Last Chance, Alaska. State Park, Wildlife preserve, small town. Population: 1479 humans. And there's the rest of us. Some of us were born here. Some came by choice. Some had nowhere left to run.
Town hall, three bars, a clinic, and a rooming house. Great place to go if you're on the run. No roads in or out. Cars come in by ferry from Juneau -- two hour ride. Summer sun rules day and night. By September the sun sets at 6 pm. Three or four hours of sunlight.
SPLINTERED by Sam Cheever
Current climate in Last Chance, Alaska: Mostly sunny, with a chance of
partly furry.Life isn't going well for Vivica Breckenridge. Recently relocated to Last Chance, Alaska, she expects things to be a little squiggy for a while as she acclimates to a whole new place, with new people and new ways of doing things. But she has no idea how squiggy things are going to get. Until she wakes up one morning with fur over only part of her body. Things can't get much weirder than that!
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ONCE WAS LOST by Zenobia Renquist
The man of Lorna's dreams has suddenly become a reality.Her grandfather's dying wish for her to fulfill an old debt brought her out to Last Chance, Alaska. Lorna never thought she would meet the man who used to inhabit her dreams. He should be a figment of her imagination, an imaginary friend she'd long since outgrown. After feeling the way he makes her body come alive, she's glad no one ever told him that.
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Sam Cheever writes fast paced fantasy and romantic fiction with feisty characters who deal with life's little challenges in unique and often hilarious ways. As a reader Sam is very impatient. She quickly loses interest if a story doesn't have a good pace and snappy dialogue. Sam's inability to focus in a backwash of human angst and subtleties works out well for her readers, since she writes the way she likes to read.
In her real life, Sam lives on a hobby farm in Indiana with 10 dogs, 4 horses, 2 barn cats, 2 daughters, and one husband. Not necessarily in that order.
Find out how you can get free goodies and many even your name in one of her books by joining her Fan Club!
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***Renee is a military brat turned military wife who is currently stationed in Hawaii with her husband and two cats.
Whether writing as D. Renee Bagby or Zenobia Renquist, she is a world-builder. She loves inventing new cultures and shaping their histories and laws because it beats researching the existing ones.
Her stories span the fantasy gamut but she dabbles in sci-fi and contemporary from time to time. While her main characters tend to be of different races, she doesn't let skin color rule or limit her stories. For her, it's all about how much she can torture her characters so they earn their happily-ever-after ending.
The rules are all new and pre-conceived notions will only slow you down, so when reading Renee's stories, she asks only one thing -- Leave Your Reality Behind.
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WIN - Leave Sam or Zenobia a question today at her Cyber Launch Party and your name goes in the hat for one of TWO PRIZES - either an ebook of your choice from her backlist - head to Sam Cheever.com to check out your choices or a copy of Zenobia's new release ONCE WAS LOST! Please leave your email address so we can contact you if you are today's winner - Good Luck!
Good morning you too!! I'm so excited to be celebrating new releases for you both and in the same series - how great is that!!!
ReplyDeleteNow tell us more about this Foxy Series with Changeling - how many books in the series and how do they connect? Will you two be writing more in this series?
Both of you are going to be at Lori Foster's Reader / Writer Get Together in June and I can't wait to see you guys again! Looking forward to all the fun at our Western Hoedown!
I hope you enjoy your party today and I hope your new releases are big sellers for you both! Have fun today!
Hi Hi DeNita,
DeleteThanks for inviting me to play along. And Sam, thanks for having me over too. This is so cool. A double dose of Changeling. We'll try not to melt anyone's screen but no promises. :P
The Foxy series is a multi-author series featuring mischievous fox shifters (and their friends) who all live in Last Chance, Alaska. Some of the stories have elements that cross but really it's the setting that connects us all.
There are currently five Foxy titles out with Sam's being the most recent. Another releases next month.
I'm not sure if I'll be writing another story for this series. There's so many other things I want to write for Changeling, like another Cafe Midnight story. But I won't rule out the possibility. :D
Congratulations to Danny! You won the book of your choice from my backlist. At your leisure, can you drop me a note at samcheever @ samcheever dot com and let me know which book you'd like to receive? Thanks and Happy Reading!
DeleteCongratulations on your new releases ladies .I am a huge fan of both of you .Whenever I read your books I am enthralled and cannot put them down until I finish the whole thing.I am a paranormal addict and shifters are my favorite other beings .I hope you both have a fantastic day.
ReplyDeleteflanagan@mebtel.net
Thanks so much Wanda! I'm kind of a paranormal addict myself. #:0) I'm so glad you stopped by and I hope you enjoy the excerpts.
DeleteHappy Reading!
Wanda - Thanks so much for the great compliment and coming out. I love shifters too. I have to stop myself or else I would write nothing else but shifters.
DeleteHey ladies!
ReplyDeleteHey Zenobia! I'm so glad you could join me today! We'll have fun.
The Foxy series is for readers who like their shifter fiction fun and lighthearted. Like the creature the series is based on, the Foxy stories are playful and fun-loving.
Like Zenobia, I really enjoyed writing a story for this series but there are so many other stories to be written right now! LOL If I do write another one it probably won't be for a while.
Here's another little taste of SPLINTERED. This is the first time Viv is aware that she's changing.
ReplyDelete~~*~~
She cried out, realizing the sound was half human and half animal-like yelp. Scrambling to her feet, Viv turned in circles, unsure what to do.
The mirror-like surface of the water in the creek beckoned her. Sin’s heart raced as she looked into the glassy water and saw her own face, surrounded in white fur, with perky little pointed ears sticking up from her head.
Viv leapt away from the creek and started running. She ran blindly along the creek for a while, not sure where she was going but propelled by a sense of panic. Though the most exercise she’d ever gotten in the past was walking down the nearest mall looking in the store windows, the running felt natural to her, even good.
