On Writing

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    Guest blog: Michelle Diener on the Anatomy of Attraction …

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    Today, I’m pleased to welcome historical fiction author Michelle Diener to my blog. Michelle is one of my author friends, and her books include In a Treacherous Court and The Emperor’s Conspiracy. Take it away, Michelle:

    THE ANATOMY OF ATTRACTION

    Michelle DienerI use the word Anatomy very specifically here. 🙂

    I write historical fiction with a strong romantic element, and in my upcoming release, The Emperor’s Conspiracy, out on Nov. 27, my two main characters are attracted to each other. My heroine is immediately attracted to the hero, while he is a little too angry and distracted to really see her well enough to be attracted to her. But all it takes is another meeting and you can tell he’s really interested, too.

    They don’t fall in love. Not yet. They are physically attracted to each other. They do fall in love with each other by the end of the book, or are on the verge of love, but it’s the chemistry between them, the sparks that fly, that compel them to spend more time with each other.

    And I think we’ve all had moments when we’ve seen someone who has made our hormones sit up and go “Well howdy-do!” (said in that spider from Madagascar’s voice 🙂 ). If we are single and so inclined, we may do something about it. If not, then we are happy to simply take a good look and move on.

    Both my characters are at a point in their lives where a really strong attraction like the one they have for each other serves as a partial catalyst for change. It shakes them up, makes them uncomfortable, and forces them to take risks they might otherwise not have done. Desire is a strong emotion and a good motivator.

    Everyone has felt that quick pull of attraction, and occasionally decided to see where it would lead us.

    Can you think of a favourite scene from a book/movie where the hero and heroine have just met and really like what they see?

    I’ll go first. One of my favorites is from Smoke in Mirrors by Jayne Ann Krentz, where the heroine, Leonora Hutton, meets Thomas Walker in the apartment of Leonara’s recently deceased friend, and Thomas’s ex-lover, Meredith. Another favorite is from JAK’s White Lies. I think JAK does first meetings really well!

    GIVEAWAY TIME

    The Emperor's ConspiracyMichelle has generously offered to give away a copy of The Emperor’s Conspiracy to one randomly-drawn commenter with a U.S. address.

    To enter, just leave a comment on this blog and answer Michelle’s question: Can you think of a favourite scene from a book/movie where the hero and heroine have just met and really like what they see?

    The giveaway is open to those 18 and older, U.S. only, and will be open through midnight, EST, Wednesday, Nov. 28. The winner will be announced here on my blog on Friday, Nov. 30.

    Also, Michelle lives outside the U.S., so she will respond to comments when she can.

    ABOUT THE EMPEROR’S CONSPIRACY

    Set in early nineteenth-century England, this vivid and romantic historical novel goes from the most elegant ballrooms of London to the city’s most tawdry slums, as a spirited young woman helps unravel a plot by Napoleon to bleed England of all its gold.

    Through good fortune, Charlotte Raven escaped the poverty of the London slums and is now an educated, wealthy Society lady. But she lives between two worlds, unable to completely turn her back on her old life—specifically Luke, her childhood protector and now a ruthless London crime lord.

    When Lord Edward Durnham is asked to investigate the alarming movement of gold out of England, his search leads him to London, and his recent acquaintance with Charlotte affords him access to a dark world he barely knew existed. As they delve deeper into the underbelly of London, danger lurks at every turn, and Charlotte must navigate between her two worlds to save England.

    And soon she faces a defining choice: to continue in the familiar limbo she’s lived in for years, or to take a painful and risky leap toward a happiness she never thought possible.

    You can find out more about Michelle’s books on her website, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.  Thanks so much for being here today, Michelle.

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    Deadly Sting bookmarks available …

    Deadly Sting bookmarkI now have bookmarks available for Deadly Sting, the eighth book in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series that will be released on March 26, 2013.

    Shown at left is the front of the bookmark. The back features the covers of the other Elemental Assassin books.

    Bookmarks are free to readers, bookstores, libraries, reading groups, etc. However, please note that I do ask folks to send me a self-addressed stamped envelope with two first-class U.S. stamps (90 cents) on it in order to get the bookmarks (this helps me cover postage costs).

    If you are overseas, I ask that you send me a SASE with at least $2 in U.S. postage on it or include that much in international postage coupons with your envelope.

    Also, whether you are in the U.S. or overseas, be sure that your return envelope is large enough to hold the bookmarks, which are 2 by 8 inches. 

