the sampler

I forgot to mention that there is an excerpt that starts on Chapter 1 and includes part of Chapter 2 at the end of Demon Blood. The same excerpt is featured in the free paranormal sampler that Berkley has been distributing at conferences (and that might be in bookstores soon? I’m not exactly sure how wide the distribution is). That excerpt has been edited for space and is missing big chunks of Mina & Newberry’s drive from the ball to the Iron Duke’s estate, during which we learn more about the world and the duke himself, so you won’t want to skip to Chapter 2 when you pick up The Iron Duke.

The excerpt at the back of Burning Up starts at Chapter 2 and ends after the first scene.

So I’ve finally added an excerpt to the site — for those of you who have read the previous two excerpts, the first part isn’t new, but the second part is. It starts at Chapter 2 and continues on through the next scene.

*I will have some of these samplers at the Powell’s signing in September — but if you have Demon Blood, then you have the same excerpt, anyway.

The Book Smugglers are having a steampunk week over at their blog. I’ve gotten a ton of questions about What Steampunk Is, and this might be a great place to start for those of you still wondering: The Introduction (and Primer) ETA: And this, Bloggers Talk Steampunk.

And for a look at how I am handling the question, I’ve put up an (unedited) excerpt for “Here There Be Monsters,” from the BURNING UP anthology out in August. THE IRON DUKE is up for pre-order as well at Amazon (it’s a trade sized novel, which is why it’s $15 — and I don’t know yet if it will be re-issued in mass-market. I suspect that is something the pub decides after they see how well (or not) the book does.) As soon as I see it for pre-order at other locations, I’ll add those links in, as well.

For those of you wondering about how The Iron Seas fits together as a series — all of the novels are lightly connected with some recurring characters, but each romance and plot stands alone.

…I’m at Odd Shots, talking about the music for the Guardian series.

And in case you missed it, I put up an excerpt for Demon Blood (it does include spoilers for Demon Forged, so if you haven’t read that yet, be warned.)

Here’s a snippet from the Burning Up novella (I am LOVING the steampunk, but it’s also why I’m not posting here often.):

Her heart pounding, Ivy held still as Mad Machen crossed the distance between them. His dark face lowered, stopping with his lips a breath from hers. He murmured, “Here in front of my men, or in my cabin. That is your choice.”

“Your cabin.” Frustration shook through her whisper. “And damn you to a kraken’s belly.”

His brows rose, and a surprised laugh broke from him before his mouth suddenly covered hers, his long fingers cupping her jaw. Not a hard kiss, and not tender—it was a statement, she realized, for the men watching them. A claim, pure and simple.

A claim that went on until Ivy had to employ all of her willpower to refrain from biting him.

He finally lifted his head, and turned to the boy. “Duckie, escort Ivy Blacksmith to my cabin. See that she wants for nothing.”

“Yes, sir.” The boy gathered her satchel from the captain, and looked expectantly to Ivy.

Plastering on a smile, she pulled at her trouser legs and curtsied to Mad Machen. His laugh followed her to the stairs—and Ivy decided she could make a statement, too. A brass finial shaped like an egg decorated the end of the banister. Ivy closed her gray hand around it. Metal shrieked as she crushed the finial between her fingers.

His laughter stopped.

She released the mangled brass, and called over her shoulder, “I await your mighty prick, sir!”

Oh, wow. I can’t believe Demon Forged releases in only a few weeks. So here is a little bit (from a few chapters in, to avoid spoilers).

***

Their argument hadn’t gone unnoticed. Beyond the mouth of the hallway, Becca sat curled on one of the common room sofas, pretending to read. Though the novice’s nose was buried in the book, her eyes were too wide and her body too still. Listening, then. And if she’d understood their French—which was likely—perhaps she was wondering if Irena intended to kill Lilith.

But Irena doubted Becca would ask. Although the novice possessed a bold mouth with anyone aged less than one or two centuries, she became a mouse around the older Guardians.

At the end of the hall, Alejandro paused in front of one of the closed doors, turning his head as if he’d caught a scent. Irena caught up to him just as the door opened.

If you aren’t sure if the name is yours (more than one Sarah, for example) you can check the comment number listed — and if you still aren’t sure, e-mail me, and I’ll see if your e-mail is the same for that comment.

I will be sending an e-mail out to all of the winners…soon. If you want to get a jump on me, please feel free to e-mail me using the contact form at the link above.

