IN THE COMPANY OF WITCHES by Joey W. Hill
Arcane Shot Book II
All witch and part succubus, savvy businesswoman Raina has converted a
Southern plantation house into an extremely profitable old-fashioned bordello.
Because of her abilities as a witch, the demons under Raina's protection can
feed off the sexual energy of their clients without killing them - definitely a
good thing for repeat business. But when a rogue incubus shows up on Raina's doorstep begging for asylum, the witch's well-run business is put in jeopardy. The incubus has stolen an object of great power from Lucifer, and Underworld Dark Guardian Mikhael will do anything to get it back - even if it means incinerating the incubus on Raina's porch to get the answers he seeks.
Not to be trifled with, Raina enters a dangerous match of wits with Mikhael to achieve their mutual goals - only to discover that the reluctant attraction between them is the most hazardous game of all...
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Woo Hoo!!! Happy Release Day Joey!
ReplyDeleteI think we need to change your bio too, because weren't you just awarded the Career Achievement Award for Erotic Romance from RT just last month?
Tell us all about the new book Joey and for those who may not have heard about your new Arcane Shot Series, can you tell us a bit about that too and how the books fit together?
You've been really busy so far this year, what else do you have planned for us?
Hope you enjoy your Cyber Launch Party today and, on behalf of our readers, thanks for the great giveaway!
Hope IN THE COMPANY OF WITCHES is your biggest seller yet! ENJOY!
AI, thanks for that - yes, I was nominated three years running, and the third year was the charm (grin). Fortunately, it was also the year I was able to attend RT, so it was lovely to be able to accept the award in person. Vampire Instinct also won a reviewer's choice award, which was delightful, since I love Mal and Elisa's story.
DeleteThe Arcane Shot series has a contemporary witch/magic/sorcery focus. It was also intended to be a little lighter in the erotic area than my vampires, though it's still pretty edgy/spicy (it's ME writing it, after all - lol). The series is set up a trilogy, focusing on three witches who live in the same town and are coven sisters - Ruby, Raina and Ramona. All three books can standalone (or will be able to, if sales are good and the publisher decides they want the third story - grin).
In the first book in the series, Something About Witches, Ruby is a gun shop owner and witch, and Derek is a centuries-old sorcerer who wears cowboy hat and dragonskin boots, so they were already set up as an intriguing story from the get-go (you can find their excerpt and blurb on their book page, http://www.storywitch.com/Books/ASS/SomethingAboutWitches.htm. This next book about Raina and Mikhael, as you can probably tell from the blurb above, puts together another pair that are sure to rub each other the wrong way and generate sparks, which is always entertaining for an erotic romance author to write (smile).
As far as what I have planned for this year, I'm currently working on the next vampire queen series book, a ménage a trois story involving Niall and Evan from Beloved Vampire, and Alanna from Vampire Trinity. These three were secondary characters in those books (you can read this one as a standalone no problem, however). Alanna is what they call an Inherited Servant, which means she was raised from birth with the intent of being assigned to a vampire. Her master in VT was a pretty awful vampire, and we were left with the impression she might be killed by him. He escaped Council's wrath before accomplishing that (sort of), so now she's an abandoned servant with a Master who is still linked to her mind. The Council has to figure out what to do with her, because no vampire would normally want a servant in that situation. That's where our two heroes enter the picture.
Evan agrees to shelter her in his home. He and Niall have been together for some time (I may get to delve into a little bit of Brit/Scots history on this one, which should be fun). Though Master and servant, they aren’t as intimate as they could be with a woman in the mix. Alanna is emotionally shut down due to her master’s betrayal and her training as an Inherited Servant. They have to help her become a person again, and in doing that it opens all three of them to possibilities.
