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!

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

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Heroines of Fantasy: Miss July

Wow, June went by fast and it’s time for our next Heroine of Fantasy in this 12-month series here on the blog. It’s also time we pay another tribute to a pop culture icon: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Buffy Summers

Played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, Buffy Summers is one of the top kick-ass chicks of all time. In each generation there is a chosen one, a girl destined with the supernatural strength to slay vampires. Buffy, however, would prefer to be a normal teenager. After getting kicked out of her last high school for burning down the gym (it was vampires, I tell you!), she moves to Sunnydale to begin a new life. Unfortunately, her new high school is even worse than the last, as it sits on top of a Hellmouth.

Buffy tries her best to do normal things–try out for the cheerleading squad, make new friends, go clubbing. Alas, evil lurks around every corner. Her job description says she’s to slay vampires, but plenty of other nightly nasties come out of the woodwork for Buffy to deal with. And while she’s the one with superhuman strength and training, she’s also got some best buds, Xander and Willow, intent on helping her out.

Not only that, but she meets the dark, handsome, and mysteriously brooding Angel. Vampires aren’t supposed to have souls, but he does, and falling in love with the undead is a seriously bad idea. (Like, really bad when you get to Season Two.)

Buffy tries her best to balance school, friends, potential boyfriend of the night, and slaying evil. It’s not an easy gig. But she does it with some wicked fight moves and a lot of heart. And now I’m in the mood to rent the series…

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Dreamwalkers, Debuts, and Detours

Wow, June is half over. Which means we’re that much closer to 2013 being half over. This week we’re between the Supernatural Sleuth entries, so I thought I’d take this time to talk a bit about what I’m currently working on. Some of you may have noticed Dream Assassin is now on Amazon (woot). I started that just wanting to write a short story for Dirk fans, but then it became a novella. Oops. Still, the final product was a pleasant surprise, one I hope you all will enjoy.

Behind the scenes, I’m working on the next Dreamwalker novel with Lexa, have been since February. That was another unplanned project—honestly, I fully intended to get back to the Elemental Magic series! But I was watching Season 3 of The Voice and Amanda Brown’s rendition of “Stars” blew the top off my muse and it hasn’t simmered down since.

The third book in the Dreamwalker series was to complete the trilogy. But then something else unexpected happened (shouldn’t there be a limit to how many surprises per book?)—the story kept getting longer and longer…and now it’s two books. Yay, right? But boy do I have my work cut out for me.

I can’t give too much away, but I will say it takes place five years after Dreamstealer. I know, a bit of a time jump, but a big part of the story is Taryn (now 18) growing into her own dreamwalker warrior. Some signature elements of the series have also found their way in—Lexa will have another dress fiasco. And the great thing about the dreamscape is it’s always evolving…and so are the Nightmares. <insert manic giggle>

No, really, I’m very excited. I can’t give an estimate on a publishing date, as I promised my editor I wouldn’t give her a coronary by doing so, plus she hasn’t even seen it yet. In the meantime, you can snuggle up with our favorite rogue assassin, and catch up on the series if you need to. And Elemental Magic 4 is next in line on the queue! As long as inspiration doesn’t strike me like lightning and refuse to let go.

Speaking of which, here’s that song I mentioned. If you’re a fan of Elemental Magic, this is what you can blame for having to wait a little longer for the next book. 😉

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Heroines of Fantasy: Miss May

May is such a sweet sounding month, but I do not have a sweet heroine for you today. For this month’s Heroine of Fantasy feature, we’re heading back into the book world to meet Jeaniene Frost’s Cat of the Night Huntress series.

 Cat Crawfield

Due to her mother being raped by a vampire and getting pregnant, Cat is both half-human and half-vampire, which gives her the unique strength to combat these evil undead creatures. Every night she goes out hunting, hoping to find her father and kill him so maybe her mother can stop living in fear.

One night, she tries to lure and kill Bones, a vampiric bounty hunter that’s on to her. He imprisons her in a cave for days until he convinces her that the two of them would make a pretty good team. Of course, romance isn’t far off.

Cat is very young in the first book, so it’s no surprise that she can be immature. Throughout the series she does grow up some. She serves on a secret military team hunting vampires for a while, and delves deeper into the vampire world with Bones (I’m not going to go into detail and give anything away, but it’s a wild ride). Cat is stubborn, tough, and not afraid to take risks—she’s basically been using herself as vampire bait since she was sixteen.

She also has a hot temper, as does her lover, Bones, which makes for some very fiery spats—and fiery make-up sessions. Caution to those who may not like the racy so much: Frost is very graphic in her descriptions. But if you’re comfortable skipping over the sex scenes, the rest of the story is a lot of fun and very imaginative.

Cat is a badass girl we can all admire. Be it monstrous vampires, ghouls, or ghosts, she’ll take them all on. She is, after all, half dead herself.

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Cover Reveal: Dreamstealer

I am so excited to share with you all the cover for my next release, Dreamstealer, the sequel to Dreamwalker. It looks AMAZING. But first, here’s some fun info about the upcoming book.

1. Where did the idea for Dreamstealer come from?

Well, it’s the sequel to the novella, Dreamwalker, which was supposed to be a single book, but readers kept threatening begging me to write another one. So I did.

2. What genre does your book fall under?

Fantasy. Kick-ass fantasy, I might add.

3. Who’s the main character?

Lexa is an ex-special forces soldier who knows how to kill a man half a dozen ways with her bare hands. She also has the rare ability to transcend from her mind into the dreamscape, an otherworldly realm somewhere between dreams and the heavens, and then to also enter other people’s dreams. Lexa is a tough, no-nonsense kind of woman who tackles challenges with either sharpened sarcasm or well-aimed right hooks.

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

Jennifer Garner as Lexa (definitely with the sai from the movie Elektra, but not the leather outfit):

Hugh Jackman for Sir Neil Duram (think from Kate & Leopold):

Child actresses are really hard to find, so let’s say we’d cast an unknown, brand new girl for Princess Taryn and she’d become a star.

Hector Elizondo for, well, Hector, the Steward.

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Lexa is once again called out of retirement, this time to help her country’s former enemy when they suspect their twelve-year-old princess is a budding dreamwalker.

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

It will be self-published, represented by me.

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

The first draft…two months. But it was bare bones. The second draft and fleshing out took another month, and the real magic happened in the next two. From the first draft to final, the word count more than doubled. So those of you who were sad when Dreamwalker was so short…buckle your seat belts.

8. Does this book have a soundtrack?

Not a very long one, but “Skyrim” by Peter Hollens & Lindsey Stirling is perfect for every fight scene, and “Set Fire to the Rain” by Adele is the backdrop for a very specific, very romantic, scene. (Yes, that’s right, Lexa is getting a shot at romance.)

9. Who or What inspired you to write this book?

My readers. They loved Lexa so much, they wanted more of her. And really, who could blame them? She’s now my favorite character (don’t tell the Elemental Magic women).

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

Everything readers loved about the first book—action-packed scenes with plenty of combat, intrigue, snarky Lexa humor, and a quirky guy attempting to sweep her off her feet—you’ll find in this one. And just when I thought I’d already thrown Lexa through the ringer in the first book, well, let’s just say Dreamstealer is one hell of a ride.

And now, drum roll please….

Cover Design by Amber Shah at BookBeautiful.com

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