Give a Reader a Reader

It's that time of year when everyone starts saying to themselves, "What can I buy for X?" (X of course being the algebraic equivalent of whichever given friend you can never buy for.) This year Decadent Publishing is helping you out with Give a Reader a Reader. AND, you don't only get a Nook to give a friend, you also win 45 books for your friend AND you. How awesome is that?

But, you say, the odds are so not in favor of me winning that. So I'm here to sweeten the pot. I'm going to post a freebie holiday short below, and by answering the question in the Rafflecopter correctly (it's an easy question if you read the freebie), you're entered to win a copy of either Of Course I Try (which is one of the books on the Nook--list of awesome books and authors below--so if you win the Nook, don't pick this one :P) or it's sequel The Ghost of Vampire Present. Vampire smexiness! (If you already own both, we'll figure out an alternate prize.)

***Click here for a list of all the blogs participating.***

So, without further ado, I give you a story about one even made Max... Max. Every character has a history, and every once in a while, a special holiday gift is involved.

CHRISTMAS IN CHAINS (A Blood Kissed Story)

Since becoming a vampire, especially since I was brought here, time has little meaning. Christmas, however, always brings a special surprise.

The first year of my imprisonment, hot pokers were driven into my flesh so I would understand what my victims felt if I didn’t glamour them when I fed. The lesson repeated the next year, along with my first bath in holy water—in case the first time didn’t convince me to be kind unless there was cause to be cruel. The next year, I spent Christmas day chained in the garden, just within the shadow of its walls, where the sun could sear my flesh without destroying it so I would remember that no matter how strong I think I am, there’s always something stronger.

It was by those memories I counted the years here. A dozen so far, and judging by the decorations draped luridly about the place, number thirteen was fast approaching. I gave up begging for release after the first five years. Now I alternated between hoping to survive and praying for death.

Today, I leaned toward the former. I wanted to live…just not here. Not anymore.

There were no more lessons I could learn. Even if there were, I didn’t want those answers. I had enough nightmares to last me several centuries.

The stones of the hearth bit into my bare knees as I scrubbed at the marble inside the fireplace.

Silver chains clinked at my wrists and ankles. Resting on my heels, I wiped the back of my hand across my forehead.

“You missed a spot.” Remus’s voice grated on the last of my frayed nerves.

Snapping would do no good though, especially not with Christmas and my annual “gift” right around the corner. So I choked on the retort and clenched my shackled hands into fists, trying to calm myself. “Where?”

“Don’t growl at me, Maxmillian. To your left.”

A faint smudge of soot marred the very edge of the marble. Movements rough, I scrubbed at the spot until it disappeared. “Is that all, Remus?”

“I’m tired of talking to your back. Turn around.”

As always, the order, issued with complete calm, made me bristle. Part of me wanted to defy him, but my back still stung from the last time he’d reminded me who was in charge. So I turned and stared brazenly at him. I’d tried playing the whipped puppy; it didn’t get me anything, so I didn’t bother anymore.

Remus lounged on a red velvet couch, his robe gaping open to reveal flawless pale skin. I knew he thought it made him look irresistible. I resisted anyway. And I never found it all that difficult. He twirled a finger in his hair, looking almost coy for a moment. I must not have responded the way he planned, because he sighed and lay back on the couch. “I’m chilled. Start a fire, would you?” He turned toward me, his gaze even.

I tried to stay calm, but my muscles bunched. And my captor simply smiled at me. Of course he would notice. He always noticed. “You just had me clean the fireplace, Remus.”

He waved a hand lazily. “Yes, and now I want a fire. Build it and you can be free for the evening.”

All I wanted to do was race across the room and sever his head from his shoulders, but I knew better than to try that again. The next time I tried to kill Remus, he couldn’t see it coming or I’d fail. “Right away.”

I built the fire and had it blazing in minutes. Then he had his guards take me below ground and chain me to the ceiling. “Enjoy your Christmas Eve,” one of them growled as he yanked the chains over my head and stalked out, slamming the door and leaving me with only the light of the moon filtering through the barred window.

