Freebie for Sony eReaders!

If all goes as planned, my debut zombie novella with Kensington Brava will be given away for FREE from March 1st to March 4th on the Sony site.

I say “if all goes as planned” because this was supposed to occur a while back but some behind the scenes glitch stopped it from happening. So keep your fingers crossed! With any luck, this time it’ll actually work!

Look for HALF PAST DEAD for free while it lasts, as a little tie-in to the release of ONCE BITTEN, TWICE DEAD. Check it out!

Here’s the link to the Sony site:

http://ebookstore.sony.com/

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ONCE BITTEN, TWICE DEAD – Available Now!

New in Print!
ISBN 978-0758247292 Thrills, chills, and a smoldering sexy hero combine to unforgettable effect in Bianca D’Arc’s irresistible new novel of paranormal romance… Buy Now from Amazon	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 creatures 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 façade.   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…
ISBN 978-0758246974 There are good guys, there are bad boys, and then there are men with a danger all their own—these are the ones who take you places you never imagined… and will never forget. Buy Now from Amazon ISBN 978-1605045436 Three mortal women discover the loves of their lives… the vampires of their dreams. Buy Now from Amazon	Half Past Dead contains the novella: Simon Says Special Forces soldier Simon Blackwell ended his affair with Mariana Daniels three years ago, but he hasn’t stopped protecting her. Mariana has no knowledge of the dark, deadly creatures that lurk in the forest surrounding her clinic, or of the mysterious powers that make Simon the only one who can defeat them. But soon he’ll have no choice but to reveal the truth, and urge her to trust in an explosive passion that never faded… BROTHERHOOD OF BLOOD contains all three novellas: One and Only: Vampire Atticus Maxwell stands at the edge of his own oblivion…until the faint heartbeat of a desperately wounded mortal woman calls him back. The terrible crash that almost took both their lives has brought him a woman who just might give him a reason to live again. No barrier to their love seems too great—until they learn the crash was no accident at all… Rare Vintage: Marc LaTour is drawn to Kelly when she goes to work for the newlyweds Atticus and Lissa at their vineyard. He moves into the mansion on the pretext of needing a place to stay while his own home is remodeled. Then an upstart vampire challenges him to a fight to the death. Kelly is willing to trade her life for his—but can he save her from himself? Phantom Desires: Dmitri Belakov enters the scorching hot dreams of the woman who just bought the farmhouse that rests above his secret lair. He must either bargain with her or kill her, but she is much too intriguing to dispose of so easily. When he discovers she is his One—his perfect match—he’ll do anything to keep her by his side… forever.
Come over to the D’Arc side… WWW.BIANCADARC. COM

Writing Schedule

Some of my author friends and I were recently discussing our goals for this year. I know it’s already late February, but I guess it’s never too late to try to set some goals, right? The next few months lay out something like this for me:

February: Finish writing A DARKER SHADE OF DEAD and edit WARRIOR’S HEART.

March: ONCE BITTEN, TWICE DEAD releases. Begin writing the 3rd zombie novel and do final edits on WARRIOR’S HEART.

April: INFERNO comes out in print. Continue writing the 3rd zombie novel. RT Conference.

May: Finish writing 3rd zombie novel.

June: GRADY’S AWAKENING comes out in print. Start writing something new – probably the werewolf fey story I’ve been planning.

July: Finish the werewolf fey book.

August: Start new project – probably Harry’s story for the Resonance Mates series.

September: THE BEAST WITHIN releases. DRAGON STORM comes out in print. Finish Harry’s book. AAD Conference.

October: Start new project – probably a new dragon book.

November: A DARKER SHADE OF DEAD releases. Finish new dragon book.

December: Take a much-deserved break!

Of course, this could all change if I get new contracts for other things. I think things will hold pretty well until about June. Then stuff might move around a bit, depending on what’s going on in my life and my career, but for now this is my plan. Such as it is. Fun huh? :D

New Cover: The Beast Within

Got a new cover to show off — the Halloween anthology which will contain my 3rd zombie story called SMOKE ON THE WATER. This cover is so hot, I sort of wish my story was a werewolf tale!

The novella in this book is a little side adventure featuring John Petit, the older brother of the heroine in ONCE BITTEN, TWICE DEAD. He’s a CIA operative and former Marine. (I know – there are no “former” Marines. Once a Marine, always a Marine, right? Semper Fi.) He’s been tapped to join the select team of people fighting the zombie infestation because of his CIA resources and combat experience. Plus the fact that is baby sister is involved up to her neck and she can’t hide anything from her all-too-observant older brother.

John is sent on a mission to San Francisco with a female partner who is only on the team because she was attacked by a zombie and survived. She was a graduate student in chemical engineering when her life altered forever. Now she’s part of the team and it’s up to John to take her under his wing and show her how it’s done.

She makes some mistakes along the way, but when they follow the trail to a fishing camp in Middle Tennessee, they are on their own. The team back at base has their hands full and John and Donna must fend for themselves against a small army of zombies and the insane woman who created them.

