A Dream of Words is available for pre-order!

  Hello, beautiful people. I stopped engaging so much here and on social media because, first, it's been a gothic novel of a year, and second, I wanted to spend my energy on actually writing books. This turned out to be an absolutely winning strategy.

 

As a result, I have THREE new projects up for pre-sale now. The one I want to talk about today is my latest collaboration with my incredible co-author, Shea MacLeod.

Please welcome our newest book baby, A Dream of Words!

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Everyone knows each other in Gold Coast, a friendly place where dreams bloom. Once a depressed flyspeck on the map, the village has grown in warmth and love.

Welcome back to the magical town in Southern Illinois, where everyone glows with hope.

Alas, life in a small town is not for everyone.

Cassie Mack hated living in Gold Coast. Everybody knew each other’s business, her toxic family tried to use her as a workhorse, and there was no way romance would ever come for her. She dreamed of making a world of words, sumptuous words that described food, love, and flavor.

When the luscious words of her secret blog catch the eye of a flailing bakery in Rome, she jumped at their offer to come help them revitalize their presence.

Cassie can run from her family and create herself into who she wants to be. But the wounds still linger. If she wants a chance at a future that suits her, she will have to grow and become the embodiment of her Dream of Words.


Preorder today for the October 3rd release. This will be the perfect book for autumn, full of amazing food descriptions and learning to adore oneself.  We hope it will inspire to dig into your dreams and create them even further.

Watch for the newsletters on the rest of my projects - a book and deck of affirmations based on the Cafe of Hopes and Dreams and another writing reference book.  It's going to be a wonderful end to 2022.

Buy Links:
My Web Site
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Kobo
Apple Books

 

Dracula Unleashed!

Check it out! The third book in the Blood Wings series is now available for pre-order.

The release date is March 21, 2013.

After centuries as the Dracula of Legend, disguised as a male, Valerie Tate's current incarnation is the last thing she expected: mother of a precocious half-angel, half-vampire, and wife to two men. But Valerie is more familiar with battlefields than domesticity. . .
 
Some overwhelmed mothers relax with a glass of wine. Valerie soothes her immortal soul with a refreshing blood and coke. How else can she deal with her toddler Minerva's psychic powers--not to mention her determination to throw knives. Thank goodness for Valerie's two loves, John Jante, guide to Fallen Angels, and Lance Soleil, Angel of the Lost. Without them, the trauma of her dark past and her primal, Dracul urge for violence and power would overtake her. Yet in a world where humans and paranormals uncomfortably co-exist, Valerie's peace will be short-lived. . .

 Tensions have erupted with bombings and the emergence of creatures heralding the apocalypse itself. And Valerie's vampire brother and nemesis, Radu, is at the center of the conflict. Now Valerie finds herself at the forefront of an epic battle between good and evil--and facing a choice no woman in any realm should have to make. . .


Available at Amazon here.

Whew.

I'm taking the rest of the day off! I've been Butt In Chair, Fingers On Keyboard for the last several days working on the synopsis for a brand new book. The working title is Sister of God. I'm calling it the DaVinci Code meets The Mists of Avalon story.

I hope my agent likes it. :)

More poetry

I was reading the Aeneid and I got to my least favorite part - Dido's death. So I wrote this as a retort to the unnecessary death of a brilliant female character.



Oh, Please, Aeneas

Dido, Queen of Carthage
Threw herself off a wall
For you?

Yeah, right, Son of Venus.
You and I know the truth.

You’re dick-sizing with Odysseus about the
women you both left behind.
He claims Calypso, the unflagging nymph, begged him to stay, but he tired of her, even after she promised him immortality.

I hear your juvenile response across the centuries.
Oh, yeah? Well, a QUEEN killed herself for love of ME and our lands became mortal enemies until my descendents destroyed her city and sowed it with salt.

Nauseating.
A queen is strong.
She keeps her wits.
Go ahead. Dump her, sail away like the
skulking coward you are.
She will rise, triumphant,
send her elephants trumpeting through your
backyard.
And not until Quintus Fabius will she be defeated,
only after
years of struggle and a waste of power.
You had nothing to do with that victory.

You are so not worthy of a queen’s pain.

You lied, Aeneas.
There was no funeral pyre. You know she
put on her jeweled sandals,
strode through the city she owned.
She wouldn’t let a panderer ruin her proud name.

Moving forward!

I had an amazing phone meeting with Kensington editor Audry LaFehr and her assistant, Martin Biro today.

They love my imagination, the relationship between Valerie and Lance, and how well the sex and violence work. They also said it was strong visual writing (woot!!).

They wanted to talk to me personally instead of through a letter in order to discuss what they thought needed work - basically, Dracula's Secret is very powerful, but also confusing. They suggested focusing more on the main romance, doing more with the secondary plots - ie what purpose do these characters have, etc.

So basically, I got the world's most awesome revise and resubmit phone call! Martin will be in town for Willamette Writer's conference, and he'd love to meet for dinner, too.

They made no promises, but said they loved my writing talent, wanted to give me lots of encouragement, and said that they very very rarely call an author to give her feedback.

I'm all verklempt!!

The first page of Dracula's Secret.

Halloween Night

Burnside Avenue

Portland, Oregon



His sun pierced her night.

Valerie Tate stopped dead at the sudden stabbing pain and clapped her gloved hands over her sensitive eyes. Blood seeped from under her eyelids in response to the too-bright aura surrounding the man across the street. Stunned, she wiped her cheeks before risking another look. Nothing broke her concentration before a mission.

Six hundred years of killing had taught her well.

Shock gave way to curiosity. Curiosity then unraveled her single-minded determination. What was he, this man innocently checking his text messages on a silver Blackberry? As her eyes cleared, she studied him with all her undead senses.

Not soap, not cologne, but his essence was the first thing that struck her. The aroma of cloves, sweet and hot, rammed up her nose like a fist, overwhelming the car exhaust and excrement odors rising from Burnside Avenue. The fiery smell transformed her anger into something far more complicated. Hunger beyond blood clenched her stomach and below. She licked her teeth, swallowed, and squinted against his aura to study his face.

The endless Northwest autumn drizzle plastered blond hair to his skull. He glanced up from his little machine, obviously aware that someone watched him. She locked her knees against a shudder when she saw his blue eyes. Not any shade of blue, but the color of icy seas under the full moon. Even covered in worn jeans and a frayed but high-end sweatshirt, his broad-shouldered body made her mouth pucker, ready to kiss. A generous bulge in his pants caught her attention, lewdly contrasting to the brightness of his innocent shine.

Rocking it.

There must be something to that pure heart business. I've been rocking the revisions like crazy since the New Year.

*knocks wood*

I'll be back when these get done!

(or for some version of done)

All right!

I just signed with the Atlantis Literary Agency!

My agent and I had coffee today, signed contracts, and talked about getting my manuscripts ready for submission.

I can barely sit still!

Yay!

I got a web interview! Check this out.