Tag Archives: Books

Darkness Divides playlist and other news

 

First off, those of you who were with me on Facebook last night know that I picked a title for the novella I’m releasing at the end of this month (May).  After much debate and help with readers we decided on “Playing with Darkness”.  I’ve already got the cover art done and will reveal it as soon as the typography is on there.  It’s really looking amazing, especially with Sable joining Melena for this one.

I also want to thank all the fans for their support.  In the first thirty days since Darkness Divides has released it has sold over 3600 copies between all retailers and is still going strong.  This was much more than I expected for this early on!  It’s also reached as high as #3 on the New Release Best Seller list for Dark Fantasy and #6 on the regular list.  With authors like Charlaine Harris topping it, I’m happy to get that far.  I couldn’t have done it without readers like you all spreading the word about the series 🙂

Now, we’ll get on with the playlist that inspired my writing Darkness Divides and what I’m also using for the follow-up novella.  If you’ve got some suggestions for me to use with Darkness Clashes feel free to let me know in the comments.  All songs below are linked to their albums on iTunes in case you’d like to check them out further.

 

1) “Roar” by Katy Perry

 

2) “Brave” by Sara Bareilles

*Thanks to the Microsoft tablet commercials for getting this one stuck in my head (my husband likes to play the television in deafening volumes from the other room while I’m writing in what I suspect is an attempt to drive me crazy).  The lyrics to this song are rather inspiring, though.

 

3) “Bent” by Matchbox Twenty

*Especially influenced the first few chapters of the novel.

 

4) “Disease” by Matchbox Twenty

 

5) “Unwell” by Matchbox Twenty

 

6) “Dark Horse” by Katy Perry

*Especially influenced the fae city portion of the novel.

 

7) “This Is My Now” by Jordin Sparks

 

8) “Human” by Christina Perri

*Especially influenced the early part of the novel.

 

9) “Don’t Cry” by Guns N’ Roses

 

10) “Intuition” by Jewel

*This song just helped get me in a good mood to write 🙂

 

11) “You Were Meant For Me” by Jewel

 

12) “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC

*Influenced the last half of the book

 

13) “Hells Bells” by AC/DC

*Influenced the last half of the book

 

13) “You Shook Me All Night Long” by AC/DC

*Influenced the last half of the book and always makes me think of Lucas and Mel together

 

14) “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC

*Influenced the last half of the book

 

15) “Carry On Wayward Son” by Kansas

*Influenced the last half of the book

 

16) “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith

 

17) “Cryin’” by Aerosmith

 

18) “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” by Guns N’ Roses

 

That’s it for now.  Expect another post soon with more information about the upcoming novella, Playing with Darkness, book 3.5!

Series Updates…

First off, thanks to everyone who has bought/read/reviewed Darkness Divides so far.  Release day was a busy one, but really awesome.  I truly appreciate it!

Next, those of you who follow me on Facebook or have visited the book page on this site have probably noticed I’ll be releasing a short story at the end of May.  I’m going to try to avoid spoilers here for anyone who hasn’t read Darkness Divides yet, but if you’ve finished the book you’ll get what I mean despite my vagueness.

This story will cover Melena returning the device she was still holding onto at the end of book 3.  Naturally, she’ll have her new “tag along” with her (as we like to refer to this person on Facebook to avoid spoilers) and that will cause some problems.  Sable, the shape-shifter kitty, will also be joining Melena for different reasons.

I’ve said this is going to be a short story, but as I began plotting it out recently a few more characters insisted on taking part so it may be closer to the length of my story in the New Year’s anthology.  That one was a little over 10k words.  It’s not going to be as action-packed as the books, but you can expect a decent bit of humor and some adventure.

What is the title?  I have no idea at this point, but I’m open to suggestions.

At this stage my plan is to provide free PDF copies of the story to anyone who emails me.  I may also add it to Goodreads and make it available for download there.  If by some crazy set of circumstances my muse makes me write something that goes beyond 15k words I may also put it up on the retailer sites for 99 cents.  The main reason I’d charge even that much is because Amazon won’t let me set it at free and because if I publish it with the retailers I’m going to have to have a cover designed.  That would at least help me recoup my costs with it.  Since I’d promised to provide it for free, though, I will still offer it at no charge if you contact me (the same as the New Year’s story).  You’ll be able to grab it whichever way you prefer and I’ll be happy so long as you enjoy it 🙂

For Goodreads users, I have added Darkness Clashes (book 4) onto the site.  No cover or blurb yet, but I’ll release those sometime in late July.  If you’d like to add it to your shelf this is the link:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21963515-darkness-clashes

Also, I’ve started a paperback giveaway for the first novel in the series, Darkness Haunts.  Members of Goodreads can go there to enter.

 

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Darkness Haunts by Susan Illene

Darkness Haunts

by Susan Illene

Giveaway ends May 07, 2014.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win


I will have at least one other giveaway for series paperbacks here on my blog, and several on Facebook during the month of May.  If you’re interested, be sure to be on the lookout!

If anyone has any other questions, feel free to ask them below.

