11 Days to New Release Day: The Story Continues . . .

I love a big convoluted story filled with complex, larger than life characters, action and romance. I always want to know more, what happens next, and it never fails – my favorite character is always a secondary one for whom I’m usually dreaming up a detailed backstory before the book / movie is finished. Maybe that’s why I like writing series and probably why every character that populates my books (even the villain!) is worthy of his or her own novel.

I’m leery about writing a series. It always seemed that I’d get to the last book where all the loose ends and arcing story lines would be tied up . . . and the series wouldn’t be continued by the publisher. It happened with my vampire romance “Midnight” series, with the historical “Dakota,” “Bass” and “Pride County” series. Back then, if the publisher didn’t buy the next book, you were SOL. Times have changed for both frustrated readers and authors. . . for the better. With the “Midnight” series, I was able to continue with six more books through small paranormal press ImaJinn Books. Now that I have the rights back to my Zebra/Kensington titles, I can write those last historical installments, then either self-publish or resell the series. Win-Win!

I never planned MASKED BY MOONLIGHT to be more than a single book, the story of the dangerously mysterious Max Savoie, bodyguard to a mobster and supposed savior of a Shape-Shifter clan and hard-as-nails New Orleans detective Charlotte Caissie whose traumatic past fuels her crusade against the man Max calls boss and father figure. The story just kept unfolding with backstories, a paranormal world, a supporting cast of intriguing characters into its own self-propagating mini-series until I took a breather and discovered I had three and a half books written! All with the same hero and heroine, something that in paranormal romance is pretty much unsalable. Fortunately, I had a former editor fall in love with the idea and that one book became four and spun off into four more with different couples. I got to make that story bigger, to explore and expand the world I’d created and now, get to give two more secondary characters that caught my attention a great new platform for their own romance with BETRAYED BY SHADOWS. Win-Win, indeed!

Those readers picking up the series in the middle have asked me “Who the heck are these Chosen and what’s their deal?” To summarize the “By Moonlight” world, I’ve posted a quick outline on my Website. Also check under the Books tab for insider looks at each of the other books in the series. I’m hoping to have a whole ‘Cast of Characters’ up on my website by release day so you’ll know who’s who and where in the series they appear. After giving it a look, let me know if there’s anything I’ve left out that you’d like to know to get brought up to speed.

Stop back tomorrow to meet Giles St. Clair, the hero of BETRAYED BY MOONLIGHT!