The release party for Wanton by Lynn Michaels is coming April 16! For more details – go to the FaceBook Community Library page (link below) – LIKE the page and click on the pinned invite! Love to see you there – for games/prizes, excerpts and fun!
Category Archives: dark fantasy
The Party is Coming…
Filed under adventure, authors, bdsm, characters, dark fantasy, e-book, fetish, fiction, fun, games, MM Romance, romance, Uncategorized
A study of charachter
I like writing characters that are both strong and vulnerable. I like the juxtaposition of frailty and strength within the human psyche. A super strong main character (MC) can fight the battle and kick serious ass, then afterwards fall down and cry – not broken, but nearly. That makes them feel more real to me, more human (even if they aren’t completely).
We all know one of my fav’s is Gwin. As a vampire she had both qualities in spades… along with a little psycho. Since becoming human, she’s lost some of her psycho and straddled that line between strength and fragility. She wants desperately to be loved and cared for, but she has a momentous need to be seen as the tough, invincible bass ass that she is. I tried to show this in her history in Blood Pact (The prequels – out in September). Where she comes from and why she has these two conflicting characteristics are, hopefully, evident.
As much as I love to see this in a strong female role, I love it even more when the guys have it. The man is supposed to be all strength… maybe the females are supposed to be all vulnerable. But, crossing these lines is intriguing. I’m working on a new story line about a psychic demon-hunting detective and her male handler. These two MCs have the strength/vulnerability paradigm in spades. Pepper is a hardened ex-prostitute that has been trained to use her abilities to find and fight supernatural bad guys (a.k.a. demons). She is 95% bad ass. She’ll kill you and take your name afterward… but that extra 5% is ready to crumble at the tender touch of a compassionate lover. Her handler Brad is the son of a high ranking official in “The Company,” which is the organization they work for that is committed to keeping the earth dimension free of baddies – or are they? Brad is a softy… well 80% lovable and gentle… but he’s got some strength in the other 20% and that strength keeps him from going all gooey around Pepper. He learns quickly to put up his walls, because even though he loves her, he knows she’ll break his heart. Yes, I’m having a lot of fun with these two and hope you’ll be seeing them by year end! (Watch for the Adventures of Pepper Chance!)
I’ve seen a lot of this in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward. She writes the biggest, hard-hitting, dangerous vampires that melt to nothing with horrible insecurity in the face of their women (shellans in BDB-speak). It’s inspiring, truly! If you haven’t read any this series – oh, you really should!! Here’s the link to Amazon (Dark Lover is the first book):
I mention J.R. Ward’s books because one of the best ways to learn about writing is to study the work of writers that you admire. I think I’ve learned a lot about foiling these characteristics from this book series. I also enjoyed reading them – some of them twice! My favorite MC from this series is Quinn. He has a lot of contradictory characteristics. His bravery and strength is commendable, yet he finds it impossible to show his true feelings to the point of making his life miserable. It isn’t until he finally allows himself that vulnerability that he finds he can have his HEA (Happy-ever-after). So – redemption through frailty, yet he never loses his strength (and bad-assidness) for a minute. That makes him so interesting to me.
I’m having fun with these ever shifting paradigms! Now back to work…
Filed under authors, characters, creative, dark fantasy, education, exciting, fiction, inspiration, learning, literature, para normal, publishing, urban fantasy, vampire, working, writing
FIRE BLOOD LAUNCH…
So, I released the second book of my series!! We did a launch on FaceBook May 30th and it went so well! I have to thank all the fans that participated, my family and friends for being supportive, and my team… Kathy Wright, Troy Howell, Doris Greer, and Mitzy Page! You have all been just lovely!!
So, if you haven’t bought the book yet… you should… The links to both Summer Blood and Fire Blood are on this page. Or you can just go here:
Here’s the “promo-blurb” for Fire Blood:
Up-and-coming rocker, Matthew Calloway, is getting ready to start touring with his band, Carolina Sky, but being a Muse means attracting vampires. Matthew must rely on his new friends to help protect him, but is he ready to face his fears and make the ultimate sacrifice?
If you love vampires, rockers, and hot action this is for you! Feel free to share with your friends!!
Filed under authors, characters, dark fantasy, e-book, fiction, genre, literature, para normal, publishing, success, Uncategorized, urban fantasy, vampire, working, writing
There’s No Sex In Your Violence.
I feel blessed to be living in one of the freest flowing times in history. What do I mean by that? Well, honestly, I mean that writers can pretty much write about anything they want. There was a time when sex and violence were taboo, but today it’s almost expected. Not that everything I write is sex and violence, but I have the freedom to write it, publish it, and expect that I’ll have some readers that want to read it. Hell, I want to read it! As long as it’s couched within the plot and is true to the characters – my caveat.
It is a fabulous thing, but it once wasn’t, and I hope that it isn’t taken for granted, especially by those of us who chose to write it. In the Victorian era, sexuality was, if not taboo, than at least a questionable topic. The 1960’s started to change people’s ideas about sex, but really it hasn’t been until the 80’s and 90’s that we’ve seen a rise in sexuality in print, and only in the past decade have people started reading stories that border on pornographic. Perhaps what is considered acceptable pornography in print has changed? We all know that 50 Shades of Gray would not have been printed, let alone a best seller in earlier years. That success was all about timing and what the public was willing to accept.
But, I submit that 50 Shades was not a breakthrough novel in our sexual genre, but that society was finally willing to let this degree of sexuality hit the mainstream. Surely, BDSM erotic had been building in the world of print (Ellora’s Cave, Samhain Publishing, Siren, and Hot Ink Press) for years. Beyond mainstream romance, we all know sex sells.
The point of all this is that in today’s market where eBooks, Amazon, and the Internet thrive and allow people anonymity of purchase, authors can expect their sex books to sell. Oh, and violence isn’t any different. In fact, violence is less taboo than sex (unless it’s violent sex). As a society, we want to see violence in our movies, and we want to read about it in our books. The only thing more tantalizing than good sex, is good violence. Don’t deny it. I’m sure you’ve watched Rocky or an MMA fight or just a scene where someone gets the shit beat out of them or someone is killed violently (CSI much?).
That brings me back around to the freedom of writing and authors taking it or granted. I don’t know if they do and I’m not saying that. What I’m saying is that 100 years ago, 50 Shades of Gray would not have been published. Hell, 9 1/2 weeks wouldn’t have been a movie and neither would Scent of a Woman. What is available today in print and in movies is phenomenal compared to that. Of course, we would expect evolution. Yet, we often don’t stop and appreciate it.
So, whether you buy a sexy book, watch a violent movie, or write about sex and/or violence, just take a moment and appreciate how far we’ve come and just how free we are.
Filed under authors, characters, creative, dark fantasy, e-book, editing, fun, genre, literature, political, success, Uncategorized, writing
Tattoo that line?!
Filed under authors, characters, creative, dark fantasy, education, fiction, genre, inspiration, learning, literature, names, poetry, query, review, success, Uncategorized, working, writing