WeWriWa: Who Can You Trust? . . . RISE BY MOONLIGHT

Getting the last touches up for Halloween including this guy who protects the candy dish from those who try to take more than one piece. Not-a-good-idea! It helps to have powerful friends you can trust to have your back . . . as the displaced and threatened Terriot brothers discover in this week’s snippet from RISE BY MOONLIGHT. 

“You can’t trust anyone, not your friends and not who you’re related to, unless you’re mated to them.” 

“That include you, Savoie?” Rico cracked wise. 

Max didn’t smile as he leveled a cool-eyed stare on the smirking redhead and replied, “For the sake of your females and your unborn, you can’t overlook anyone’s motives, so I wouldn’t trust me any more than you can trust each other.” 

“That’s a pretty cynical speech for someone whose had us sleeping across the hall from his own mate.” 

Max returned Colin’s wry smile. “You should be worried about her, not the other way around.” He finished his coffee in a gulp and surveyed the ragged-edged group. “I’ve never had much luck with those who called themselves my family, but I consider you all my allies. I trust our shared goals more than I believe blood wins out over self-interest and if I’m a fool to do so, I guess I’ll find out soon enough, won’t I?” 

“Guess we both will,” Cale agreed.

I’d want Max in my corner, any day! Or night!

All newly revved up to write by a local NaNo meeting, I’m determined to finish this book by the end of November! I only need about 18,000 words, which sounds easy . . . only if I’ll put butt in chair to write them. Buuuuut, I am fiercely competitive, so this may be just the carrot of encouragement I need to get me to The End (of first draft!) - especially since I’ll be spending the last week of November in New Orleans for the vow renewal of one of my former Big Easy traveling companions, and I don’t want to lug my laptop . . . unless it’s to do a read through at the roof top pool when not out taking pictures for future PR purposes. Sounds like a good plan to me!

And if you haven’t taken advantage of my offer of a $10 Amazon Gift Card at Bookhound’s Spooktacular Giveaway Hop, jump over and take a chance to win some awesome goodies! 

Hope you all have a Howling good Halloween. I’ll be waiting . . . with my lights on! 

Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Visit other participants on the list and read, critique, and comment on their 8sunday posts.

Spread the word, share the love, warriors - Hashtag #8sunday.

WeWriWa: Ya Gotta Have Friends . . . RISE BY MOONLIGHT

The best part of writing a loooong, over-arcing series is developing an assortment of heroes and heroines who weave throughout the plot lines, complementing and challenging each other, and in RISE BY MOONLIGHT, the final book of fifteen in my By Moonlight series, they’re all pulled together for one big final hurrah. Three strong, distrustful clans uniting to defend against a mutual foe is no easy feat when generations of bad blood and violent self-interest rears its ugly head. But it’s all for one or none left at all when factions gather in New Orleans to make what could well be their last stand in today’s excerpt.

“What is it you think I can do?”

“What you do every damned time you’re in the room.” When Max fixed Rico with a penetrating stare, the redhead smiled, adding, “Yeah, that, putting the fear of perdition into folks who believe what rumors say you’re capable of doing.”

Max hadn’t planned to get involved without discussing it with his mate, but he couldn’t ignore their plea or deny the logic that an unknown variable could shake things up. He was good at playing a bluff when the stakes were high, when a wild card was all that was needed.

“Tell me when, fill me in on your play, and I’ll back you.”

For the first time that morning, the shoulders on every Terriot relaxed.

“This is our city,” Max vowed, his words echoing with finality, “and our families will live here without fear. That’s my promise to you.”

And finally, they believed it.

Keeping your friends close and your former enemies closer can be a recipe for success . . . or disaster. This quote sums it up:

Let’s hope they make the right choice. Deciding which one it will be is what makes writing fiction so much fun!

Speaking of FUN, I’m participating in Bookhound’s Spooktacular Giveaway Blog Hop, offering up a $10 Amazon Gift Card to tuck into some lucky visitor’s treat bag on the big day, Halloween. Check it out and join in!

Sorry I’ve been absent for several Sundays. Sudden BIG changes have been happening, the biggest and most exciting (and terrifying) is applying for Social Security Retirement after concluding that I’m too old for this stressful 9-to-5 sh*t. I visited SSA, did the math and submitted the application. Now, I’m holding my breath . . . The thought of all that writing time is making me giddy! Those who’ve taken that step, share some encouragement.

Wish me luck, Fellow Warriors!

Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday. Visit other participants on the list and read, critique, and comment on their 8sunday posts.

Spread the word, share the love, warriors - Hashtag #8sunday.

SPOOKTACULAR GIVEAWAY TIME!!

