Category Archives: Updates

Susan Illene’s Dark Avengers

This is quick post to let you all know about a new Facebook group available for fans of my books.  Up until now, there hasn’t been an easy place to go once you’ve finished the Sensor Series or Dragon’s Breath Series novels to discuss it with fellow readers.  I thought it was about time to change that.

One reason I haven’t done this before is that I don’t have time to run it myself, and I didn’t feel right about it anyway because it should be a place where you can hold discussions freely without my involvement.  Thankfully, I found two awesome ladies (Rachel and Sarah) who follow both my series and were happy to run it for me.  They are also part of the team that helps with brainstorming for my novel covers and planning the cover model photo shoots.  They know my books well, and I’m confident they’ll make great moderators.  I will stop by once in a while for special posts and Q&A sessions, but other than that it’s all for the readers.

The title of this post may have tipped you off on the name of the group.  After much thought and consideration, we went with “Susan Illene’s Dark Avengers“.  We tried a lot of different ideas in an attempt to find something that didn’t favor one of my series over the other, and for whatever reason that one stuck with us the most.  It’s catchy.  Just go with it 🙂

Things to expect with the group

  • Sneak peeks at covers before they’re revealed anywhere else
  • Exclusive giveaways
  • Early snippets from upcoming books
  • Character highlights before the next novel releases to help refresh your memory on who they are and where they were at the last time you saw them.
  • Reminders for when books release in various formats (ebook, audio, paperback)
  • Q&A sessions with me
  • Group discussions of my books before and after releases (anything with spoilers will be marked accordingly for those who may not be caught up)
  • A chance to hang out with like-minded readers

There are probably more things I’m not remembering to list right now, but you get the basic idea.  This will be a closed group with two moderators who will post regular topics and help keep things civil so you can feel comfortable there.  If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, and you want to join the Dark Avengers, the link is below. The moderators will be checking in regularly to approve new members and welcome you to the group!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1657437984566674/

Dancing with Flames is now available!

I’m pleased to announce that Dancing with Flames is now available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.  This novel turned out to be a fun one for me, and I really enjoyed writing it.  There are a lot of twists and turns, a bit of romance, and plenty of action.  For those who have been wanting to see Bailey in action now that she’s a full dragon slayer, you’ll definitely get it.  For those who were wanting to see more of the dragon/shifter world, there’s a lot more of that in the novel as well. There should be something in the story for everyone.

In the back of the ebook, you will be able to find a glossary of dragon terms and a list of the dragon clans with descriptions of which territories they each inhabit.  I’ve put those there for anyone who would like them as a reference while reading.  If you would prefer to be able to print the list of dragon terms and clans, you are welcome to email me at [email protected] and I’ll send you the Word document.  I also plan to add them to my website very soon.

Below are the rest of the book details, plus retailer links.  Hope everyone has a great day and a lovely weekend!

SUMMARY:

Four months ago, fire-breathing dragons invaded Earth from an alternate dimension, wreaking havoc on modern civilization. Bailey Monzac has been training to kill them ever since discovering she was impervious to their flames, but when some of the beasts begin targeting children, she can’t hold back any longer and must hunt them down.

Her ally, Aidan, would help, except the shape-shifter has his own troubles. His clan is battling for territory against the pure dragons and his father—their leader—is dying. As the shifters fight for the pendragon position, fierce rivalry takes over. Aidan’s own brothers aren’t above blackmail and murder if it will get them to the top. He must stay one step ahead if he is to survive and keep his clan safe from the pure dragons who threaten them all.

Bailey and Aidan may be natural-born enemies, but working together might be the only thing that saves them from the danger that lies ahead.

Word count: 104,000 (approximate)


RETAILER LINKS:

AMAZON US   AMAZON UK   AMAZON DE

AMAZON AU   AMAZON CA

Darkness Haunts is now available in French and other news

I’ve been sitting on this for a long time now, but a little over a year ago I signed with a publisher in France who wanted the French language rights to the Sensor Series.  This is the first time any of my books have been translated so it is a bit exciting.  You’ll notice the basic cover is still the same.  The publisher liked my existing series covers well enough they chose to keep them rather than design something different.  That works fine for me since I’d prefer to keep my branding regardless of format.

Tomorrow (April 29th) the first novel, Darkness Haunts, will be available.  Or as it is called in French, Hantée par les ténèbres.  For those who are interested, it is available now for pre-order on Amazon France. Also, according to my publisher’s current schedule, the next novel in the series should be out later this year.

