biancadarc.com Blog

Good News, Bad News

The past few days have been filled with ups and downs for me. First the good news: I handed in the manuscript of ONCE BITTEN, TWICE DEAD to my editor at Kensington this weekend. I’m already working on the follow-up, a novella tentatively titled SMOKE ON THE WATER, which is supposed to go in the Kensington Brava Halloween 2010 anthology.

The bad news this week has been very worrying indeed. My mom is sick and they think she might have a bad case of cancer. We’ll know for sure if it’s cancer on Thursday, when the test results come back. Please pray, if you believe in such things. Every good thought sent our way is much appreciated.

As a result of this, I won’t be online much. I’ll check email once in a while, but won’t have time to do all the stuff I’ve been doing up ’til now. Not for a while, at least. I’ll try to keep this blog active with posts I’ve saved up about writing and other things. I’ll also be posting updates as things happen with my books. Just don’t expect quick responses to emails and that kind of thing.

And I hope to have a few guest bloggers if I – and they – can find the time. So please make them feel welcome if you see them here. Thanks for all your love and support for me and my mom. It really makes a difference!

Guest: Vivian Arend

Vivian Arend is hosting a Cowboy Countdown Contest and she’s popped in today to ask us to join her in getting ready for her latest release, Rocky Mountain Heat coming August 31st to Liquid Silver Books. And she’s got a question for us:

Have you ever been to a rodeo?

Bianca’s Answer: Being a city/suburban girl through and through, I have to admit I’ve never been to a rodeo. I have seen the cows penned up on 33rd St when the stock show is in Madison Square Garden. Does that count? (Weirdest thing I ever saw – temporary coral fencing put up on the sidewalk with a big black cow inside, chewing on hay they’d put on the ground for it.)

Welcome to the Six Pack Ranch, where one sweet young thing plus the Coleman boys equals trouble with a capital T.

Six Pack Ranch, Book 1

Blake Coleman is old enough to know that acting on impulse causes nothing but a heap of trouble. But when trouble’s a blonde wearing a cowboy hat with slim legs that go on forever, what’s a man to do? Wanting the sweet girl next door is just wrong. Hell, he was the one that taught her to ride a horse and now all he can think about is riding her. The responsible thing to do is keep his hands off.

Jaxi has other plans for his hands, and his heart. She may have considered Blake a big brother once but that was a long time ago. She’s all grown up now and ready to convince him that she’s just what he’s been waiting for.

Add the complication of two sexy younger brothers who have suddenly noticed Jaxi and things heat up fast. Blake’s gonna have to decide if a little trouble is worth fighting for.

——

Answer the question in the comments to be entered to win the prize in the Cowboy Countdown. For more info you can also come visit Where Dreams Become Reality.

Tag Team – Available Now!

They share their thoughts. Can they share their lives with one special woman?

Peter and Mike are childhood friends who are part of the Gemini Project. It’s a top secret program that takes special forces soldiers and enhances their telepathic abilities. They can communicate silently with each other and operate as an unstoppable team in the field.

Lilly is a part time aerobics instructor in the gym Peter and Mike frequent. Both men caught her eye when they first started coming in. Then again, all the women at the gym had been similarly affected by the two sexy soldiers in their midst.

Peter and Mike have been gone for six months on a mission, but they’re back now and ready to claim the woman they both want. The question is, will Lilly be willing to let them both into her life?

This short story released today from Total*E*Bound!

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Once Bitten Blurb

As promised, here’s the blurb for ONCE BITTEN, TWICE DEAD…

Thrills, chills and a smoldering sexy hero combine to unforgettable effect in Bianca D’Arc’s irresistible new novel of paranormal romance…

When police officer Sarah Petit investigates a disturbance in an abandoned building, she expects to find a few underage drinkers. Instead, she’s attacked by creature straight out of a horror movie. Waking a week later in a hospital, Sarah is visited by Special Forces soldier Captain Xavier Beauvoir. The zombies who attacked Sarah are the result of military research gone terrifyingly wrong, and Sarah’s immunity to the virus makes her the perfect person to help Xavier eradicate them. But his smooth Cajun accent, whiskey-colored eyes, and dizzying kiss are risky to her in a very different way.