 

Darkness Divides is now Available!

Darkness Divides coverThanks to everyone for their patience.  I’m excited to let you all know Darkness Divides is now available on Amazon and as soon as it is available with other retailers I’ll post the links for them here as well.  For those wondering, this novel came to almost 108k words, which is the longest one I’ve released yet (see the book tab above for word count on the others).  This is honestly my favorite novel so far, but I’m biased so I’ll leave it up to you all to decide what you think!

As a release day bonus, the first twenty people who comment on this post will be eligible to get a set of series bookmarks (regardless of where you’re from).  Be sure to put a valid email address in the comment field so I can contact you.  Two random people from among the twenty will also get a free signed paperback copy of Darkness Haunts (the first book in the series).

*Update- The full number of comments has been reached.  I’ll be contacting everyone soon to get your addresses to send the bookmarks and I’ll announce on a separate post who won the paperback books.

 

Purchase Links

Nook

iTunes

Kobo

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Amazon Germany

Amazon Australia

Amazon Canada

Amazon France

Paperback versions of the Sensor Series are out!

I know some people have been interested in getting paperback versions of the Sensor Series books that are out so far.  While Darkness Haunts has been available for over a year, I sort of slacked off on getting the other books done.  My apologies!

As of now, you can find all three books available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  They should be updating with other online retailers soon.  I also just got the new cover for Darkness Haunts updated to replace the old one.  For those who’d like to see what the full covers look like, I’m pasting them below:

 

 

Darkness Haunts full cover

 

Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000447_00012]

 

 

Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000446_00058]

Though it may not be until early next month, I will see about doing some giveaways for them. Be sure to follow me here and on Facebook for the best chance of winning signed copies!

 

 

Indie urban fantasy series I recommend…

I know many of you are waiting patiently for Darkness Divides to come out on April 20th.  As an update, it’s coming along well and I’ll be posting the first two chapters this weekend.  So be on the lookout!

In the meantime, I thought I’d give you all a list of other urban fantasy authors who I follow.  Most of you are probably already aware of the big traditionally published names in the genre such as Jeaniene Frost, Ilona Andrews, Karen Marie Moning, Chloe Neill, Patricia Briggs, plus many more.  This is to highlight the indies who I’ve found to be just as enjoyable.

Keep in mind that your mileage may vary as no two people have exactly the same tastes, but these are ones I’ve found to be good and think you might too if you haven’t discovered them already.  All covers are linked to the book’s Amazon purchase page.  I’ve also included some brief thoughts on my impression of each author’s books.

 

 

Blood Wager coverConnie Suttle– If you haven’t read the book that begins her Blood Destiny series and sets up the ones that follow it, check out Blood Wager first.  The key thing to know with her work is that it has a lot of emotional twists, action, and expands to include sci-fi elements as the series progresses.  The romance in her work isn’t of the traditional variety, but I love the uniqueness of her writing.  Her “voice” is very different from other writers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Demon Bound book coverDebra Dunbar– For those who enjoy a wicked sense of humor, this is a great series to try.  The main character is a demon imp who gets into a lot of trouble, but as you get to know her you’ll find she’s surprisingly relatable.  There are light romantic elements and a rather hunky love interest or two, but nothing too hot and steamy for those who prefer those elements toned down.  Do expect some naughtiness, though.  This series has five books out so far and Debra recently released two spin-off novels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sleight of Hand book coverMark Henwick– His series is strong on action and suspense, while being lighter on the romantic elements (though you should expect some explicit content).  The thing I think readers love the most about his writing is how fast-paced it is  and that he includes investigative elements as well as a female character who has a military background.  This series has three books out so far, plus a prequel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dark Dates coverTracey Sinclair– I stumbled upon this author after seeing a review of one of her books from a blogger who also follows my series.  The cover is a bit different from most UF, but I promise this series is great!  The setting is in London, so with this one you get out of the United States so you can enjoy something a little different.  There is some nice humor and the romance will keep you intrigued.  If you like heroines who are always trying to do the right thing despite not being all that powerful, you should enjoy this one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elemental Magic coverAngela Wallace– She has a nice UF series that features elementals (users of earth, air, water, fire).  Her novels are lighter than the ones I mentioned above, making them a great change of pace from the standard darker fare.  There’s more mystery to her books too and they have sweet romantic elements (nothing hot and heavy).  The main character stays the same for the first two books before switching to a different one with the third.  She should be releasing the fourth novel soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

shadowpath_coverP.L. Blair– She has a UF series featuring two main characters.  A human female and an elf male.  They are detectives who have been partnered together to investigate supernatural cases.  The criminals in this series are rather unique and the lore this author uses keeps me fascinated.  The romance doesn’t pick up until much later in the series and the author keeps things fairly clean, but I must admit I was ready for it when it came!  Expect the books to focus on the plot and have some nice action sequences.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feel free to make your own suggestions in the comments section.  I know there are a lot of other good ones out there and that I didn’t name them all.  If you can tell us a little about why you like any particular author/series, that would be helpful too!