This was my reward. Not freedom by any standards I used to know, but I was away from Remus for a few blessed hours. Sometimes that was enough. Straining against my bonds, I could just see the moon outside my cell. A connection to the outside world—tenuous though it was—like a cruel lover, disappearing when I needed her touch most.

My muscles taut and trembling with the agony, I muttered prayers as I did every moment I spent alone—for life, for the lives I’d taken, for release, for death, for the death of Remus, and for the ability to kill him myself.

“I cannot help you with the killing, but I can get you out of here.”

The tiny voice in my right ear jerked me from my meditation, my arms screaming as I stood upright. “Who? What?”

The voice by my ear laughed and in a flurry of wings revealed itself as a shadow in the moonlight. “I am Janiqua, and I can spring you from this prison, Vampire, but you will owe me a favor in return.” She fluttered back to land on my arm, barely five inches tall, with brown hair and dragonfly wings that glittered in the pale light.

As much as I wanted to jump at the offer, I had a hard time believing I wasn’t hallucinating from pain and exhaustion. “What sort of favor?”

She shrugged, more a movement of wings than shoulders. “I don’t know. That’s why you’ll have to owe me. Do we have an accord?”

I’d long since given up hope of Christmas miracles, but I nodded. In an instant, the shackles opened and my arms fell heavily by my sides, forcing me to stifle a groan of exquisite pain. She darted under the door, and soon enough it swung wide. 

“Quickly, Vampire. The guards won’t stay asleep for long.” She flitted up the stairs. I raced after her, rubbing my wrists. The guards were indeed asleep at their posts, and I dashed out the front door.

I didn’t question my good fortune until I stood shivering at the gates of the estate. “Janiqua?” I called as she fluttered into the night. “How did you find me? And why the hell did you help me?”

Her pointy teeth flashed in the light of the moon as she darted close to my ear. “I like people being in my debt, Vampire.” She flitted away and called back over her shoulder, “As to who sent me? Consider it a Christmas present from your Fairy Godmother.” Her laughter echoed in the night as she flew away.

After that, I did the only reasonable thing—put as much distance between myself and Remus’s estate as I could before dawn lit the sky, savoring my Christmas miracle and plotting my vengeance with every step.

Below is the Rafflecopter for the big giveaway.
Your question for entry here is: What is the name of the character keeping Max captive?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Day Late...

Sorry, this should have gone up yesterday. No excuse other than I forgot and when I remembered it was late and I was feeling lazy.

Since tomorrow NaNo is over, I'll leave the final NaNoReb check in for my other blog (where I haven't posted hardly at all this month). For today, I want to give people a heads up about something.

Starting tomorrow and running through the month of December, my Blood Kissed novella The Ghost of Vampire Present is Decadent Publishing's Read for a Cure book.

What that means is for every copy purchased in December, Decadent is donating all of their proceeds to the American Cancer Society. In addition, I'm donating fifty cents from every copy to my sister's Relay for Life team (in addition to my regular donation, which any other money I might earn from sales helps to fund :P) This is a LOT of money that can be earned for cancer research.

If you're buying someone an e-reader, please consider including The Ghost of Vampire Present with it. Or if you get one as a gift. Or encourage people you know to buy it. They get a book and can possibly help save a life.

For more information on WHY I volunteered to do Read for a Cure (along with a giveaway of the first Blood Kissed story and a vampire-themed care package), check out the 30 Days of Decadence blog: http://30daysofdecadence.blogspot.com/2011/11/family-mattersso-does-cancer.html

Also, be on the lookout for a special Saturday post here. I have another holiday short in an anthology that comes out next Friday. On Saturday, you'll get a blurb, an excerpt, and a teaser of the cover. Talk to you then!

Who is Spencer Pierce?

When I set out to create my characters, I usually have a pretty good idea of the type of person they are and what they look like. Backstory and quirks and that sort of thing are where the real work comes in. But the basics usually fall into my head fully formed. That was definitely the case with Spencer Pierce, captain of the Dark Hawk in Badlands.

