Author Archives: Alicia Dean

I was tagged by the talented Su Halfwerk for the ‘You’ve Got the Look’ blog game. (Su created my amazing book trailers for Death Notice and Death Offerings – she’s a genius)

You’re supposed to find the first use of the word ‘look’ in your WIP and provide an excerpt of the surrounding paragraphs. Below is mine from my very rough draft of Liberty Awakened – Isle of Fangs, Book 1.

I’m also VERY pleased to unveil my brand new cover created by Clary Carey:

Blurb:

Evil lurks beneath the surface in the beauty of the tropics…

After graduation from her small, Oklahoma high school, Liberty Delacort is looking forward to a fun-filled summer before college. But when the people she trusts the most betray her, and a letter arrives claiming her deceased father is still alive, she jumps at the chance to travel to an exotic island to meet him.

But her excitement is short-lived. In spite of its outward tranquility, the island is filled with danger and ominous secrets. The secrets soon begin to unravel, and she learns she is a descendant of Van Helsing, the vampire hunter.

The one up side is her budding romance with the sweet and sexy Ryan Chambers. But even that is threatened when—in spite of her fear of him—she finds herself attracted to a formidable vampire who is the only one with the ability to train her to fulfill her destiny—to save humans from a faction of vicious vampires.

Here’s an excerpt. It’s not a very exciting part of the story, but I had to go with the first use of ‘look’ – No vampires in this scene, darnit.

“Come on, babe.” Cam’s sandy brown hair flopped on his forehead, covering one of his gorgeous blue eyes. “I’ve waited a long time. You can’t keep doing this to me.”

Liberty bit her lip, torn between wanting to please him and knowing she wasn’t ready. “I-I can’t. I’m sorry. We said we’d wait.”

“We have waited.” A hard edge tinged the words. “But we graduated tonight. We’re adults now. We’ve been together four years. What’s the big deal?”

“I’m just not ready.”

His mouth turned down in a bitter frown. “I’m starting to wonder if you’ll ever be ready.”

Misery weighted her chest. “Me too.”

He grunted and shook his head. “I don’t get it. What are you waiting for?”

“I don’t know.”

But she did know. She’d read a romance once where the heroine said the hero’s touch made the blood rush to her head. Made her weak with desire. She couldn’t think straight when he touched her. Everything inside her cried out for him to make love to her. That was what Liberty wanted. If that ever happened to her, then she’d be ready. Yeah, sure. It was fiction. And she might die a virgin, but she wasn’t willing to give up on that dream. Not yet.

Cam ran a hand through his hair. He opened his mouth, but before he spoke, a loud crash like breaking glass sounded, followed by a male scream and female shrieks.

“What the hell?”

Cam ran into the living room, and Liberty rushed in behind him.

Dell Collona lay in a bed of broken beer bottles, writhing and screaming. Half a dozen people stood around him, mouths gaping open. The rest of the crowd seemed oblivious to the accident and continued partying.

Blood seeped from beneath Dell’s body. Liberty froze, covering her mouth with her hand to hold in a scream. Nausea cramped her stomach. Her legs went weak, and black spots danced before her eyes.

“For God’s sake, someone call 9-1-1.” Cam squatted beside Dell, gently rolling him to inspect his injuries.

Liberty couldn’t move. Her cell was in her pocket, but she couldn’t make her hands work.

Blood. She shuddered. The sight of blood terrified her, made her want to vomit, but she couldn’t seem to look away.

Voices rose around her.

What happened?

Evan dared him to dive into those beer bottles.

And he did it? What a dufus.

“Are you okay?” Her best friend, Alyssa, took her arm and gave it a shake. “Liberty, are you all right?”

Liberty nodded. “We need to-to call…”

“I called 9-1-1. They’re on their way.”

“Okay. Good.” Liberty found the willpower to turn away. She clutched her stomach and doubled over. I will not throw up. I will not throw up.

Alyssa rubbed her back. “It’s okay. He’ll be fine.”

