Baron and Max of IMMORTAL KISS

It's IMMORTALS MONTH, which I'm bringing to the blog as a way of (re)-introducing you all to the men and women who make up my Immortals series.

Last week we talked about Rhys and Amy of IMMORTAL DUTY. If you missed that post, check it out here.

This week I want to introduce you to Baron and Max, but first we'll talk about Baron.

Mmmmm. BARON SILVER.

He's one of my favorite characters...like...ever.

He blew onto the scene in the first book with a chip on his shoulder, a murky past, but lots of smiles and a cocky swagger that was completely irresistible. Book 2 wasn't even supposed to be Baron's book, but I couldn't help it, as soon as I dug into him a little deeper and got to know him, I had to write his story first.

Because the truth is, as much as he seemed like the bad boy, the one who hung out in clubs and went through women like "single ply tissue", Baron was hiding something ... besides the fact that he had become one of the Immortals ... and once I figured out what it was, I loved him EVEN MORE!

And Max...well, it's a good thing that Max is a strong woman, let me tell you. No other heroine would have been a good match for this guy. Maxine Devereaux has known Baron since they were kids, and doesn't take any of his shit. They have their own rocky past and she'd written him off a long time ago as a lost cause, but because of a promise made to his brother, she ends up tracking him down ... and her whole world gets torn apart by a vampire.

The story of Baron and Max has stuck with me ever since I struggled to get it all on paper. They are the couple that wouldn't leave me alone. I'm so very very glad that readers are able to know them!

IMMORTAL KISS, book 2 Immortals

It’s been two years since Baron’s initiation into the world of the Immortals, a task force who fight the demons hiding in the shadows of the human world. During those years, he’s been training hard and trying to forget. All in the name of setting aside his past to embrace the challenges of his new future…a future without Maxine Deveraux.

The last person Maxine wants to face is Baron Silver, the man her body and soul cry out for. But Baron’s brother is dying, and Maxine must honor his last wish.

A vendetta with a vampire doesn’t faze Baron…until the creature leaves Max on his doorstep, her beautiful body broken, her soul changed forever. Now Maxine must come to terms with her new dark nature—and if Baron wants to keep her, he’ll have to explain why he broke her heart.

Later this week we're going to talk about Justice -- the Vampire Enforcer who appears in Baron and Max's Book.

And remember! All my facebook peeps, all my twitter peeps, and everyone who comments on the blog this month will be entered into the contest -- winner announced at the end of the month!

The Adventure Continues!

(Image courtesy of Pat138241)

This has been a crazy year so far. I did my calculations and since January 1, 2013 I have written 126,000 words, spread out over three projects. Some of those projects got started in 2012 but all of them have been finished--or at least, as finished as they need to be for right now.

I've completed two novels, and written two proposals for my agent. For the summer, I'll be working on getting those two proposal books finished up, and then I figure I'll be busy with edits come the Fall.

In between all the writing and editing I'm going to be attending two conferences this year. The first is in Las Vegas in August. The Entangled team, including staff, editors, authors, and publicists, will be descending on Sin City for a week of workshops and other fun stuff -- If I don't die from the heat! And finally, I'll be in Ohio in October to attend EC's Romanticon, which is a fantastic event, well-attended by readers and bloggers who love erotic romance.

So that's it for me in a nutshell this year. Mostly unexciting, I know. But it's keeping me crazy busy and I couldn't be happier about that!

GUEST AUTHOR: Cynthia Sax

Cynthia has one of the biggest hearts I know. Combine that with a super savvy business sense and calming personality, and you've got the best partner in crime...ever!

I'm excited for her new book, Warlord Unarmed, and you can find it here!

I’m thrilled to be visiting J.K.’s online home today. Not only is J.K. a wonderful writer (I LOVE the Immortal series) but I also consider her to be a very good friend. She’s the type of awesome friend I wish for everyone, including my characters, to have.

Many of my characters have friends or, if they don’t have friends, they have concrete reasons why they’re solo. Maybe they move around a lot or they’re scared of being hurt or they have a dangerous secret a best friend would be certain to uncover.

Gale, the heroine of Warlord Unarmed, has a best friend – Zeta. She’ll do anything for her fellow bounty hunter, including fly across several universes when Zeta fails to check in.