I also write free vignettes revisiting the characters from my full length works and post them on the fan forum, jwhconnection.com, so I'll have a new one in the upcoming weeks featuring Peter, Dana and Ben from the Knights of the Board Room series. In Afterlife, Dana mentions the night Peter gave her the gift of sharing her with Ben, her personal two-man fantasy, and readers wanted more details on that scene (grin), so it will be a fun short to write for them. You can find a bunch of vignettes already out there, if you've read different works of mine and want to enjoy these trips into what happens DURING happily ever after (wink).
I have a second vampire novel to deliver later this year after Evan/Niall/Alanna, and I think that one will focus on Alistair and Nina, who were introduced in Vampire's Claim. Not completely sure yet which way the muse wants to go.
Anyhow, I'm running on too long, so I'll just say you can always check on what I'm working on by going to my home page and clicking on the Future Projects link section. ;>
Congrats on the new release! How do you choose your character's names?
ReplyDeleteAmy, it depends. Sometimes they just pop into my head; other times I go to the baby names sites and search through the names/meanings until one grabs me. Raina means "Queen", which of course suits her very well. Mikhael is a derivation of Michael, and given his angel blood, is very appropriate (smile).
DeleteCongrats. How many books will be in this series? Sounds great. Can't wait to read this book.
ReplyDeleteJoanne, sorry, I didn't see your question before I posted my response to AI. I hope for this to be a trilogy, if the first two do well and the publisher wants the third witch's story. Ramona is a chaos witch who falls for a grim reaper, so I'd really like to write that book!
DeleteCongratulations and Best Wishes for Sales and Success! I loved Derek and Ruby's story, and ITCOW popped into my inbox this a.m., so I'll be reading it soon. I look forward to reading my way through your backlist too.
ReplyDeleteDo you read science fiction? Just wondered, because I see many scify gadgetry in your work. What do you watch or read that gives you inspiration?
Pamela, thanks so much!! Hope you like Raina and Mikhael as much as Derek and Ruby.
DeleteAs far as the gadgetry question, that gave me a start. I have gadgetry in my stories? That would make my husband laugh, because I'm the most unscientific, non-mechanically gifted person in the universe. I'm not a sci-fi reader, and most of the sci-fi stories I like are visual media (TV/movies) and would qualify as the more romantic space opera (Avatar, Star Wars, Star Trek Next Generation, Firefly, etc). So I guess when I've had items in the books that are more mechanical, they must be things I've seen or experienced and included to make the scene more interesting. Or maybe I have a mad scientist lurking in my right brain I don't know about. It would be great if he would come out when I have a car problem!
As far as the overall question, what do I read or watch to inspire me, any great story with strong characterization will get my creative juices going. For instance, as noted above, Firefly is my all time favorite TV series, because it was incredible characterization and story telling. There doesn't necessarily need to be a love story, but it must be highly romantic (think the movie Glory with Matthew Broderick, Denzel, Morgan Freeman, etc), something where tragedy, nobility, great odds, hope and heartbreak are all woven into them.
Let me know if that doesn't answer the question and thanks for coming out! Let me know what you think of ICOW, good or bad. You know I'm always jonesing for reaction (grin).
Ji Joey. I'm a devoted fan of your stories. What is the difference between a succubus and an incubus? Is it the gender of each? (nara_malone on yahoo mail)
ReplyDeleteNara, yes, it's the gender. An incubus is male, succubus is female. :> In Raina's case, she's half succubus because her father was an incubus and her mother was a powerful witch. Like mother, like daughter!
DeleteThanks for the lovely compliment - hope I'll stay on your favorites list!
Hey Joey!!! Congratulations on the release!!!!! I'm so excited to see this book come out!
ReplyDeleteI hope it kicks butt on the best seller list.
