Quotifying a story #ShifterTrials #paranormal #romance

With the advent of twitter and storify, we learned we could create interesting stories from a series of short blurbs.  Its an interesting visual and a new way to build narrative. I thought I’d play with that structure and use my favorite quotes to show the broad outlines of the story.

Boy Tempts Girl

“I’ll claim the prize in my own way, in my own time.” Those emerald eyes, locked onto hers, twinkled in impish delight. She could do nothing but smile back.  In her recent memory, no one dared to play with her.

Girl Resists, Boy Fights

“I’m not allowed love.”

“It doesn’t mean you don’t feel it.”

“You claim to want a love match, yet you reject love in its crazy beauty when it’s offered.

“I don’t want you to become my bitterness.

Hot, wet, and naked was what she craved. Gentleness, and the tentacles of commitment it snaked around her, scared her witless

He held her for an eternity. Their only eternity. The beating of her heart, the uneven rasp of her breath became his whole world. “This is also who we are,” he told her.

Boy Tricks Girl

Disappointment and rage warred inside her. He tricked her, used her, loved her.

HEA

“Let’s be clear.” She looked into Greta’s eye, holding back the alpha dominance, and just letting Talia, the besotted, possessive female shine through. “Hayden is mine and mine alone. So button up your shirt, get out of my chair, and spread the word. I love this man. Anyone who tries to take him from me, will have to deal with the woman, the wolf, and the eagle.”

Fun, yes?

Revealing A Hidden Agenda #SexySnippets #WeekendWritingWarriors

Welcome to Sexy Snippets and Weekend Writing Warriors, where authors share 7-8 lines/sentences of a book or work in progress.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been sharing the build up to Talia and Hayden’s first kiss. Now it’s time to roll back a layer.  In this snippet, Hayden is on the phone talking to the Vampire clan leader. Don’t you love when hidden agenda’s are revealed? Enjoy.

He ran one hand through his hair. “I’ll do it. Don’t worry. I understand its importance.” And the depth of the betrayal it entailed. He was going to curse Talia with the one thing she’d fought all her life to avoid.

“She may forgive you in time.”

“No, she won’t.” Her hatred, like his regret, would know no bounds.

“One woman’s anger is a small price to pay.”

And one man’s heart.

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Blurb:

On the night of the full moon, any male shifter can call the Trials to race against Talia Orion, alpha of the united wolf-eagle clans. Clan law requires Talia to marry the winner of the Trials, a grueling twenty-mile marathon through dangerous, rugged terrain. Talia, the product of an unhappy, political alliance masquerading as a marriage, trains obsessively to ensure she avoids her parents’ fate.  Her newest vampire trainer, Hayden Mitchell, makes her powerful even as he knocks down her defenses, and finds his way into her heart. Hayden has loved Talia since the first moment he saw her. As the destined ruler of the vampire clan, he has another agenda to politically unite Talia’s clans with his own—what Talia fears most, and will never forgive him for.

Pick up a copy at:

Evernight Publishing

Amazon

Kobo

ALL Romance

Barnes and Noble

You can also visit me:

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Another Kiss to the List #SexySnippets #WeekendWritingWarriors

Happy Sunday. Welcome to Sexy Snippets and Weekend Writing Warriors, where authors share 7-8 lines/sentences of a book or work in progress. For those who have been visiting, the hero won a kiss from the heroine, but refuses to claim it. He’s milking the anticipation game for all its worth. She’s a clan alpha, so control is part of the game. Take a peek.

“Now, you owe me two kisses.” He lazily slid his thumb over her lower lip. His scent, laced with desire, made her dizzy.

“Are you going to claim them?” She didn’t recognize her own voice, it was so husky, so needy.

“One, now. The second when you’re naked.”

“I say when…”

“I do.”

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Blurb:

On the night of the full moon, any male shifter can call the Trials to race against Talia Orion, alpha of the united wolf-eagle clans. Clan law requires Talia to marry the winner of the Trials, a grueling twenty-mile marathon through dangerous, rugged terrain. Talia, the product of an unhappy, political alliance masquerading as a marriage, trains obsessively to ensure she avoids her parents’ fate.  Her newest vampire trainer, Hayden Mitchell, makes her powerful even as he knocks down her defenses, and finds his way into her heart. Hayden has loved Talia since the first moment he saw her. As the destined ruler of the vampire clan, he has another agenda to politically unite Talia’s clans with his own—what Talia fears most, and will never forgive him for.

