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Posts tagged ‘Nocturnal Lives’

Mar 29

7 Comments

Saying goodbye is hard to do

No, I’m not leaving MGC. But I am saying goodbye, at least for awhile, to a set of characters that have been with me for a decade. When I sat down to write the book, I knew it would be difficult. I love these characters but the story has run its course. The series is already a couple of books longer than I figured it would be. Still, I hadn’t expected it to be this hard or that it would impact me the way it has.

But it goes beyond saying goodbye to the characters and typing “The End” at the bottom of the manuscript. I realized yesterday that my subconscious has dug its heels in and is doing everything it can to keep me from letting go. Not only did it take the book to places I hadn’t planned on, but it has kept me from following my own rules when it comes to promotion. Read more

Feb 5

13 Comments

Nocturnal Revelations –snippet

Apologies for the lateness of the post. I’ll be honest, I couldn’t figure out what to write about today. I started and deleted three different times. The problem is I’m in the final stages of preparing a book for release and that has taken over my brain. So, instead of trying a fourth time to write something coherent, here’s a snippet from Nocturnal Revelations, the next installment in the Nocturnal Lives series. The release date is set for March 5th. Read more

Dec 22

7 Comments

Sort of a repost and sort of not

With Christmas almost upon us, I know there are folks out there like me who still have gifts to buy. So, with indulgence from Cedar, I am going to re-post the Indie Author Christmas Sale. After spending some time yesterday trying to find a book for my mother and absolutely refusing to pay $10.99 – $13.99 for e-books, I appreciated going to the Indie Author Sales listing and finding books that didn’t cost the price of a meal out.

That is the sort or a repost. The sort of not is simple and short. If you find a book on the list — or any other book you would recommend to someone else — leave a review for it on Amazon or elsewhere. If you have a blog, write a blog post about it. That is the best form of promotion any author, and especially an indie author, has. I know I’m not the only one out there who appreciates every review. Well, almost every review. The negative ones can hurt and the ones left by folks who haven’t read the book but who leave negative comments simply because they don’t like the price or author politics or whatever are always a head meets wall moment.

And now for the list:

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Dragon Noir (Pixie for Hire Book 3)

By Cedar Sanderson

On sale for the first time from Dec 17-23rd

The pixie with the gun has come home to see his princess crowned a queen and live in peace. But nothing is ever easy for Lom. A gruesome discovery on his doorstep interrupts their plans and sends Lom off on a mission to save not one, but two worlds. It’s personal this time and the stakes are higher than ever before. With friends falling and the enemy gathering, Bella and Lom must conquer the worst fears and monsters Underhill can conjure. Failure is not on the agenda.

Or if you would rather give the whole trilogy, Pixie for Hire: Omnibus Edition is now available in ebook form only.

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Young Warriors (Wine of the Gods Book 10)

by Pam Uphoff
Free for five days!
It’s traditional for young lords in the Kingdom of Ash to spend two years in the army. Xen Wolfson is a young wizard, and Garit Negue a young prince. And the world is filled with adventures and danger . . . and learning experiences.

Their world has been in sporadic contact with two different cross-dimensional worlds–generally as a target for conquest. When the Empire of the One returns, the young warriors are standing foursquare in their path.

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Nocturnal Challenge (Nocturnal Lives Book 4)

By Amanda Green

Brand New Release!

The one thing Lt. Mackenzie Santos had always been able to count on was the law. But that was before she started turning furry. Now she finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy to keep the truth from the public-at-large. She knows they aren’t ready to learn that monsters are real and they might be living next door.

If that isn’t enough, trouble is brewing among the shapeshifters. The power struggle has already resulted in the kidnapping and near fatal injury of several of Mac’s closest friends. She is now in the middle of what could quickly turn into a civil war, one that would be disastrous for all of them.

What she wouldn’t give to have a simple murder case to investigate and a life that didn’t include people who wanted nothing more than to add her death to the many they were already responsible for.

The first three volumes (Nocturnal Origins, Nocturnal Serenade and Nocturnal Interlude
are available individually or as the Nocturnal Lives “boxed set”.) are also available.

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Hilda’s Inn for Retired Heroes

By Cyn Bagley

In Delhaven, there is an Inn run by a retired mercenary. If you are a down-on-your-luck mercenary or men-at-arms, come to the public rooms and Hilda Brant, the owner, will give you a bowl of stew. If you want ale, hand over the coins. Hilda may give you floor space, but she expects you to pay in favors or coins.