Sarah attracts danger like a magnet — and the smart, fearless cop attracts Xavier too, instilling a bone-deep need that’s undermining his steady facade. Enlisting her aid is a necessary gamble, but vicious undead creatures are not the only enemy they face. And the only way to keep each other safe is to trust in an instant connection that could be their greatest strength — or the perfect way to destroy them both…

Zombie News

If you want to get the low down on HALF PAST DEAD, my first release with Kensington, I noticed they have the book listed – along with cover art and blurbs – on their site.

As you might realize, the first installment in my new zombie series is a novella in the HALF PAST DEAD anthology. The official release date for that book is 12/29/09, but we’ll just call it January to make this easier, okay? The first full-length novel in the series debuts in March and is called ONCE BITTEN, TWICE DEAD. It’s not up on the Kensington site yet, but havea  look at the cover…

Is that not THE coolest??? I’ll post the blurb for you tomorrow… stay tuned!

Party in the Cafe Tonight

Join me an Mari Carr tonight from 8-10pm eastern time on the Samhain Cafe Yahoo group. We’ll be answering questions, posting excerpts and chatting about our new releases from Samhain Publishing.

Click here to get to the Cafe. Hope to see you there!

New Excerpt – Grady’s Awakening

Another excerpt from my newest release, GRADY’S AWAKENING. This scene is from a little later into the manuscript. It’s the first time Gina and Jim meet after many years. While the book is named for Grady, Gina is his true mate and Jim is also Gina’s true mate. Yep – it’s an m/f/m menage. Enjoy!

BLURB:

An alien warrior discovers what it is to love… and to share.

Alien super soldier Grady Prime’s missions routinely lead him in unexpected directions, but his latest assignment—to kill a rogue warrior—is far beyond routine. This time he meets a woman who embroils him in an adventure of the highest order. Love.

Gina has lived among aliens so long, she’s lost her fear of them. She is undeniably attracted to Grady, even though their respective duties force them apart. Then, on a mission to a far-flung outpost, an encounter with a man from her past leaves her torn between her flaming desire for Grady, and her still-simmering love for an old flame.

Jim and his group of human dissidents live in secret, away from alien patrols. He has responsibilities, and covert operations to manage. But when Gina re-enters his life, only one thing matters—being with her.

Brought together by chance, the three form an alliance that pushes the boundaries of desire and make unexpected connections that could save the human race from alien conquerors…

Warning: This book contains red hot alien loving, ménage a trois, super sexy alien soldiers, wicked fast martial arts masters, explicit language, explicit sex and explicit love. Always love.

EXCERPT:

(c) 2009 Bianca D’Arc. All Rights Reserved.

Gina made it to the entrance to the old tunnel system that led to the underground facility. It was dark—inside and out. Night had fallen and there was only a sliver of moon. Its illumination didn’t reach inside the old tunnel complex. Gina walked into the darkness, sensing the others there…waiting. Clearly this was an ambush, but there was no other way. She controlled her breathing, ready for anything.

A fist came at her, out of the dark.

Gina ducked and spun, coming up fighting as her opponent engaged. She was fighting blind. She’d trained to do this many times in her youth, and many more since then in her time with the Zxerah. Her psychic gifts also allowed her to sense displacement in the air. That skill usually helped her stay well ahead of the blows headed her way. Her opponent either had to be as telekinetically gifted as she or else he was using night vision goggles or something similar. There was no hesitation in his strikes or his blocks. He was one hell of a fighter, whoever he was. Gina marveled at his skill even as she spun into a flying roundhouse kick aimed at his head.”Hold!”

