And, so Amazon has run out of their DEMON NIGHT stock, too. Everything I said about finding DEMON ANGEL applies to DEMON NIGHT, except you should also be able to find it at your favorite ebook retailer.
You can still find print copies at:
Borders.com ~ BN.com ~ Powells.com
And
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:
Â
No, no — this is not about the letter in RWR about how today’s heroines all talk and act like sluts (because that’s been done and discussed over and over and over and over and over.) But I do feel I should warn readers that a) my heroines aren’t likely to be virgins (although they could be), and b) they are going to be aware of their sexual needs, c) might not always have the healthiest sexual history, but they know it, and d) might say “fuck.”
What you won’t find in my books: a heroine who says, “What is that long, hard thing in your pants?” (Although, I guess Savi did say that to Colin, kind of.)
His hands enfolded one of hers, brought it down to his upper thigh. A hard, steel length lay beneath the fine wool of his trousers. “Not precisely what I’d like you to touch in that location, but it’s there if you want it.â€
A gun. Either loaded with tranquilizer darts made with hellhound venom, or bullets laced with the same.
I miss Colin sometimes. Sigh.
So, anyway! This was about me getting around. And I am! I’m over at Bam’s blog, writing the Best! Story! Ever! (AKA, the kind of stuff that comes out of me at 1am, and the caffeine isn’t working anymore.)
I’ve also sent a post to The Good, the Bad, & the Unread for their ValenDuckie event. It should show up today or tomorrow — it’s all about non-romantic movies, and the romances in them.
And tomorrow, I’ll be guest blogging at Simply Romance Reviews.
…did I mention that all of these posts have prizes attached? Like, um, a certain new release? Go forth!
ETA: Okay, considering where I’ve taken the comments, obviously this did become about that letter. I mentioned over and over, and here are the places the discussion has gone on before (just in recent memory — there were a few others (I think at JMC’s blog, and I’ll link if I can track them down)): Jeaniene Frost’s livejournal, and at the Smart Bitches. But although I remembered (and applauded) Jeaniene’s response last month, I didn’t realize until I stumbled across it again that it was in response to the same letter, printed in both the January RWR issue and the February issue. WTF? Is it an oversight, someone in editorial hoping for a reaction, or someone in editorial agreeing with the letter-writer’s viewpoint so they’re publishing it again?
I talk about whether I’ll ever write a funny book, the religious aspects of the series, and the difficulty classifying the series in an interview at All About Romance today.
I’m still guest blogging at The Book Binge! (With prizes at the end of the week!) Today, they ask the important questions, like: Coke or Pepsi?
(Pepsi, but Diet Coke)
If it helps, as soon as I read Magic Bites I thought, “I hate this author, her sparse prose, her tight plotting, her ridiculously amazing world-building, and the KATE SHE RODE IN ON!!” So, you know, we’re even.
P.S. That chick really did have Pantene hair. But, ahem — I can’t help but notice that your own cover girl has a sultry glower. And what’s more– Shh! Shhhh! Listen:
Do you hear that whisper? I think she’s saying, “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.”
(First — congrats to loonigrrl for winning the copy of Demon Night over at Nose in a Book! (And, um, there’s a little excerpt posted over there, with Ethan being … well, a little hungry.))
(Second, I’m still guest blogging over at The Book Binge. Today and tomorrow, it’s all about Q&As.)
(Third, Demon Night kinda-sorta hit a bestseller list last week. It was #41 on the Borders/Waldenbooks romance mass market list! My first list evah! *happy dance* (Also, go congratulate Nalini, who hit in the awesome numbers … also in the week before the official release.)
(Fourth, Borders Stores is running a promotion on Demon Night — $1 off (no coupon necessary.) So if you have a Borders bookstore near you, it’ll be less expensive than other options might be.)
Explore the seductive corners of the dark, as a forbidden attraction tempts danger under the canopy of the…
DEMON NIGHT
$7.99 Berkley Sensation
ISBN 0425219771
Charlie Newcomb worked hard to get her life back together. But all that is shaken when she’s set upon by three vampires desperate to transform her beauty into something evil. Because Charlie is the vital link to something they want—and need. It’s Charlie’s flesh and blood sister, a medical scientist whose knowledge could be invaluable to the predators.
But to get to her, they must first get to Charlie, now under the intimate protection of Ethan McCabe. As her Guardian, Ethan is attracted to her vulnerabilities—as well as her strengths. The closer he gets, the more protecting her becomes not just his duty, but his desire. But will it be enough to save Charlie when the demon night falls?
Reviews after the cut (and please let me know if you want me to add yours — I’m sure I forgot some).
Read more
(First — congrats to loonigrrl for winning the copy of Demon Night over at Nose in a Book! (And, um, there’s a little excerpt posted over there, with Ethan being … well, a little hungry.))
(Second, I’m still guest blogging over at The Book Binge. Today and tomorrow, it’s all about Q&As.)
(Third, Demon Night kinda-sorta hit a bestseller list last week. It was #41 on the Borders/Waldenbooks romance mass market list! My first list evah! *happy dance* (Also, go congratulate Nalini, who hit in the awesome numbers … also in the week before the official release.)
(Fourth, Borders Stores is running a promotion on Demon Night — $1 off (no coupon necessary.) So if you have a Borders bookstore near you, it’ll be less expensive than other options might be.)
Explore the seductive corners of the dark, as a forbidden attraction tempts danger under the canopy of the…
DEMON NIGHT
$7.99 Berkley Sensation
ISBN 0425219771
Charlie Newcomb worked hard to get her life back together. But all that is shaken when she’s set upon by three vampires desperate to transform her beauty into something evil. Because Charlie is the vital link to something they want—and need. It’s Charlie’s flesh and blood sister, a medical scientist whose knowledge could be invaluable to the predators.
