Publishing delay…

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I’ve been putting this off because I hated to break the news, but I’m going to have to delay publishing Stalked by Flames. A few too many things in my personal life came up this month that severely delayed my getting through revisions. Family troubles, illness, round after round of thunderstorms and massive flooding in my state–a lot of things. As soon as I’d think I could get back to work something else would come along to throw me off my game.

In addition to that, I’ve just been taking longer to get the story how I want it. One of the great things about this stage in my writing career is I’ve learned a lot through publishing the Sensor Series. I’ve been taking all those lessons and applying them so that this new series can start off with a bang, but it has meant revisions have gone slower. Plus a good deal of research and fact checking has gone into Stalked by Flames. Not that I don’t have a lot with my other books, but this story has some major elements I haven’t had to deal with before.

I’m rather amazed the guy at the water treatment plant in the town where this book takes place didn’t hang up on me the other day. I needed to know how the long water would keep running if dragons invaded and knocked out the power grid. A reasonable question, right? Of course, I did introduce myself as an author and gave him a brief summary of the story first. Still, it was a little awkward to ask. I must say I’m grateful there are sci-fi/fantasy lovers everywhere and he understood my need for information. We had a nice fifteen minute chat on all the possible scenarios so I could be sure I got it right in my book. I’ve had other phone calls like that where people were just as cooperative. And no federal agents have showed up on my doorstep wondering what I’m up to, so that’s a bonus.

I’ve just about got the first quarter of the book where I want it. That is always the hardest part for me and takes the longest to get through because all the groundwork is laid there. It had been a while since I’d started a new series and I’d forgotten how complicated world building, character introductions, plot, etc. could be when you don’t have previous books to rely on. This is an all-new cast with dynamics that are rather different from my other books.

Needless to say I’m estimating it will take a few more weeks to get through revisions on the rest of the book and bounce the manuscript back and forth with my editors. My hope is to have the book out by July 25th. If anyone would be interested in doing a beta read of the early chapters (about 20k words) let me know by Sunday, June 28th. Please only respond if you’re serious about looking them over and can have them back to me in a few days. For those who email through the contact page or comment here, I’ll get the file to you on Sunday for you to look over.

Thanks to everyone for their patience. I am very excited about this novel and hope to have it out soon. For those who haven’t signed up for my book release alerts and want to be sure you don’t miss Stalked by Flames when it comes out, click here. You’ll only receive emails when I publish new books, nothing else.

Charity Drive, Audio, and other updates

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I meant to have an update post sooner, but I had a family emergency come up over the weekend. My brother was in a car crash last Friday and ended up being flown by helicopter to the hospital because of a head injury he received in the collision. At first they feared they’d have to operate, but thankfully the bleeding in his brain stopped and they transferred him over to the ICU where they monitored him for a couple of days.

It was a scary experience seeing my younger brother lying there on a ventilator. The hospital where they took him is nearly an hour from my home so I spent as much time as I could with him until he was out of danger. Thankfully, he’s been released now and is recuperating. If anyone messaged me in recent days I apologize for not getting back to you sooner, but I am trying to catch up.

Memorial Day charity drive

For those who read my previous post or caught my mention on Facebook, I participated in a charity drive for veteran charities late last month. From May 22nd to the 29th any sales I received on Darkness Haunts (all formats), would go to the Wounded Warrior Project. I didn’t meet my goal of $500, but did raise $302.54 between ebook and paperback sales. For audio, I’m traditionally published and can’t get the numbers for a while so I kicked up the total amount to cover that. Today I sent $400 to the Wounded Warrior Project as my donation from the fundraiser. Thanks to everyone who either bought a copy or helped spread the word. I really appreciate it.

Darkness Shatters audio release

For those who have been waiting for Darkness Shatters to come out in audio, it is available today. You can pick up your copy wherever audiobooks are sold in either digital or CD format. I’m including a few links below:

Amazon

Audible

iTunes

Tantor (only $4.99 as of this posting)

Stalked by Flames news

I plan to have the first three chapters posted by mid-June for you all to check out. Stay tuned if you’re interested in trying the first book in my all-new dragon series. If you haven’t heard about it yet, you can find out more details here.

