Monday, April 30, 2012

Rewriting the Weekend Away



So it another lovely weekend has past--at least it looked lovely through the attic window where I spent most of it working. I can't even complain, really. Three days of straight writing is kind of my ideal weekend. Does that make me a nerd? Yeah, don't answer. I probably don't really want to know.

What was I working on so diligently? The Devil's Eye. The wonderful cop who answers all my pesky research questions got back to me last week, so I made some changes there. Also, I'm making sure that certain details that will tie into books two and three are introduced. For a non-plotter, it's an interesting experience thinking two books ahead of where I am now.

As I wrapped up the first draft of The Devil's Eye, I realized that I just had to trust that what I needed for the other books would come to me. For instance, while I knew who my heroine was for the second book, I only had a sketchy idea for my hero and wasn't at all certain how he would fit. Then, about halfway through The Devil's Eye, he showed up fully formed and ready to be written about. Gotta love that.

The only thing I'm not certain of is the title for book two. I keep flip-flopping between The Devil's Shadow and The Devil's Secret. Both are applicable. There are secrets in the second book, both revealed and discovered. There are shadows in the second book, both real and figurative. So which title do you like better? Maybe I should have poll.



Friday, April 27, 2012

The Witch's Stone is Out Today


Woohoo! It's the big day. The Witch's Stone is out. Here the blurb and an excerpt...

A devastating tragedy cost history professor Hillary Bennett her job and her marriage. Desperate to rebuild her life, she travels to the quaint Scottish village of Culcraig to research a legend and salvage her career. But when she arrives, she finds her hostess dead and her hopes for the future pinned to the woman's black sheep heir—Caid Douglas.

The last thing Caid needs is a decrepit manor house to remind him of his estranged family, but he does need the money selling the house would bring to pay off his debts. When haunted, down-on-her-luck Hillary offers to pay him to stay at Glendon House and view his great grandfather's journals, he sees a way out of his mess.

But Glendon House harbors a sinister secret behind its great stone walls. And a killer will stop at nothing to keep it.

Excerpt:


“That should be good enough,” she said, sitting back on her haunches and eyeing the dark spot on the stone. The faint jagged line of the scar on her hand peeked out from the cloth, drawing his attention. He’d noticed it before, and noticed the way she shut down when he drew attention to the mark. 


As she stood, he did likewise, gripping her hand once more. He took the wet towels from her and tossed them into the sink, but didn’t release her. Instead, he ran his thumb over the hardened flesh marring her palm. Her hand fisted instantly.


“What happened?” he asked, lifting his gaze to hers. Her eyes looked huge against the paleness of her skin.


“I cut it. Not a big deal.” A soft rasp edged her voice.


“How? It looks like it was bad.”


She didn’t answer, but tried to tug free of his grip. Instead of letting her go, he pulled her closer, then, as though it were the most natural thing in the world, he lowered his head and brushed his lips over hers. She shivered beneath his touch, tilting her head and giving him better access to her soft, pink mouth. 


Need spiked inside him like a solar flare. With a low growl, he gripped her hips and pulled her slender form tight against his. He took her mouth harder this time, in a deep, hungry kiss. 





Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Blood and Bone Print for PreOrder



Well, the title sort of says it all, doesn't it? That's right. Blood and Bone print books--which will be released September 4th--are available for pre order at Amazon. And you can save nearly five bucks by ordering now.

Also, only two more sleeps until The Witch's Stone. :-)

Monday, April 23, 2012

Destination Inspiration: Never Underestimate the Value of an Angry Mob



Ideas for stories come from everywhere--an article I've read, a song I liked, the cistern in my basement. (Anyone who's read Blood and Bone knows what I'm talking about.) The imagination perks up, mulls the idea around a little and I wait. Sometimes nothing happens. I make a few notes and tuck them away in my idea folder until the next time something catches my attention. Other times, a strange sort of tingle starts at the back of my neck and I know I've got something good.

That's the way it happened with The Witch's Stone. I was still finishing up the first draft for Living Lies, when I happened to catch a television show featuring The Donnelly family massacre. This is a true story about a family murdered in their home by an angry mob  in 1880, and the town that covered it up. I've included the link for anyone who wants to read the details, because it's not the details that gave me that initial spark of an idea for The Witch's Stone. It was the idea of an angry mob committing a murder and how the town might be haunted by the act a hundred years later.

The funny thing is, I nearly gave up on this book. I couldn't quite figure out how the hero and heroine would factor into the story. I'd decided to slip my notes into the idea file and think about working on something else, then I went off to my day job--which, at the time, was at a bookstore. That same day an old man came in asking me if I had any books on web design, I showed what we had. We were a small store, so it wasn't much. But he wasn't all that interested anyway. Instead, he wanted to tell me what his site was going to be about. You've probably guessed it, The Donnelly family.

Turns out, he was related to one of the men who had been accused of being part of the mob. The tingle was back, and when I got home, I took my notes out of the file and got to work.

Aside from the angry mob, The Witch's Stone really has nothing in common with TheDonnelly family legend, but it was hearing that story that the first kernel of an idea formed.

Here's a short excerpt. I hope you like it. The Witch's Stone will be available the this Friday, April 27th...


A flash in the gloom caught her eye and she stopped walking. A small light, there for an instant, then it was gone.


What the hell?


Another flash, this one a little left of the first. She narrowed her gaze. A round yellow glow shone through the trees like the beam from a flashlight. 


Was there someone else in the woods? 


The light disappeared.


Her heart rate kicked up and a shivery cold, slick and horribly familiar, settled over her.  She struggled to pull herself together.  So what if she wasn’t alone? Surely, other people walked in this forest. But rational thinking did little to calm the swell of panic expanding inside her chest.


The light returned, closer this time. There had to be someone out there, coming toward her, but she couldn’t see anyone. 


“Hello?” she called out.


No answer, and the light vanished again. 


Hillary turned to start back to the inn, but froze. Another light had appeared directly behind her, so close she had to squint against the brightness. She peered into the forest murk, but couldn’t see anyone past the bright yellow glow.

Friday, April 20, 2012

So, What's New With You?

You may have noticed my recent change of venue. What can I say? Life can be funny sometimes, and not so much in the haha kind of way. Anyway, the short version is welcome to my new home on the web. Hopefully all five of my previous blog followers will follow me here too. ;-)

Actually, it's kind of exciting to have a fresh start and that's kind of what I'm doing here. Sometimes, a change can breathe some new life into something. And I really like all these gadgets that I couldn't have on my previous blog.

But enough about blogs. I've been crazy busy this past week. I continue to move forward with rewrites on The Devil's Eye. I'm writing the sequel, The Devil's Shadow. And of course there's been getting The Witch's Stone ready for release. The latter is my first dip in the indy pool, and I've really had a lot of fun getting it ready...especially the cover, which I have posted for your visual pleasure.

I'm desperately needy so tell me what you think of it and/or the new blog.