Can She Move Past Who She Is?

In my newest dragon shifter paranormal romance, THE PROTECTOR, I had a ton of fun getting two characters together who had been at odds for years. But especially my heroine...for a few reasons.

Lyndi is a rare female-born dragon. This is the first heroine in the series not to be a human who is turned dragon later, so we get to see one already comfortable in her dragon skin. This makes her pretty badass. 

Unfortunately, female-born dragons struggle because they can't have children. Mates are found amount human women instead. But Lyndi isn't taking that lying down. She's built her own family by taking in orphaned dragons. I based these boys on my own nephews (and even let them pick their endings), which was so much fun.

However, Lyndi has another whammy. She's the cousin of the High King, which makes her a political pawn. Her eventual mating will be to benefit the king. Which is why she's kept Levi, the beta of her brother's team of enforcers, at arm's length so long. But everything is about to change...

I hope you enjoy Lyndi and Levi's story. Here's an excerpt!

Without warning, a thick arm banded around her stomach and yanked her right off her feet and under a different bush. She landed with a grunt she managed to only make in her head, swallowing the sound down.

Levi put his lips to her ear, his whisper barely audible. “Don’t move.”

Barely, she kept from wiggling, going as still as a mouse in the jaws of a cat. Only he didn’t let her go. They sat on the ground, her between his legs, which were bent at the knees on either side of her hips, his arm still solidly around her, his hard-as-steel chest pressed tight against her back.

She never allowed herself to get this close.

Damn if instant heat didn’t swamp her, molten at the junction of her thighs, setting her to pulsing in time to her heartbeat and pushing the pain in her lower back clean out of her head.

No. No. No. No. Now was not the time to let this unspoken, unacknowledged, lethal thing she felt toward him hold sway.

Lyndi forced herself to remain motionless, closing her eyes and reaching for calm. Control.

But his own heat surrounded her along with that sweet scent of cigar smoke and the smoothest brandy, like earlier in the war room, just like his voice. Is that what his skin would taste like?

Not the first time she’d wondered.

“Are you okay?” he husked.

“Fine.” Or she would be as soon as she could get away from him.

Her wound wasn’t her biggest concern right now. All shifters had accelerated healing, part of what allowed them to live so long. By the time Drake gave the all clear, she wouldn’t be lying about that.

A low grunt told her Levi didn’t believe her anyway, but for once he didn’t push her. After a pause, his arm relaxed against her and he uncurled his fisted hand, his fingers flattening against her belly.

“Stay where you are,” Drake ordered. He must still be dragon to be communicating telepathically. Where was he anyway? “I’m going to check whether they’ve gone.”

Against her, Levi’s body eased infinitesimally. She wouldn’t have known if she wasn’t plastered against him. Stiffening, she went to sit away from him, but he tightened his grip. “Hold still.”

He was right. Until Drake gave the okay, she should hold exactly as she was.

“You’re trembling,” he whispered, lips still at her ear, breath tickling. His fingers, which she was horribly aware of, brushed against her lightly. She might as well have been naked the effect that small touch had, sending electric sparks of need hissing through her blood.

“Don’t,” she warned, voice low.

The fingers stopped and he stiffened against her, muscles going rigid.

Guilt, an emotion that had only grown over the years of keeping this man at a distance, overrode common sense. “I’m ticklish,” she lied.

“Since when?”

“You’ve never touched me there, so you wouldn’t have known.” She winced. Wrong choice of words. Way too much inuendo for comfort. Change of subject time. “You know, if you hadn’t been distracting me, that dragon wouldn’t have got so close without me sensing him.”

“I wasn’t distracting you. I was just flying next to you.”

“Go fly next to someone else.”

“Back to the babysitting thing, are we?”

She still didn’t want to talk about that. Lyndi snapped her teeth together, catching her lip, and the metallic taste of blood hit her tongue.

“You know, I try to protect everyone on this team,” he pointed out, with a lingering hint of a chuckle. “It’s my job as beta.”

She should gratefully accept the reprieve and keep her mouth shut. “Are you laughing at me?”

“Not at you.”

“At what, then?”

Levi’s arm tightened around her. “I’m laughing at my own stupidity.”

“Which means what exactly?”

“Apparently no good deed goes unpunished when it comes to you,” he accused. “I’m trying to remind myself of that.”

“I don’t need your good deeds, either.”

A hiss escaped him. A sound of such frustration, so unlike Levi, that she tried to scoot forward slightly only to come up against the iron band of his arm.