But to get to her, they must first get to Charlie, now under the intimate protection of Ethan McCabe. As her Guardian, Ethan is attracted to her vulnerabilities—as well as her strengths. The closer he gets, the more protecting her becomes not just his duty, but his desire. But will it be enough to save Charlie when the demon night falls?
Reviews after the cut (and please let me know if you want me to add yours — I’m sure I forgot some).
Read more
I’ve been invited to guest blog at The Book Binge all this week — today, we’re talking covers.
<— Specifically, this one.
In unrelated news:
Dear New York Times,
I saw your headline this morning that read:
“A perfect ending, for the Giants”
I really think you should have used a dash instead of a comma.
Sincerely,
Meljean
On February 5, Demon Night — the fifth book in my Guardian series, featuring Drifter, an outlaw from the Old West turned hero, and the woman he has to protect from vampires — is going to be in stores.
But I’m not the only one with a release this February 5th — Joey Hill has a fantastic follow-up to The Vampire Queen’s Servant; Jaci Burton has penned a freaking hot introduction to her Wild Riders series; Nalini Singh has written another fabulous entry to her amazing Psy-Changeling universe; and Dakota Cassidy offers a funny, sexy first installment in her sure-to-be-a-winner Accidental series.
So we all thought it would be fun to ask each other a few questions, give readers an opportunity to get to know us a little better, maybe find a new favorite, and win some fabulous prizes. And when five authors get together for a round robin of questions and answers, anything can happen … and readers will win.
I’ll be giving away signed copies of Demon Angel and Demon Moon (unless you already own them, and then we’ll see if there’s another book you’d like 
) on this blog, and the other ladies are offering their own fabulous prizes, including books and gift certificates. Each of us has a question on our blog that each author has answered. Here, the question is:
If you could pick one character from your books and spend the day with him/her/it (with no spousal guilt, depending on the activity!) what would you do?
Jaci Burton, author of Riding Wild:
Mac from Riding Wild. He has a Harley. And a gun. And he’s damn sexy. I think we’d have to take a backroads journey into the hills, maybe to the lake. Rest a little. Maybe get lost. Heh.
Dakota Cassidy, author of The Accidental Werewolf:
Hands down it’d be Nina from Accidentally Dead. She’s has no filter from brain to mouth–she calls it as she sees it. Not to mention she uses the word “fucktard” liberally and without shame.
Joey Hill, author of The Mark of the Vampire Queen:
When I think about what I’d like heaven to be, after the obvious reunion with loved ones, I have this dream of being able to walk into my fiction worlds and hang out for the day with my characters whenever I wish. Very first thing, I’d probably go to Tyler and Marguerite’s BDSM carnival party and hope the rest of the Nature of Desire crowd were there so I could spend the day with all of them. Not just for the obvious exciting stuff. I imagine hanging out with them, the way they were hanging out in the wee hours of the morning after Marguerite and Tyler’s wedding. Just picking on each other and being relaxed in the company of friends. Mac would let me take a swig of his beer. Justin and I would talk about Wicca. I’d grill Sara, Mac and Violet on police stuff as research for my next book (hey, isn’t there a heaven library of yet-to-be-published-in-the-earthly-realm books?) I might be too shy to talk much to Marguerite and Tyler, but it would be wonderful to watch them interact with the others, and of course with each other.
Nalini Singh, author of Mine to Possess:
This is an incredibly hard question. I choose one, then I think, nooooo, I want that person, then the cycle repeats. So here’s my answer – I’d throw a party, invite all my characters, then climb a tree from where I could see everything. Can you imagine the fireworks?!
My partners in crime would be Julian and Roman, the twin leopard-changeling cubs first introduced in Slave to Sensation. Not only do they have a degree in mischief, they know how to steal the best cake and they have very big ears so I could totally listen in to all the conversations.
Meljean Brook, author of Demon Night:
Colin from Demon Moon. He’s wickedly funny, has a great sense of style, and droolingly gorgeous. I’d happily spend an entire day just looking at him, but I think we’d probably grab an old horror movie or two, then I’d watch him paint for a while, then I’d watch him slice a rogue vampire to ribbons with his swords, then ask him if he thought Byron was handsome just to prick his vanity. But I’d have to say no to anything in the bedroom, because then I’d forget all about my fabulous day (and because Savi would kick my ass).
Here’s what readers have to do to win: leave a comment by Sunday night (Feb 3) telling me which character from any book you’d love to spend the day with, and how you’d spend the time — and then don’t forget to visit Jaci Burton, Dakota Cassidy, Nalini Singh, and Joey Hill‘s blogs for more questions, more answers, and more chances to win!
Okay, breaking my head down rule (again, because I did yesterday at Dear Author) because this one popped up out of nowhere.
I had no idea Demon Night was reviewed by PW :boggle: I have no idea when it was, either, because I just found the review when I went to Powell’s site to see if they had any in stock at their Beaverton store yet.
But, supercool. My first PW review:
“Brook crafts an entertaining, slow-building romance for her latest Guardian series entry. Charlie Newcomb is a recovering alcoholic working at a bar and just trying to keep her head above water when she comes across a group of vampires nesting on the establishment’s roof. Luckily, her enigmatic next-door neighbor Ethan McCabe is a Guardian, or angel, who is keeping an eye on her. The two get caught in a demonic plot that threatens Charlie’s sister, Jane, while Charlie must wrestle with not only the undead but with her growing attraction to Ethan. Charlie’s traumatic past has left her believably afraid of her own needs, and Ethan is a brave, sweet guy with old-fashioned ideas about chivalry. Brook gives them distinctive dialogue and paints a fascinating, erotic world full of angels, demons, vampires and ambiguity.” Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
*happy dance*