Jennifer, hey girl!! Thanks for that, particularly coming from a very talented author such as yourself! Oh, and since I know you've done some sci-fi, we were just talking about my ineptitude for that genre above under Pamela's question (laughter). I'll have to pick your brain sometime about how you do your worldbuilding and gadgetry stuff. Hope all is well in your many worlds. ;>
DeleteCongratulations, Joey! I just picked up Something About Witches when I was in the city last week and I hope to get started on it this weekend so I'll be finished before my copy of In The Company Of Witches gets here (Canada Post is VERY slow,lol) Fingers crossed for great sales so we all get that third book :)
ReplyDeletecheryl(dot)mcinnis(at)yahoo(dot)com
Cheryl, I'm doing the same finger crossing, even as I'm wondering exactly how I'm going to pull off the clever plot twists a chaos witch will need. Romance and angst, not clever whimsy, are my forte, but that's okay. I have faith in the muse. She never gives me a story she doesn't think I can write (and then if I screw it up, she tells me it's because I didn't listen closely enough to her - grin).
DeleteHope you like Derek and Ruby's story, as well as Raina and Mikhael's.
Happy Release Day!!!!! I have already ready ITCOW and loved it. I am hoping there are enough people who realize how great you are and purchase this book so we can get a third one out of this series. Congrats again. :)
ReplyDeleteErin, you were picking up on Cheryl's thought above - thank you for that encouragement and enthusiasm! And I'm so glad you liked Mikhael and Raina. On the fan forum, they've already opened a thread under the Spoiler Group so we can talk details as much as we want! (wink)
DeleteOh, which made me realize, when I mentioned the fan forum above, I didn't include a little tidbit about access for everyone - if you've never logged on to jwhconnection.com, there's a short registration process to keep out spammers. After you do that, navigate away from the site, then come back, log in, and you'll see all the good stuff like free vignettes, great graphics, discussion threads, etc.
Okay, service message done (beaming). Thanks again, Erin!!
Congrats on your newest release Joey! How awesome! Sounds very good! I love the paranormal elements in it! Paranormal books are my favorite! How many more book do you have planned for this series? What other paranormal creatures do you plan on using? What part of this book is your favorite? Thanks! Wishing you all the best!
ReplyDeleteshadowluvs2read(at)gmail(dot)com
Hi, Shadow, thanks! Under AI's response at the top, I note this will be a trilogy, and there are some details about the third book, but basically each book focuses on one witch of a three-witch coven. In the third book, Ramona falls for a Grim Reaper, so it will be interesting to see how that goes. A kelpie made an appearance in ICOW, we've had demons and minions of demons, etc. I'm never quite sure what will decide to enter the stage book to book, but since I've been immersed in mermaids, angels, vampires, demons, witches, Fae, and all sorts of things that fall under their umbrella in the past few years, anything could happen!
DeleteIn ICOW, there's a scene at the end where Mikhael takes Raina somewhere very special to her. Can't say what, because it's a spoiler, but her reaction to it, and a particular line in that section regarding the movie Titanic, made it one of my favorite scenes (smile).
In the Company of Witches should be in my mailbox today! :D
ReplyDeleteYour paranormal series all take place in the same world. Is this something you set out to do? I love seeing characters from other books pop up in different series.
Oops, forgot my email - gillnit(at)gmail(dot)com
DeleteNita, I do like setting paranormal plotlines/relationships in the contemporary modern day world, because that's always been more interesting to me. I think that decision is also driven by my long time love of the fantasy genre, the secret hope that somehow, someway, those worlds would really intersect. In one of the books (I think it might have been Ruby's story, Something About Witches), someone observes that magical things often move in our peripheral vision, where we can almost catch a glimpse now and then (smile).
DeleteIt also makes it easy for that cross-series stuff to happen. I know in Something About Witches, Derek runs into some of the angels from my Daughters of Arianne series, and I love those moments as well, the chance for the characters to help each other out. It also gives readers a taste of the other stories out there (or the existing readers the fun of revisiting the favorite characters!).
Woo hoo!! Happy Release day Ms. Joey!! I got my copy yesterday and it is impatiently waiting for me to open it! I can't wait to get home and read!! My question is if the angels in ITCOW are related to the angels in your Mermaid series? So excited for all of your upcoming books!! Ttyl!!