Pick up a copy at:

Evernight Publishing

Amazon

Kobo

ALL Romance

Barnes and Noble

You can also visit me:

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Shifter Inspiration

Meet Legacy and Dinks, my fur babies.

Even with the hair all over the couch, the chewed up chair legs, vet bills and a cabinet full of carpet cleaner, I love sharing my home with pets. They add love, warmth and a delightful unpredictability to life.

They are also great inspiration for writing shifter stories.   While there are all types of potential shifters, a quick perusal of romance novels indicates that predatory shifters–wolves, big cats and bears– tend to dominate romance novels– thus, our fantasies. Since dogs are 99 percent wolf and house cats are essentially small tigers, living with them offers practical guidance for creating believable shifters. Here are a few things Legs and Dinks have taught me:

• Life depends on play. Predators learn to fight and kill through play.  Legacy is rough and relentless, but she’d never hurt anyone.
• Touch is equally essential. They love to be petted, massaged, scratched. Legacy welcomes it, often solicits it. Dinks is pickier and you have to work with his timetable, but he eventually succumbs.
• They give warning before they attack.  Whether its a rolling growl or raised ears, they let you know where they stand.  Maybe not when hunting for food, but when dealing with threats, always.
• Nurture and nature shape a pet’s character. Both Legs and Dinks were from adopted as babies, from shelters. They are a happy lot. That’s clearly not true of other shelter pets I’ve met, adopted when they are older.

My pets are not my only inspiration when creating shifters for my stories. I also use pinterest. Come visit my Shifter Inspiration Board. Its full of wolves, eagles, bats (all in Shifter Trials) and many other glorious beasts.

What’s the source of your shifter inspiration?

Meet my shifters.

Evernight Publishing

Amazon

Kobo

ALL Romance

Barnes and Noble

 

She’s still waiting #SexySnippets #WeekendWritingWarriors #paranormal #romance

Happy Sunday.  Talia, our alpha, is still waiting for vampire trainer Hayden, to claim the kiss he won off her in a race. Hayden’s still not budging.  Nothing like anticipation, right?

 

Her longing for touch washed over him, called to him, but he wouldn’t settle for just a physical coupling. Her beasts would never accept a non-dominant mate.

“I say when,” he said fiercely against her throat before licking gently at the pulse throbbing in the carotid artery. “I say how, and for how long.”

His hands stroked gently down her arms, calming her anger, as he flamed his own passion. Reaching to the steel-hard discipline that allowed him to survive, he nipped her neck and pulled away.

“Still no kiss?” Talia arched up again, her face flushed with hunger.

 

This snippet was taken from the excerpt available on the Evernight Publishing website.

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Blurb:

On the night of the full moon, any male shifter can call the Trials to race against Talia Orion, alpha of the united wolf-eagle clans. Clan law requires Talia to marry the winner of the Trials, a grueling twenty-mile marathon through dangerous, rugged terrain. Talia, the product of an unhappy, political alliance masquerading as a marriage, trains obsessively to ensure she avoids her parents’ fate.  Her newest vampire trainer, Hayden Mitchell, makes her powerful even as he knocks down her defenses, and finds his way into her heart. Hayden has loved Talia since the first moment he saw her. As the destined ruler of the vampire clan, he has another agenda to politically unite Talia’s clans with his own—what Talia fears most, and will never forgive him for.

Pick up a copy at:

Evernight Publishing

Amazon

Kobo

ALL Romance

Barnes and Noble

You can also visit me:

Facebook

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Another #SexySnippet: Still No Kiss #ShifterTrials

I’m thrilled to be back on  Sexy Snippets. This snippet follows on from the last one, where Hayden wins a kiss but refuses, noting its up to him to decide when to claim his prize.  In this scene, Talia stumbles into Hayden while his is training  vampire children, some of whom have significant physical challenges.