The first thing about Spence is that he isn’t a big guy: muscular and strong sure, but more on the skinny side (wiry is the nice way of putting it). And then there are his eyes. Spencer’s eyes are one of his most telling features. No matter what kind of front he puts on for anyone, his eyes are haunted and speak of a past he’d rather forget. Right around the time I was “casting” Spencer, White Collar came on TV. Matt Bomer fit in a lot of ways, but he just didn’t have that dark edge I wanted for Spencer—he was too “cute”. It didn’t take long to realize the guy I kept seeing when I pictured Spencer wasn’t playing a nice guy on TV. He was playing one of the most deliciously sarcastic and bloodthirsty vampires on TV. Ian Somerhalder is very much the physical embodiment of Spencer Pierce. Of course, if they ever made a movie of Badlands, he’d have to bring a haunted past to the character of a really nice guy. Is he that good of an actor? Hmm…

But as for the character, that’s all Spencer. The closest thing in most of my TV/movie watching to a dirigible captain are from science fiction, in particular spaceship captains give the best parallel. But if you look at most of them, you’ll see some trends.

-       Star Trek

• Kirk is a devil-may-care ladies’ man. (So very not Spencer)


• Picard is straight-arrow, proper and…yeah (Love him, but not Spencer)


• Janeway’s uh…a girl (honestly, this is when I got bored with Star Trek and stopped watching)

-       Star Wars

• Han Solo is a smuggler and a cad. Sure he turns into a great guy, but he starts out as kind of a jerk (Not Spencer)


• Lando Calrissian takes us right back to Kirk.

Sigh. Spencer’s his own breed of guy. But then I thought, what about someone who’s close? Surely one of those captains would be able to sit down and have a drink with Spence without trying to rob him, kill him, or take his woman. Not really. The only ones who wouldn’t probably wouldn’t have a drink with him in the first place.

I could think of one guy who would though. Sure, he’s a smuggler and he’s got attitude to spare. However, he’s not the kind to start off with aggression nor is he the kind to shit on a fair deal. So, if you recognize a little bit of Malcolm Reynolds in Spencer, there’s a reason for it. They aren’t the same character by a long stretch, but I like to think they’d get each other and maybe even be friends.

In addition to the contest that is going on with this post as part of the treasure hunt for The Romance Studio, I'm also offering a digital copy of either of my Blood Kissed stories to a random commenter here (winner's choice of Of Course I Try or The Ghost of Vampire Present).

Bargaining: Devil's Bargain

Welcome back to my #FridayFlash posts and thanks for coming.

If you're new to my stuff or you didn't remember, I'm doing a series for five weeks showing the five stages of grief, each one from the perspective of a different character.

The third stage is bargaining. Only two characters came immediately to mind for this stage. Both characters come from my Blood Kissed series (Of Course I Try, The Ghost of Vampire Present, and future tales), but one of their stories would have greatly spoiled the end game of the series, so the decision was easy. We're sharing another visit with Max, but for this one, we're traveling back in time about a hundred years.

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*****

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There are certain things they don’t tell you about the military when you sign up. For instance, when you’re in battle, you follow your commanding officer’s orders, even if he’s sending you to your death.

The hardest part about that is simply the knowing.

The machine gun fire ripping through your body follows as a close second.

Lying in a pile of corpses praying for death to take you isn’t too far behind either.

.

.

When darkness fell the first night and I still had some strength left, I tried to drag myself back toward the allied lines. My staunch refusal to accept that I was dying lasted until I passed out from the pain, blood filling my mouth from how hard I bit my tongue to keep from screaming.

I woke the next day to more gunfire. Always more.

Only now I’d ground dirt through my shredded uniform and into the wounds that oozed a constant stream of blood. Had I pulled myself into the damnable Somme, at least the blood would’ve run clean again. And I probably would have drowned rather than lying there, waiting for infection or blood loss to take me.

Soon, the smoke and dirt and blood blurred in my sight and images of Lily took over. My wife—standing in the kitchen over a sink full of soap bubbles, sunlight glinting her blond hair as she sloshed water all over her apron and burst into laughter.