Memorial Day Charity Drive 2015

Memorial Day 2015 Veteran’s Charity Challenge: Gone, but Not Forgotten!

During Memorial Day week, from the 22nd to 29th of May, more than 70 veteran authors will pledge 100% of their print, ebook and audio book royalties to their favorite charity supporting veterans or a large flat-rate donation. In most cases, these are organizations that assisted the authors personally and they are trying their best to give back.

Veterans from each service branch and every conflict period, from Vietnam to even active duty authors, are pledging. This diverse collection of works includes New York Times and USA Today Bestsellers and covers most genres. From romance to action-adventure and everything in between, there’s something for every taste here!

The ultimate goal of this event is to raise at least $10,000 for the 20+ charities they’re supporting. If you aren’t interested in purchasing any of the pledged books, you can always make a direct and public donation. We track the money raised for each charity and spotlight bonus donations here. Whether you contribute to the best performing or the least performing, either way your donation will be put to good use!

The complete collection of participating books and charities can be found here:
http://bit.ly/vetsgiveback

If you are interested in helping support or promote this event without having to donate, please share this charity drive on Facebook, Twitter or your website. Every little bit of help makes a difference! #vetsgiveback

https://www.facebook.com/vetsgiveback

Cover reveal for Stalked by Flames

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I’ve been keeping this quiet for a while now, but it’s finally time to announce a new series I’m starting this summer. The idea for this came to me over a year ago. At the time I was working on Darkness Divides and knew I needed to stay focused on the Sensor Series for a few more books before mixing anything else into my writing schedule, but the story continued to bug me. While plenty of ideas hit me all the time this one refused to let go. I jotted notes, wrote random scenes, and did some research, but it wasn’t until the release of Darkness Shatters that I allowed myself to focus on Stalked by Flames (though, not to worry, Darkness Wanes is still coming out in October).

It is the first novel in what I hope will become a long series. The genre is urban fantasy with some apocalyptic elements and it has entirely different creatures/races than the Sensor books. For those wondering about romance it is going to be a slow-burn that will play out over the course of the series. There’s no rushing this one, but it will happen eventually. The heroine will have her POV in first person and the hero in third person (much like what you saw in Darkness Shatters).

Next month I’ll post a book trailer, behind-the-scenes shots from the model photo shoot, and a book excerpt. For now, you can check out the cover and book summary. Hope you all are as excited about this one as I am!

EXPECTED RELEASE DATE- July 20th, 2015

SUMMARY:

Bailey Monzac has just graduated college and is heading to her parents’ ranch for the summer when dragons invade. Like something out of her worst nightmare, the fire-breathing beasts rain down chaos and devastation on unsuspecting human populations. One minute Bailey’s planning her future; the next she’s merely trying to survive.

But it isn’t long before she discovers she’s different from the people around her—the dragons’ destructive flames don’t affect her. That gives her an edge, but it also means she’ll become a target for powerful individuals seeking to use her to their advantage. Bailey will have to distinguish between allies and enemies quickly as she gets drawn into a war unlike anything the Earth has seen before.

Add to your Goodreads TBR list here.

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I also have a lot of people to thank for the cover design on this one as it took a whole team to put my vision together. Below you’ll find everyone involved in the process, but I’d like to give a special shout-out to Alison Esposito at Wild Wolf Leatherwork on Etsy for making the custom leather harness the model is wearing. It turned out amazing! Also, I can’t express how much I appreciate the help of my fan design team including Rachel, Sarah, and Kristy who helped me with wardrobe selection and model poses. You ladies are awesome!

Background design with dragon- Jeff Brown Graphics

Model- Isabella Capri

Model photographer- Teresa Yeh

Hair stylist/make-up artist- Nadya Rutman

Cover design- Claudia McKinney

Typography- Catie McKinney