New Cover: Jaci’s Experiment

It looks like the new cover for Jaci’s Experiment (releasing in eBook August 5th) is now official. What do you think?

Love… the grandest experiment of all.

As a young Alvian lab tech, Jaci knows her place in the orderly, emotionless society her race has established on the planet Earth. While preparing a batch of experimental skin patches, she is accidentally exposed to a gene-altering agent. In a matter of days, she’s assaulted with raw, primitive, forbidden emotions she has no clue how to handle. If her superiors find out, she’s a dead woman.

Her only hope is to seek help from the human test subjects held captive in pens below the city.

Before the aliens came, cousins Mike and Dave used their psychic abilities to their advantage in business dealings. Now they use them to stay alive, keeping a sharp telepathic eye out for ways to help themselves and others improve their lot…or escape. Their friendship with Jaci has always been more than simply captives and caretaker. Now that her DNA has changed, their shared resonance is the stuff of legend.

Inevitably, Jaci’s emotions expose her to deadly Alvian justice. Suddenly she’s in the race of her life, seeking the only safety she’s ever known…in the arms of her human Resonance Mates.

The Craft - Blundering Through the Final Few Pages

I’m working on the final chapter of Jaci’s Experiment - the third book in my Resonance Mates series (Hara’s Legacy, Davin’s Quest). Late last week, I spent about six to seven hours writing somewhere over 5,000 words only to decide later that night that the direction I’d taken the scene in at the last minute just would not work.

See, I’d planned to (how to say this without giving too much away?) have the main characters arrive somewhere and settle into the place. At the very last moment, I decided to have people there to meet them and it took the scene in a different direction entirely. When I got to the next scene, I realized what I’d impulsively done had messed up some important aspects of what I’d planned to do next and what would come in subsequent books in the series. I had a plan and I really should have stuck to it. *sigh*

Live and learn. I should have known better than to veer off course at the last moment without thinking it through completely, but most often when I get these creative wild hares, they turn out okay. This time, not so okay. However, I do have a backup plan. With a little tweaking, I just may be able to use the majority of those 5,000 words in the next book. We’ll see when I get to writing it, but I’ll keep it in mind to try once I get to that point.

Peek at Resonance Mates Bookmark Designs

As promised, here’s a quick look at some bookmark designs I’ve done recently for both Hara’s Legacy and Davin’s Quest. What do you think?

Three New Print Releases!

Three New PRINT Releases from Bianca D’Arc

SONS OF AMBER - The first two Sons of Amber stories together in one print volume. When an alien virus decimates humanity, Dr. Amber Waithe creates a small group of men who are immune. These genetically engineered supermen are the Sons of Amber. Their mission: to repopulate the human worlds. Of course, nobody expects them to fall in love. BUY NOW from Phaze HARA’S LEGACY - 2008 EPPIE Award Winner! - The first in a five book series set on a futuristic Earth where an alien race has decimated most of the planet and only special people with psychic abilities survive in the wild places. The O’Hara brothers will do anything to protect the empathic woman they grew up with. But in a post-apocalyptic world, can they adapt to share her love if it’s the only way to keep them all safe? It’s a serious game of cowboys and aliens when three psychically gifted brothers try to protect the one fragile, empathic woman who holds all their hearts against a menacing alien threat. BUY NOW from MBAM - BUY NOW from Amazon I DREAM OF DRAGONS Vol. 1 - Wings of Change - One young woman could be the miracle that heals a dying dragon — and unites a family with her love. BUY NOW from MBAM - BUY NOW from Amazon

2008 EPPIE Winner: Hara’s Legacy

It’s official! Hara’s Legacy has won the 2008 EPPIE Award for Best Erotic Romance Science Fiction/Futuristic!