One of my best friends, Gilly, did something similar (notice how the first names start with the same letter - grins). No, she didn’t fly across several universes… though that would have been super cool. Gilly’s friend in another city couldn’t find a babysitter for a special anniversary. Gilly drove almost six hours, babysat her friend’s kids for the night, and then drove almost six hours back (she had to work the next day). Yeah, she gets friend of the year for that!

Gilly’s friend truly appreciated and benefited from her efforts. Although Zeta was emotionally touched by Gale’s rescue attempt, she didn’t require the trek across the universes. She hadn’t the opportunity to contact Gale to tell her she was okay. Yeah, we all have friends like that also, don’t we? We love them but they do drive us a wee bit bonkers sometimes.

No one is perfect, not even our friends. I’m certainly not perfect. I was born with a memory glitch. I don’t remember names, dates, birthdays. I often don’t even remember my own birthday. My friends send me email reminders not only for their birthdays but for my birthday also. On the upside, if we get into an argument, I’m always the first person to apologize because I can’t remember why I’m supposed to be upset.

What is the craziest or nicest thing a friend has ever done for you?

***

Warlord Unarmed

Cynthia Sax

WARLORD UNARMED:

When Murad, a powerful and deadly Warlord, arrives to repair Gale’s beloved ship, she doesn’t like it one bit. She sees the danger lurking behind his wide, sexy smile and the temptation in his coarse touch. He stands too close. He smells too good. He muddles her mind with erotic thoughts no bounty hunter should ever entertain.

Murad is known for being lighthearted…until he meets Gale. He’s deadly serious about seducing his curvaceous bounty hunter. With one blast of her stun gun, she captures his attention, and starts his lust burning. To claim Gale for his mate, Murad will brave his cautious female’s itchy trigger finger, his overbearing older brother and Gale’s sense of duty.

Buy Links:

Ellora's Cave

Amazon

Cynthia Sax Website:  http://cynthiasax.com


JK Coi again...if you're interested, Cynthia was kind enough to interview me for her blog today! I'm visiting her here. 

New Release (Old Release): Immortal Kiss

I can't believe I forgot to post my new release when it came out earlier this week! Immortal Kiss is now available! Go forth and grab this new (old) book of mine. When it came out the first time, it was the recipient of many writing awards, and the reviews were awesome! For those who didn't get a chance to read it then, don't miss it now! LOL I'm glad I have this chance to bring it to you again :)

Some of the reviews:

 “Immortal Kiss is a realistic lover’s dance of longing and heartache; of hope and disappointment, and finally that of a sense of coming home to the other half of your soul.” Romance Roundtable

“A must read paranormal romance.” Bitten By Books 

 

Book 2 in the Immortals series.

It’s been two years since Baron’s initiation into the world of the Immortals, a task force who fight the demons hiding in the shadows of the human world. During those years, he’s been training hard and trying to forget. All in the name of setting aside his past to embrace the challenges of his new future…a future without Maxine Deveraux.

The last person Maxine wants to face is Baron Silver, the man her body and soul cry out for. But Baron’s brother is dying, and Maxine must honor his last wish.

A vendetta with a vampire doesn’t faze Baron…until the creature leaves Max on his doorstep, her beautiful body broken, her soul changed forever. Now Maxine must come to terms with her new dark nature—and if Baron wants to keep her, he’ll have to explain why he broke her heart.

Note: This book has been previously published elsewhere.

WARM BODIES

Everyone LOVES zombies, right?? LOL

Coming in January, 2013!!


He who makes wishes of the damned must accept the consequences of releasing them.

When Graham returns home from the war, he finds himself longing for something he no longer deserves—Anna, the love he left behind three years ago.

When a mysterious old woman begs him to retrieve her trinket—an old tinderbox—then disappears, he’s compelled to rub it and make a wish. He wishes to have Anna by his side…and she suddenly appears! They want the night to explore and pleasure each other.

But the tinderbox’s black magic is powerful and brings a price—a horde of walking corpses that will stop at nothing to sate their craving for flesh.

Wishes can’t drive the ravenous dead back into their graves. Graham and Anna only succeed in raising an army of zombies that will destroy everyone in their path—starting with the two of them?