ReplyDeleteJess
Bones46(at)hotmail(dot)com
Lol - Jess, you dovetailed nicely into the question just above - I mentioned that in Something About Witches, the angels Derek interacts with are the angels from that mermaid/angel series. They're less directly referenced in In the Company of Witches, but that world is within touching distance! Thanks for buying the book, and I hope it gives you a wonderful journey.
DeleteCongratulations on the release of In the Company of Witches! How do you celebrate each new book release?
ReplyDeletelittle lamb lst at yahoo dot com
I'm a workaholic, Lil (chuckle). Usually I'm already deep into the next couple of projects by the time this one hits the shelves, though I keep my radar tuned for feedback on the new book after it releases - checking Amazon, B&N, the forum, FB, etc for reactions, reviews, etc to determine if it's doing well, and of course I'm delighted if I hear that the readers are enjoying it. If they're not, I take all that feedback in and see if there's anything I can do to make the next book even better.
DeleteThe funny thing is - but it may be a lot of authors are like this, because our release days can sometimes be months after the book's completion - my true celebration day is usually the day I finish the book and turn it in to the publisher. Though there will be edit rounds to do and other tweakings, that's the day I'll usually give myself a 12 to 24 hour break to watch a movie, take the day off, etc, before heading into the next thing to do (smile). One of these days I want to get less anal retentive so I can take that celebration day to go read on the beach or something more wild like that (yep, I'm a real party animal), but for now it's usually laze around the house, catch up on the DVR, eat something chocolate...
Hi Joey,
ReplyDeletewoke up to having IN THE COMPANY OF WITCHES already on my Kindle to THANKS!!!!
When you sell a story that is going to have multiple character storylines, don't publishers prefer buying all the titles as opposed to one at a time, especially since you are "cough, cough" a multi award winner and guaranteed seller? Seems silly that the third book in this series is not already bought...
Thanks, Wes D
ogmad1 at hotmail dot com
Wes, thanks for the grin - love to hear a reader is excited about the arrival of one of my books! Hope you like their story.
DeleteI'm pretty much what they call a midlist author, a bread-and-butter earner for a publisher. That means I earn steady money and have a solid following, but my numbers typically aren't going to unseat anyone on the bestseller lists (I'd of course be happy for that to happen, though - chuckle). Anyhow, publishers - particularly in these economic times - tend to be very conservative in their contract offerings to midlist authors. With a new series like this, they'll contract for a couple books, evaluate the sales numbers, and then see if they want to go forward from there. It's a reasonable business decision, and as long as they keep offering the contracts, I'm happy.
It's far worse to start a book, put a lot of work in it, and then discover it doesn't have a home because the publisher didn't feel the sales warranted another addition to the series.
Awards are wonderful things, and I've been flattered and amazed to receive them, but in the end, it always comes down to sales when they're making contract decisions. Hope that helps! Thanks for the support and enthusiasm, though. The more of that I have, the more likely we'll get Ramona's story!
Hi Joey,
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the new release.I'm looking forward to reading it.
What was your favorite scene to write in this book(without spoilers :) )
elaing8(at)netscape(dot)net
Elaine, Shadow asked that question as well, above. Here's my response (no spoilers, don't worry - smile).
DeleteIn ICOW, there's a scene at the end where Mikhael takes Raina somewhere very special to her. Can't say what, because it's a spoiler, but her reaction to it, and a particular line in that section regarding the movie Titanic, made it one of my favorite scenes (smile).
sorry Joey,I even read the replies to make sure I didn't double a question.And I missed it.lol.
DeleteSo what was the toughest scene to write? ;)
And if you get writers block,what do you do to get the writing flowing again?
Don't worry about that at all, Elaine. It's always easy to miss when we have a lot of questions at once. I'm just glad you guys are enthusiastic and want to ask about the books!
