Sneak Peek ~ Dreamweaver

Taryn’s world is falling apart, but despite being opposed to an arranged marriage, perhaps young Prince Fenir can find a way to win her heart…

Excerpt, Dreamweaver

Fenir lifted his gaze to hers, his blue eyes almost gold in the reflection of the burning oil. “I don’t know what to say to convince you of my sincerity. Words don’t seem to be enough, but neither do my actions.” He sighed. “Do you really find me so repulsive?”

Taryn shook her head slowly. “I do not find you repulsive. I find the whole situation abhorrent.” She let out a frustrated grunt. “Something in the dreamscape—my dreamscape—is hurting people. The dukes are at my throat to go to war with the wrong country and to marry you so you’ll give us weapons. Meanwhile, I haven’t heard from Lexa, who’s supposed to be finding a solution to this mess. She’s the only other person who understands that something else is going on, but she’s not here to help me explain it to those pompous lords!” She stopped to take a breath.

“You’re in a difficult position,” Fenir said.

“That’s an understatement.”

He crept closer until they stood shoulder to shoulder, looking out at the impenetrable night. “I wish we could have met under different circumstances, when neither of our lands wanted something from the other.”

Taryn pressed her mouth into a tight line. She wished many things could have been different.

He turned to face her, eyes alight and cheeks slightly pink. Cupping his hands together, he held them out. “I would have liked to show you a different side to me. The quiet, thoughtful stargazer.” His palms began to glow. “The man who loves poetry more than war.” Fenir began to move his hands in polar circles. Blue licks of fire spilled between his fingers as his palms brushed across each other.

Taryn stiffened, breath halting in her lungs.

Fenir continued to roll his palms against each other as the light between them pulsated stronger. “The boy who would be king.” He took one hand away, revealing a small mass of blue fire in his palm, flickering in the shape of a rose. Fenir held it out to her. Heat radiated from the fire, but more like the languid warmth of an afternoon sun than the bite of searing flames.

“It won’t burn,” he said.

Riveted, Taryn lifted her hand and inched toward the blazing petals. Her fingers twitched with the instinct to recoil, but she furrowed her brow and held them steady. With a centimeter between her skin and the flaming rose, she expected to feel and smell her skin singeing, but neither happened. Her finger brushed the edge of a petal and she jerked back automatically. Angling her hand, she noted smooth, unblemished skin. Then she reached forward and touched the rose again. The blue fire rippled like billowing silk. It was warm, almost hot, though not enough to burn.

“How are you doing this?” she whispered.

A smile tugged at his mouth. “I don’t know. How do you dreamwalk? It’s just something I can do—feel the elements, the music they make, and tune them as I would a lyre to make what I want.”

“Music?” she said dubiously.

Fenir took her hand, turning them face to face. “If I could wipe everything else away, the circumstances and the expectations, this is what I’d show you. And…” His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “I would ask you to dance again.”

~~~

Get your copy of Dreamweaver on Amazon and B&N

With her father in a coma, Princess Taryn desperately tries to hold her kingdom together against conniving dukes, soulless raiders, and people being snatched from their dreams. Not to mention the insufferable Prince Fenir still wants to marry her. But when Taryn finds herself pitted against an unearthly invader in an epic battle to save both the dreamscape and waking world, she may have to sacrifice everything she holds dear.

~

Get caught up on the series with Dreamwalker, Dreamstealer, Dream Assassin, and Dreamsnatcher.

~~~

I hope you enjoyed your visit and come back for more!  You can subscribe using RSS, Twitter, Google+, or Facebook. And to ensure you don’t miss any new releases, sign up for the newsletter!

NEW RELEASE ~ Dreamweaver

Well, the end is here; the epic conclusion to the Dreamwalker saga is now available. I hope my readers find it a satisfying end to the series. And here’s a teaser for your enjoyment.

~

Movement flitted in Taryn’s peripheral vision. Silent creeping gave the raider away and she swung her bow to the right. The loosed arrow whizzed over the back of Mathias’s horse, just past the councilman’s shoulder, and landed in the chest of her target.

Mathias jerked forward over his horse’s neck. “What the hell?” He shot her another scathing look, but then followed her gaze to the slain pirate five feet away. Even in the firelight, some of the color drained from his face.

Taryn pursed her lips. “Lexa’s a good teacher.”

“Incoming.” Tobiah swung off his horse and faced up the street where four raiders poured out of the inky darkness.

Mathias drew his sword. Taryn hoped the councilman really did know how to use it. From Lexa’s stories, she hadn’t thought very highly of the man’s skills in combat. Taryn strung another arrow and raised her arms. The raiders lumbered toward them.