That was the moment I realized I couldn’t die. I had to get back to her. Back to the life I’d promised when we’d said “I do.”

As the sounds of fighting quieted a bit and darkness descended again, I began whispering prayers. “God, just let me get home to Lily—let me tell her I love her one more time—and I promise to be a better man. Just let me live.” I didn’t know how long I lay there saying the same things over and over, begging for another chance at life.

Then a lightly accented voice came from right next to me where only the dead had been a moment before. “Will you really do anything to go on living?”

I opened my eyes to a night lit by the glow of the moon and the flash of gunfire. There wasn’t much to see on the ground besides shadows, but a man with long hair completely at odds with current fashion knelt beside me, utterly calm in the madness of the battlefield. “Are you an angel?”

He shifted, and I swore I could hear him smile. “Something like that. What is your name, soldier?”

“Shaw. Sergeant Maxmillian Shaw.”

“A pleasure, and you may call me Remus.” He settled on the ground next to me. “So would you truly do anything to live again? Because I must tell you, you have about five excruciating hours left otherwise.”

I didn’t bother to ponder how he’d come up with the number. “Yes! I want to go home to my wife,” I cried, my voice so weak I didn’t think he could possibly have heard me.

“It is somewhat complicated. I can save you, but you’ll have to spend some time with me before I can send you home.” He leaned closer, the soft blackness of his hair tickling my neck.

“As long as I can see her again. Make her happy.”

Remus laughed and the sound danced in the night like fireflies. “I’m afraid it won’t be quite as simple as you want. You’ll get back to her, but you will never have the life you lived before again. You will have to hide things from her, from everyone you know. Everything will change. Are you certain it’s a sacrifice you can make?”

An icy chill started to seep into my veins, burning its way through my body, and shivers wracked my frame, making every pain flare to life again. And I said what he demanded, even though I knew I’d never lie to her. “I love Lily. Of course, I’ll sacrifice whatever I have to for her.”

“I’ll say this much for you Americans, you have strange ideas about what love means. But so be it—I will save your life.” Fire lit the sky as he threw his head back. And though he may have had the face of an angel—long black hair framing sparkling, intelligent blue eyes—I found myself staring down a demon. His fangs flashed in the light, and before I could say anything, he was on me.

His teeth pierced my flesh, and for a moment new pain blossomed there, and I felt certain it had all been a trick. Some test to get into heaven that I was sure I’d failed. Then, even as I felt my heart slowing, a rich fluid filled my mouth, salty, but sweeter than anything I’d ever tasted. The moment it hit my tongue, the darkness of death retreated, leaving only hunger behind. I latched onto the thing pressed against my lips and drank and drank.

I don’t know how long I stayed there, but with every swallow, the pain lessened, and my strength returned. When at last I opened my eyes once more, I found myself not on the battlefield, but in a cave, the sun casting a circle of light near the entrance. He’d done what he promised—I was whole again. Pushing to my feet, I reached toward the light. Before the glow even touched my skin, the flesh on my fingers erupted in flames. I yanked my hand back, batting the fire away.

“Lesson number one—“ the melodic voice said from behind me, “—daylight is no longer your friend.”

Turning, I found the demon, Remus, in the recesses of the cave. His fangs gone, but the gleam in his eyes the same as I’d seen as I lay dying. And in that moment, I knew I had indeed failed the test, because I’d wakened in hell.

Holiday Story Time!!!!!

Okay, so my vlogging debut is live. Eep!

If you've been playing along, you know the deal, but just in case...

In each of the videos, the Decadent Publishing logo will be visible somewhere. If you find it, email the author and tell them where it is to be put in the drawing for a free digital copy of their story (for example, me: selestedelaney@gmail.com). Also, Book Matrix Media (who did my author photos, which I love) and Tilvee have donated prizes too! Those logos are each only in one video. If you find either (or both) of those logos, email pjschnyder@gmail.com and let her know where they are to be entered for those prizes!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video!  Click here--> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMFA6sB7MBk

This Week's Schedule...