Hilda isn’t prepared for the damage and chaos caused by a dragon, black mage, and elementals. And a very angry Lord Barton.

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The High T Shebang (The Baby Troll Chronicles Book 1)

By Mark Alger

Dolly was reborn into a new body just last week. Right out of the birthing chamber, she was tumbled into a conflict that goes back to the stone age. Her creator, the Greek Goddess, Aphrodite, has disappeared, and the God in charge of her institution — the Babylonian Marduk — has called for her death. Her lover and Geppetto, Mitchell Drummond, is threading his way through political minefields to keep Dolly safe.

New in love, they soon find they can’t keep their hands off each other. Their sexual fever comes to worry them. They suspect there’s more to the situation than mere new love. Meanwhile, they have a job to do. Keeping up the pretense that all’s well and nothing’s going on is wearing thin. But in Upothesa, you’re not allowed to talk about secrets. Dolly is a secret. Trying to keep it together, Dolly and Drummond go on a mission to New Zealand to protect the Dolly’s secret and the life of a major TV drama star.

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Collisions of the Damned: The Defense of the Dutch East Indies (The Usurper’s War Book 3)

By James Young

My God, we are losing this war.—Lt. Nicholas Cobb, USN

March 1943. The Usurper’s War has resumed, with disastrous results for the Allies. In Hawaii, the U.S. Pacific Fleet lies shattered after the Battle of Hawaii. Across the Pacific the Imperial Japanese Navy, flush with their recent victory, turns its gimlet eye towards the south and the ultimate prize for their Emperor: The Dutch East Indies.

For Commander Jacob Morton and the other members of the Asiatic Fleet, the oncoming Japanese storm means that the U.S.S. Houston and her Allied companions must learn to fight against overwhelming odds against an enemy who claims the night as their own. In the skies above Houston and the other old, tired vessels of the ACDA Fleet , Flight Lieutenant Russell Wolford and his men attempt to employ the Allies’ newest technology to even the odds. With full might of the Japanese Empire falling on them, the ACDA’s soldiers, sailors, and marines must fight to hold the line long enough for reinforcements to come.

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Blackbird (The Colplatschki Chronicles Book 7)

By Alma Boykin

$.99 Dec 21-24, 1.99 Dec 25-28

One man becomes all that the Turkowi fear – and respect. Matthew Charles Malatesta, second son and rumored bastard of a mercenary, grandson of Duke Edmund “Ironhand” von Sarmas.  One man, who will fight to the last breath to carve a place for himself, who will create a court of learning and civilization, who stands alone between the might of the Turkowi Empire and all of Godown’s people.

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One In Infinity: A Reality Crossing Novella

By Amie Gibbons

On sale for $0.99 from 12/19 to Christmas

Turns out coincidences do happen, and it sucks when it leads killers from an alternate reality to your door…

Rose plans on partying her last weekend of freedom before her residency starts, but fate has different plans. When men straight out of a fantasy novel attack, she gets pulled into a blood feud between magical beings thanks to a random stroke of luck. Now she has to adjust to her new world view and help one of the men to save herself from a fate worse than death.

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Tick of the Clock

By Travis Clemons and Michael Z Williamson

A man awakens in a 21st century Illinois hospital, holding very distinct memories of being shot in Switzerland decades earlier. The nurse calls him Detective Crabtree and says the DuPage County Sheriff will be by to check on him shortly. Yet he remembers his name being Sherlock Holmes.

When Sabrina Worthington is killed during a home invasion, her billionaire husband has an ironclad alibi. But Adam Worthington does not appear to be the grieving widower people would expect to see. Meanwhile, their former girlfriend keeps tugging on every possible string to convince the authorities to indict the man for murder.

By the tick of the clock, it would seem impossible for a man to be shot in the 19th century and wake up more than one hundred years later. It would also seem impossible for a man to shoot his wife while she’s at home and he’s at a theater thirty miles away. But when the seemingly impossible is properly analyzed, will Holmes determine the improbable truth behind her death and his life?

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The Spaewife

by David L. Burkhead

Pricing will be $0.99 the 19th through the 26th.

A young mother hears the Norns. They tell her of terrible things to come. When Ulfarr wants her gift of prophesy to serve him, he takes her, murders her husband, and steals away her children. Can the young mother escape from Ulfarr’s clutches and save her children from him? Only the Norns know.

