We Have A Winner!
Congratulations to Psawyer1 who won a free copy of my book! Thanks to everyone who weighed in on the cover art fot Mercy for the Wicked, I loved your comments! It was a pretty close race, with the eyes taking the lead right at the end, so now I’m pretty torn as to which way to go. The eyes do tie in with demons in the book and it does tie in with the eye on the 1st book, but then does that rope me in to putting an eye on the cover for the third book? The Sword does figure into the book as well, and I think it’s very pretty, but again, it might conjure images of a more sword and sorcery/fantasy type book. What I learned is that they’re both pretty and eyecatching though, so more than likely, I’ll worry over it until the very last moment and then make my decision.
The edits are coming along very, very well by the way, I hope to have Mercy for the Wicked ready to publish in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned!
Vote on Cover Art for Mercy for the Wicked
(and enter to win a free copy of one of my books!)
Okay guys, it’s time to give me your thoughts and feedback over the cover art for Mercy for the Wicked. Anyone who comments on the covers on the website will be automatically entered for a chance to win a copy of one of my books (your choice of Angel of Mercy or The Touch, or if you’re feeling patient, you could wait for Mercy for the Wicked to come out!). I won’t say which one of these is my favorite, but take a look at the blurb below and let us know which cover you prefer. We’d also love to hear constructive criticism and ideas for how to improve them if you have any suggestions.
“How do you tell a guy that you’re being stalked by demons without sounding like a fruitcake? Even if he really cares about you, there’s bound to be that moment when he looks at you like you’re a total nutbar, right?”
Mercy is back, and in a world of trouble as factions from above and below vie for her attention, pulling her from the carefully constructed ‘normalcy’ of her life. After confessing all to boyfriend Ben, Mercy is counting on fallen angel Samael to help protect her while she deals with the sting of Adam’s abandonment. But self control has never been Adam’s strong suit. When Mercy is pursued from all sides, will Adam be able to resist playing the hero? Or will Mercy get tired of waiting and save herself? In the end, Mercy must decide, is the enemy of her enemy her friend? Or just a worse enemy?
The Touch Is Now Available in Print!
Again it only took about a month after it was released as an ebook but it’s available to purchase through Amazon.com.
So, to celebrate, here’s another excerpt from the book that takes place right after Lexi finds out her niece Chloe has disappeared:
There were more cars in the driveway this time when she got to Allie’s house. In addition to Gabriel’s Towncar, there was a red Dodge Charger and a regular black and white police car next to her sister’s white Volvo. No one stopped her from approaching the front door though, and she let herself in without knocking. “Allie?”
Almost immediately her path was blocked by a plain clothes policeman, his badge visible on his belt the way Gabriel wore his. Closer to her age, he was good looking with blonde hair and blue eyes. Clean cut, but there was a sarcastic tilt to his smile that one didn’t normally associate with ‘cop’. “Whoa, where did you come from?” he asked, hands up to block her view into the living room.
“Allie called me, I came right over.”
“How did you even get in here?” he looked over her shoulder through the sidelight window.
“Well, it’s not like you guys are running crackerjack security or anything, I just walked right in.” She’d been hoping to see Gabriel, but apparently she had to run the gauntlet before she’d be given admittance.
His eyes lit upon her gloved hands and widened slightly in response. “Oh, you’re the sister.”
“I see my reputation precedes me,” she gave a tight smile. Of course Ryan would have mentioned her, why was she even surprised? Idly she wondered what made it into his report… “I’m Lexi, and you are?” she offered her hand, trying to play nice.
“Detective Tim Cooper.” He took her hand with an appraising smile and Lexi got the feeling he was checking her out more than was strictly necessary. “Well, I guess we can all pack up and go home now, no need for us detectives with you on the case, right?” he smirked.
Lexi let go of his hand. So, that was how it was gonna be, was it? “Might as well. It’s not like you guys got anywhere when Neil disappeared,” she replied tartly. “Do you mind if I go see my sister now?”
“Ouch… Ryan was right about you, you’re feisty,” he chuckled, stepping out of the way. “Be my guest.”
So she was feisty, was she? Again Lexi wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. Stepping past the younger detective, she spotted Allison on the couch, twisting a tissue into tiny shreds as she talked to Gabriel quietly. “Allie, I came as quick as I could, how are you holding up?”
“Oh good, good you’re here,” Allison clung to her in a hug the moment Lexi sat down. “You’ve got to help me find her Lexi; I don’t know what else to do.”
“I’ll do everything I can,” Lexi promised, barely sparing a nod for Detective Ryan. “How long has she been gone? When’s the last time you saw her?”
“Hey, who’s running this investigation, you or me?” Gabriel interrupted; a trace of annoyance visible on his face.
“That all depends, are you guys gonna do something this time?” Lexi retorted, instantly regretting it as soon as the words left her mouth. She wasn’t helping anything by jumping down his throat. “I’m sorry, please go ahead,” she added softly, sitting deeper on the couch.
Detective Cooper took a position against the wall behind Ryan, the look of vague amusement still playing on his features. Something about it irked Lexi. Whether he found her amusing or not, shouldn’t he at least pretend to care that a little girl was missing?
Mercy for the Wicked
Despite work seriously kicking my ass lately, the new book is going well, I’m just about 48,000 words into it and so far, Adam has hijacked it twice, changing my outline to suit his purposes. I have to say, I like his ideas better than mine, and I hope you will too. 
Here is a little taste:
All I knew was that I dreaded the moment it would end, because I knew each time we parted it would be harder to say goodbye. So I concentrated on making a memory to last me through those times when we’d be apart, savoring every touch of his hands, every brush of his lips, every breath that mingled with mine until finally he pulled away, pressing his forehead to mine.