Today (Sunday): I have a post up at 30 Days of Decadence about some of my favorite off-beat holiday things. Come check it out, I'm giving away a copy of The Ghost of Vampire Present and something special for one Max fan.

Monday: Day off unless something changes (woohoo!) However, Holiday Story Time starts today at Robert's place.

Tuesday: Interview at the blog of the wonderful and funny Deanna Wadsworth(POSTPONED UNTIL NEXT WEEK!). We'll be drinking and laughing and having a good old time. Join us! AND Deanna is also doing her Holiday Story Time today!

Wednesday: I'm going to be at the Harlequin author post-party chat. I'll be popping on periodically from midnight until 10 pm so stop in and say hi :) Also today, PJ is up for Holiday Story Time!

Thursday: It's my day up for Holiday Story Time! There'll be a video of me reading an excerpt from The Ghost of Vampire Present and giving away a copy to one lucky commenter!

Friday: I'm at the Daily Dose of Decadence with ten interesting things about the Blood Kissed series. Also posting my next Friday flash in here (psstt..... it's a Max story, don't miss it!)  And, Clarissa is up for the last of the Holiday Story Time videos.

Saturday: I'm on video again and babbling about the holidays over at 13 Wicked Days of Christmas. (Have I mentioned I hate being on camera? I'll probably hide under a rock again until next year LOL.) Another giveaway here of digital copy of either The Ghost of Vampire Present or 'Twas a Dark and Delicious Christmas.

Huge and busy week. I hope you are all willing to stick with me and check out all the posts and giveaways! I promise to tone it down for the rest of December ;-)

The Good, the Bad and the Sickie

No real post this week, sorry. Things have just been crazy. If you noticed, there was no Friday Flash, no Tuesday Teases...nothing. Yeah...

Anyway, the long and short of it is I've been sick for about a month now, still fighting this cough, intermittent fever, and other stuff, and it all finally caved in on me this week. I managed to get a couple video blogs done that'll go up before the holidays without any choking fits (WIN!), but other than that and a couple promo things, this week was a wash on me and the blogosphere. Hope you'll forgive me, but odds are I'm just going to use Tuesday Teases to point you to the other places I'm going to be during the week for the rest of December. With the holidays and stuff, I figure that's more than enough keeping up with me for people to do. I'm going to try to get back on the Friday Flash bandwagon next week though so keep an eye out for those on Thursday or Friday.

There is actually a lot of good news though. As I mentioned last week, 'Twas a Dark and Delicious Christmas is out AND it is also available in print. And just a couple days ago, The Ghost of Vampire Present came out. Both have gotten reviews already--YAY!

In other Blood Kissed news. I've received the last of the feedback from my alpha reader, so I have what I need to get started on the first round of revisions. The bad news? Until at least a little more of the sickies leave my brain, I'm not sure about tackling them yet. Don't know how long I want to leave them sitting though either. Anyway, it's one step closer to being done, which is a good thing.

So...that should update you on what's going on here. Now I'm off armed with many cough drops to see a movie with my kids.

Sleepy Saturday...

It's been a very busy week,what with NaNoWriMo eating my brain and doing edits on The Ghost of Vampire Present. (Did I mention edits are done? Yeah. Madness, but they are done.) So, since I'm not entirely coherent, I'm just going to let you know that I did a post on Blood Kissed over at Daily Dose of Decadence. Please check it out.

Also, I'm going to be doing a kind of crazed blog tour in the first half of December.

On December 1 I'm at Romance Author Hotspot, then I might have some time off (lol, it won't last, so check back for updates)

December 3 'Twas a Dark and Delicious Christmas releases

December 8 We're having a party to celebrate the release of the anthology at the Book Boost. Lots of prizes and fun will be had! (I also have my monthly post at the Para-Posse that day, so make sure you stop by!)

December 12 I'm doing a holiday post at Decadent's holiday blog. Again...prizes!

December 14 The fabulous and funny Deanna Wadsworth is interviewing me over at her blog. We met last year at RT and the two of us always have fun with each other.