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Via Serica

by Tom Rogneby

on sale from the 19th to the 26th for $1.99

Marcus Aemelius Paullus has a problem – he is playing with fire and falling in love with the wrong woman. Appius Plinius also has a problem – he has a unit full of warriors who continually get themselves, and him, in trouble. Caesar Augustus has a solution to their problems, but it may cost them their lives. Eastward lies fame, fortune, and the key to returning home. Deserts, mountains, marsh, and ocean lie between, occupied by barbarian cultures and hostile rulers. On this grueling journey, Marcus and Appius will find their courage tested to the limits. But before they’re done, the world will know the unconquerable spirit of Rome!

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Oct 7

27 Comments

Of numbers and sequels and spoiled chicken

I truly hope the way the morning began isn’t an indication of what the day holds for yours truly. I keep reminding myself that I am lucky that my mother, at 83, is in good health and still has all her faculties. Yes, I can see her slowing down and there are times when she might repeat something we discussed the day before. But, overall, she is still a strong, vibrant woman who is living life to the fullest. Of course, that almost came to an end this morning when I went out to clean the windshield of the car. I opened the car door and was assailed by an aroma that can only be described as “OMG, something crawled in here and died!” That stomach turning, nausea inducing stench that comes only from spoiled meat.

No, none of the local animals had taken up residence in our car. Fortunately. Not that it helps the stench any.

It seems that when Mom went to the store yesterday afternoon, she forgot that she’d put the sack with chicken breasts in it on the floorboard behind the drivers seat. That is never a good thing but it was compounded by the fact that here in the DFW area, we are having some very warm temperatures. So, after the car sat out in the sun for hours and then in the garage overnight, the chicken was well and truly ripe. Even now, almost an hour after finding it and after febreezing the heck out of the car and then washing up, I still smell that horrible odor. Please, don’t let that be a prelude to what is to come today.

Anyway, hopefully that excuses me for being late this morning with today’s post. Believe me, there is never enough coffee to prepare you for dealing with spoiled chicken in your car  😉

Numbers. Numbers are the bane and the lifeblood of authors. They represent how many books we’ve sold and are how we measure our success. That’s why, right now, so many authors are tearing their hair out and wondering what has happened the last few months. I can’t tell you the number of times on social media or in private conversations, I’ve been part of discussions about how numbers have plummeted. There are a number of different possible explanations: the back to school slump, folks not sure if they will have another paycheck so they’ve been cutting back on all spending, Amazon has been changing its algorithm again (not so much on how it reports sales but on how its search engine works) to the Kindle Unlimited Program taking sales away through lends.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but my numbers have traditionally been down August – October. So, while I worry about the lower numbers, I’m not going to panic — yet. The one thing I do know is that my lends under the KU Program often outnumber the sales on any given day. Part of me says this is a good thing. I still get paid for the lends and it means folks are looking at my work. But there’s another part of me that isn’t so sure. For one thing, even though I get paid, that payment is less per lend than I made under the KOLL program. For another, you don’t get paid under KU until someone has “read” a certain percentage of the book. So they can download the book today and not open it for months — or more — and you won’t be paid until that set amount is read. I will admit, I’ve been considering removing my books from the KU program to see if there is a “correction” of the trend of borrows vs. buys. I’m not sure yet and, to be honest, I probably won’t make the decision for another month or so. It simply isn’t in the top five — or even ten — things I need to do right now.

The first on my list of things to do is to finish the edits on Duty from Ashes, the next book in the Honor & Duty series. I hate editing at the best of time. I really hate editing books that are part of a series. Not only do you have to make sure the book you have just written doesn’t have any major plot holes — after all, it isn’t good to leave poor Joe hanging off the edge of the cliff at the end of Chapter Three and never get back to him — but you have to make sure your grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc., are all done properly. When a book is part of a series, you have to make sure you don’t change canon, without good cause, and that your characters are all called the same name and look the same from book to book. You have to make sure you don’t alter the terrain of your world or change major descriptions of the cities or countries where your story takes place.

I’ve found that it isn’t difficult to keep track of the details in series where your “world” is fairly small and you have a small(ish) cast of characters. But Duty from Ashes doesn’t fit that bill. It builds upon the events of Vengeance from Ashes and uses a number of the same characters — so far, so good — but then it adds characters and locales. Different branches of the military are represented as are different planetary governmental systems. There is some overlap with what we know regarding military structure but, because this is science fiction and it takes place at a different time and most definitely a different planet, there are differences.