It was the single command given in the proper tone of voice that would stop Gina dead in her tracks, as she’d been trained since childhood to do in her father’s dojo. She landed and stood ready, waiting, prepared for anything that might come at her out of the darkness.

“Lord help me, but I’d know that flying roundhouse anywhere.” The man’s voice stirred a distant memory. “Is there a Hanson under that ninja suit?”

“Show yourself.” Gina whispered, careful to keep her voice husky and low.

A flame flared in the darkness and a torch was thrown down in front of her. Gina wasn’t fool enough to follow the torch’s progress. Instead, she protected her night vision as best she could, seeking the shadowy man who stood some distance in front of her in the darkness.

The man strode forward into the small pool of light created by the torch. His face was only a little older than she remembered, his eyes even harder than they’d been when he’d trained with her father. She knew this man. He’d been one of the elite the government had sent to study with her father–one of the few men who had caught her eye when she was just a teenager, striving to compete for Olympic gold.

He’d been a defender of the innocent in those days. Some kind of top secret operative she hadn’t been supposed to meet, but had run across from time to time as he came and went from her father’s studio. On one memorable occasion, she’d been part of an advanced class he’d participated in. He was a good fighter. Honorable and fair. It was good to see his skills hadn’t diminished over the years.But was he the same man of honor her father had trained? Many years had passed. He looked roughly the same, thanks to the aliens changing their DNA to slow everyone’s aging. She needed to know what kind of man he was on the inside.

There was really only one way to find out.

Gina took off her mask and held his eyes as she bowed. The shock written plain on his face was almost comical. The joy that followed made her feel warm inside.

Buy Now: http://new.mybookstoreandmore.com/shop/product.da/gradys-awakening

Grady Awakens Today!

Grady’s Awakening is the longest book I’ve written for Samhain to date. It packs a heck of a lot of story in with a sizzling menage romance and development of a lasting relationship.

Buy eBook Now from MBAM 

Here’s a little excerpt:

Everything was set when Grady Prime walked back to the mess hall. He had left early, intending to intercept Gina before she had a chance to go inside. He arrived in the nick of time, calling out to her as she was about to open the door. She spun, a smile lighting her face when she saw him. She moved toward him and he stopped dead, entranced for a moment by the feminine loveliness of her.

Her smile turned questioning as she neared, her head tilting to one side. “What?”

“You are beautiful, Gina.”

A becoming blush stained her cheeks, and he could tell she was pleased with his unguarded words. He breathed a sigh of relief. This small woman could easily send him off course. She shook him up almost as much as he wanted to upset her composure—in the best possible way. So far, so good, judging by her expression.

“I have a surprise for you. Will you come with me so we can dine alone?”

Her expression softened with pleasure. She agreed, preceding him down the path. When she hesitated where the path forked, he placed his palm on the small of her back, guiding her. He kept his hand on her until they reached their destination, liking the feeling of her supple body under his fingers.

He guided her to a small clearing he’d found under the shelter of one of the largest of the redwood trees in the grove. So massive was the tree’s girth and the spread of its leaves that the ground around its base was relatively bare except for a soft layer of compacted leafy debris. With the moon just rising overhead in a twilight sky, the setting was perfect for romance.

Grady had thought ahead and had a small lantern ready for when darkness fell completely, but since the moon was nearly full and shining through an opening in the leafy canopy, he didn’t think they’d have to use it except perhaps when they made their way back to the encampment…eventually.

He’d taken a thick blanket from his quarters and spread it in the open area, then topped it with a snowy white tablecloth. The glasses, dishes and utensils he’d borrowed from the cooks were set out on top and the meal was waiting. It had been kept warm in self-heating containers the cooking staff had packed for him, ready to serve.

Grady had even gathered a few blossoms from the surrounding forest and placed them in a glass of water at the center of the tablecloth. He knew females appreciated flowers, and he also liked the scent.

