biancadarc.com Blog

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!!!

New Sale: CAT’S CRADLE

New sale to Samhain! CAT’S CRADLE is a cat shifter story, the first in a planned trilogy called String of Fate. Get it? Cats. String games. Fate. Well, it works in my mind anyway. *shrug*

The hero in this book is a sexy Pantera Noir shifter. The heroine is a nurse who stumbles into his path. There is also a great housecat supporting character named Chuck who does his best to help his human friends. The trilogy will delve into the world of big cat shifters and their ancient society. Panthers, tigers and other big cats will make an appearance. I think you’ll be intrigued by their intricate societal structure.

Right now we’re talking about a January ebook release date, but don’t hold me to it until the powers that be guve me a solid date.

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!

Romance in the News

Was anybody else insulted by the recent Washington Post article titled When Romance Writers Gather, The Plot Quickens? While the reporter tried to give the article a smiley face ending, she also managed to get in all the digs she possibly could in the front three quarters of the piece. It felt like she sought out the most outrageous quotes she could find to support her theory that all romance writers are slobbering orgasm-crazy fiends. The female equivalent of sweaty men at a peep show in the old Times Square (before Disney moved in).

Here’s a particularly irritating quote: “You are whining, They’re just writing FORMULAS. To which the astute romance writer will reply: So?”

I’ve never consciously written to a formula in my life. I wonder how many successful romance writers are writing formulaic prose? (Let’s hold Harlequin/Silhouette and their secret baby/marriage of convenience penchant aside for the moment.) Is Linda Howard or Nora writing formula? Is anyone who’s successful really sitting down in front of their computers, rubbing their hands together and saying to themselves “okay, let’s make this novel fit the formula.”

I seriously doubt it. While I agree there may be things that are universal themes – good v. evil, the heroic quest, Romeo/Juliette, etc… – I just don’t agree that the majority of romance is written to some secret formula.

Then in a schitzophrenic move, a new article appeared on the Washington Post site. This one titled Romance Novels Still Fighting For Respect by Ron Charles. This guy gets it. He actually took a moment to listen to what the successful writers and booksellers were saying at the recent RWA convention in DC. He had the good sense to talk to my friend, Rosemary Potter of Rosemary’s Romance Books in Brisbane, Australia. As many Aussies do, she no doubt gave him straight talk about what’s what in the romance world.

This part of his article struck me most:

In a sense, romance still labors under the burden that used to weigh on all fiction. Puritan sermons in the 17th century were spiked with warnings about reading novels. Thomas Jefferson railed against novels, too, claiming they were “a great obstacle to good education…a poison [that] infects the mind. The result is a bloated imagination, sickly judgment, and disgust towards all the real businesses of life.”

He went on to talk about Eloisa James. While Eloisa is an interesting case of a highly educated woman writing and succeeding at romance, she isn’t by any means the only one. I’m a lawyer. So is Caridad Pinero, Nalini Singh, JR Ward, and a number of others I could name. Then there’s Jennifer Cruise – also a literature professor, if I remember correctly. There are lots and lots of other highly educated women writing and reading romance. So why does everyone assume romance is for “stupid” women with nothing better to do?

It’s insulting and incorrect. Articles like the first one I mentioned only play into prolonging the myth. At least Mr. Charles gets it. Kudos to him for telling the truth and not going for the cheap laugh at the expense of a legitmate, successful, and growing industry.

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In Print Now Love… the grandest experiment of all.  Third book in the EPPIE Award winning Resonance Mates series. Buy Now from Amazon In eBook 6/30/09 A forbidden union forged in love — and tempered in hellfire.  The much anticipated sequel to Lords of the Were. Click Here to Learn More

The Zombies Are Coming!

Did somebody say zombies? Yes, indeed, I’ve been writing a zombie novella for the past few weeks which will appear in a Brava anthology in January 2010. This is my first book for Kensington and I couldn’t be more thrilled! Especially as my story will be teamed with one by the lovely and talented, Zoe Archer.

My story for the anthology, tentatively titled “Simon Says” features an experiment gone horribly wrong, turning dead Marines into zombies. Special ops soldier, Simon, is the only person ever known to have survived a zombie bite, which makes him the perfect man to hunt them down. When the zombies close in on his former girlfriend, a Navy doctor, the lovers are reunited. They face the zombie menace together, forging a new relationship.

That’s it, roughly. It still needs a little polishing, of course. From what I understand the anthology will have two stories. The other is a zombie historical. (Those zombies sure do get around!)

Zoe describes her contribution to this anthology as follows:

“In THE UNDYING HEART, Major Sam Reed, a veteran of the Crimean War, is on the trail of the man who turned him into the living dead.  All Sam cares about is vengeance, until he crosses paths with Cassandra Fielding, a girl from his youth.  Cassandra’s a grown woman now, and hasn’t forgotten Sam, nor the infatuation she once had for him.  A strange twist of fate has put them on the same hunt, for the same black-hearted villain.  Cassandra is about to learn that this dark, dangerous Sam is not the boy she once adored.  And Sam discovers that being dead doesn’t protect him from falling in love.”

Sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it? Stay tuned for more news as it becomes available… and beware the zombies! >:-)

May Newsletter is Available Now

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Jaci’s Experiment in Print June 30, 2009 from Samhain Publishing More Information Love…the grandest experiment of all.	Highlights Excerpt from Inferno New Sales New Contest & much more! All in our fabulous May Newsletter!

Sale! Grady’s Awakening to Samhain!

I’m pleased to announce that book 4 in my Resonance Mates series, Grady’s Awakening, has been contracted by Samhain Publishing for release later this year in ebook and sometime next year in print. More news as it becomes available!

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FireDrake In Print March 31, 2009 from Samhain Publishing More Information A knight most unexpected…	Highlights Excerpt from FireDrake New Contest News & much more! All in our fabulous March Newsletter!