Keeping track of all that, including the similarities and the differences re: the military, means editing is a much slower process than usual. I find myself referring not only to my notes, which include character descriptions, but also to the text of Vengeance. So far, I haven’t gone too far astray, but the concern is there. As a result, I find myself questioning things in my writing I wouldn’t under usual circumstances. I also find myself looking for distractions, including doing things I would normally never want to do. (For example, I caught myself yesterday emptying the kitchen cabinets and going through everything to see what we should keep, should give to my son and what should be donated.)

But, as an added distraction, my back brain has decided to come to the forefront. Specifically, that part of my brain that had been figuring out what to do with Nocturnal Challenge, the fourth and next to the last (possibly) book in the Nocturnal Lives series, has started shouting at me. It wants to to quit mucking about with the science fiction and get back to urban fantasy. It is very loud and stamps it foot and pouts when I don’t pay attention. Last week, I finally had to give in and take a day to take notes about the plot. So, as soon as I finish with the edits for Duty, I’ll start on Challenge. From there, well, other books await. I want to do at least one more book in the Hunter’s Moon series. I have a romantic suspense novel about halfway written. Then there is Honor from Ashes, the final book in the Honor & Duty trilogy. (I don’t know if there will be more books featuring Ash and company but I have a feeling there will be more books in that universe.)

In other words, I need to forget about the spoiled chicken and get back to work. Before I do, here’s the mandatory self-promotion bit that I all too often forget to put in.

coverforvfaVengeance from Ashes (Honor and Duty)
written under the pen name of Sam Schall

First, they took away her command. Then they took away her freedom. But they couldn’t take away her duty and honor. Now they want her back.

Captain Ashlyn Shaw has survived two years in a brutal military prison. Now those who betrayed her are offering the chance for freedom. All she has to do is trust them not to betray her and her people again. If she can do that, and if she can survive the war that looms on the horizon, she can reclaim her life and get the vengeance she’s dreamed of for so long.

But only if she can forget the betrayal and do her duty.

Nocturnal Origins (Nocturnal Lives Book 1)

nocturnaloriginscoveralternatenewSome things can never be forgotten, no matter how hard you try.

Detective Sergeant Mackenzie Santos knows that bitter lesson all too well. The day she died changed her life and her perception of the world forever.It doesn’t matter that everyone, even her doctors, believe a miracle occurred when she awoke in the hospital morgue. Mac knows better. It hadn’t been a miracle, at least not a holy one. As far as she’s concerned, that’s the day the dogs of Hell came for her.

Investigating one of the most horrendous murders in recent Dallas history, Mac also has to break in a new partner and deal with nosy reporters who follow her every move and who publish confidential details of the investigation without a qualm.

Complicating matters even more, Mac learns the truth about her family and herself, a truth that forces her to deal with the monster within, as well as those on the outside.But none of this matters as much as discovering the identity of the murderer before he can kill again.

 

 

Jan 21

34 Comments

Pen names – do you or don’t you?

Those of you who have followed my posts on Mad Genius Club, know that I’m one of those writers who got started rather late in life. It’s not that I wasn’t writing. I’ve written stories for as long as I’ve known how to write.  If it weren’t for Sarah, I’d probably still be happily writing my stories and then shoving them in a desk drawer or under my bed. But she somehow convinced me one day to email her something I’d written. From that moment on, she became my mentor and sometimes my tormentor as she pushed me not only to write but to start submitting my work to agents and publishers. Then, when Amazon – followed by the other major e-tailers – opened up to sales from small presses and self-published authors, she convinced me to not only start working for Naked Reader Press but to submit my work to NRP for consideration.

Believe me, even though I work for NRP, I don’t get any special consideration. Not only does Sarah read and edit my work, but Kate has been tagged to be the first line. If it doesn’t meet Kate’s standards, it doesn’t go any further in the process without me fixing whatever was wrong.

But back to the story.

About a year or so after Sarah started beating me about the head and shoulders to 1) submit my writing to publishers and agents and 2) to quit having bonfires with my rough drafts (and I still haven’t forgiven her for that. Bonfires are nice. Fire good) the two of us attended the national RWA convention in San Francisco. I enjoyed many of the seminars, talked with a lot of authors and got a lot of pointers. I also picked up all the free books I could. And, believe you me, many of them were so bad that I knew I could do better.

So, while Sarah was off with her then agent attending parties or meetings, I holed up in our room and wrote.