How did she know? He might not be fine. He could die.

In moments, the sound of sirens penetrated her numbness. The front door flew open and two EMT’s entered, wheeling a gurney between them. Liberty didn’t turn around, didn’t want to watch as they treated Dell. As they wheeled him past her and out the door.

Once they were gone, guilt set in. What kind of friend was she? She hadn’t even called for help.

*****************************************************************************************

And, I am tagging…(All but Judy knew this was coming. Sorry, Judy…Love ya!)

Cait OSullivan

Patti Shenberger

Calisa Rhose

Kathy L Wheeler

Judy Ridgely

Valerie Clarizio!!! Her name was drawn at random, and she has won her choice of an ebook or print copy of Faere Fool. Congratulations, Valerie…enjoy! (If you would like, I’m sure Silver would love a review). Thanks to all who stopped by to comment.

Thanks for inviting me, Alicia. Today is an exciting day for me. It’s Launch Day for my new book, The Pilot, and you’re my first stop along The Pilot Launch Tour. The Pilot is the first of the Outer Rim novels. The Outer Rim is comparable to our 19th century Wild West. As on any frontier, women on the Rim have to be strong enough to make their own way without–sometimes in spite of–men. The Pilot is about cargo hauler, risk taker Celera d’Enfaden who must work with rule-bound official Trevarr Jovano to save her brother from a galactic gangster.

Sounds fascinating, Diane. Even though I’m not into Sci-Fi, you always pique my interest. Thank you so much for allowing me to be your launch spot for your tour. And thank you for taking the time to answer my questions so we can get to know more about you.

What do you love that most people don’t like and wouldn’t understand why you do?

I love science fiction and fantasy movies. My sisters think I’m nuts and my husband (who introduced me to Star Trek, btw) indulges me by taking me to see movies he doesn’t get (e.g., Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter). Fantasy stretches the imagination as does sci-fi. I think I like sci-fi best because it shows the possibilities for our future. I’m not crazy about dystopian movies even though I loved the Matrix series and I think my reason is the hope for mankind at the end.

I agree with your sisters, LOL. But, I guess the sci-fi fantasy thing is working for you. I am also not crazy about Dystopian movies. I find them a little depressing.

What do you want readers to come away with after they read The Pilot?

That they had a fun adventure and enjoyed a satisfying romance.

I’m sure you’ll deliver on both counts. You usually do.

If you were stranded on a deserted island and you could have 3 (inanimate) objects, what would they be?

My Kindle, fully loaded so I wouldn’t run out of things to read; a satellite phone to talk to my family, oh, and to call for rescue; and a solar-powered charger to keep both operating.

I think you cheated a little with the call for rescue thing, but I’ll allow it. <g>

Share with us your favorite…

Movie:  Star Wars IV, A New Hope (the very 1st movie)

Music:  oldies (1960’s)

Place you’ve visited:  Colorado

Place you’d like to visit:  Alaska

TV show from childhood:  Lunch with Soupy [Sales], a local kids’ program in Detroit

TV show from adulthood:  NCIS

Food:  seafood

Sports team:  Detroit Tigers

Which do you prefer: Board games/card games or television?  card games, esp. Cut Throat Rummy, a family favorite

Now, tell us a little about The Pilot…

Determined to bring order to the frontier, rule-bound official Trevarr Jovano refuses to tolerate those who disrespect the law. So when an indie pilot refuses to obey, he seizes her ship and cargo. If he backs down, he’ll lose respect. If Celara can’t deliver her cargo, she’ll default on her loan and lose the only home she’s ever known—her ship. In this excerpt, she’s at a tavern enjoying a drink with her friend who just praised him.

Sounds fantastic. Please share an excerpt:

Celara pushed her chair away from the table and climbed up on it. “Quiet down, you Rimmer scum.”

The patrons laughed then quieted. Someone paused the Seinfeld vid.