A high-pitched whistle pierced her eardrums as a cannonball shot through one building, cutting across the road in front of them and imploding the building on the other side of the street. Splinters and chunks of wood whipped through the air on the crest of a wave of fire.

Storm screamed and reared. That and the force of the explosion threw Taryn to the ground. Her elbow smacked against dirt and debris pelted her body. She threw her arms up to protect her head. An intense ringing drilled a hole through her ears into her skull, dulling her senses. Taryn blinked her eyes open and saw multiple sets of hooves running away. Striking white bobbed up the street and out of sight; she hoped Storm was okay.

Taryn forced herself up. Chips of wood ran down her neck and she brushed them away. The entire street was awash with blazing orange and scarlet. Where were Mathias and Tobiah? She twisted around, frantically searching the scatter of rubble.

Movement ten feet to her left caught her eye as a hunched figure pushed a panel of wood off his back and stood. Taryn saw the blue armband near his shoulder.

“Tobiah!” She coughed as smoke and dust attempted to clog her throat and nostrils.

The man stumbled toward her. A spurt of flame in the building’s wreckage to their left illuminated his face and Taryn’s eyes widened. That wasn’t Tobiah.

Splinters stuck out of the raider’s gnarly beard. A nasty gash cut across his temple and streamed blood over one eye, but he seemed not to notice. He staggered toward her, hollow eyes gleaming an unearthly yellow in the reflection of the firelight.

Taryn scooted around on the ground. Where was her bow? She reached out a hand instinctively, expecting to summon a new weapon as she would in the dreamscape, for a moment forgetting that in the waking world, battles didn’t work that way.

~~~

Get your copy of Dreamweaver on Amazon and B&N

With her father in a coma, Princess Taryn desperately tries to hold her kingdom together against conniving dukes, soulless raiders, and people being snatched from their dreams. Not to mention the insufferable Prince Fenir still wants to marry her. But when Taryn finds herself pitted against an unearthly invader in an epic battle to save both the dreamscape and waking world, she may have to sacrifice everything she holds dear.

~

Get caught up on the series with Dreamwalker, Dreamstealer, Dream Assassin, and Dreamsnatcher.

~~~

I hope you enjoyed your visit and come back for more!  You can subscribe using RSS, Twitter, Google+, or Facebook. And to ensure you don’t miss any new releases, sign up for the newsletter!

Heroines of Fantasy: Miss December

It is time for our last Heroine feature! Wow, a whole year gone by. Don’t worry, I plan on continuing the monthly series in 2014 with a different fantasy focus. But for our finale, I’m bringing you my all-time favorite heroine (yes, with a little shameless self promotion). Since the series is coming to an end, I’m giving Lexa a grand farewell. I will miss writing about her.

Lexa from the Dreamwalker Saga

Lexa has lived the life of a soldier, being one of the elite warriors for Artasia. In addition, she has the rare ability to dreamwalk, to enter sleep and transcend from her mind into an otherworldly realm known as the dreamscape. There she fights monsters born of people’s darkest dreams.

Lexa started out being fully devoted to duty and loyalty to her country, believing that was all that mattered in life. Throughout the series, she meets people that challenge her convictions and teach her that there is more to live for, though some find it challenging to get past her gruff exterior. No one can accuse her of being delicate; in fact, her tongue can be almost as sharp as her sword. And when words fail, a good punch to the head always works.

Tough and independent, there is nothing Lexa won’t do to protect those she cares about. Even if it means pushing herself to the breaking point.

Dreamsnatcher

Lexa has spent the past five years training the princess of Teltania in dreamwalking, a mission that’s coming to a close. But raiders hounding Teltania’s coast are leaving victims in comas, and Lexa discovers they’ve been snatched out of their dreams into the dreamscape. What soon becomes a potential plague sends her on a desperate search for answers before she loses everything she cares about.

Dreamsnatcher is now on Amazon and B&N. And watch for the epic conclusion to the series, Dreamweaver, coming this month!