I never meant to actually finish the story. I most certainly never meant to let Sarah, or anyone else for that matter, see it. Little did I know that the story had other plans.

A month later, I had a 90k word novel. Worse, Sarah had walked in on me while we were still in San Francisco and caught me writing. So she kept asking how the book was going. How long until it was finished? This is when I discovered she had a warped sense of humor. She was actually enjoying tormenting me about this book, this romantic suspense book – a genre a very rarely read, that had taken over my brain.

That’s when I made my second mistake. I told Sarah I’d finished it. I should have known that she’d want to read it. She did. She wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. She didn’t care that I’d not written the novel for public consumption. She said things like, “you are your own worst critic,” and “you aren’t allowed to have a bonfire.” So, I gave in. The pressure was too much and I sent it to her – and to Kate who she had roped into the conspiracy to drive me insane.

Not too long after that, I had messages from both of them. They liked it. I’ll admit, I looked at the AIM windows and wondered when the aliens had taken over the bodies and minds of two women I liked as friends and who I respected as writers. They came back with a few suggestions on how to improve the book and I was convinced that meant it wasn’t worth the electrons it was digitally printed on.

Around this same time NRP came into existence and Sarah was already reading the writing on the wall about a lot of legacy publishing. She told me that she wanted the novel for NRP. She did her best to convince me that readers would like it. I wanted to know why she wasn’t sharing the good booze she was obviously drinking.

Okay, there was one other consideration back then. There was still a very large and ugly stigma to self-publishing or small press publishing, at least in the eyes of agents and publishers. So, a pen name, if I agreed to publish the novel, made sense.

We went back and forth about it for awhile. You see, here’s the issue. The book is fluff. Pure and simple fluff. It wasn’t like anything else I’d ever written. It was almost as if someone else had taken over my brain and my hands and written it while I looked on.

But it was more than that. I didn’t want that to be my first book. I didn’t want to get pigeon-holed as a romance writer (not that there is anything wrong with that. It just wasn’t what I saw myself being back then). So Sarah of the many pen names came up with a solution. Without batting an eye, she asked why I didn’t release it under another name.

I still wasn’t convinced but I’d promised long ago to listen to her advice as my mentor. Plus, what was the harm? If it was a closed pen name, no one would know it was me. I could release the book and then, when the sales tanked, I’d be able to tell Sarah “I told you so” and go back to writing what I wanted to.

Fate’s sometimes a fickle bitch. And she most certainly was this time. It took awhile but the book sold and sold well. Even now, after being out for several years, it continues to sell. Some months it is only a few copies and others it is much more. More than enough to make me reluctantly admit that Sarah had been right.

But I let the pen name sit. Oh, I put out a couple of short stories under it but no more novels. After all, that wasn’t me. I didn’t naturally write romance or romantic suspense, much less rom/susp with humor.

Enter Sarah again about a year ago. I’d hit a spot where I was having a hard time getting into any writing project. I’d tried different things and all I wound up with was a lot of starts and stops. Nothing seemed to gel. Finally, probably out of frustration because I kept whining at her, Sarah threw down a challenge. I had no problem writing the Nocturnal Lives series. So, since paranormal romance was the hot thing, she told me to write a PNR.

I knew she’d lost her mind. There could be no other explanation. Me? Write paranormal romance? No way. Absolutely no way. Unfortunately, my muse, evil bitch that she is, had other ideas. Over the next few weeks, a seed of a story took hold. Before I knew what was happening, the book was written. And, you guessed it, Sarah and Kate liked it and Sarah said NRP was going to put it out. No ifs, ands or buts. It was going to happen. But, since it was PNR and not Urban Fantasy like the Nocturnal Lives series, she suggested I bring it out under the pen name. I jumped at the chance to use the pen name because, yet again, a book had come out of me that I swear I hadn’t written.

That book, just like the romantic suspense before it, sold and sold well. Both have individually paid me more than I’d have gotten in advances from a legacy publisher. The second book in what is now an ongoing series is going to do the same, given time. That’s not something I can sneeze at.

For the last few weeks, as I finished Nocturnal Interlude and started preparing to work on my next project, I started thinking about why I’ve kept the pen name closely held for so long. I can no longer deny the fact that I write romance of different flavors, maybe not as easily as I do urban fantasy, but I write it. Looking back at Nocturnal Serenade and, more recently, Nocturnal Interlude, I see some of the traits of the pen name starting to bleed into those novels. No, they aren’t PNR – heaven forbid – but there is some romance. More than that, the plots are getting tighter and the pacing is better. At least I think so.