DeleteThe poker scene was probably the hardest to write. I'm still not entirely sure it didn't go on a little too long, but there was a lot of dialogue, emotional byplay, etc in that sequence, and it required a lot of concentration to keep it on course, especially integrating the game itself with it.
I'm not sure I've ever had writer's block. When I had my day job and was having to work writing in during whatever scraps of time I could get, I made every minute count, scribbling it down whether it was drek or not, knowing I could go back and edit. I think that discipline stood me well once I went to full time writing, because I pretty much write on a schedule and even if I'm not "feeling" the flow, I'll write until I get there, or until its time to take care of animals, husband, etc, and I'll look for that flow the next day. Again, knowing I can edit any rough patches later.
So it might be better to address how I handle it if I'm not feeling that creative flow - usually I try to listen to music or watch a portion of a movie I find creatively inspiring; that helps, but honestly what helps the most is just sitting down and typing or handwriting until I tap into it again. It's a lot like being in a dark room, knowing what you're looking for is there - you just have to feel around until you hit it.
Happy Release Day, Joey. I'll definitely pick up book one in the Arcane Shot series before reading "In the Company of Witches."
ReplyDeletejanie1215 AT excite DOT com
Jane, thanks! The books can stand alone, but there are a few spoilers in ICOW from SAW, if you're a series purist (as I know many of us are!) ;>
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteCongratulations on the book. It sounds very good. Do you have a favorite book of yours that you've written?
ReplyDeletebn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com
BN, that's always a tough one, because various ones are my favorites for different reasons/moods (grin). However, if I had to pick which one I'd take on a deserted island with me, it would be Marguerite and Tyler's story, which was told over two books, Ice Queen/Mirror of My Soul. Whenever I go back to that story, there's just something about it that eternally pleases me, personally and professionally - I love the craft of it, I fell in love with the characters, and I loved their love story. I loved it so much I even wrote a free novella revisiting them (also on the fan forum, of course!). :>
DeleteJust popping in to say hi, Joey, and congratulate you on your fabulous year. I have my copy of Raina's story winging its way to me today and I can't wait to start it.
ReplyDeleteIf everything goes as planned, when do you hope to hear about Ramona's story getting the go ahead?
caity_mack at yahoo dot com
Hey, Cathy, thanks! Let me know if it doesn't live up to expectations.
DeleteUsually my agent and publisher get together on the next contract toward the end of the year. Because of some personal issues, I had to extend my deadlines so that I'll actually deliver the second vampire book at the end of February 2013 (the first one goes to them the end of this coming September), so it's possible they may delay contract talks until January.
However, given that this is a different series, which means a different contract from the vampires, I anticipate we'll have enough sales data by Fall to be able to determine if they want another book for Arcane Shot. So boiling that long, rambling answer down to a short one (grin), I hope I'll know something more in the fall.
Happy release day, Joey!
ReplyDelete(I'll skip the fangirl gushing - so hard!)
I've noticed that some of your books contain a strong god/devil theme. Are you a religious person? (I realize this is an intensely personal question, so feel free to tell me "none of your business".
Chuckle - after so many questions and interviews, kog, pretty much the only questions I won't answer are those that involve other family members who might not want me discussing THEIR quirks (grin - and would likely just confirm that I, like most of us, belong to a crazy clan).
DeleteAnyhow, yes, my spirituality is very important to me. I've followed the Wiccan faith since I stumbled on it in my mid-twenties, as part of my writing research for a contemporary fantasy romance. Its tenets really resonated with me. I don't purposefully put it in my work to "spread the word" so to speak. First off, because Wiccans don't believe in conversion - we believe there are a lot of paths to Divinity, and ours is just one; secondly, I try to write true to my characters' belief systems, not impose mine upon them - grin. However, since my faith seems well-integrated with my muse, it does sometime get into the storylines, particularly ones with witch themes, or where my characters follow a goddess-based spirituality.
Hope that answers the question...!
Happy Release Day Joey! And a big congrats!