Also — I got in the new bookmarks/rack cards and stuff for DEMON FORGED (now with shiny excerpt!) If you want some, just let me know where to send them and how many you want.

For the Demon Angel/Demon Night giveaway:

True Random Number Service
Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

61 101 21 66 55
20 67 31 37 98

61 – Jennifer M – DEMON NIGHT
101 – Dottie – DEMON ANGEL
21 – Jackie (Literary Escapism) – DEMON ANGEL
66 – Carol Thompson – DEMON ANGEL
55 – Sarah – DEMON ANGEL
20 – Jacqueline – DEMON NIGHT
67 – ckyboston – DEMON NIGHT
31 – Virginia Hendricks – DEMON NIGHT
37 – Lynda – DEMON ANGEL
98 – Gregory House – DEMON NIGHT

First Blood Winners:

Random Sequence Generator

Here is your sequence:

27 – CrystalGB
55 – kardis
39 – adelina
17 – Diane Higgins

And…I’ll be having another giveaway tomorrow. I just haven’t decided what it’ll be yet, because I’ve got a huge box of books to slowly give away.

I know I said I’d give 24 hours notice that I’m closing the contests, but I just realized that WordPress automatically closes the comments after a certain length of time, so some people haven’t been able to enter. So I’m going to be closing both on Monday night at midnight, which gives everyone a little extra time.

Here’s the FIRST BLOOD giveaway.

Here’s the DEMON ANGEL/DEMON NIGHT giveaway.

And here’s an excerpt for DEMON FORGED. To avoid DEMON BOUND spoilers, it starts after chapter one.

I’ve got just a bit left to fix, then I’ll be back Tuesday-ish with the winners (“ish,” because I might crash).

First — I’m looking for someone who can verify an Italian translation for me. The dirtier the Italian you know, the better. It’s only a few lines from my current manuscript; I just need to make sure that the word choice/grammar is correct. Any takers? Send me an e-mail or leave a comment. (As soon I’ve got someone, I’ll update this space.)

And, THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF PARANORMAL ROMANCE. I thought this was releasing in April (except for in the UK, where it is already available) but I just found out that Amazon has it and is shipping it. I have a short story — unrelated to the Guardian series — called “In Sheep’s Clothing,” and here’s a quick excerpt (it’s a very short story, so I’m only putting up a very short excerpt *g*):

Five years ago, Emma Cooper would have thought a blown tire in the middle of a blizzard was bad. But bad was the small, spiked metal ball her fingers found embedded in the rubber — and worse was the truck, its headlights on bright, pulling off the two-lane highway and onto the shoulder twenty yards behind her Jeep.

The tire iron in her hands rattled against the one lug nut she’d had time to crack loose. She hadn’t even raised the jack yet; it lay on the icy asphalt behind the flat front tire.

No, not much time had passed at all. He must have been waiting off the road for her to drive by, his truck concealed by the dark and the snow.

Don’t panic, Emma told herself, and pulled in a long breath between her chattering teeth. Now was definitely not the time to panic.

Still gripping the tire iron, Emma rose from her crouch. The rattling rumble of his diesel motor cut off. The pounding of her heart filled the sudden, snow-muffled silence.

Stay calm. She tugged open the front door of her Jeep, slid into the driver’s seat, and hit the locks. Emma had been living in Seattle the past five years, but she’d kept up on the local news. In the last eighteen months, four vehicles — each with flat tires — had been found abandoned on this rural stretch of an Oregon highway. Each time, searchers recovered the body of a woman from the surrounding woods. Each woman had been raped and strangled.

The truck door slammed shut. Oh, God. She squinted against the glare of headlights in the rearview mirror, but couldn’t see anything. With her right hand, she rummaged blindly through her purse on the passenger seat and found her cell phone.

It had been years since she’d dialed the number, but she still knew it by heart. Nathan Forrester answered on the third ring. She spoke over his sleep-roughened greeting.

“Hey, Sheriff Studly.” Emma could see the dark figure in her side mirror now. The silhouetted shape was tall, and wearing a thick coat and a cowboy hat. She couldn’t tell if he carried a gun. “I’m on the side of the highway with a flat tire, and I could really, really use a lift.”

“Emma? Oh, Christ. Emma, listen — don’t accept any help.”

“I didn’t plan on it.” She stared at the mirror. He’d walked half the distance to her Jeep. Her fingers tightened on the tire iron, her nails drawing blood from the heel of her palm. Stay calm. “But I think he plans to offer help anyway.”