“What do you need then?” he asked. “Because I can smell it all over you. Your need…it’s torture.”

Writing a Series Backwards

I never would have thought so before trying this crazy experiment, but writing backwards has its advantages.

Let me back up and explain…

I have 2 dragon shift series which are set in the same world and crossover into each other. Where Fire’s Edge features the dragon shifter Enforcers in the American colonies, Inferno Rising is all about the kings and clans of the same world. This will include characters that hop series, plot lines that are mentioned in both, and some situations that will impact both series.

Here’s the tricky part though… I wrote the first book in Inferno Rising,The Rogue King, first out of everything, despite it being the 4th book released between the two series. I did this for a few reasons.

The idea for The Rogue King was originally supposed to be a novella in a different self-pub’d series (Legendary Consultants). Each book in that series features a different kind of paranormal creature—a demigod and nymph, werewolves, psychics, ghost and seer, and this was going to be my dragon shifter and phoenix. Just a quick little thing I’d knock out between books (30-40k words tops). But as soon as Brand and Kasia made it onto paper, and the world started building out from what I’d already established in that series, I knew it needed not only a full-length book (it ended up at 100+k words), but its own series.

So that’s what I started writing and what I pitched to my editor at Entangled.

I was already discussing a dragon series with Heather, and we loved the concepts behind both. So we decided on the crossover series concept, allowing us to place both series in the same world. However, during the proposal process, we decided that the first books to come out would be the Fire’s Edge books because they are ebook-only. This decision was for two reasons. As ebook-only these books take less time to release, so we could get the out sooner. Also, we wanted to build momentum and interest in the world before releasing The Rogue King. 

So that's what kicked off the writing backwards. After I finished The Rogue King, I wrote The Boss and the prequel novella to that The Mate. Which come sooner in the timeline and were released first.

We had to continue that pattern because of timing. The Inferno Rising books are in print (in book stores) while Fire’s Edge are ebook only. Print books take longer in publication--about a year--vs. ebooks which are closer to six months. This means Inferno Rising has to be written sooner to account for the longer production process/timing.

That is basically the long explanation of why I’m writing the two series in backward order. I write a print book (Inferno Rising) and then the ebook (Fire’s Edge) that will release before it. Meanwhile, imeline-wise in the world, the publication dates are the order the books move.

But guess what!?

This process has been hugely helpful from a continuity and series building perspective, particularly for the eBooks. As I write each ebook, I already know every detail of what happens in the book that will come out after it. While I have a (admittedly complicated and convoluted) both-series-wide-plan, this process has allowed me to incorporate details, lay a few Easter eggs, plant some hints, and set up the next books in the series better than I would just writing in straight order.

On the downside, it means I wait a while to see each book come out after I’ve written it, but it’s worth it for the results in the end. I might do this for all future series. Lol.

By the way, each book is a different couple with their own HEA and stands alone. But, that said, you might want to read in release order to get the full experience. Now that The Rogue King is out, you decide! Should you start with Fire’s Edge and the Enforcers? Or try Inferno Rising and the kings?

The Rogue King - New Release Excerpt

I am so excited to announce my (coming in 10 days) new release--The Rogue King! The first book in my Inferno Rising series features dragon shifters kings and clans. This is a crossover from my Fire's Edge series, but they don't' have to be read in order, so jump right in!

This is also my first book in mass market paperback. You can preorder both print and eBook now!

Kasia Amon is a master at hiding. Who—and what—she is makes her a mark for the entire supernatural world. Especially dragon shifters. To them, she’s treasure to be taken and claimed. A golden ticket to their highest throne. But she can’t stop bursting into flames, and there’s a sexy dragon shifter in town hunting for her…

As a rogue dragon, Brand Astarot has spent his life in the dark, shunned by his own kind, concealing his true identity. Only his dangerous reputation ensures his survival. Delivering a phoenix to the feared Blood King will bring him one step closer to the revenge he’s waited centuries to take. No way is he letting the feisty beauty get away.

But when Kasia sparks a white-hot need in him that’s impossible to ignore, Brand begins to form a new plan: claim her for himself…and take back his birthright.

    

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT

Brand crossed his arms. “Are you going to run again?”

No. The thought punched through her. Kasia paused, trying to figure out why her gut reaction would be adamantly against leaving this man when logic told her she should run at the first opportunity. Not that she’d tell him that.

“I haven’t decided,” she murmured instead.

If he could find her, so could others. Possibly others who’d be worse.