She lifted her drink again. “A toast, Rimmers. Let’s hear it for the wonderful, fantabulous, yada, yada, yada, Administrator Jovano. May he live long enough to enjoy good health.”

To her surprise, silence met her toast. No one raised their glasses or mugs, even in jest. Everyone was looking at her, standing on the chair.

No, they were looking past her. Only thing behind her was the door. Kleema groaned and buried her head on her arms on the table. Booted footsteps rapped on the rough-hewn plank floor then stopped behind her.

“Thank you for the compliments and the good wishes for my longevity.” The baritone-and-chokiris voice sounded just over her shoulder.

If ever there was a need for a personal cloaking device, it was now. Or a magic ring with which to disappear. Sec Admin Trevarr Jovano stood behind her. Waiting. She swore she could feel him breathing.

Undaunted, she turned around. As the room tipped, she reached for the back of the chair. “Whoa, those mudslides sneak up on you.”

Missing the chair, she grabbed the closest thing—Trevarr Jovano’s black-clad shoulders. Beneath her fingers, the strong muscles contracted. “Hey there, Admin Man. Heard my toast, did you?” She grinned down at him.

He wasn’t smiling. “You should sit down before you fall down. Or better yet, go home and sleep it off.”

A dark fury swept away the sweet tranquility of two, tall Kruferian mudslides. “I can’t go home, you snake. You stole my home.”

She swung a round-house punch at him, missed her objective and would have fallen ignominiously off the chair had he not caught her. For several long secs, he held her tightly against his chest, her feet dangling off the floor a good twenty-five centimeters. His green eyes caught hers and darkened.

The heat in the room rose ten degrees. Her heart tripped, the air leached out of her lungs. His eyes. She could drown in those green depths.

The Pilot is available at: http://amzn.com/B00AE6OH4K

See Diane’s website http://www.dianeburton.com/ for other retailers for The Pilot and Diane’s other books.

Bio:

Diane Burton combines her love of mystery, adventure, science fiction, and romance into writing romantic fiction. She’s a member of Romance Writers of America as well as the Mid-Michigan, Young Adult and Fantasy, Futuristic, & Paranormal RWA chapters. She is the author of the Switched series, about twins exchanging places—from Earth to a starship and the reverse. With The Pilot, she begins a new series about strong women on the frontier of space. She is also a contributor to the anthology How I Met My Husband. Diane and her husband live in Michigan. They have two children and two grandchildren.

Diane can be found around the Internet at:

website: www.dianeburton.com

blog: http://dianeburton.blogspot.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/dmburton72

Facebook: http://facebook.com/dianeburtonauthor

Goodreads: Diane Burton Author

I am pleased to introduce Silver James as my first ever guest blogger Not only is she a fantastic writer, she’s a great friend. Silver has come through for me in many, many pinches, and I’ll be forever grateful. I’ve had the privilege of reading the first two Faere books, and they were wonderful. Silver has a gift for weaving heart-pounding romance and nail-biting suspense into her uniquely creative paranormals. Can’t wait to read Faere Fool!

Take it away, Silver….

I don’t know whether to feel honored or like a guinea pig to be Alicia’s first guest blogger. I’ve known her for several years now and I’m lucky enough to get to call her friend. She offered me a lot of options but since I have a new book out, I figured I’d talk about how it came into existence.

FAERIE FOOL is the third book in my “series that isn’t a series” based on Celtic legends about reincarnation, soul mates, and the Irish fae known as the Tuatha de Danaan. The first two books, FAERIE FATE and FAERIE FIRE, introduce the reader to the world of Manannán mac Lir, the king of Tir Nan Óg, and the humans he’s taken special interest in. As faerie royalty, Manannán rules over the Land of Ever Young, the magical place where souls go to live happily ever after. Only sometimes, the humans aren’t all that happy to be there, stuck for the rest of time. They’ve left behind unfinished business. Or true love.