Over the last week or so, I’ve had several conversations with Sarah about whether or not it was time to come out of the pen name closet. I talked with Kate about it and even drew Cedar into the conversation. So, long story somewhat short, and with Sarah’s approval – heck, she’s actually kicking me out into public and slamming the door behind me – it’s time to stop hiding behind the pen name.

So, let me introduce myself. My name is Amanda S. Green. But I also write under the name of Ellie Ferguson. The name is a mixture of family names. Ellie was my great-great-grandmother on my mother’s father’s side of the family. Ferguson was the maiden name of my great-great-grandmother on Mom’s mother’s side of the family. Both are names I’ve grown up knowing all my life and together they have been a name I could be comfortable with.

Why, you might ask, am I finally revealing this? Because it’s time. By not being open with the pen name, I’ve been running the risk of losing readers who like the Nocturnal Lives series but who would like more romance with their shapeshifter stories. The same thing goes for those who have enjoyed the Hunter’s Moon series. There may be some of those readers who like mystery and police procedurals mixed with shapeshifter stories.

There is it. My secret is out and now I can’t hide. At least not unless I run faster than Sarah. (Looks around for a really good hiding place. Sighs. She’d find me. She always finds me.) I might not be completely comfortable about this, but it is time.

Welcome to my world and please no more pen names to hide behind because I have enough genres running through my head already.

You can find Ellie’s Amazon page here.

My Amazon page is here. (and I am working to get the pages merged.)

 

Jan 14

6 Comments

And another bites the dust

nocturnal interludenewGreat, now I’m going to have the Queen song in my head all day. Well, at least it’s this one and not another — which shall not be named because then THAT will be in my head and I’ve already lived through that. Don’t want to do it again. Anyway. . . .

Those of you who have been kind enough to follow the relaunch of my personal blog know I’ve been posting snippets from the third novel in the Nocturnal Lives series. Nocturnal Interlude is a bridge story. By that I mean it is taking the main character, Mackenzie Santos, and the rest of the supporting cast in a direction they aren’t sure they want to go. They may not want to go that way but it is something they have to do, at least if they want keep themselves and those they care about safe. For some of them, it means breaking rules they’ve been brought up to respect. For Mac, it means stepping into a role that is a very uncomfortable fit. But it’s a role she knows has to be filled, like it or not.

I’ll admit I’ve been uncertain about how this book would go over. (Stop laughing, Sarah. I know I’m ALWAYS uncertain but I’ve been even more uncertain with this one.) The main reason is that it is different, in some ways, from the first two books. It is darker, in my opinion, and every action Mac and company take has the potential to blow up in their faces. If it does, not only will Mac’s career as a cop be over but the existence of shapeshifters in a world that believes them to be nothing but the product of myth and bad Hollywood movies will be revealed. That has to be avoided at all costs, at least for the moment.

This is the world that’s been living in my head for the last few months as I wrote and then edited the book. It’s been about six weeks since I finished the final draft and my round of edits. In that time, it’s made its round of the first readers. It has also been sent to a friend I Tuckerized in the book who gave it a thumbs-up. (By the way, Chris, you’d better be writing.) And in the next 24 – 48 hours it will be live on Amazon as an e-book and shortly thereafter will be available in print.

So now that it has been put to bed, it is time to move on to the next project. Right now, I have two works-in-progress that are vying for my attention. So this may be the time when I do something I haven’t done since Sarah finally applied the pointy boots to my posterior — I may work on two projects at once. At least until one of them takes control. The only problem with that is one is light and not so fluffy and will come out under the pen name and the other is space opera (again, I blame Sarah. This began as a challenge from her to try something different.)

All the above is why my head is scattered today. My brain has decided it wants to go on vacation even if my body won’t take it anywhere. Maybe another gallon or two of coffee will help. For now, if you’d like to see snippets from Nocturnal Interlude, you can follow the links below over to my personal blog.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Also, if you’ve considered joining Scribd and checking out their subscription model for downloading books, here are a few of my thoughts on the service. While subscription services are quite possibly one of the new models of the sales arm of publishing, I’m not convinced the Scribd model is the way to go, at least from the author’s perspective.

I’ll be back next week with a more cogent post, I promise.