In other Sensor Series news, yesterday on Facebook I opened the floor for feedback on the first spin-off novel with Cori and Bartol.  I asked readers whether they’d like to see them get just one book or a possible 2-3 book series.  The overwhelming response was to give them multiple books.  I probably won’t do this for every side character from the original series, but in instances where I think I have enough ideas to write, I’ll consider it.  So you can expect that Cori and Bartol will probably get three novels to tell their full story.  After that, I’ll either write Micah’s or Kerbasi’s books.

Meanwhile, I’ve got to get back to working on Dancing with Flames.  I’ll be revealing the cover in late May and I’ve finally set the new release date for June 24th.  Everything is looking good so far to stay on track with that.

Hope everyone is having a good week!

April update

First of all, thank you to everyone who has picked up a copy of Darkness Wanes.  I’ve appreciated all the wonderful feedback I’ve received via email and Facebook messages.  If you’d consider leaving a review on Amazon or whichever retailer you use, I’d greatly appreciate it.

The paperback should be out within two weeks for those interested.  I’m getting it formatted now.  Many people have asked about the audiobook and my publisher has set it to release on June 21st.  Sorry it can’t be sooner, but hopefully the time will pass quickly!

As for Dancing with Flames (book 2 of the Dragon’s Breath series), I have begun working hard on it.  I’d done some of the preliminary work last year after finishing the first novel, but now I’m getting deep into the writing.  One thing I’m enjoying is that with the apocalypse and basic world-building tasks are out of the way, I can focus more on the characters and plot threads with this installment.  There will be some recap of events from the first book, but mostly I’ll be pushing the story forward.

Yesterday, I spent some time on research I needed for the novel, going to visit a couple of sources for various information (don’t want to spoil anything).  It’s amazing how many people are patient with me when I ask crazy questions related to the series and that they’re willing to help.  I also walked through the location for one of the battle scenes and took a bunch of pictures I’ll refer to later.  There was a skateboard park nearby.  The guys there were giving me strange looks because I had to pass by them along my way while snapping photos (in another direction), but I ignored them.  Unfortunately, their colorful ramps couldn’t figure into my story due to their location.  This particular battle scene is already written, but my first drafts are bare bones with little description so I needed to get the proper lay of the land for when I do my revisions.

I know a lot of people want a hard date for when the novel will be out.  Believe me, I wish I could give it to you, but after all the delays with Darkness Wanes I’m a little nervous to do that just yet until I reach a certain point in the book.  Nothing bothers me more than letting you guys down when I miss a target date.  At the very least, we’re looking at two months from now.  That is doable, barring any unforeseen circumstances.  It’s spring, though, so keep your fingers crossed that Oklahoma doesn’t get another spat of tornadoes to distract me.  Speaking of which, there are storms forecast for the next couple of days so I should probably get off here and get some writing done while the weather is still calm.

Thanks again for all the support you’ve given me and for your patience.  I’ll post another update later in the month.

Darkness Wanes is now available!

I know you all have been waiting patiently (or in some cases impatiently) for the sixth and final novel in the Sensor Series to release.  Darkness Wanes is now available at Amazon and the other major retailers (see the bottom of this post for all the links).

This novel ended up being just over 126k words long in order to wrap up everything relating to Lucas and Melena (though a few open threads are left for spin-off books with other characters).  It took a long time to get this novel finished, but I’m pleased with how it turned out and hope you will be, too.  For audio listeners, my publisher just let me know Darkness Wanes will be released on June 21st in audio format.  They’ve got it on schedule with the same narrator who has handled all the other Sensor books.

There is also a bonus holiday short story featuring Kerbasi, titled An Unexpected Gift, included at the end of the book.  I originally revealed the story over at Nocturnal Book Reviews in December, but it has not been available in an ebook until now.  On the Sensor Series timeline, An Unexpected Gift falls after the end of the main series so it does give you a little glimpse into how things are going for some characters approximately seven months down the line.  There will also be full-length spinoff novels set in the Sensor World in the future.  I expect to release the first one in early 2017.  For the rest of this year, though, I’ll be focusing on the dragon books.

Below is a summary for the novel and links to the retailers.  Thanks to everyone who has stayed with me to the end of the series.  All the kind words of encouragement and messages from fans have meant a lot.

Darkness Wanes medium coverSUMMARY:

Melena Sanders is locked away in Purgatory, which is no vacation, but she’ll soon be returning to Alaska where troubles are mounting once again.  Suspicious fires are breaking out, supernaturals are being attacked, and there’s an enemy lurking out there waiting for his chance to strike.  Her lover, Lucas, is managing to hold their home together during her absence, but he’s more than ready for her to return.  It will take the two of them working together, along with friends and family, to overcome the darkness that is about to unleash.

Word count: 126,000 (approximate)

 


 

RETAILER LINKS:

AMAZON US    AMAZON UK     AMAZON DE     AMAZON AU     AMAZON CA

NOOK     KOBO     ITUNES