Gina turned to him as they reached the clearing, and she saw what he’d arranged. There were tears in her eyes he found hard to interpret, and his heart stilled.

“You don’t like it?”

“No, I love it.” She bit her lip to still whatever emotion she was feeling while Grady’s emotions rode a wave of high and low. He didn’t understand. Was she happy or sad?

“Something is wrong?”

“No.” She turned to him, placing a hand on his forearm, squeezing once as she looked up at him. “This is the nicest thing anyone’s done for me in a very long time. I could almost believe I’m back in the old world, on a picnic. You thought of everything. Flowers, dinner and is that wine?”

“It is.” He began to feel better about her reaction, though the tears in her eyes worried him. “Do you like wine?”

“I do. Even living with the Zxerah, I don’t get to have it often. Only on very special occasions.”

“This is a special occasion, Gina.”

“Our first and last date.” She looked so sad. He had to kiss her. Just once. Just a light brushing of lips to take her mind off whatever he’d done to make her sad.

Grady leaned forward, taking her in his arms at the same moment he claimed her mouth with his. She was as sweet as he remembered, as warm, as delicious in every way. The salt of her tears brought a pang of regret to his heart. He didn’t want to think of how little time they had together before they had to part. He pushed that thought aside in the glory of holding her, the feel of her feminine curves that were made to fit so perfectly against his body.

She gasped when he pulled her closer and he took advantage, licking inside her mouth like he wanted to lick her lower down. Soon that wasn’t enough. He ran his hands over her lithe body, wishing the fabric that separated them away. Eventually the distraction of her clothing brought him to his senses.

He lifted away from the kiss by gradual degrees, his head spinning in the most amazing way.

“Dinner first,” Grady said when he could speak. The smile she gave him tempted him to forget dinner altogether, but good sense won out. For the time being.

He led her to the edge of the blanket, charmed when she kicked off her shoes. He followed suit and assisted her to sit, though in truth she needed no help at all. He didn’t want to completely let go of her and the lovely tone they produced when they touched. It vibrated through him, making him feel alive as nothing else. Even the new emotions coursing through him and making his life so very precious these last few months was nothing compared to the sound of their Hum.

“You shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble.” Her quiet words brought back his wandering attention. “This is really lovely. I haven’t been on a picnic in years, and never in such a romantic setting.”

“I’m glad you like it.” He reached for the wine as he sank to his knees opposite her, across the center of the improvised table setting. Removing the already loosened cork, he poured two glasses of the light-colored vintage.

Dinner progressed from there. They ate slowly, savoring the excellent food, the exceptional company and the beautiful night. Gina enchanted him with her conversation. At first they talked of simple things, recent events and their thoughts about the Zxerah. Eventually, they strayed to more emotional topics. Gina told him about her family and her sorrow at losing them. Then she asked him about the experiment and what prompted him to take part. She went further, asking him what he thought would come next and Grady felt a sense of ease, sharing his hopes and fears with this warm, intelligent woman. Her compassion was genuine and easily seen on her beautiful face. She also had some good insights into things that had plagued him.

“It was difficult to accommodate the aggression at first. Warriors are trained to control it, of course. Even that training failed when I felt real anger for the first time,” Grady admitted. He’d never discussed this with anyone—not even the techs who had witnessed his near meltdown.

“What did you do?”

“When I started fantasizing about smearing one of the scientist’s faces against a wall, I took myself to the gym for some unscheduled training. I pummeled a training droid, all the while imagining it was that scientist.” He had to laugh at the memory now. “I actually broke the droid.” Gina gasped, then laughed along with him. “I knocked its head clean off. The gym tech said they’d never seen anything like it before.”

“We have a few of those things at our home base. They’re built solid. I can’t believe you did that!”