    I still have bookmarks available for the other books in the Elemental Assassin series, as well as for those in my Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series. You can get bookmarks for either series or for both. Just include a note in your SASE stating which bookmarks you want. To find out how to get the bookmarks, e-mail me.

    Hope everyone enjoys the book when it comes out.

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    Deadly Sting e-book cover revealed …

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    Deadly Sting e-book coverSo today, I thought that I would share the e-book cover for Deadly Sting, the eighth book in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series.

    The cover at left is what you will see if you buy the e-book.

    However, the print books will have a step-back cover, just like Widow’s Web did. That means that on the Deadly Sting mass market print books, that there will be a red flap that will be the outer cover. You open up the red flap, and you will see the interior art of Gin (shown at left), just without the text that will be on the e-book cover. You can check out this blog post to see the print covers and what I’m talking about.

    The cover artist is Tony Mauro, who has also done the other covers in the series. Once again, I think he’s done an excellent job capturing Gin and the story.

    Also, here is the book description for Deadly Sting. As always, if you don’t want to be spoiled, you may want to skip reading the description:

    Red is definitely my color. Good thing, because in my line of work, I end up wearing it a lot.

    Most people shy away from blood, but for an assassin like me — Gin Blanco, aka the Spider — it’s just part of the job. Still, it would be nice to get a night off, especially when I’m attending the biggest gala event of the summer at Briartop, Ashland’s fanciest art museum. But it’s just not meant to be. For this exhibition of my late nemesis’ priceless possessions is not only the place to be seen, but the place to be robbed and taken hostage at gunpoint as well. No sooner did I get my champagne than a bunch of the unluckiest thieves ever burst into the museum and started looting the place.

    Unlucky why? Because I brought along a couple of knives in addition to my killer dress. Add these to my Ice and Stone magic, and nothing makes me happier than showing the bad guys why red really is my color.

    Deadly Sting will be released on March 26, 2013. The book is up for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and other online booksellers. You can read the first chapter here, although please note that this chapter has spoilers for Widow’s Web, so if you haven’t read that far in the series yet, you may want to avoid reading the chapter.

    Anyway, hope everyone enjoys seeing the e-book cover.

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    Nightingale, Bigtime book #4, e-published …

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    NightingaleI’m happy to announce that I have e-published Nightingale, the fourth book in my Bigtime superhero paranormal romance series. Huzzah!

    Here’s the book description:

    Anxious brides. Drunken businessmen. Panicked partygoers. As Bigtime, New York’s premiere event planner, Abby Appleby is capable of handling almost any crisis, but even she’s not prepared when she finds herself in the middle of a fight between superhero Talon and his ubervillain nemesis Bandit. Abby manages to save Talon, but the superhero is temporarily blinded, so she takes him back to her loft, where the two wait out a snowstorm. During a blizzard that shuts down the city, Abby and Talon grow close, and he starts calling her Nightingale because of her love of music and singing.

    But Abby is afraid of what Talon will think when he can see the real her, so she conceals her identity from the sexy superhero, and they go their separate ways. However, Abby discovers that Talon is looking for Nightingale, looking for her — and so is Bandit. The mercenary ubervillain thinks that Abby has information that belongs to his boss, the mysterious Tycoon. Abby knows that she’s in serious trouble and that not even Talon — or the Fearless Five — may be able to save her …

    So this book is a little different than the others in the Bigtime series in that Abby and Talon are front and center, instead of the members of the Fearless Five, as in the previous books. In this story, the Fearless Five are more minor characters, although they, along with Lulu Lo, do appear.

    For those of you who remember, Abby was an event planner who helped Bella Bulluci with the museum benefit in Jinx. I thought writing about Abby and a new hero would let me expand the Bigtime world a little bit and bring in some new characters and places in the city for folks to read about.

    Nightingale is available for $3.99 at the following sites:

    Amazon

    Barnes & Noble

    iTunes (you will have to open iTunes on your computer)

    Kobo

    All Romance Ebooks

    Sony

    Smashwords

    I figure posting the e-book on these sites would let me hit most of the e-readers and e-book formats out there.

    Nightingale is around 94,000 words. You can read the first chapter here.

    I don’t have any plans to do a print version of Nightingale at this point. I just don’t have the time in my writing schedule to do that right now. However, if there is enough interest in the book, I may write some more e-books or e-stories in the Bigtime series. Again, we’ll see what happens.

    Anyway, I hope folks enjoy this return trip to Bigtime. Happy reading!