ReplyDeleteI know you write a variety of books, vampires, witches, contemporaries, etc. Is there anything that you have not written that you would like to try?
Oh, I always wonder who the hardest person was to tell about the kind of books you write (parents, grandparents, etc) and is there anyone you do not want to read your books because it would embarrass you?
June, thank you for those warm congratulations. In my last couple of books, kelpies have figured as important secondary characters, so I could see myself possibly looking at a storyline with them as protagonists in the future. If I go that route, it would be my first true shapeshifter book, since the mermaids didn't totally fit that category. I've also had a storyline playing around in my head forever, a twist on the Medusa mythology, that I might consider at some point. I love the erotic romance genre, so I don't see myself leaving it anytime soon, or wandering too far away from it (wink).
DeleteI've always been a pretty open person about sexual matters. I've been discreet mainly for reasons of professionalism during my twenty some years as an administrator; if someone found out what I wrote, I'd discuss it with them at an appropriate time or place, but when I was in the office environment, I was in that role, not my author role, so as to avoid any situations that might make the people I was supporting/serving uncomfortable.
In terms of family, they always knew from the beginning what I was writing, and didn't really give me any flack about it, though my brother delights in calling me the family porn writer (snort).
Amusingly, the only thing that mortifies me is the idea of reading the sexual parts of my books aloud in front of a group. They have me doing a reading at one of the upcoming cons, and I'll probably turn all shades of red when I say the more graphic words. I can write and read them all day long...I just think they work better in my head than coming out of a narrator's mouth (lol).
Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteDo we meet any characters from book one in book two?
chey127 at hotmail dot com
Chey, absolutely. Derek and Ruby play a HUGE role in Raina and Mikhael's story, which is awesome fun since Derek and Mikhael are antagonistic toward one another, but have to work together at a certain point, and of course Raina delights in yanking Derek's chain. Then Ruby has the discomfort of dealing with the fact she was sleeping with Mikhael at one point before Derek came into her life. Lots of chance for sarcastic banter (wink).
DeleteCongrats on your new release, sounds awesome. Do you ever base your charaters on people you meet in real life?
ReplyDeletequiltlady110 AT gmail DOT com
Excellent question - absolutely positively no. There may be personality or physical traits that get integrated into a character, but he/she evolves into a unique entity as part of the story development. I'd be terrible at writing someone's biography, because I much prefer creation to regurgitation - it reminds me too much of those book reports we had to write in grade school or the hideous synopses we authors sometimes have to submit to our publishers.
DeleteIt can also cause awkward bumps in the creative process. I had no intention of it, but Gideon of Vampire Mistress/Trinity had a lot of characteristics of my brother. Try writing a menage a trois scene with THAT floating around in your head. Ewwww...lol.
Joey! Happy Release Day!! Drooling over ICOW as we speak :D
ReplyDeleteMy Q: Do you ever get so attatched to any of your characters that you want to keep writing about them...even though your Muse is yelling and screaming that the story is finished??
fallen.angel.11@hotmail.com
Not so much in the initial book; there's usually a story arc I'm following, and once I get to the end, that's where I know the story will end - at least that particular plot line. But as I mentioned in a couple other questions, I do get a real urge to revisit my favorite characters, explore how things are going during their happily-ever-after, which is why I write free vignettes and post them on the fan forum for us all to enjoy and see what's happening with the characters (grin). I think I've done that with characters from almost every series now, and many of the vignettes are basically novellas!
DeleteI have characters who have had more than one book - in all cases but with Bound by the Vampire Queen, that's been because their initial story became too long and it had to be broken in half, so the story was really one book where the author was length-challenged (grin). Bound by the Vampire Queen came a few books after the conclusion of Jacob and Lyssa's story in Mark of the Vampire Queen, but in that case, there were actually a lot of loose ends that justified another book, so it fit the story arc.
Happy Release Day!! IN THE COMPANY OF WITCHES look amazing.