December 15 I'm at the eHarlequin Open House, specifically the Carina Press post party. It's an opportunity to meet lots of current and upcoming Carina Press authors, so please pop in sometime during the day

December 16 is the day I will be doing my Holiday Storytime! There will be video of me reading from The Ghost of Vampire Present. For those of you who know me, you are aware getting me on video doesn't happen very often. There are also prizes with this, one every day from Decadent Publishing, and a couple extras from Tilve and Book Matrix Media. Make sure you check out all my friends' vlogs this week too.

December 17 I'll be on the Decadent blog sharing some interesting things about me or Blood Kissed (I haven't decided yet)

December 20 I'm scheduled for an interview with Got Romance

AND I'm planning a short holiday story for one of my characters at Got Romance (date TBD) and an interview with Wicked Little Pixie (date TBD). After all that I might just sleep for a while. In case it isn't clear, all of this means my REGULAR blogging isn't going to happen unless the mood strikes. Hope you'll join me for the blog hop!

Announcement Time! (sort of)

As promised, I have an announcement, but because of circumstances outside my control (and lousy planning on my part), I don't get to do it in my normal fashion. Anyway...

Sometime in September, I saw a call for an anthology with a new digital publisher. I was working on The Ghost of Vampire Present at the time and working on the idea for my NaNo project, but I looked at my calendar and wondered if I didn't have time to put something together for this one too. The people who have been following my craziness on twitter or facebook know I stayed busy right up until NaNo started on November 1. I literally took Halloween off, finishing my outline the night before.

But I didn't really take Halloween off. You see, in those couple weeks between finishing The Ghost of Vampire Present and starting on Kiss of Death for NaNo, I penned and submitted a little story called Yes, Alana, There Is a Santa Claus. I received my first round of edits from Evernight Publishing on Halloween and made sure I got them in before NaNo actually started at midnight. The story will be part of their upcoming erotica/erotic romance anthology 'Twas a Dark and Delicious Christmas.

The only sad part is I don't have a cover or release date to share yet. Trust me, when I do I'll be sure to post. Which leads me to announcement number two...

I've finally realized that trying to blog three times a week per blog is killing me. Even with throwing in "easy" blogs, I'm just stretching myself too thin and it's making me enjoy it less. So, Thirsty Thursdays are gone and won't be replaced. My "official" blog days here will be Tuesdays and Saturdays, saving the occasional Thursday for when I have announcements that won't fit (due to guests or planned posts) on the other days. I hope you weren't just here for the drink recipes and will come back for whatever I give you the other days.

And I hope you'll keep an eye out for 'Twas a Dark and Delicious Christmas!

Guess What?

So, some of you know I went to Italy last month (for those of you who read this earlier, yes, I had a brain fart about what I wrote where). While I was there I did a bunch of stuff other than actual physical writing, but I did some of that too. On the plane ride home, I finished up the novella, then I revised, sent it to a small group of uber-betas and then did a big polishing session.

Last week I sent it off, and I can now announce that not only did Decadent pick it up, they already have a fabulous cover for it!

Isn't it beautiful???

And if you notice on the abs of hot guy on the left, it says "A Blood Kissed Story". That's right, this is part of a series, specifically the one that started with Of Course I Try. I know those two covers don't match completely, but OCIT wasn't actually planned as part of a series, so I wasn't thinking that way when I talked to the publisher about cover art. With The Ghost of Vampire Present I wanted to have something we could carry on as the series continued, and this definitely fits the bill.

The Ghost of Vampire Present takes place the Christmas after the events in Of Course I Try and introduces a new character as well as bringing back a couple who only had tiny roles in the first story. For those wondering about the cover, yes, that is our girl Jocelyn front and center. As for the men behind her? You're just going to have to read to find out.

I don't have a release date yet, but I'm under the assumption it will be prior to the holidays. For those of you on facebook and wanting an easy way to stay caught up with any news regarding the series (including that release date), there is a new page for the series, so if you're so inclined, please "like" Blood Kissed.