When I started writing FAERIE FATE, I knew there would be three books. FATE and FIRE almost wrote themselves and once they sold to The Wild Rose Press, they released within months of each other. While I knew FOOL would be Riordan MacDermot’s story, I didn’t know how the story would start, how it would evolve, or how it would end. I turned to other projects, writing two novellas for Wild Rose’s Class of ’85 anthology series. I wrote my Moonstruck series about a group of werewolves who are in the military. I wrote the first book in an urban fantasy “epic” series, and the beginnings of a Gothic romantic suspense series.

In the meantime, Rory and I fought. A lot. In my head. I should probably mention that writers have people and voices living in their heads and we talk to them. Often. 😉 Determined to get his story told, I thought he should be a military sniper. After all, he’d been an Irish warrior in the 9th century, and an Irish Army Ranger in the 20th. But he just wouldn’t cooperate. Time slipped away. Other projects came into being. And I left Rory behind.

Then I attended an OKRWA meeting where a member of the sheriff’s department SWAT team presented the program. Rory stirred in my imagination. He stretched and yawned while I scribbled copious notes. Pages and pages and pages. The next morning, I woke up, sat down at the computer but instead of checking email, twitter, and blogs, I started writing, his voice whispering incessantly in my ear. I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. Rory never gave me a chance to write myself into a plot corner. He never doubted this was his story, his heroine, and his battle with Abhean, the faerie harper who lived to create problems for Manannán mac Lir and the humans under the king’s protection. I made myself laugh. And cry. And when I finished and turned the book over to my editor, I knew Rory was proud of me for getting his story right. As a writer, that’s the highest compliment I can receive—that my characters approve of their story. It doesn’t hurt when readers let me know they love the story, too.

Blurb for FAERIE FOOL:

If you had one shot—just one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted in one defining moment, would you capture it or let it slip away? In a previous life long forgotten, Rory MacDermot vowed never to lose his heart. But then he meets Delaney Burns. Again.
In life after life, the man Rory was slips beyond Delaney’s grasp, and she falls for the wrong man. This time, Delaney turns to Rory for solace and discovers she’s loved him in every lifetime. So why the barriers between them?

Neither believes in reincarnation, but as their dreams reveal the past, they realize their memories hold the key to the future. To keep history from repeating itself, they must pronounce the binding words before the Faerie feud spills into the mortal realm, but the words dance beyond Rory’s memory.

When the fae harper arrives to collect Rory’s old debt–his life for Delaney’s–he’s dragged to Faerie, leaving Delaney the hostage of a disturbed man. Can Rory escape and save her? Or will he lose her…this time forever?

Just remember, without the words, history is doomed to repeat itself when you deal with magic, the Fae, and true love. What about you? Do you believe in reincarnation? Faeries? Magic? No? But as a romance reader, surely you believe in true love, right? One commenter will be chosen at random to receive a copy of FAERIE FOOL, either in print (available now) or in the digital form of their choice when it releases in ebook on November 30th.

You can buy all the Faerie books from THE WILD ROSE PRESS and from Amazon. Please check out FAERIE FOOL on Amazon.

Bio: With a rampant imagination aided and abetted by a Muse who runs with scissors, Silver James loves to share the stories created in that vast cosmic void pretending to be her mind. Over the course of her lifetime, she’s been a military officer’s wife, mother, state appellate court marshal, airport rescue firefighter and forensic fire photographer, crime analyst, technical crime scene investigator, and writer of magic and mystery. Retired from the “real world” now, she lives in Oklahoma and spends her days at the computer with her two Newfoundland dogs, the cat who rules them all, and myriad characters all clamoring for attention. To find out more about Silver, visit her at http://www.silverjames.com

I know I recently participated in something similar, but I was tagged by Monique De Vere so I’m playing again.

The Next Big Thing is a blog circle where authors tag each other, giving fellow authors an opportunity to share their current Works in Progress (WIP).

Here are the questions I was asked to answer….

What is your working title of your book?

Liberty Awakened – Isle of Fangs – Book 1

Where did the idea come from for the book?