Oct 1

14 Comments

It’s Tuesday and the gods are picking on me

As much as I hate to do it, I’m going to basically bail on the post this morning. You see, I learned something valuable yesterday: the writing gods have very perverse sense of humor. Either that or my dog sabotaged everything he could in order to prevent Sarah from going home. First, he somehow managed to take control of the knife I was using to make salad so Sarah would have something light to eat before getting on the plane. The result of the dog-controlled knife is that I tried to take the top of my index finger off. Lots of blood, probably should have stopped at the doc in the box for a stitch or two and now a finger that won’t let me use it to type or much of anything else either. And, if that wasn’t enough, the washer decided it didn’t like the fact Sarah had left and, as a result, when I returned from the airport, my mother greeted me with the news that the washer had exploded and the kitchen sink had backed up. Now, I am hunting and pecking on the laptop while I wait for the plumber.

So, since you guys have given us some really good topics at our last open floors, I’m not going to throw another one out today. Instead, I’m going to do another snippet from Nocturnal Interlude, my current WIP and the third novel, and fourth entry, in the Nocturnal Lives Series. I promise to be back next week — if not later today — with a real post.

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For the previous snippet, click here.

Nocturnal Interlude is © Amanda S. Green 2013.  Do not copy, alter, distribute or resell without permission.  Exceptions made for ATTRIBUTED quotes as critique or linking to this blog.

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“Thank God, you’re all right.”

Jackson’s arms went about Mac the moment she climbed into the rear of the black van. For a moment, she let herself just enjoy the comfort of her mate’s embrace. She’d never forget the worry she’d seen in his eyes as she’d been led off by the feds or the anger. She knew without asking that it had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done not to go after them and force the men to release her. If their roles had been reversed, she wasn’t sure she’d have been able to exercise as much self-control as had he.

“Are you okay?”

She lightly touched his cheek, her eyes searching his. Even though Halsey and his partner hadn’t done anything to him, it had been hard not to worry that another team of agents hadn’t appeared to sweep Jackson up. The thought of anything happening to him, especially if it was because of her, made her blood run cold.

“I’m fine now that we’ve got you back.” He kissed her and then helped her into the seat directly behind the driver’s seat. A moment later, he was seated next to her.

“Mateo, what’s going on?”

Her cousin had taken his place in the front passenger seat and, before answering, he told the driver to get them out of there. “Mac, I promise I’ll answer all your questions, but let’s get well away from here first.”

“Damn it, Mateo!” She bit down on her anger. It was reaction to everything that had happened. She knew it. But that didn’t make his refusal to explain any easier to take. “I think I deserve to know what’s happening.”

“Mac.” Jackson reached out and turned her face so she looked at him. “He’s right. I only know the bare minimum and it’s enough to worry me – a lot. We’re on our way to a meeting where everything will be explained.”

She leaned back and scrubbed her hands over her face. Maybe this was all just a bad nightmare and she’d awaken soon. Then she’d be back in Hawaii and everything would be all right. But that wasn’t how her luck ran. No, this was all too real and she was getting a very bad feeling.

“Fine. Just tell me this: is my family all right?”

“They are. Your grandmother and mother are waiting for you. The twins are on their way back from Austin with a couple of my men,” Mateo answered. “And, before you ask, Jackson’s family is safe as well. I promise.”

Mac didn’t know whether to be relieved or not. On a primitive level, relief won out. She’d come to understand over the last few months just how important family really was. But then the implications of what Mateo said hit her. Why would he, or at least someone he worked with, have already taken steps to insure that her family and her mate’s were all right? Had someone specifically targeted them or was the threat more widespread? And why had the feds taken her into custody?

Without a word, she opened the cover on her tablet PC. Before she could turn it on, Mateo reached out and snatched it from her hands. Eyes flashing, jaw clinching, she stared at him in disbelief. What in the hell was going on?

“Mac, you can’t use the tablet or your cell phone or anything else with GPS capability until we scrub it,” he said, his expression serious.

Okay, now she was starting to get scared. Worse, it was fueling her anger and that was making it more and more difficult to maintain control. It wouldn’t take much more for her to shift. She didn’t know about her cousin, but she didn’t particularly want an angry jaguar loose in a moving van. So someone had better start telling her something before that happened.

“Mac, he’s right.” Jackson’s spoke softly but she still heard how worried he was. “Our families are safe but not all of our friends are. Someone has been moving against them for the last few days. We don’t know who and we don’t know why. All we know for sure is that at least half a dozen of our people are missing.”

