The Power of a Series

*walks in, looks around and giggles*

Jackie let me come play today! I'm so excited. *does the snoopy dance*

Hello everyone! My name is Christine d'Abo and my debut novel, The Bond That Ties Us, was just released from Ellora's Cave. *warning promo opportunity* It's an erotic futuristic romance about a woman arrives on a far away Earth colony, only to become sexually overwhelmed by the presence of the colony's alien ambassador. They have to try and fight their desire for each other while trying to defend the colony from an alien invasion. *end promo*

When Jackie invited me to blog on her site today I immediately jumped at the opportunity. It's quite an honor to play here on her blog after having enjoyed her Nightwalker series so much. Which of course got me thinking, what is it about a series that draws a reader in? As a reader, my first reaction is to say the characters. The instant spark between the hero and heroine that leaps off the pages, grabs the reader by the head and yells, "Don't you dare put me down!" Man, I love that. But even more so, I love it when the author takes those characters that I'm drawn to and puts them on a journey. The difference in the journey between a stand alone romance and a series is, for me, the world in which they live.

As a writer, it is very difficult to build a world that is essentially, a secondary character in the book. In my novel, The Bond That Ties Us, I chose to create a planet far away from Earth. I wanted to make it alien, but needed to keep in mind it had to have elements people could relate to. I actually drew out a map of the station so I could keep things straight. I build my world on paper, and now I can continue to reference it. I created a place that I wanted to go and visit, a place I could hang out with the people and get to know them better.

So all of a sudden, my stand alone novel has become a series! The planet, colony and the men, women and aliens who live there had many more stories to tell. The next book which I hope to have out early 2008 is called The Bond That Heals Us, and will continue to explore the planet and push the people who live there to their limits.

Thanks for letting me prattle on here today. And a special thanks to Jackie for sharing her blog space with me. :)

Before I sign off, I'd like to run a contest! Post in the comments what your favourite series is, either books, TV, or movies. The only catch is you have to tell us why you love it! The winner will will an e-copy of The Bond That Ties Us, in whatever format you'd like.

I'll post the winner tonight at 8:00 EST.

Good Luck!

Christine d'Abo

http://www.christinedabo.com/

www.christinedabo.com/blog

Greetings kidlets!

This time it is really me. I want to apologize to you and my guest bloggers. My vacation and my blogging schedule got totally FUBARed. But...I am home now and can control everything once more. Despite me being back early, the guests will continue as scheduled. This Friday, August tenth, will be the first day open with no one scheduled. I will contact every author that missed and guide them to post together on the tenth....using the twelfth as an alternate because it too is open. I will also be sending out daily notices about the postings from the mailing list as was supposed to happen originally. Sigh. Let's call it gremlins or an omen that Canada just is not somewhere I ought to be while in the process of buying a house.

Unfortunately, because of illness and situation, I have had to cancel my signing in Nova Scotia. To all those who may have planned to attend, I am deeply apologetic. I will have to call the store today and break the news to them. I am sure they will be very disappointed in me, as I am in myself. I was so careful with my plans to see that something like this would be avoided at all costs, but you know what they say about the best laid plans.

I further wish to thank Deidre (Desine) for being such an excellent friend and coming to my rescue. She has a beautiful home and a wonderful family. (And her hubby ought to be on the eye candy thread hehehe...ladies, she has been holding out on us!!) Seriously, Dwight is a charming and funny man and a super sweet Dad. It's nice to see. Even nicer to be around. But Deidre IS going to hell for introducing me to Minaimo Bars. (sp?)

Unfortunately I have come to the understanding that I am a princess. A spoilt American. A big fat baby. I am stuck in the grooves of my routine and though the heart is willing to go out and explore, the body is not capable. I am totally bummed about it. But I do have film of us getting LOST on Prince Edward Island...and it was the highlight of my trip lol! I will post a link on a thread somewhere. Truthfully, when I vacation I want to START at status quo and improve from there. While the trip was breathtakingly beautiful to the eyes, it was too rustic for someone with special needs like I have and I was in medical trouble within days. I will reserve specifics unless someone gives me cause to BE more specific (I.E. not refunding my money as agreed) Then I will get all kinds of specific all over the place, I assure you. Sound like a threat? More like a promise. I have lost thousands of dollars in one week and I won't allow it to happen to others. My needs aside...or as cause..., I was very careful every step of the way in planning this. My flaw was in not realizing that my definition of something clearly differs from other's definitions. Lesson learned....but hopefully not at too great an expense.

I missed you all. The house thing will no doubt have me crazy. You may not see much of me. Enjoy your guest bloggers!

Jacki

The noctural world of Rene Lyons

I never picked what I write. Paranormal romance just sort of picked me. When I was young I wrote sci-fi/horror. I had these extremely high aspirations of being the next Stephen King who, btw, I have a massive crush on). Then one day I read Shanna byKathleen E. Woodiwiss and I was hooked on romance. Historical and westerns were no genre du jour. Johanna Lindsey, Amanda Quick, Julie Garwood, Madeline Baker...those ladies took my heart on emotional journeys and haven't let me off yet.

I continued to write, only suddenly, my stores had a hero and heroine. Subconsciously I began to weave romantic elements into my stories. Finally I gave up trying to write sci-fi, although I held fast to horror. Vampires were my favorite topic to write about. Shocked? I wasn't either considering I'd always had a deep love of them. Of course, now, I was writing about dark and brooding vampires who swept a woman off of her feet and carried her into a world of shadows and secrets. Slowly, I began to morph these characters into alpha male and my women into strong heroines who were able to stand up to these vampires.

I love my genre. I love vampires. I love all those wonderfully sinister things that haunt the night. Ghosts, demons....you name it I love writing about them all. I love getting lost in that nocturnal world and thank fate every day for allowing me the chance to write what I love. I only hope is that my love for what I do comes across in every word I write.