Snippet

“You were like him as a child.” Her heart clenched in compassion.

“My mother never let me give in to my differences. She taught me that while we may be denied certain choices in life, we should make the most of those we had.” His lips were now so close to hers, she could almost feel them, so she leaned in.

“No kiss,” he said against her lips, their softness a torment to her overheating flesh. “Not yet.”

If you like these teasers, visit the other wonderful authors sharing their snippets.

Blurb:

On the night of the full moon, any male shifter can call the Trials to race against Talia Orion, alpha of the united wolf-eagle clans. Clan law requires Talia to marry the winner of the Trials, a grueling twenty-mile marathon through dangerous, rugged terrain. Talia, the product of an unhappy, political alliance masquerading as a marriage, trains obsessively to ensure she avoids her parents’ fate.  Her newest vampire trainer, Hayden Mitchell, makes her powerful even as he knocks down her defenses, and finds his way into her heart. Hayden has loved Talia since the first moment he saw her. As the destined ruler of the vampire clan, he has another agenda to politically unite Talia’s clans with his own—what Talia fears most, and will never forgive him for.

Pick up a copy at:

Evernight Publishing

Amazon

Kobo

ALL Romance

Barnes and Noble

You can also visit me:

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

 

 

 

#Sexy Snippet: Hayden wins a kiss in #ShifterTrials

New author. New book. First time on Sexy Snippets.

In Shifter Trials, Talia is the alpha of the united wolf-eagle clans, who must marry any man who beats her in the Trials, a 20 mile grueling marathon. Her newest trainer, Hayden, a vampire, loves her, and is hell-bent on winning her heart.  In this scene,  Hayden trains Talia for the first time. To push her, he tells her that if he wins a practice race, she’ll owe him a kiss. He wins, so lets she what happens.

Snippet

“Eyes glued to my butt, eh?”

She wanted to slap him, but the grin he flashed had her melting into a pile of goo.

“Well, you won,” she whispered, suddenly shy, a unique sensation for an alpha of two predatory clans.

“Yeah, I did.” He padded over to her, breathing more rapidly than normal, the only evidence of his physical exertion. With a single calloused finger, he gently traced the angle of her cheekbone, the jut of her jaw, and swirled circles around the pulse pounding in her throat. Sparks exploded everyplace he touched.

“I’ll claim the prize in my own way, in my own time.”

 

Blurb:

On the night of the full moon, any male shifter can call the Trials to race against Talia Orion, alpha of the united wolf-eagle clans. Clan law requires Talia to marry the winner of the Trials, a grueling twenty-mile marathon through dangerous, rugged terrain. Talia, the product of an unhappy, political alliance masquerading as a marriage, trains obsessively to ensure she avoids her parents’ fate.  Her newest vampire trainer, Hayden Mitchell, makes her powerful even as he knocks down her defenses, and finds his way into her heart. Hayden has loved Talia since the first moment he saw her. As the destined ruler of the vampire clan, he has another agenda to politically unite Talia’s clans with his own—what Talia fears most, and will never forgive him for.

Pick up a copy at:

Evernight Publishing

Amazon

Kobo:

ALL Romance

You can also visit me:

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

 

 

 

Released: Shifter Trials

Shifter Trials released from Evernight Publishing.  You can pick up at copy  at:

Amazon

Evernight

All Romance

BookStrand

And check out the pinterest boards I use for inspiration.

Shifter Inspiration

Myth Madness

 

 

About Shifter Trials

On the night of the full moon, any male shifter can call the Trials to race against Talia Orion, alpha of the united wolf-eagle clans. Clan law requires Talia to marry the winner of the Trials, a grueling twenty-mile marathon through dangerous, rugged terrain. The product of an unhappy, political alliance masquerading as a marriage, Talia trains obsessively to ensure she avoids her parents’ fate.  Her newest vampire trainer, Hayden Mitchell, makes her powerful even as he knocks down her defenses, and finds his way, first, into her bed then into her heart.

Hayden has loved Talia since the first moment he saw her. As the destined ruler of the vampire clan, he has another agenda – to politically unite Talia’s clans with his own—what Talia fears most, and will never forgive him for.