Add to Wishlist

A Funny for Wednesday

LOL this commercial is great, and it reminds me of last year's Ellora's Cave Conference :)

Cynthia Sax’s Soundtrack To Stories

One of my favorite scenes J.K. has ever written is the opening scene from Falling Hard . Gabriel is on stage, performing, and, when I read the words, I hear the music. That’s how vivid and lush and emotional the writing is.

For me, writing and music goes hand in hand. I always have a soundtrack in my head for every story. With Lust by Moonbeam , my latest release, that soundtrack has evolved. Of course, the music I played over and over again was the original theme song for Star Wars . That’s a no-brainer as nothing says to-the-death battles and against-all-odds love and vast, glorious space like Star Wars. The hubby, a former D.J., would play Katy Perry’s E.T. every time I mentioned Moonbeam. He’d tease me, calling Rellec, the hero, a “big-headed astronaut.” (He isn’t a big-headed astronaut. He’s a sexy mechanic from another planet.)

The song I now play while working on the sequel to Lust by Moonbeam is Simple Plan’s Lust by Astronaut . This song perfectly captures the aching loneliness of the alien males. They’ve left their home planet and everything they’ve ever known to collect their human mates. Their knowledge of English and North American customs is limited, and they’re alone, so very alone. They have this one chance to find a mate. If they fail…well, as Rellec says “Failure is NOT an option.”

Do you listen to music while you read or write? What songs do you associate with stories?

Lust by Moonbeam is now available from Ellora’s Cave.

Cynthia Sax
Erotic Romance With A Hint Of Humor

Blurb:

Cathy arrives at Moonbeam, the Roswell of the North, with one goal—to prove the mysterious dead tree circles are not caused by UFOs. Meeting a devastatingly handsome lumberjack with unusual blue and green eyes is a bonus. He thinks he’s an alien, but that doesn’t bother Cathy. She can tolerate a little crazy in a one-night stand, especially since Rellec claims her body as no sane man ever has—with the hungry touch of forever.

Rellec arrives at Moonbeam with one goal—to retrieve his assigned mate, ensuring the continuation of his species. Having trained long and hard for his erotic mission, he is determined to satisfy his tiny human female and overcome her objections with out-of-this-world passion.

Failure is not an option.

See You Soon

I'm off to the Romanticon Conference! Have fun while I'm gone. While I'm in Ohio I'll be presenting a workshop, signing books, and having a grand time! I promise to tell you all about it when I get back :)

An update

Edits are done for A Clockwork Christmas, the steampunk anthology that will be available in December from Carina Press. I'm excited because I've now had a chance to read the other stories, and let me tell you, you won't be able to pick a favourite. They're all SOOOO good!

PG Forte, Jenny Schwartz, Stacy Gail and I have formed a Facebook page so that we can share everything steampunk as we countdown to release day. I hope you'll come check it out. There's already some fabulous stuff there, but we'll also be using this page to let readers know about the blog tour we'll be embarking on as it comes closer to the holiday season. There'll be excerpts to read, prizes to be won, and lots more!

Also, I'm now moving into edits for my little short, RUN WOLF, due for release near the end of this year in the UK anthology by Hic Dragones which is tentatively titled Wolf Girls: Dark Tales of Teeth, Claws and Lycogyny.

AND...more edits. For my EC release, BRAZEN GAMES, which is also due for release late-2011.

Needless to say, this is going to be a busy few months. As busy as the year has been so far. I took a small vacation this summer but I'm thinking now I'll need another one, although I'm certain there won't be any time for that since I think there'll be more news coming down the pipe shortly....

But I'll have to hold that to my chest a little longer. I promise to share as soon as I can!

Take care everyone! I'll check in again soon :)

Release Day for Iron Seduction!

My most recent Quickie from Ellora's Cave is out today!!

And another chance to win a copy of Iron Seduction! Make sure you've signed up for my newsletter on my website www.jkcoi.com and let me know in the comments.

That's it! Good luck and I hope you enjoy IRON SEDUCTION!



Chinese Steampunk!

British Military Ambassador Lady Jane helped free China from the tyrannical rule of the evil Empress Cixi. But now the Empress is fighting back with ancient, unnatural warriors under her command.

As Jane and compelling mercenary Jian Danzen struggle to the Great Wall to stop Cixi, all the excuses Jane has been using to keep the sexy Dance at arm’s length become less convincing. The overwhelming attraction she’s pushed aside for so long since their one night of passion threatens to consume them both.