“I hate to say this, but…”
“You have to go,” I nodded slowly, but neither of us moved to part just yet. “You can’t keep doing this to me.”
“I know,” Adam sighed, fingers tracing over the curve of my jaw.
“I have a life. I have a boyfriend.” Inside I dared him to challenge me about it, claim me as his, but his face just darkened.
“I know.”
Disappointed, I pushed a little harder. “You can’t expect me to wait around for you forever; taking whatever crumbs you toss my way when you feel like it.” But I would, I knew that about myself and I felt like shit for it, because it wasn’t fair to Ben and it wasn’t fair to me.
“I know.”
A furrow appeared on his brow and I wasn’t sure he was even listening to me anymore. “Will you stop saying you know? Can’t you give me something to hold onto? Some kind of hope? Or is this it? You’re leaving me here until you’re good and ready and when you do take me out of this place, things go back to the way they were? You in whatever forsaken corner of the world you’re holed up in, and me…”
“Shut up for a minute, I’m thinking,” he muttered absently and my eyes closed as I tried to reign in my temper. Sweet Jesus, why did I bother?
***
Ah you gotta love a man with a plan, right? And Adam definitely has a plan… Too bad Mercy doesn’t follow instructions particularly well.
Friends With Benefits – review
*warning, contains spoilers!
We saw Friends With Benefits over the weekend in an attempt to beat the heat and I thought I’d write an informal review. I know, I know, you see the trailer and you already know how this one’s gonna end. They’ll both give up their hard hearted cynicism and wind up all ooey, gooey in love with each other amid a parade of hearts and flowers, right? So why do we bother to see these movies? Didn’t they do this one last year with Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher?I admit I was about to give this one a pass until I saw the preview for it at another movie and the scene where her mother walks in on them in bed together made me crack up. (I wish tv commercials for movies had half of the story the in theater previews have, I would see so many more movies!) That and I like both Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, so I was up for a bit of fun on a Saturday afternoon.
So this one is about NY Head Hunter Jamie who is courting Dylan, head of design for a little website in LA to take over a prestigious position at GQ magazine. He flies out to check it out, and Jamie decides to sell him on New York instead of the position and takes him on a whirlwind walking tour of the city (in killer heels no less…) He agrees and takes the position and a friendship montage begins.
While hanging out and watching a sappy chick flick, they lament on how they miss sex because neither one of them is in a relationship at the moment. The idea comes up that they should add some sexual benefits to their friendship and each agree to give it a go. He’s emotionally unavailable and she’s emotionally damaged, sounds like a recipe for easy uncomplicated sex, right? That might have worked for me, except for it was kinda unappealing, the way they talked through the sex, each giving critique and complaints. It made it kinda technical and maybe that was the point, but it was a little awkward to watch.
So is Friends With Benefits worth seeing? I’d say yes if you’re a fan of either of the stars. Jamie comes across as kinda hard most of the time, but I can see what they’re going for and Dylan a little silly from time to time, but both were enjoyable to watch. Whenever her mother is in the scene she steals the show, those were the funniest moments and I did tear up a little near the end when he and his father have a heart to heart (minus pants in an airport restaurant no less). I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars, definitely worth the matinee price.
Dream Casting – Angel of Mercy
I think most writers have specific types in mind when they start crafting characters. I know when I start to flesh out my leads in particular, I start by coming up with a list of attributes, is she kind? Spunky? Sarcastic? What color hair does she have? Is she an only child? Does she get along with her parents? The more detail I can drill down, the richer the character ends up. Being a visual person, I almost always end up picking an actor or actress in my mind that I associate with the character, down to the bit players who just show up in one scene. It makes it much easier to keep everybody straight in my head (actually I cheat, I keep a spreadsheet of names, who they are and who they look like). You can’t help but think – if they made a movie or tv series out of this story, who would play so and so? In the spirit of this, here is my dream casting of who would play everybody in Angel of Mercy.
Mercy – Amelia Warner – a pretty obscure British actress who I think is beautiful and spirited
Sam – a younger Jude Law, pre-Talented Mr. Ripley. I came across a couple of pictures of him taken by the paparazzi and he was a little ruffled and baffled looking, it really caught that part of Sam’s clueless personality
Adam – Ian Somerhalder because let’s face it, he could play this character in his sleep and he’s just a sexy beast
Ben – Mark Rufalo – he has that every guy quality that’s easy to overlook sometimes, but he can be so charming!
Parker – Bradley Cooper – because he can play an ass and still be pretty to look at
Matty – Justin Long – I think he could pull off the slacker brother so well
Daphne – Amanda Seyfried – with that long blonde hair and blue eyes, she has that wide eyed innocence that I associate with Daphne
Weatie – Jeremy Sisto – I can totally picture him playing an intense, scruffy looking scumbag
Nathanael – Matthew McFadyen (go see him in Pride and Prejudice as Mr. Darcy) – He has the intensity to look really pious and thunderous
Walter (the bouncer at Eden) – Marc Blucas – he’s got the muscle and all American looks to be a sweet guy that just doesn’t ring Mercy’s bell
Rachel (the nurse) – No idea what her name is, but the red headed nurse from “While You Were Sleeping” was who I pictured, it was probably on TV or something
Jilly (waitress at Eden) – Kristen Bell – because I love Kristen Bell and I like to incorporate her whenever I can. 
Mariah (Adam’s wife) – Morena Baccarin – a la Inara from Firefly, because I could see her tempting an angel to fall from grace
Cephas – Badger from Firefly, because I love the accent and he plays a great baddie
Mimsy – one of my own cats! Because she’s so cute and curious and her squeaky sounds are like nothing I’ve heard from a cat before.
Did I miss anybody?
(I’d love to hear it, by the way, if any readers had a specific person in mind when they read the story as well!)