She heard Nathan swearing and running across a wooden floor. “Where are you? You still have your Jeep?”

“About ten miles before the Bluffs turnoff. And, yes. I still have it.”

“Okay, Emma, I’m on my way, but you’ve got to drive. Stay in low gear. The flat tire will pull hard at your steering wheel, but your Jeep will go. So you start it now and get the hell out of there.”

Emma jammed the phone between her cheek and shoulder, turned the ignition key. The engine fired up. A shadow darkened her window.

She looked over just he swung her jack through the glass.

There’s a complete list of authors and titles at Jeaniene Frost’s blog (via Lynda Hilburn’s blog).

The Celebrate Romance conference was awesome, even though I didn’t go to all of it. MUST LOVE HELLHOUNDS is available for pre-order, and I’ve sent back copy-edits for the story. ANGELS’ BLOOD is out. It’s darker than Nalini’s Psy/Changelings, so don’t be surprised by that — and with a hero that brings to mind Anne Bishop’s dark and deadly heroes. He’s scary, but Nalini finds the human in him, Elena is strong (click for an interview with her) — in the absolute best way, both kick-ass and smart — and it’s an amazing ride. Larissa Ione has a contest going for her next Demonica release. Jane’s feeling a paranormal malaise (I had to comment briefly). KMont wonders about the c-words while I just drool over the cover. Also, THE SHADOW QUEEN is out, and I’m going to talk about it as soon as I can…somewhere else. God, there’s so much other stuff, but this is not brief anymore.

So today, I struggled mightily with a scene. It’s one of those scenes that need to be there (also known as the CHARACTERS EXPLAIN TO SOMEONE WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN THE LAST BOOKS SO THAT THE READER CAN ALSO CATCH UP scene).

In books like mine, there comes a point early where I have to state what is going on, what the rules (and Rules) are, and so forth. This is most easily done with a character who does not know WTF is going on, and so the reader learns along with her and in a way that is organic to the scene/story (and hopefully the dreaded INFODUMP can be avoided — I have not always done so successfully.) The best example? Charlie and Drifter. Charlie doesn’t know crap about the Guardians, so while she’s digging a bullet out of Drifter’s back, he tells her. I like that scene a lot. (I’ll put it at the end of this post.)

I’m a talky writer. I like to have my characters talk, especially if they are the main characters and we can get the romance/flirty/tension stuff going in the conversation, too. Sometimes, the worldbuilding comes out smoothly in the course of their discussions, even if both characters know what is going on (although it works best if both only know parts, so they piece it together). Unfortunately, sometimes it means that I end up in a room with talking heads … even if one of those heads doesn’t know WTF is going on.

I hate writing those scenes (usually put them in brackets and write them last, hoping that by some miracle I’ll get the info out another way and won’t have to write it) but sometimes — especially if the person with the information isn’t one of my POV characters, I can’t get around it. My main characters have to be told, and we have to listen. If I’m lucky, the scene is short.

Today, it was not. Well, it wasn’t long … but I was resisting every single word. I HATED IT. I had a character who didn’t know WTF was going on, and she’s going to be necessary to the story, so she isn’t a throwaway character for the sake of the scene, and she needs to be brought up to speed, but it was effing boring — especially since it had just come after an emotional fight between my hero/heroine. Then my hero stood around in an effing boring scene, so HE seemed boring. And I realized: okay, this cannot be.

So I had him move. And yes, he’s relaying all of the needed info as he’s moving, but now he’s relating it to everything/everyone he’s seeing, giving me a chance to introduce the setting and a few more characters, and it all pulls together when he runs into Khavi at the end of the scene … which is where DEMON BOUND left off.

And because I erased so much and started over, I probably won’t make my word count for the day … but thank goodness those stupid words are gone. In about a year, I hope you’ll be thanking me, too, for sparing you an effing boring talking heads scene, and giving you an Alejandro-stalks-broodily-through-SI scene instead.

Here’s that excerpt from DEMON NIGHT, when Drifter explains to Charlie the origin of the Guardians:

 

I haven’t written a character like this before. It’s an interesting balance — because her anger can’t always come out violently and she can’t always be surly, or it would be hard to care about her romance or her story (I think angry heroes have it easier than angry heroines). So it’s shaping a lot of her humor, too.

Anyway, here’s a snippet from DEMON DAWN. Irena’s in Rome, and she’s just been propositioned by a drunk.