The danger they face this night might mean Jane never leaves the Wall alive again. If so, she wants it to be a night without regret. But only one night, because even if they survive the Empress and the even greater foe waiting for them, Jane knows there can be no future for two people from such different worlds.

Buy Link

Contest!

IRON SEDUCTION is my new Quickie with Ellora's Cave, and it's available June 3!

I had a lot of fun writing this story. It's got so much awesomeness, including a chinese setting with a journey up the Great Wall. An Evil Empress and an Ancient Emperor. Steam powered convertible, gel fire weaponry, an unstoppable Terracotta Army brought to life by ancient magic... And a stubborn English soldier who can't resist the reliability, strength, and overwhelming sex appeal of one particular Chinese warrior.

What could be better?

To celebrate I'll be holding a number of contests here and on twitter, and all you have to do to qualify is sign up for my newsletter on my website www.jkcoi.com. I'll be drawing names at the end of the week. (Although, if you want to leave me a note here in the comments too, that would be great! :)

Today's your first chance. Go!

Release Day!

Don't forget to pick up HOWLING SACRIFICES, out today from Ellora's Cave!


What happens to a young and naive Canadian woman traveling alone on a particularly evil night in the Scottish Highlands? She’ll get a lot more than she bargained for when she wishes for an adventure and finds herself part of a bloody pagan ritual…and inexorably linked to a wild and dangerous wolf.

Excerpt:

“What brings you so far from home all by yerself, Lucy?”

Wary about revealing her destination to a stranger, Lucy hesitated. She was probably overreacting by imagining that she’d unwittingly climbed into a four-wheeled version of the boat of Charon with a serial killer, but she nevertheless felt intimidated by this man’s overwhelming dark presence. In fact, everything about this trip made her nervous, and even though she was no doubt perfectly safe, it was probably best that she didn’t tell him too much.

“Just visiting some friends.” She stared into the shadows, her voice turning sharp and guarded. “They’re expecting me tonight.”

Dougald chuckled, a deep bass rumbling from the darkness, raising goose bumps on her skin half from jitters and half out of an absurd compulsion to lean forward and search the shadows for the face that belonged to such a mysterious, powerful voice. She tried to ignore the impulse, torn between the contradiction of fear and temptation.

“Dinna worry, lass,” he said. “I have no intention of draggin’ ye from the carriage and out into the woods. Ye’ll reach yer friends safely.”

Lucy let out a long sigh and a breathy little laugh, embarrassed that she’d been so transparent about her misgivings. “Sorry. I know I’m overreacting. I think it’s the time of night.” She spared another quick glance out the window. The darkness was so complete she shivered.

“Witching hour of the winter solstice,” he murmured in a low voice.

She turned back to him. “That sounds ominous.”

“Many cultures believed that evil’s hold o’er the natural world was strongest during the solstice, which is why it was popular to make sacrifices to the gods on this night, to welcome back the light.”

His words only compounded Lucy’s feelings of foreboding. Cold slithered up her spine and settled over her heart as she gazed out the window once more. On one side of her, the narrow road they were traveling had been cut out of the mountain. It wound across the bumpy terrain in lazy S’s. On the other side of the carriage, craggy moors had given way some time ago to tall trees that hid even the brightest stars. There were no road lamps or markers to light the way. Anything could leap out into their path at any moment and they’d never see it coming.

It was all just a little too spooky for a girl who’d been living in Toronto for the past fifteen years, where no street went without a neon sign or two and there was never a time of day without some jarring noise ringing in the air to remind you that you were never truly alone.

“Every corner of Scotland seems to have some eerie ancient mythology attached to it. It’s a little unsettling,” she admitted sheepishly to Dougald.

Howling Sacrifices

I've just sold a fantastic, chilling short to Ellora's Cave's new Shivers line, and it's scheduled to be out THIS MONTH!!

Check back soon for more details!


From EC's new Shivers line, Howling Sacrifices is the story of a young and naive Canadian woman travelling alone on a particularly evil night in the Scottish Highlands. She wished for adventure and excitement, but Lucy will get a lot more than she bargained for when she finds herself inexorably linked to a wild and dangerous wolf.