She realized she was actually enjoying it.
But then she remembered she looked like a fox. Mostly. Her face still looked like Vivian Breckenridge, twenty-one-year-old woman stuck in Wanker Town, USA.
Her mind raced faster than her cute little furry feet.
What the hell was happening to her? Was she losing her mind? Had she fallen asleep and was having another dream? That was it. It had to be. No. This was no dream, she told herself. It was a nightmare.
She forced herself to stop running and stood, panting, beside the creek. Heat washed over her, and she slammed to the ground as her legs straightened and her arms turned into arms again. The fur seemed to suck back into her pores, leaving behind the smooth, brown skin of Viv the human.
Viv lay on the ground, her chest heaving and nausea roiling. She was drained, pain and weariness turning her limbs to rubber. Her mind felt muzzy, her thoughts splintered and unclear. On some level she knew she was naked but she was unable to form the will to push herself upright and find her way home.
The sun beat down on her, turning her skin to fire. She felt like a sponge drying in the desert sun. Her tongue was swollen, feeling like it was covered in fur. She could smell the happily bubbling water of the creek, could almost taste its cool sweetness on her tongue, but she couldn’t force herself to move. It occurred to her that she might dehydrate right there in the soft sand, mere inches from a creek full of water.
A face flashed across her mind. The face of a Greek god, with intense, blue-gray eyes. Even in her delirious state she recognized him. Doc! Her mind screamed for him without realizing why. All she knew was that she needed him, and he could make things right somehow.
The sun continued to beat down on her. Viv tried to move her legs but they felt weighted. She attempted to lift an arm to cover her sensitive eyes but it seemed to weigh a hundred pounds.
A door slammed in the distance and Viv blinked, tried to call out for help, but her throat was too dry, too swollen from lack of moisture. All she could do was lie there, helpless and in excruciating pain, and hope whoever was nearby would spot her.
Footsteps pounded across the grass. A familiar, deep voice spoke to her, but Viv’s brain couldn’t decipher the words. Her eyes wouldn’t open.
Her nostrils twitched under a familiar scent. Her heart beat faster.
Strong arms slipped beneath her and lifted with surprising ease. The sun finally disappeared and Viv rested her head against a firm, deliciously scented chest, sighing with pleasure. She would be okay now. She wasn’t sure how she knew but she did, with a certainty. There was only the naked thing to be dealt with.
Book page and another excerpt! http://bit.ly/Jzpm2G
Congrats, both of you! How fun to know you have new stories out! Was it hard to write for this series? What kind of guidance did you get in terms of setting up your stories/characters? Did you have to align your stories any particular way to make them work in the context of the series? Is there a series "bible" all the authors share?
ReplyDeletef dot chen at comcast dot net
Great questions!
DeleteThis story was easy for me to write. I really enjoyed Vivica's sister's story, FOXED, and the world I created in that book, so it was fun to revisit it.
We actually do have a series bible where we have the basic information about Last Chance, Alaska and we each run our story proposals past the group before writing them to make sure every story meshes with the rest.
Thanks for stopping by to see us!
Fedora - Thanks for coming out and great questions. Yes, there is a "bible" for the Fox series. Actually one of the authors had just moved from Alaska close to where the stories are set, so she provided valuable information about the location.
DeleteThe overall theme of the stories is supposed to be playful, mischievous foxes and their friends who all live in a small town that has a large shifter population though the humans don't know that.
It wasn't that hard to write for this series. I thought it would be since I was in the middle of writing the Caveat Emptor series, but ONCE WAS LOST popped into my head and wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it.
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ReplyDeleteOK what is one mistake you have made as a writer that you can teach us newby authors to avoid
ReplyDeleteccollieswiss At Yahoo Dot com
Hey Danny!
DeleteWhat a great question! I guess I would say, trust your instincts on a story. Nearly every time I've had a bad feeling about a story or a plot point and ignored it, I've regretted it. If something you've written just isn't quite sitting right...even if it's just a feeling that the story isn't as sharp as it could be, there's probably some truth in that feeling. Honor it. Don't rush to be published only to regret later that you didn't listen to your instincts.
Thanks for coming by to see us!
Danny - Thanks for coming out and good luck with your writing. I do agree with Sam's answer. Trust your instincts about your stories. If you aren't "feeling it" a reader won't either.
DeleteI would also add to make yourself familiar with your characters and their histories. Let them talk to you and listen to what they say. Even if the information never makes it to the book (and don't force it if it doesn't belong), you should know it so you can make your characters more realistic and believable. Everyone has motivations in their life that shape their decisions. Even if someone says they did something "for no reason just because" there is still a reason.
Congratulations on the books! They both sound good. Do you plan your research before writing the book or research as you write?
ReplyDeletebn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com
Hey there!
DeleteFor portions of the story I know ahead of time, such as the fact that my hero is a bounty hunter, I'll do that research ahead of time. However, I do most of my research as I write because I never know what direction my muse is going to take me as I craft a story. LOL
Thanks so much for coming by to visit!
Hi thanks for coming out and the interesting question. I'm not the researching type. Like Sam, I research as I need it while I'm writing. In the case of ONCE WAS LOST, since it was a location I was unfamiliar with, I paid close attention to the "bible" the other authors set up as well as did some searching about the locale so I could get the climate right.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great read. Will they combine these in one print book.
ReplyDeletescrtsbpal at Yahoo dot com
PamK - Thanks for coming out and no Changeling has no plans (at this time) to release them as a print. In another year or two, they may be released as a single ebook collection though.
DeleteCongrats to Wanda Flanagan the winner of a PDF copy of ONCE WAS LOST!
ReplyDeleteThanks again to everyone who came out.
Have a happy,
Zenobia