“Neither could I. The gym tech explained it away, saying the droid must’ve had a flaw in manufacture, but the lab techs walked wide around me for the next few days. They’d heard the story and had of course been monitoring my levels. I wore sensors at all times in the early days of the experiment. It was actually an adrenaline surge that gave me that momentary strength. The techs were dumbfounded by it at first. Apparently the level was off their charts.”

“Oh, I’ve heard about that kind of thing in humans. In moments of utter rage or dire need, an adrenaline surge can give someone a moment of super strength. It’s not common, but in the old world, it did happen.”

“Well, it hasn’t happened in Alvians—at least not at that level—in generations. They tried to get me to repeat it, but I never could. Frankly, I didn’t want to feel that kind of raging anger ever again. I was close to murdering that man. It’s not something I’m proud of or want to repeat.”

“That says a lot for you, Grady.” She raised her glass and drank, watching him over the rim of the stemmed wine glass. “And the fact that you controlled your anger and channeled it into something that wouldn’t hurt anyone. Well,” her eyes sparkled with merriment, “except for the droid.”

Buy GRADY’S AWAKENING today from MBAM: http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/grady-s-awakening

Grady Awakens Tomorrow!

Releasing TOMORROW from Samhain Publishing in ebook formats: 

An alien warrior discovers what it is to love… and to share.

Alien super soldier Grady Prime’s missions routinely lead him in unexpected directions, but his latest assignment-to kill a rogue warrior-is far beyond routine. This time he meets a woman who embroils him in an adventure of the highest order. Love.

Gina has lived among aliens so long, she’s lost her fear of them. She is undeniably attracted to Grady, even though their respective duties force them apart. Then, on a mission to a far-flung outpost, an encounter with a man from her past leaves her torn between her flaming desire for Grady, and her still-simmering love for an old flame.

Jim and his group of human dissidents live in secret, away from alien patrols. He has responsibilities, and covert operations to manage. But when Gina re-enters his life, only one thing matters-being with her.

Brought together by chance, the three form an alliance that pushes the boundaries of desire and make unexpected connections that could save the human race from alien conquerors…

Busy Weekend!

I didn’t expect it to turn out this way, but as sometimes happens in this business, a lot of things came to a head this weekend. First, you may have noticed, I’ve changed my word count meter. Yes, I finished the first draft of ONCE BITTEN, TWICE DEAD yesterday. (And there was great rejoicing!)

While it was all fresh in my mind, I began work on the sequel today and am already about 3,000 words into it. I’ll probably write a bit more tonight because I’m seeing it very clearly right now and want to get my plans for this novel mapped out a bit more before I settle in. I have a little bit of free time, so it’s best to lay the groundwork for the next novel now, before things get busy again. I’m agonizing over a title for it now… wish me luck.

The other happenings this weekend include a new contract offer from Samhain. It looks like I’ll be expanding my contemporary paranormal world a bit next year with the publication of a great cat shifter story I’ve had in the works for a while. It’s called CAT’S CRADLE and I’m thrilled it’s found a home at Samhain.

I also changed the graphic theme on the main pages of my website (the parts with the castle background). It went from being 800 pixels wide to 900 pixels. I’m curious to know what people think of the new arrangement, so please feel free to give me feedback either here, by email, or on my Yahoo group. It still needs a little work in some places, but I’ll be doing more on it this coming week – things always need updating when I have a new release anyway, so it’s the perfect time to fix things.

There’s been a lot of activity behind the scenes this weekend too. Some personnel changes and shakeups that I’m sure will have everyone talking next week, but let’s not forget what’s really important. LOL. I have a new book coming out on Tuesday! Yes, it’s all about me. hee hee hee.

Well… to be more accurate… it’s all about Grady Prime and his love life. GRADY’S AWAKENING is due out in ebook formats on Tuesday from Samhain, so please don’t miss it! It’s a plus sized novel that is scorching hot, with what I hope you will find to be a great story with lots of cool new characters.

Now it’s back to writing for me. Have a great rest of your weekend!