I can’t tell you how honored and thrilled I am to recieve this award. Thank you to EPIC, the readers and the judges who picked Hara’s Legacy out of a fantastic field of great books. I’m stunned. And I love the idea that I now have EPPIES for my two main categories of writing, since The Ice Dragon won the EPPIE for Best Erotic Romance Fantasy/Paranormal last year. Being recognized for writing the stuff I love to write is a feeling like no other. But I’ll stop gushing now and take this opportunity to remind everyone about the book that just won the award…

Hara’s Legacy

eBook ISBN: 1-59998-482-2
Print ISBN: 1-59998-742-2
Length: Novel
eBook Publication Date: May 29, 2007
Print Publication Date: March 25, 2008
Cover art by Anne Cain

It’s a serious game of cowboys and aliens when three psychically gifted brothers try to protect the one fragile, empathic woman who holds all their hearts against a menacing alien threat.

First in the Resonance Mates series.

Montana rancher Caleb O’Hara’s precognitive abilities saved his family from an alien attack that annihilated almost everyone on Earth. Now the aliens have come to study the remnants of humanity. Caleb knows the only way to ensure the safety of his young wife, Janie, and his beloved brothers, Justin and Mick, is to keep the family together on their isolated ranch.

All three O’Hara brothers love Jane. They grew up next door to the young, empathic beauty and she stole all their hearts at one time or another, though she married Caleb. Caleb foresees the shocking truth of what they have to do in order to survive, and Caleb’s visions never lie.

They’ll have to come to terms with a new world, and an evolving relationship, all while finding a way to protect two newborn babies who are innocent pawns in the aliens’ deadly game. Somehow, this one talented family holds the key for humanity’s survival on this new, conquered world called Earth.

Buy Now in Print from Amazon - Buy Now in eBook from MBAM

Davin’s Quest is at #1!

I’m thrilled to report that Davin’s Quest hit the Number 1 spot on MBAM’s Best Seller List last night. Thank you to all who have purchased the novel and supported my writing these past years. I couldn’t be more thrilled! 

In honor of that accomplishment here’s a little snippet from Davin’s Quest for your delectation…

Rick woke to comfort. A comfortable bed, soft linens and a soft, decidedly feminine touch on his face. If he were dreaming, he wanted to stay asleep, but daylight tugged at his eyelids until he opened them.

“Good morning.” Callie’s voice floated to him as she sat on his bedside, her hand touching his cheek gently. The look on her face nearly stilled his heart. No woman had ever looked at him in just that way.

“What time is it?” He had to stop thinking about dragging her down so he could kiss her lips the way he’d dreamed of doing since the first moment they met.

“A little after noon. I just came to check on you and see if you were up for some lunch.” At that moment his stomach rumbled and she laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes.” She stood from the bedside and picked up a tray from the dresser near the door.

Callie stopped a few feet away from the bed, the tray still in her hand and just watched him, her head tilted to the side, her eyes narrowed in concentration. Rick started to sweat under her scrutiny. She was so beautiful and she’d never looked at him quite that way before, concentrating on him, on his comfort.

“Something’s different.”

Rick sat up and rested back against a pile of pillows. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Callie placed the tray on the bedside table. She sat on the edge of the bed and stared at him as Rick tried to stay calm. He’d always been careful to school his thoughts around this woman.

She reached out to touch his face, but he shied away. Immediately he regretted the move when he saw hurt cross her face.

“You know I’m empathic.” He nodded, not liking where this conversation was heading but helpless to stop it. “Well, you’ve always been blank to me, Rick.” She spoke in a low voice, her hands cradled in her lap. “But you’re not anymore. I’m starting to pick up…things…from you.” She blushed and looked down at her hands.

Rick swore under his breath. “Ignore it, Callie. Just forget all about it.”

She looked up until her gaze met his. “What if I don’t want to forget it? What if I can’t?”

Davin’s Quest - Character Inspiration

For some odd reason, this photo of Hugh Jackman is one of my favorites. When I first saw it, I thought that was a sword in his hands. Later - much later - I realized it’s a golf club. Duh.  

Anyway, this photo actually inspired the addition of Rick St. John - a main character in Davin’s Quest - though I’m not usually one of those writers who keeps photos of hunks around for inspiration. Honestly, I usually prefer to imagine my characters in a very nebulous sort of way. Attaching a famous person’s face to them kind of ruins it for me. Especially when said famous person turns out to be a jerk in real life.

