrader. She can match anyone, except him. She doesn’t know that he’s out to negotiate the deal of a lifetime—a future with her.

Witches Anonymous by Misty Evans
Amy is done with Devil-worshipping. After swearing an oath never to use magic again, she’s in the market for a normal guy to complement her new lifestyle. And Adam looks like perfect hero material. Lucifer, however, isn’t about to be nice about letting her go…

Warning: This book contains hunky werewolves, smart-ass women and men who think that’s sexy, magic, angels, medieval legends, inter-species romance, disco music and flatulent Boxers. (The dogs, not the underwear.)

Read An Excerpt Online