Much love to Jacki for allowing me to hijack her blog today!

Michelle M Pillow ~ Contest Winner!

I took everyones name and put it into a drawing. Thank you all for stopping by to comment on my guest blog!

The winner of their choice of one of my ebooks backlist in pdf is:
LOVER OF BOOKS

Congrats! Email me with your choice at michelle_pillow (at) yahoo.com

To see books: www.michellepillow.com

Books Books and More books... and a contest or 2

Well Im here today to chat with you lucky people, lol. Yeppers August 1st is my day and i get to tell you cats everything i want? well usually I would hem and haw about something shitty happening in the writing community, or call out some issue or another that affects authors, but today, Im just going to chill and not be the usual lunatic I normally am.

So Hey, Im Stella Price. Im a award winning author and cover artist and with my sister i pen stories in the Eververse. Now while I'm not as prolific as our recent guest predecessors, we are getting there and this year alone is going to be a big on for us! So what do we write? we write Urban Dark Fantasy Erotic Paranormal Romance. whats that mean? it means we write cross-genre a lot of the time. Dont let the name scare you, its just what we write cant be lumped into any one category. So Shall i give you guys a taste of our work? thought you would say that....

The Eververse Series is the first novel series we have in print.This series has 9 books. The first of the books Sugar and Sin is out now and the second Silk and Steel will be in print by September. For this series, our main focus is demons, and no not the demons our sweet jacki writes, I got a thing for the bad guys, so thats what we predominately write. Hitmen, hookers, pimps, jewel theives, fences, arms dealers, strippers, madame's, spell dealers... This series is the darker side of the street, that place normal society refuses to go, and we just love it. its darker, primal and unique.

The Dragon Elementals Series is our foray into the wonderful genre of dragon shifters. Ours, again are unique, as we have a series taking place in the Eververse but its a contemporary dragon series,that happens here and now, not some fantasy world. Fire in His Eyes, book one is out now and will be in print In September, and Deep Water, Book two will be in print this October. Critics love this series, it think you will too. Im thinking 4 books might be a little short.

The Duvall Series (also called the Djinn series) is our third series taking place in the Eververse. Its about a Djinn named Nicodemus Marsh and a assassin leader named Janey Duvall. Our next book in this Series, Gifts, will be out later this september with Phaze. Wishes, and Glamour, the first two stories, will be in a print books this October called Wishbound. i cant wait to get that one in my hands!Also this coming winter, you will have the short story of our naughty vampire, Malcolm Frost, in his book London for the Holidays. Ladies seem to love Marsh... maybe you will too.

The Knossos West Weresnakes is our answer to the overdone Werewolf shifter stories that have been flooding the market. soon to be re released, this series focuses on Snake shifters, or Ophidians, and shows you why scales are the new fur. Beyond the Vision of Dreams and Surrender in Moonlight are the first two out and these are more Paranormal erotic romance, but the third in the series, This is Forever, is much longer and has a different plot line. Well see what you guys think of it.

Our Keepers of Twilight Series starts this October with Siren Publishing. the first in that series, The Soft Edge of Midnight, is a tale about Unicorns, devils and fallen angels, all in a contemporary setting. I think people will enjoy this series, as we touch on some important things with it, and give you some insite into some very hot forbidden relationships. Check out Siren in October for that, and be on the look out for the second book, A Bitter Kiss of Chaos early 2008. the other 3 will be out by the end of 2009

Finally, we have out American Satyr series. a set of four novella's, these will be out with Phaze starting this winter. the first of the series, Of Crimson and Collars, introduces you to the world of the modern satyr, what they do, who they are and how they treat the women in their lives, their source of life. this series focuses on four clans, Tempest, Toloose, Rummer and Arcane, and the 4 satyr princes that run them. I think youll like this one too, its hot, and the sex is insane. heh

then we have some shorts out and about... Lady Luck, out right now with Phaze is about a Jenai, or female Genie and her lover Jake, a shadow Demon. Its short and sweet and ladies love Jake...
And in November, we will have the first in our Deva's series out called Hot Rio Nights. This book is about a Shadow Princess named Starla Gibson who ends up in Rio one night and in the arms of a mysterious stranger she cant seem to say no to. Add in a potion and a little bet and you have heat climbing up the walls lol.

So thats a little about us... but i forgot to mention that Audra and I are always writing so you never know what will be coming out and when. We also have a snail mail list where we send out goodies monthly. if your interested, send me your address to Stella@Stellaandaudra.com and ill send you goodies! LOL.

So anyway, As you can see, we write things that normally arent considered romance, but thats fine with us. the readers seem to like it and we keep writing so its a win win situation. I should mention to you that ALL OF OUR BOOKS INTERACT. yep. you will see characters floating in and out of the books all the time especially one in particular, whether its in deeds, name or he just happens to show up, and that is our sexy and whit hot Conglacio demon prince Cassiel.

So now thats thats all been said... Shall we have a contest? Well lets see if you were paying attention... How many books are in each series and how many books in total are mentioned here by name? Answers can be sent to me on Email at stella@stellaandaudra.com and Ill pick a winner by friday. Winner will recieve a very cool Eververse pack with a bottle of Sugar cookie spray, a notepad, pen, magnets and some signed bookflats... and possible something else cool.. heh

Now I have another contest. comment here about what looks interesting to you, your favorite characters if you have read the books or something perhaps you have as a question, and I will pick two winners from the comments list and give them Eververse goodies!

thanks Everyone for coming to hangout with me today... and incase your wondering.. heres where you can find us:
Website
Blog
Forum
myspace
Bebo

Enjoy the bloggers!
Stella Price