But for whatever reason, every time I think of Rick, this photo comes to mind. I think it’s the grumpy look on his face, the definition of those muscles - like he’s lived a hard life (which my charater, Rick, definitely has) - and the devil-may-care attitude of appearing in public in a canary yellow towel. The whole thing just says, “I’m gonna do what I want and wear what I want. What’s it to you? Now get out of the way.”

So for those of you who are interested in such things, this is where the character Rick comes from in the second book of my Resonance Mates series. The first book (Hara’s Legacy) is due out in print any minute now, and Book 2 (Davin’s Quest) is now available in ebook and will be in print in late December/early January.

Davin’s Quest - Available Now!

Which man will Callie choose, the alien or the warrior? Or can she have both?

Resonance Mates Book 2

For each Alvian, there is one perfect match—a Resonance Mate whose soul blends in perfect harmony. Unlike the rest of his race, Davin has emotions and suffers for it. Without a mate, he is doomed to go mad. Searching for answers and understanding, he seeks out Callie O’Hara, a human woman with strong empathic gifts. Could this fragile human be his Resonance Mate?

Rick St. John is a tough-as-nails survivor of the Alvian occupation of Earth. He doesn’t believe in much, but when he sees Callie for the first time, he starts to believe in love at first sight.

The Governing Council is gunning for Davin, the upstart who dares to defy them. And they’ll kill anyone who gets in their way. Davin and Rick must come to terms with their feelings for Callie in order to keep her safe, while she has to find a way to save them both…with her love.

Warning: Warning, this title contains hot alien love, explicit sex, graphic language, and ménage a trois.

Read An Excerpt Online

ARe Awards!

I won two awards last night! Wow! ARe hosted a great ceremony in their chat room with videos made by ScrapFairy Designs just for the occasion. You can see my winning vids on YouTube at:

Best Author: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2PVvh041Ww

Best Book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9lh7FnZdrs

Sorry, I have yet to learn how to embed a video on this blog (any WordPress fans out there willing to coach me through it?). If I can figure out how to post them to my website - which will undoubtedly be easier - I will.

Thanks to ARe for the honor!

Sneak Peek: Davin’s Quest Prologue

As promised, here’s a sneak peek at one half of the prologue from my upcoming release, Davin’s Quest. This section introduces one of our heroes and the way humans live in this future, post-apocalyptic world. This book is the second in the Resonance Mates series. Book One, Hara’s Legacy, will be out in print this March and is already available in ebooks formats.

Human 

Richard St. John was a hard case. Raised in the Waste since his early teens, he had only scattered memories of the way the world had been before the aliens came—before the attack from orbit tore apart the fabric of the world.

He’d wanted to be a doctor in the old days, but the crystal bombardment destroyed everything long before he was old enough to go to medical school. His mother died in the first wave, leaving his father heartbroken. But Rick’s father, Zach, was a survivor. He’d packed Rick up and they’d headed for the mountains in his pickup truck. They’d just barely made it before the next orbit when the attacks began anew.

Zachariah St. John had been both a doctor and an Army Ranger in the old United States and he taught his son everything he knew about living off the land and surviving in the wild. Rick’s old man had a sixth sense about nature and was able to keep them both safe through the waves of attacks that followed, each time the Earth rotated fully on its axis. They’d moved farther into the mountains, working their way north, into the deepest recesses of the Rocky Mountains. They kept up with radio reports about the decimated coastlines as tsunamis spawned by the massive crystal shards hitting the Earth’s oceans killed by the millions.

One day, their small transistor radio stopped working entirely. Only static met repeated attempts to tune in a station — any station at all. Civilization, as they’d known it, was over.

“Guess that’s it,” Zach said, stowing the antenna and switching off the radio. “We’re on our own now.”

The last broadcast had listed details of nearly unimaginable devastation. Coastlines all over the world under water from giant tsunamis. California separated down the line of the San Andreas fault. Massive earthquakes brought on by the crystal bombardment from space had finally clipped the golden state nearly in half. The ring of fire was more active than ever with two or three volcanoes erupting violently in the Pacific and Pacific Northwest.

