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Cover Reveal: BEWITCHING BENEDICT
I am ALMOST DONE with revisions on BEWITCHING BENEDICT, my little Regency that’s the first of the Lovelorn Lads romance series. It’s a charming, funny little comedy of manners that I genuinely believe anybody who likes my stuff will really enjoy, even though it (*looks furitive, whispers*) hasn’t got any fantasy aspects to it.
The Lovelorn Lads are something of a cross between Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and PG Wodehouse conceptually, in that there are seven Lads who are close friends, and the central character amongst them has a valet who is not only adept at, but necessary to, steering them out of bad marriages and into good ones.
I have *rarely* had as much fun writing a first draft as I did with BEWITCHING BENEDICT, and that’s saying something, because I’m one of those writers who loves writing the first draft and thinks the rest of it is necessary tedium. I’m genuinely looking forward to writing more and I hope everybody’s going to like them as much as I do.
Anyway, with the revisions nearly done, and me with the cover art in my hot little hands, I decided I couldn’t stand to wait another minute and had to show it off. The cover is by Cora Graphics, and the book will be out in…soon! O.O (I want to say June, but that’s probably too ambitious. Probably.)
Young Charles Dalton returns from the Peninsular War with the fond desire to settle back into the bachelor life, but his hopes are upended as the dire news comes that Benedict, one of his favored cadre, must marry at once or lose his inheritance. At the same time, Dalton’s socially conscious cousin Claire comes to London for a Season—but Benedict has already mortally insulted her, and Claire casts her lot with another, leaving Dalton’s beleaguered valet to guide them both into good marriages. BEWITCHING BENEDICT will be available soon!
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Cover Reveal: ROSES IN AMBER
AAAAAH *FLAILS*
Tara O’Shea, my wonderful cover artist, got me the final draft of the ROSES IN AMBER cover last night!
It’s SO GORGEOUS! And SO PERFECT! And EEEEEEE *FLAILS*!!!!
There is a story of a beast, and a merchant’s daughter, and a curse that must be broken.
This is not—quite—that story.Amber Gryce believes in magic the way anyone does: as a thing of the past, marked now only by the long reign of an ancient queen sworn to live until her stolen son is returned to her. Such stories are romantic but distant for Amber, surrounded by family and wealth.
But like magic, wealth can disappear. Left destitute, Amber’s family retreats to a forest holding far from their city home, where Amber’s love of roses leads her into the heart of enchantment, and draws her into a retelling of the tale as old as time….
ROSES IN AMBER will be out in e-book this very week! If things go very well indeed the print edition and thus the Official Launch will be late next week!
EEEEEE!!!
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ATLANTIS FALLEN cover reveal!
A city hidden for five thousand years.
A man so ancient his early history is lost to time.
A woman who has nothing to lose…
Lorhen, oldest and most ruthless of the immortal Timeless, put aside the sword long ago for a quiet life. But peace doesn’t last forever, especially for a man whose age can be counted in epochs, and the mortal life he’s built unravels as the Keepers, a society of historians who record Timeless lives, learn that he’s been hiding in their midst.
Then an archaeologist’s claims of finding Atlantis brings back millennia-old memories, and Lorhen is drawn unwillingly into intrigues aeons in the making—and deadly enough that he may yet face the heartstrike blow that will unleash his power on the world….
Atlantis Fallen
The Heartstrike Chronicles: Book One
April 2016
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Kitsnaps: Frosty Cross
A rimfrosted Celtic cross glows in the sunrise. This photo is basically why I’m slow and reluctant to throw out old digital images. When I first looked at this, I didn’t think much of it, and put it away into a folder of things I wasn’t going to do any post-process on. Years and years later I opened it up again for some reason and went “Holy crap, that’s amazing,” and it’s ended up one of my favourite pictures.
It also ended up as the cover for Chaz Brenchley’s wonderful DEAD OF LIGHT, which he reissued a while ago as an e-book. :)
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Shaman Rises cover reveal!
I thought I’d start the new year off right, with a cover reveal for SHAMAN RISES, the final book of the Walker Papers!
Would you like to know all the reasons this cover is terrific? Let me tell you all the reasons it’s perfect!
First: the colors. My publisher’s always been very good about discussing colors with me, and I very much wanted the final book in the series to have a light, bright look in direct and deliberate contrast to the first book’s cover. So what do I get? Spring green and whites: *perfect*, and also well in keeping with the time frame for the book, which is set in early April.
Second: Joanne’s pose. It’s *perfect*. It’s strong. It’s confident. It’s relaxed. It’s looking upward and outward, challenging without being afraid. It is, again, the *perfect* contrast to the dark, clench-fisted tension of the first cover.
Third: JOANNE HAS A FACE! Okay, granted, the face looks absolutely nothing like Joanne (and we won’t even talk about the hair!) but we actually finally get to fully see her, and it’s as a grown-up, confident woman, which actually–although I know perfectly well this was not the intention of the cover department; it’s just been the evolution of urban fantasy covers over the past eight years–really works beautifully well in terms of slow reveals. I’m just delighted with it!
So there we go, lads. SHAMAN RISES, the final book of the Walker Papers, coming in July 2014…
…and if by some chance you haven’t read NO DOMINION, the collection of Walker Papers short stories that fits between RAVEN CALLS and MOUNTAIN ECHOES, I *heartily* suggest you pick it up and read it before reading SHAMAN RISES…! :) (Amazon Kindle | Amazon Paperback | B&N Nook)