ReplyDeleteI'm just wondering: when you are writing, does the story come to you first or the supernatural creatures?
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Marybelle, thank you - hope you like it! As far as your question, the main characters always lead the way into the story. It's funny, I never really think of them as something different, like mermaids, angels, vampires, etc during that initial phase because I'm getting into their heads, the wants, needs, fears portion of things; the fact they're supernatural/preternatural beings doesn't figure right off.
DeleteWhat made you decide to write about vampires and witches?
ReplyDeletecsdsksds@gmail.com
Runner10, with respect to the vampire queen series, my agent wanted me to pitch a paranormal series to New York, and I'd had vampires rolling around in my head for some time. I loved the genre, but had never seen it done as erotically as I wanted to read it; plus I was intrigued by the vampire-servant relationship, since I have a particular interest in Dominant/submissive relationships. So the moment I turned my mind to it, the muse started rolling with it, and I had a 1000-year-old vampire queen in need of a servant, and a former vampire hunter/Ren Faire player interested in the role... and that's how we started that series (smile).
DeleteWith the Arcane Shot series, I was actually returning to my origins in publishing, because my very first published book was based in the more traditional fantasy trappings - sorcery, witchcraft, magical principles, etc. My agent wanted me to pitch a mass market series that would be paranormal, but a bit more mainstream than my vampire erotic romance. I managed the paranormal part, at least (lol).
Hey guys - headed off to get the furry babies and myself ready for bed, but will check back tomorrow for questions I've missed. It's been a lot of fun to be here with you today! Hope many of you are enjoying In the Company of Witches. Mikhael's not a bad one to take to bed (wink) - Raina says he definitely incites nice dreams!
ReplyDeleteHi Joey, congrats on your release.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a fav song that relaxes you?
thanks
Dina
dlsmilad at yahoo dot com
Good morning, Dina! I put together playlists to get me in the mood for different scenes, and those usually help the creative muscles loosen up, so to speak. I'm a big fan of the mushy ballads, which makes sense because emotion plays a big part in my work (wink). It could be everything from Air Supply to Daughtry, or one of those poignant pieces they play at the end of crime dramas like Cold Case or Criminal Minds. Picked up Far From Home by Five Finger Death Punch as a theme song for Gideon's character in Vampire Mistress/Vampire Trinity, and Only Hope by Mandy Moore (played in Walk to Remember) for Marguerite's character in Ice Queen/Mirror of My Soul.
DeleteHi Joey!! Sorry didn't get here earlier, but I was reading. This question is not so much about the book, How soon will you know if you can write Romona's story?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Moira
raeannnew@netzero.net
Moira, I've no problem with you reading (grin). Thanks for coming by! I think someone asked this earlier...rummaging, scrolling - yep, there it is. Cathy did. Let me repaste the last paragraph here for you -
DeleteI anticipate we'll have enough sales data by Fall to be able to determine if they want another book for Arcane Shot. So boiling that long, rambling answer down to a short one (grin), I hope I'll know something more in the fall.
Fingers crossed!
When writing a series do you have to map out stories more than stand alones?
ReplyDeletelenikaye@yahoo.com
Leni, absolutely. Yes. I'm saying that as a lesson learned, not because I actually did it (grimace). If I could do one thing over in my career, it would be to start a series bible with Book One of every series, and faithfully track timelines, character transitions/traits, etc through each book. Because I didn't do that for ANY of them, I've made some rather appalling consistency errors in the books along the way. Fortunately, my readers have been kind and more amused about it. (Rather than disgusted by my slackness, as I was. ;>) I'm working on getting up to speed on them now, but I definitely do not recommend trying to do retroactive series bibles while meeting current deadlines. Lesson learned in spades! (grin)
DeleteHi Joey, I haven't started reading any of your other series, the one I started with was the Knights of the Boardroom, but I do want to read all of your books at some point! Anyway, my question is have you started writing and at some point have to scrap everything or a big portion of it and if so for what reasons?