The sky was dark with soot covering the sun, and autumn came early that year, but by the following summer, temperatures started drifting back to normal. The sun shone brightly in the sky—but so did alien craft.

Zach St. John took in the news spreading through the wastelands of the Rockies—now called simply the Waste—with his typical calm. They’d run into a trader one morning who told of tall, fair-haired aliens building a silver city on the plains. Rick asked his dad about it that night at dinner.

“I figured it was something like this, son,” Zach said as he dressed the rabbit they’d snared for dinner. “The attack came from orbit. First thing to go down was my sat phone and GPS. Not many world powers who could do that, and none that could launch an attack on the entire planet. Had to be something from outer space.”

“Aliens?” Rick wasn’t entirely surprised. They’d talked about various possibilities often during the early days. “So they’re not little and green like in the old movies.”

“According to the trader, they look a lot like us, but with elf ears.” Zach finished with the rabbit and looked at his son. “This changes things. Now that they’re on the surface, they might just start hunting. Up ’til now, all we had to worry about was other men. The stakes are higher now, because any race that can do what they did to our planet has got to have superior weaponry. You’re going to have to learn to defend yourself, and we’ll make plans for when they come.” 

Rick thought it significant that his father said “when” and not “if”. 

He spent the next ten years learning from his dad and growing to adulthood. They’d met a few fellow survivors along the way, but not many, and not often. They grew close in those years. 

Zach shared an amazing secret that helped keep them both alive. He had a strong gift of empathy with animals, and could sometimes pick up their thought images and see through their eyes, sensing when the animals of the forest were scared or felt threatened. He could also read people, but only when he touched them. 

Rick had his own secrets. He finally let his father in on the biggest of them. He could heal most wounds by simply laying his hand over them and thinking real hard. That was why he’d wanted to study medicine—to find out how he did what he did, but also to help people with his gift. 

Through their infrequent interactions with other survivors, they realized they weren’t the only ones with psychic abilities. It seemed like every single soul they met had something different about them. Many had small amounts of precognitive ability that had led them out of harm’s way before the attack began. Some were telepaths, some could move things with their minds. Others had combinations of skills that were often benign, but some were downright deadly.

All in all, Rick preferred to be on his own—just him and his dad. They didn’t need the society of others, except for one thing, but hetero sex was hard to come by since there were so few women among the survivors of humanity. Still, Rick grew into a good looking young man and the few women he was able to charm were as eager for him as he was for them. But dalliances were few and far between as the lack of females turned many of the male survivors into beasts. Women went into hiding for their own protection, though few towns existed with even fewer inhabitants.

“I pity women today,” Zach would often comment after contact with others. “They’re traded like commodities, forced into whoring or multi-partner families. That’s not the way it was, son. You should always remember that. You were old enough to know the way it should be. The way our family was. God knows, I miss your mother more every day, but I wouldn’t have wanted her to see the level of depravity to which we have sunk.”

Rick took all his father’s teachings to heart, but especially that one. He’d just been starting to date when the cataclysm happened and felt strongly that girls should be protected, not exploited. Every time he saw some poor, frightened creature creeping about a settlement under guard by one of her protectors, the lesson was driven home again. He’d never sink that low.

The likelihood he’d ever have a woman of his own was close to nil, but Rick didn’t curse fate—at least not too often. He had his dad. That was more family than most people could claim nowadays. So the St. John men lived off the land in their own small cabin out in the middle of nowhere.

Until the Alvians came. 

They heard the ships fly by in the night and then the miniscule sounds of one landing not far away. Silently Zach signaled his grown son to head for the woods behind the cabin. They’d planned for this kind of thing. Each man would fend for himself, since two together were more likely to be captured or killed. They had a rendezvous and backup plan already in place. 

Zach grabbed his son for one last hug before they headed out the doors—Zach out the front, and Rick out the back.

That was the last time Rick St. John saw his father.