~

Get caught up on the series with Dreamwalker, Dreamstealer, and Dream Assassin.

~~~

I hope you enjoyed your visit and come back for more!  You can subscribe using RSS, Twitter, Google+, or Facebook. And to ensure you don’t miss any new releases, sign up for the newsletter!

COVER REVEAL ~ Dreamweaver

Here it is, the last book in the Dreamwalker saga. This is a bittersweet moment for me as I’m sad to end the series, but I also couldn’t be happier with this story. For this cover reveal I thought I’d do something a little different by first showing you a music video of one of the “theme songs” for this book. Hopefully it captures the emotion in the cover for you as it does for me.

The epic conclusion to the Dreamwalker saga.

With her father in a coma, Princess Taryn tries to hold her kingdom together in the midst of crisis. Soulless raider ships ravage the coast, and the sleeping sickness is spreading as people are snatched from their dreams. Taryn wants to confront the mysterious evil in the dreamscape, but she’s got her hands full with problems in the waking world.

Duke Garth is trying to wrest control from her, and the insufferable Prince Fenir still wants to marry her. Yet when the prince saves her life, Taryn discovers a whole other side to the young man from the North. Could she learn to accept an arranged marriage, especially when her kingdom is desperate for help?

As Taryn wrestles with limited options, the enemy moves his final pieces into place, unleashing a horror no one could have imagined. Lexa is lost in the dreamscape, and Taryn finds herself alone, pitted against an unearthly invader. In a battle to save both the dreamscape and waking world, she may have to sacrifice everything she holds dear.

Cover design by Amber Shah at BookBeautiful.com

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COMING DECEMBER 2013

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Sneak Peek ~ Dreamsnatcher

This scene almost didn’t make it into the book, but when I mentioned I was cutting it, popular vote demanded it be put back. I have to say, it just adds that extra Lexa flavor we’ve come to love.

Excerpt, Dreamsnatcher

Someone cleared his throat. Lexa turned and started at Salazar standing at her shoulder. Why did he like sneaking up on her? Just because she was in a dress didn’t make it safe to test her nerves. There were plenty of household items in the room she could turn into a weapon.

Lexa forced composure over her features and nodded to the duke. “Your Lordship.”

His cheek twitched and he held out a goblet of wine. She stared at it.

“Come now,” he said. “We are not enemies.”

If she left him standing there, holding two cups, people would begin to stare. Lexa snatched the goblet from him. Her fingers curled around it, itching to throw the wine back in his bushy face.

“I hope Sir Duram is well. I don’t see him here tonight.”

“He’s coming.”

Salazar clucked. “Terrible what happened to his ship.”

Lexa curled her free hand into a fist. If the duke brought up dreamwalking, so help her, she’d deck him. Not at Taryn’s party.

He smirked and his voice dropped to a husky cadence. “Look at you, brimming with fury. It takes every ounce you have to hold it in, doesn’t it? What might it look like if you unleashed it?”

“Excuse me?”

The duke cocked his head, and in the slanted light his pupils took on a slight sheen. Oh lord, was the man drunk this early?

“Stormy eyes like the sea, a virago to tame the tempest, to crumble the peaks with molten passion. You would wash over the raiders like a squall and snuff them out in one breath.”

“Did you woo your wife with such poetry?” Lexa muttered.

“And a tongue that lashes like lightning!” he concluded with a grin, and tipped his goblet back to drain it.

Lexa pressed a hand over her face. Go away.

“Duke Salazar,” she ground out. “Where is your wife?”

He canted his gaze across the room to Duchess Colette. The woman wore a pomp and puffy gown of a quilt work of colors, hair wrapped on top of her head like a beehive. Her sharp eyes skewered Lexa standing next to her husband. Great, as though Lexa needed any more enemies.

Salazar sighed. “It is unfortunate I do not have a son for you.” He lifted furry brows at her. “You would make an intriguing wife.”

And he would make a fine specimen mounted on the wall. A gold plaque would read, “He pulled the tiger’s tail.”

~~~

Get your copy of Dreamsnatcher on Amazon and B&N.

Lexa has spent the past five years training the princess of Teltania in dreamwalking, a mission that’s coming to a close. But raiders hounding Teltania’s coast are leaving victims in comas, and Lexa discovers they’ve been snatched out of their dreams into the dreamscape. What soon becomes a potential plague sends her on a desperate search for answers before she loses everything she cares about.