ReplyDeleteEva
evitap67(at)gmail(dot)com
Eva, not so far, thank goodness. The most extensive rewrite I had to do involved Vampire Queen's Servant and Mark of the Vampire Queen. They started out as one long book that had to be broken into two, and as a result I had to rework the beginning of Mark of the Vampire Queen to make sure a new reader could pick up on the story if they hadn't read Vampire Queen's Servant, and that was a bit of a struggle. My Berkley editor helped me get it right, bless her.
DeleteI'm a voracious editor, so my books go through 3-4 thorough full edits before they ever hit the publisher's desk. So from that perspective, you could say I do a pretty good rewrite on every book, but the content and direction usually stays the same. My rework focus is usually on tone, verbiage, etc.
Hope you enjoy the rest of my work as much as you've enjoyed the Knights!
I have to get busy and finish the first book in this series. I like not waiting too long between books but I suppose writing back to back books is not always easy.
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Linze, these days, the publishers want them as fast and close together as they can get them and yes, that can be grueling at times. There's always a balance between keeping your career momentum and not burning your muse to a crisp (smile). Each author has to determine what their best pace is, and of course life can throw challenges in your way that might adjust that pace over time. The most important thing is to always deliver your best work - and I rely on my readers to let me know if I'm not doing that, yet another reason you guys are so important to authors!
DeleteAs far as your reading rate, don't worry - I always tell readers that pleasure reading is supposed to be exactly that. No sense of obligation, guilt or hurry. Read them when you're ready for them, and I hope you enjoy the experience!
Good morning joey congratulations on the new book I hope you took some time on yourself to celebrate your amazing achievement. Anyways I have a question for you. I read a lot of Paranormal love stories by various authors and sometimes when you are reading some of their stories they mention other character’s from another authors stories I was wondering if you would ever consider doing that. I hope you understand my question, I have a tendency to write what is in my head from my perspective and sometimes it becomes too confusing to understand.
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Brittany, I think I understand - let me know if my answer doesn't fit. I can't actually use characters from another person's books as active players in my stories without permission, because of contract restrictions and rules. However, one of my characters can make a joke about acting like Harry Potter, or compare a hero to Zsadist of JR Ward's BDB, and that kind of thing is completely okay. I've done that occasionally, but I tend to shy away from it, because contemporary culture references can sometimes confuse someone who say hasn't heard of JR Ward's books (yes, I can't imagine it myself - laughter - but I have contemporary readers who never read paranormal who wouldn't know what I meant or have a frame of reference for that).
DeleteHope that answers the question!
Congratulations on the new release, Joey! I am really enjoying this series. I love that the women have special abilites and not just the men. I always prefer when the hero and heroine are on equal footing. Having one character with powers and one without automatically puts the latter character at a disadvantage.
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Stacie, thanks for the congrats and the great comment. What is interesting, though, is to discover a character's inner strength when they don't have the special powers. For instance, in the vampire series, the relationship between the vampires and their servants. The servants don't have an equal footing in strength, speed, longevity, etc, yet the vampires need them for nourishment and, beyond that, the humans often come forward with emotions/personality traits that even the footing through the development of that interdependence and (though vampires don't liek us to say it!) love. lol...it's an interesting journey to take as an author. It reminds me of the stories where you have a person beaten down by everything who conquers, or at least earns accolades for respect in the end (Shawshank Redemption comes to mind). Anyhow, you just made me think and philosophize and I had to share (grin).
ReplyDeleteIt may have already been announced elsewhere by AI, but wanted to also mention here that Meltz won the $50 GC and book giveaway. Congratulations, Mel! Woohoo! We're coordinating her gift package for her now and will get everything to her asap.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for spending time with me here. It's always a delight to be at AI with you! And thanks AI for having me. :>
Congratulations on your release Joey I love your books and look forward to reading this newest .Also congras Meltz on winning ,Have a fantastic week everyone
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