It’s kind of a fun story with a fair bit of adventure in it along with a whole lot of romance as John and Donna fall in love. John’s a total hottie and sharp as a tack – the total package of brains and brawn - and Donna is the perfect partner for him – intelligent, caring and adventurous.

So what do you think of the cover? I’m liking those abs. Yum.

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New Sale! WARRIOR’S HEART

I’m so glad to finally announce the sale of WARRIOR’S HEART to Samhain Publishing. This story was out once before, early in my writing career, with an epublisher that has since gone out of business. So I’m thrilled to have it reissuing (with a lot of refreshing, rewriting and reediting along the way) so that I can now continue the series of stories I had planned.

The story is that of a military hero who’s returned from the desert with some special powers that were given to him – and the rest of his team – in the fabeled Tower of Babel. It’s sort of paranormal/super hero stuff with a military edge and lots of adventure. It’s also a tale of the guy who comes home to finally claim the girl he loves, who just happens to be his best friend’s little sister.

I’ll share more later, but for now I can tell you that it’s tentatively scheduled for release in April.

Best Sellers & Discounts

I’m Loving the response to the print compilation BROTHERHOOD OF BLOOD. It actually registered on the Amazon Genre Best Seller List yesterday. It was at:

Not so sure how they figure the categories, but it’s flattering to be on the list in a category that seems to include folks like Charlaine Harris, my friend Jacki Frank, Stephen King and the like. Cool, huh? If you haven’t gotten your copy yet, you can pick it up at Amazon for 32% off the cover price.

If you already have it – and liked it – please do me a big favor and write a review for it on Amazon if you can. I only ask because there are just 2 reviews up there right now – both from people who didn’t really like the book. I’d love to have something positive to balance the negativity if at all possible. So if you feel moved to do so, I’d LOVE to have a review or two from people who actually liked the book up there at some point. Thanks in advance, if you are able to help out.

More news: FictionWise seems to have picked up a lot of my older books again. I got an alert yesterday saying they now had all four of the first Dragon Knights books available again, as well as LORDS OF THE WERE and FOREVER VALENTINE. Because they’re “new” (on FictionWise at least), they’re on sale for 15% off. So here’s your chance if you haven’t read those already, you can pick them up at a discount.

 Oh, and while we’re talking about FictionWise, let me thank all who made both CAT’S CRADLE and TAG TEAM Best Sellers on FictionWise. Thanks, guys!!!

Vision Boards

A vision board is a new name for an old concept. Back when I was a teenager, two creative friends of mine gave me one of the most beautiful gifts I have ever received. They bought a cheap poster frame and filled it with a collage of images and words cut out of magazines. Things they knew I liked and that they thought represented me. It was so beautiful. So thoughtful. They’d put a lot of time and thought into making that thing and I loved it! I still have it, in fact.

So when I first heard about the concept of a vision board, at first I was wondering what it could be about. In reality, it’s the same kind of thing – only you cut out images of things you want in your life. Images that appeal to you. Images and words that represent people, places, things and feelings you want to come into  your life. The idea from there is the same – collage the images and words into a picture that you can put somewhere you will see it every day. By keeping these things you want in your mind every day, you will be able to bring them into your life.

Life coaches use this tool and it’s something that can be very helpful. What I’ve done is take it into the technological age. Instead of buying a bunch of magazines and going crazy with scissors and glue, I made myself an electronic collage of images I pulled from the internet. Then I set the image collage as the background on my computer desktop. I look at that all day long, so it’s a good place to keep those images and concepts fresh in my mind during the day.

If you’re not good with collages, why not try just right-clicking on an image and setting it as your background whenever you want. You can change the desktop all the time as different images catch your eye. It’s worth a try, so have fun and enjoy!

With any luck, we’ll all be able to attract the good things we want in our lives.

My Apologies

To those who expected to see me at the group author signing in CT yesterday. Due to family issues, I couldn’t go. I tried. Truly. Up ’til the last minute, I tried to convince certain parties that we had to get out of the house and deal with our shared grief over the death of my Mother a little over a month and a half ago, but it just didn’t work. Although I’m beginning to feel like I need to start living again, my father is so lost in his grief, he can barely sleep and doesn’t want to go anywhere or do anything unless I literally force him into it.

I thought I’d be able to drag him along with me to this signing. I thought it would be good for both of us. But he’s not ready. He adamantly refused to budge and I couldn’t leave him alone in the mental state he was in at the time. It’s just him and me now – no other family in the area - no friends left in the area either. So I’ve become his de facto companion. Not something I ever envisioned happening, but there it is. *sigh*

I truly think he would have been okay to go if we hadn’t just had news a few days ago of the passing of a dear family friend. This person had been a friend of my mother’s since before I was born. They’d worked together in the 1960’s – they were both teachers – and the families had become friends. We spent many a holiday with their family in the ’80’s and ’90’s, and to hear of his death brought back those awful first few days after my Mom’s death for us. My father can’t even bring himself to go to the funeral.

So I apologize to those I missed yesterday and I particularly apologize to Stella Price, who set up the whole thing. I know it was a huge success and I only wish I’d been able to go. At this point, I’m not sure I’ll be able to go anywhere in the next few months. I’m taking one day at a time as much as possible. Thank you all for understanding.