October is my favorite time of year and Halloween my favorite holiday. Goblins, Ghosties and, best of all, Goodies! I’m joining my fellow bloggers and BOOKHOUNDS for a sweeeeet Hop from now until the Big Day itself, Halloween, when I’ll be handing out a yummy $10 Amazon Gift Card that I’d love to tuck into your goodie bag! Sign up below (and take some extra chances, too!) then, make sure to follow along the Hop to see what treats my neighbors are handing out!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck to all!! Winner will be notified via email at the end of the Hop.

And now, another goodie – a sneak peek at RISE BY MOONLIGHT, the concluding book in my By Moonlight dark shapeshifter series! 

He felt her before gates opened onto the long drive leading to their gracefully crumbling plantation house. Her essence teased up his nose, stirring his awareness like a smooth stone dropping into a still, deep pond. Ripples of warmth and desire spread outward in eager little shivers. She was home, and everything calmed in his complicated world.

Max waited, still as the heavy antique furnishings, a tall indistinguishable shape teased out by flames from the low parlor fire as the front door opened.With a brisk staccato on marble tiles, her silhouette hurried by, then the tap of heels paused, backtracking until Charlotte Caissie framed the doorway the way she did his life, with her strength, proud stature and shrewd intuition. A smile flashed with her welcoming, “Hi.”

His reply rumbled, a rough caress. “Welcome home, sha. How was your day?” Simple domestic comments steeped in an intimacy that relaxed the taut line of her shoulders. 

“Same ole, same ole.” She entered the room with her long, confident stride, crossing to him as an end rather than a means to the rest of that day. Her fingertips brushed over the bristle of evening stubble on his cheek on their way to cup the back of his dark head, drawing him down for a slow, reassuring exchange as vital to both their lives as oxygen.

Separately, the unlikely couple walked a parallel line of complications both tried not to cross. He was a criminal turned business powerhouse ruling a clan of shapeshifters threatened with extermination, she a fiercely determined detective sworn to protect a very different kind of citizen from a deadly truth about to overtake them. Though their paths were different, they led to the same end . . . to this house, this moment, and ultimately, to the survival of those they loved.

Max feared for her, not because she was weaker, but because she was his. Just, as she would ferociously claim he was hers. Two parts of the same whole now that they were a bonded pair. But those two parts would soon become a trio. They’d ever had any kind of normal family life growing up. But their child, he vowed every time he glanced at that ever-increasing midsection, would be different, fiercely loved, protected, spared the isolation and fear that had shaped both parents. Max would do anything to see that dream to fruition. 

Anything.

If you're new to my By Moonlight world and don't have time to hurry through all 14 previous books, start at Book 9, REMEMBERED BY MOONLIGHT, which will bring you up to speed with the characters (Max and Cee Cee in particular) and the stakes to be achieved in RISE BY MOONLIGHT. Sink your teeth in and have a howling good time!

Preview Book 9

   

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Happy Halloween and Happy Hopping!!

IWSG: Everything Old is New Again

Our Insecure Writers Support Group question for October is a doozy: It’s been said that the benefits of becoming a writer who does not read is that all your ideas are new and original. Everything you do is an extension of yourself, instead of a mixture of you and another author. On the other hand, how can you expect other people to want your writing, if you don’t enjoy reading? What are your thoughts?

I think the real question here is how is someone who doesn’t read able to write anything worth reading? Perhaps the question implies that this writer isn’t reading anything NEW for fear of subconsciously plagiarizing something he or she has just or is now reading. But what about all the things they’ve read to this point? Did all that input somehow just disappear from memory? Does this isolated author not watch TV, have conversations, listen to the news or music? ALL input influences our creative stewpot of ideas. It’s ridiculous to assume that not reading while writing makes all new material ORIGINAL. Smarter folk than me have already determined that there are no new ideas, just new interpretations of them. Fresh input is what stimulates the imagination, stirs What if's that fuel plots and character development. If you don’t embrace the beauty of words and ideas, how can you create either? 

On the other hand, while I’m writing in one genre, I make a conscious effort not to read books that contain the same threads I’m using – not because I’m afraid that I’ll duplicate them, but because I might get discouraged from the direction I’m going because my ideas aren’t as ‘original’ as I thought. The “It’s already been done and probably better” has killed many a great notion.

I’d as soon not eat as not read (actually, I should probably do a lot less of the former!). Reading stimulates creative imagination, giving us the primary colors we use for our own masterpieces. It’s all in the mixing and shading and exploration that a new great work is rendered.

Final take: A well not fed will soon run dry.

Find out what other IWSGers think by exploring the links below.

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time.The awesome co-hosts for the October 2nd posting of the IWSG will be Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Mary Aalgaard, Madeline Mora-Summonte, and Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor!

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Twitter hashtag is #IWSG