For a moment, Mac stared at him, not sure she’d heard right. But one look at him was enough to convince her he spoke the truth, at least the truth as he knew it. After what happened at the airport, she wasn’t sure any of them knew the truth. Still, people they knew, maybe even people they loved, were missing.

“Who?” she asked even though she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“Pat’s one of them. The twins are also missing.”

If they hadn’t been in the van, Mac would have been on her feet and pacing. Three members of her pride were missing. Three people she cared about. She could almost understand why Pat had been taken. Not only was she a cop – and Mac couldn’t dismiss out of hand that one of Pat’s old cases from Narcotics hadn’t caught up with her – but she was also the pride leader’s mate. Two very good reasons why their enemies might want to take her. Also two very good reasons doing so could get someone killed.

But why take the twins? They were barely adults. College students. They had no real standing in the pride except as beloved members. They certainly couldn’t be involved with anything criminal. And there were others missing as well. God, this was a nightmare.

“Are they all from the pride?”

“No. There’s at least one lone pure missing as well as two members of the local pack,” Mateo answered.

“How long? How long since the first one went missing and has there been any sort of demand made?” She had to think like a cop. Ask the questions, eliminate the motives and zero in on the suspects.

And not let her think about what the suspects might be doing to the people she cared about in the meantime.

“Two days and no demands, no contact of any sort.” Mateo sounded as grim as she felt.

“Mike? Is he all right?”

The thought of her captain, her pride leader, and the anguish he must be feeling just then kicked her worry up another notch. Because he was also Pat’s commanding officer, just as he was Mac’s, he and Pat couldn’t go public with their relationship. The fact that she was missing had to be killing him and it would be made all the worse because he wouldn’t be able to let his fear show. Add in the worry he had to be feeling about the twins as well and it could be enough to bring him to his knees.

“He’s angry and scared,” Jackson replied. “But he’s coping so far. At least he says he is.”

“Mateo, I have a feeling there’s a lot more to this than you’ve told us so far.” She waited until he reluctantly nodded. “Than you’d better accept the fact that I am in this until we find out what’s happened and we catch the people responsible. Try to shut me out and I promise you won’t like the consequences.”

Damn it all to Hell and back again. This is what she got for going on vacation.

***

The other titles in the Nocturnal Lives Series are:

Nocturnal Interlude is the third novel and fourth title in the Nocturnal Lives Series. The other installments in the series are:

nocturnaloriginscoverNocturnal Origins

Some things can never be forgotten, no matter how hard you try.

Detective Sergeant Mackenzie Santos knows that bitter lesson all too well. The day she died changed her life and her perception of the world forever.It doesn’t matter that everyone, even her doctors, believe a miracle occurred when she awoke in the hospital morgue. Mac knows better. It hadn’t been a miracle, at least not a holy one. As far as she’s concerned, that’s the day the dogs of Hell came for her.

Investigating one of the most horrendous murders in recent Dallas history, Mac also has to break in a new partner and deal with nosy reporters who follow her every move and who publish confidential details of the investigation without a qualm.

Complicating matters even more, Mac learns the truth about her family and herself, a truth that forces her to deal with the monster within, as well as those on the outside.But none of this matters as much as discovering the identity of the murderer before he can kill again.

nocturnal SerenadeNocturnal Serenade

In this sequel to Nocturnal Origins, Lt. Mackenzie Santos of the Dallas Police Department learns there are worst things than finding out you come from a long line of shapeshifters. At least that’s what she keeps telling herself. It’s not that she resents suddenly discovering she can turn into a jaguar. Nor is it really the fact that no one warned her what might happen to her one day. Although, come to think of it, her mother does have a lot of explaining to do when – and if – Mac ever talks to her again. No, the real problem is how to keep the existence of shapeshifters hidden from the normals, especially when just one piece of forensic evidence in the hands of the wrong technician could lead to their discovery.

Add in blackmail, a long overdue talk with her grandmother about their heritage and an attack on her mother and Mac’s life is about to get a lot more complicated. What she wouldn’t give for a run-of-the-mill murder to investigate. THAT would be a nice change of pace.

NOCTURNAL HAUNTSNocturnal Haunts

Mackenzie Santos has seen just about everything in more than ten years as a cop. The last few months have certainly shown her more than she’d ever expected. When she’s called out to a crime scene and has to face the possibility that there are even more monsters walking the Earth than she knew, she finds herself longing for the days before she started turning furry with the full moon.

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