“Why’s that?” he asked.

She gave him a direct look. “I’d rather the devil I know than the devil I don’t.” Did he flinch? Before he could comment, Kasia kept going. “I have mixed feelings about it. Some tell me to trust you, and some tell me not to.”

“Trust me?”

She almost laughed at the deep doubt in those two words, not that she blamed him. “Yes.”

“Word to the wise…”

She felt that gaze again, almost like a caress, and her skin prickled. What was wrong with her?

“Don’t give your trust too easily in this world. More often than not, people like me are out to harm you or use you.”

“Aren’t you trying to stop me from running away?” she pointed out. “You might want to work on your sales pitch.”

Brand frowned, and she got the distinct impression he’d surprised himself with his honesty, and not in a good way. Interesting.

Kasia leaned back on her hands and swung her feet, even while she watched him closely. “I do know some things about you.” She stood, intending to make her point, though now she was uncomfortably aware of how close that move brought her to him in the tiny room. Why’d they make this room so small? “You want to know what you were doing in every vision I’ve had of you?”

His shoulders stiffened, his biceps stretching out his T-shirt a little more. “What?”

“Protecting. Sometimes me, sometimes others. Big ways. Small ways. But always protecting.”

Brand jerked, though his expression didn’t change one iota.

Kasia kept pushing. “Look at how you handled our first meeting. Your instinct was to help me.”

Now he scowled. “My first instinct was to claim you.”

They both froze, gazes locked, as his harsh words lingered in the air between them. If he’d meant to shock her, prove her wrong, all he’d managed to do was give her ideas. Ones that aligned way too closely with those fantasies she’d indulged in about him all year long.

Wrong, wrong, wrong ideas, but her body tingled in all the right places. However, he’d also hit on the fact that confused her the most. He was a dragon shifter, a creature she had to avoid, someone she shouldn’t put her trust in regardless of the visions.

After a long, uncomfortable stretch of silence, she realized how carefully he was holding himself. From touching her? She cleared her throat.

“You won’t hurt me,” she insisted.

“You’re right. I’m going to take you to the king, then you’re no longer my problem.”

Prologue or Not? (+ Excerpt from The Boss)

Prologues are the best!!! I love prologues both as a writer and as a reader!

Can a bad one immediately turn a reader off? Absolutely. A bad prologue is one that is boring, does nothing to drive the story forward or give critical context, is too long, and/or is only used for an info dump.

Is a prologue a good idea for every story?

Mating May Tear Them Apart (New Release - The Boss)

In shifter worlds, mating and how it works is a pretty big deal, critical to relationships and inter-shifter/inter-pack dynamics. Which is why I decided to make it the central conflict of my brand new dragon shifter series, Fire's Edge.

Yes, I still have fated mates, but I'm throwing in a bit of a wrench in that dragon shifters (who live thousands of years) have politicized the entire mating process. It doesn't help that if the mates choose wrong, the woman dies in the process and the guy loses part of his soul. And, if a male doesn't find his mate by a certain age, he'll die sooner as his body, his mind, or both breaks down. 

Those in power can't entirely force the issue by assigning mates to the "right" people--the fates and certain physical marks prevent that. However, there has to be a reason some clans aren't getting as many mates, some shifters have never found theirs, and more and more mates are dying in the process.

Meanwhile, the heroes of the Fire's Edge series are a team of enforcers who were hand picked by their kings to enforce the laws in the colonies. The position is one of honor, given only to the best fighters and most loyal dragons. So how can they question the very processes and laws they've sworn to uphold?

The mating situation has already caused problems for our team of enforcers. A few have experienced the terrible side--losing a false mate or never having been chosen. One of their ranks has turned traitor, leaving the team and fighting them directly. And all are about to question the process in their own way as dragon mates find them.

The conflict through the course of the series will become one of choosing sides, determining who to trust, protecting the men they consider to be brothers, and possibly breaking with the very shifters who put them in the positions they love in the first place. Can finding their own mates impact the bone deep loyalty of the men who've sworn to protect the laws and the very way of life of their people?

You can start finding out with two new releases!

The Mate

In this FREE prequel short story, discover the current way mates are found and presented to each other, and decide for yourself if the process is broken or just...complicated.

Available Now!

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The Boss

In book 1 of the Fire's Edge series, meet Finn and his team of dragon shifter enforcers and see how their world starts to pivot when Delaney, a human with a dragon problem, enters the picture.

Releases 9.24.18 - Preorder Now!

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