~

Get caught up on the series with Dreamwalker, Dreamstealer, and Dream Assassin.

~~~

I hope you enjoyed your visit and come back for more!  You can subscribe using RSS, Twitter, or Facebook.  And to ensure you don’t miss any new releases, sign up for the newsletter!

NEW RELEASE! ~ Dreamsnatcher

I’m so thrilled to finally announce the release of this book! Dreamsnatcher and its soon to follow second half, Dreamweaver, are very dear to me. From the moment the story idea popped into my head, I had an inexplicable urge to write it, and nothing could distract me from these characters and their world. I hope you enjoy their journey as much as I have.

And now to give you a sneak peek, here’s an excerpt:

~

Lexa cleared her throat.

Olivia twisted around and heaved a sigh. “There you are.”

“Were you looking for me?”

“Yes.” The old woman grunted as she stood. “And Captain Duram. Did you two sneak off somewhere?”

Lexa rolled her eyes. “I was with Taryn for her dress fitting.” Of course, no one would think to look for her there.

“And your ship captain?”

“He was going down to the Navarro to pick up some things. Don’t worry, we both drank the tonic you made.”

The healer grumbled under her breath. “That tonic won’t ward against poison.”

Lexa stiffened. “Excuse me?”

Olivia crossed her arms. “Three men slipped into comas last night. They each suffered blade wounds in the raider attack. None of the injuries were serious enough to cause a coma naturally—one didn’t even require stitches—so I’m left with the conclusion of poison.”

Alarm tightened Lexa’s chest, and she swept her gaze over the unconscious patients. Who was it? Her frantic eyes latched onto the three men who appeared to be sleeping peacefully, so calm in fact, that were it not for the breath rising in their chests, they would look dead.

She shook her head. “That’s too slow to be poison though, isn’t it? Wouldn’t they have fallen into comas sooner?”

“There are poisons that work slowly.” Olivia ground her teeth together. “And in the rush of triage yesterday, symptoms might have been overlooked.”

Lexa noted the firm crease in the woman’s brow. “That wouldn’t have been your fault.”

Olivia huffed. “Well, now I know about it and am doing my best to determine what poison may have been used and find an antidote.”

Lexa’s brow furrowed. Poison was new. At least, she hadn’t read about any cases in the previous attacks. Why did the raiders want to poison some of their victims? Only three were in comas, but many more had suffered battle wounds, so did not all raiders coat their blades? If they’d wanted an advantage in battle, they would’ve chosen a fast-acting poison, something to incapacitate their victims immediately. A slower toxin suggested the raiders wanted to inflict lasting harm, that they took pleasure perpetuating fear and death long after they’d gone.

“Anyway,” Olivia continued. “I was looking for Sir Duram earlier because I remember he had a wound on his arm. You patched him up, right? And he was fine this morning?”

Lexa’s spine went rigid. How had Neil gotten that gash? She wracked her brain, but couldn’t remember him telling her. He’d felled two raiders though. Could one of them have delivered a parting blow?

“I have to go.” Lexa pivoted and sprinted out of the room.

~~~

Get your copy of Dreamsnatcher on Amazon and B&N.

Lexa has spent the past five years training the princess of Teltania in dreamwalking, a mission that’s coming to a close. But raiders hounding Teltania’s coast are leaving victims in comas, and Lexa discovers they’ve been snatched out of their dreams into the dreamscape. What soon becomes a potential plague sends her on a desperate search for answers before she loses everything she cares about.

~~~

I hope you enjoyed your visit and come back for more!  You can subscribe using RSS, Twitter, or Facebook.  And to ensure you don’t miss any new releases, sign up for the newsletter!

COVER REVEAL ~ Dreamsnatcher

The time has come! I get so excited every time I get to reveal a new cover. Not to mention it means the release is that much closer. Cover design by the amazing Amber Shah at BookBeautiful.com. Now, without further ado:

Dreamwalker Book Three

Falling asleep has never been so dangerous…

Lexa has spent the past five years training the princess of Teltania in dreamwalking, but with Taryn’s eighteenth birthday approaching, the girl has increasing royal duties and Lexa is getting ready to retire yet again. This time she’s looking forward to settling down and sailing with Sir Neil Duram—until his ship barely survives a raider attack.

The raiders have been hounding Teltania’s coast and their victims are falling into comas. With Neil’s crew at risk, Lexa sets out to find a cure. But things aren’t what they seem. She discovers that the comatose have been snatched from their dreams and stolen into the dreamscape.

The scattered cases soon become a potential plague, and Lexa has to find the connection between the waking world raiders and the dream snatchers. Is there a third dreamwalker out there, or something much more sinister? Lexa’s desperate search for answers will drive her to the edge in order to save everything she cares about.

COMING NOVEMBER 13 2013

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Big thanks to those bloggers helping me spread the cover reveal this week. If anyone else wants to sign up their blog to post the release the week of Nov. 13, let me know in the comments (leave a valid email). I have Dreamstealer (Book Two) bookmarks to send to those who participate.

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Dirk and Lexa Custom Ponies

Wasn’t PonyFest13 a blast? I love seeing all the different custom designs people come up with for their books. Even though my Dreamwalker pony didn’t win, I had fun drawing it. And once that bug bites, I typically can’t stop, so here are two more ponies based on the Dreamwalker saga: Dirk and Lexa!

 

I hope you’re caught up on the Dreamwalker saga because I am thrilled to announce that the epic conclusion to the series will be coming out very soon. And for those subscribed to my newsletter, you’ll be getting something special when the book is available.

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I hope you enjoyed your visit and come back for more!  You can subscribe using RSS, Twitter, or Facebook.  And if you want to ensure you don’t miss any new releases, sign up for the newsletter!