It just popped into my head. It was a different take on the usual vampire novels, so I ran with it.

What genre does your book fall under?

New Adult Paranormal, from what I understand. My characters are out of high school, so it’s not really Young Adult.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Chace Crawford and Lindsy Fonseca.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

A high school graduate travels to an exotic island to meet her dying father where she discovers her destiny is to continue his legacy as a Hunter and save humans from a faction of vicious vampires.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Self-published.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Probably 3 or 4 weeks. It’s hard to say since I put this aside to write a Christmas short story.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

It’s similar to many books in that it’s about vampires, but vastly different since it’s set on a tropical island. I’ve gone back to the traditional vampire lore where they turn into bats, and they can’t walk in sunlight or eat garlic or drink holy water. J

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

My grown kids and I share a love of The Vampire Diaries and True Blood. They’ve always wanted me to write a vampire story (as have my nieces), but I didn’t want to until I found a premise that would be a little bit different. They inspired me to come up with something that I felt would work.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

My protagonist is a descendant of Van Helsing who is 18 years behind the curve on acquiring the skills she needs to battle vampires, and has a crippling fear of blood. Her only hope of learning what she needs to know is a sexy vampire who doesn’t think she’s capable and wants her to leave the island.

 Tag, you’re it…

Toni Anderson

Joya Fields

Jessica E Subject

Kristina Knight

Callie Hutton

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I was tagged by Lynn Cahoon (The Bull Rider’s Brother, A Member of the Council, and The Bull Rider’s Manager). By the way, Lynn, slow down, please…I can’t keep up with all your releases. Congratulations!!!

To answer Lynn’s questions about my next book…

What is the working title of your book? Isle of Fangs: Revelation

Where did the idea come from for the book? – I love Vampire stories, but I never planned to write one, because I didn’t think I could come up with a unique idea. Recently, an idea came to me of Vampires on a tropical island that follow the old Vampire lore (bats, holy water, no sunlight, etc) and a heroine who is a descendant of Van Helsing. I thought it was unique enough that I decided to give it a shot.

What genre does your book fall under? New Adult Paranormal.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Chace Crawford as Eli Barkley and Lindsy Fonseca as Liberty Delacort.

And now I’m going to tag 5 authors whose work I love. Here goes: (This was really, really hard to narrow down, because I am privileged to know so many fabulous, talented authors…Joya Fields, Kristina Knight, Rebecca Lee Smith, Jannine Gallant, Jessica Subject, Claire Ashgrove, Toni Anderson, Dyann Love Barr, my fellow Crimson Romance authors, AHA authors, all of my OKRWA author friends, especially my fellow Scrimshaw Doll series buddies, my talented authors from The Wild Rose Press, HERA authors, the list goes on and on. I’m leaving a ton of people out and I feel so guilty!) Anyway, here goes…

Leah St. James, a wonderful and talented friend who writes amazing books like Surrender to Sanctuary and Adrienne’s Ghost. (I even forgive her for being a Yankees fan, I like her so much)

Kathy Wheeler, my friend and critique partner and martini club cohort who writes historical and contemporary romance and has an adorable Cinderella series out under the pen name, Kae Elle Wheeler: The Wronged Princess, The Unlikely Heroine, and The Surprising Enchantress.

Natasha Deen my talented, hilarious friend from Canada eh. She writes in a ton of different genres, but her stories are always HIGHLY entertaining. She has a new YA release, True Grime 2, that is an adorable and witty story about an underground crime fighting fairy organization. It’s fantastic, as was the first in the series.

R.T. Wolfe one of my new writer friends, a supportive and talented writer. Her latest, Black Creek Rising, is a tense and moving romantic suspense.

Diane Burton, another of my fairly ‘new’ author friends. Her books, Switched, and Switched, Too are available now. She puts humor and romance into her stories and actually made me like Sci-Fi…who knew?

And, if you were tagged, grab the questions above – or create your own! – and tag five authors you love…let’s keep it going.