Painful reality

My dear friend, Su Lute, is a gifted writer who is one of the co-authors of the witty and important blog, "See Jane Publish".

Today, she reminds all of us of a frightening reality of a woman's life. She shares the story of a fellow nurse and good friend who was killed this week by domestic violence.

What is there to say when this tragedy occurs?

I'm sure there are 'helpful' people who will scold Su for "not getting her friend out of there" or "not alerting the authorities".  To these people, I gently remind them - stopping domestic abuse is not as simple as riding in like the Lone Ranger and saving the day with a Grand Gesture.

For the rest of us, I say that that romance is important.  Abuse is one reason why. Women must have hope that they can survive an angry man. We must have hope that love will mitigate the violence that is rampant against women.

When we are fatigued and hopeless from the odds stacked against us, romance gives us a chance to restore our souls and refresh our bodies. Then, we can go back into the world and fight the good fight for our rights.

Fear can drag us down, convince us that we are trapped by a world that hates us, wants us to be silent, wants us to disappear, wants us to be available as sexual objects only, and that dismisses our intellect and our talents.

Anything that gives us hope, bandages up our courage, that helps us remember our fallen sisters, cannot be dismissed.

YES!

Dracula's Secret, the first book in the Blood Wings series, is available for pre-order again!

It will be released July 19th, 2012.

I guess it wasn't delayed all that long!

I can't stop dancing!

Important news.

In the meantime, I'll look at lots of pictures of the Topkapi Palace for inspiration.

On the publishing front - the release date for Dracula's Secret has been pushed back (again) to early fall.

I am pleased to say that this is due to the natural growing pains that happen when a publishing house starts a new line. (As you may remember, Dracula's Secret is one of the flagship books for Kensington's brand new e-book line).

So when you ask me when my book will be out, the answer will be, "I don't know, but I will certainly tell you as soon as I find out!"