I admit to having a soft spot where audiobooks are concerned. I do a lot of roadtrips and I flove listening to audiobooks when I'm on the road. Over the last few years I've listened to everything from Stephanie Plum to Nalini Singh to Felicia Day and more. When I go for long walks, I'll push play on the latest novel captivating me.
I really can't get enough of it and will actively collect audiobooks to keep a generous supply for future trips. Last year while I was driving from Dallas to San Diego for RWA, I nearly ran myself off the road laughing at Eve Langlais' A Demon and His Psycho. While I highly recommend this novel, please note that your laughter may impair your ability to operate heavy machinery!
The first time I heard one of my books in audio it was Some Like it Royal, and I couldn't stop giggling. Hearing someone else read my words blew me away. Then I had the great good fortune of working with Christine Padovan on my Always a Marine series.
It never fails to make me happy to hear my book in audio which is why I'm thrilled to share with you the release of The Judas Contact, Boomers Book 1 read by the amazing Dorian Bane. His voice is sweet, sexy, and perfect.
One of the definitions of fangirl from UrbanDictionary.com is “A female who has overstepped the line between healthy fandom and indecent obsession.” While I wouldn’t necessarily label my love of Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series as indecent, I don’t hesitate to call it an obsession. Since the day I opened Slave to Sensation and met Lucas, Sascha, Dorian, Mercy, Clay, Hawke, Sienna, Judd, Walker, Andrew, Riley, Nikita, and Vaughn, I fell utterly in love with the savage, beautiful, and provocative world inhabited by humans, Psy, and changelings.
I could probably spend hours trying to give you examples, point by point, for what happened that day I read her first book, but I don’t what to try and give you a Reader’s Digest of this world because it is absolutely something you must experience for yourself and to do that, it means reading the books—and I can’t stress this part enough, it means reading them in order.
With the release of Heart of Obsidian on June 4, there are currently 12 novels set in the Psy-Changeling world, several novellas and if you’re lucky enough to have subscribed to Ms. Singh’s newsletter, you get the occasional short as well. So without further ado, let me give you my reasons why this is a series you cannot miss, should rush out to buy right now if you haven’t, and if you have—well feel free to chime in below. The only thing I would ask for those of you who have read Heart of Obsidian – do not post spoilers below. I went into that novel spoiler-free and I believe to truly, truly appreciate the depth of the story Ms. Singh told is to take the same long journey through all the series to arrive at the same time as the rest of us.
How I Love Nalini Singh’s Breathtaking World
My Writing Brain Turns Off - One of the drawbacks to being a writer for me is an inability to turn off the writing brain when reading. For me what that means is I am always in critique mode, a turn of phrase that an editor may have dinged for me in the past will leap off the page or story crafting where I don’t quite believe a character’s motivations will jettison me from the book. Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling turns off that part of my brain. I become 100% reader, immersed in a colorful, thoroughly textured world with a vibrant history and oftentimes violently uncertain present, but tempered by passion and love.
Lush Setting - The series is set in the ‘near-future’ beginning sometime around 2079. But each book begins with a reflection back to 1979 when “Silence” began. This mixture of sober historical touches adds a level of depth and complexity to the ‘now’ within the series, a historical context if you will, and the wild promise of inherent danger.
Beautiful Savagery – The primary Changeling packs we meet are the Dark River leopards and the Snow Dancer wolves. They promise violence to anyone who attacks their ‘packs,’ but they are without question fierce in their devotion and loyalty as they are violent to those who would do them harm. The history of these packs is soaked in blood, forged in fire, and tempered by hearts that are openly compassionate to those that are weaker than they and this need to protect—frankly it’s sexy as hell and makes you wish you were a part of one of these packs for the security they would provide.
Icy Invitation – On the flip side of all that beautiful savagery is the ice-cold ‘perfection’ of the Silent Psy. Who doesn’t want to thaw the ice around these cold beings who willingly purge emotion through brutal suppression, reinforcement of painful dissonance, and absolute discipline because while their minds are brilliant and jagged in their power—they are also subject to the worst kinds of psychotic breaks. Yet it is the very thing that saves them that may damn them? The isolation from their own humanity is both vicious and vibrant—and when they awake, spectacularly magnificent. (Yes, I said I was a bit obsessed didn’t I?)
Balanced Utterly – But never discount the humans that also inhabit this world, the humans who stand in the balance between these two utterly powerful races. They are wonderful in their utter ‘normalcy.’ Several humans can be found in the Packs, but also outside of it. Three that stand out absolutely for me are Ria, whom we meet in one of the novellas, Tally, and Max. It’s easy to overlook them, because they don’t change shapes or have powerful mental abilities, but it is their humanity that makes them so captivating.
I could go on, and on, and on about the series as anyone who follows me on Facebook can attest. At 10 minutes to midnight on June 3rd, Heart of Obsidian, book 12 downloaded to my Kindle. I literally finished up the edit I was working on and immediately flipped open the Kindle to read. I stayed up until 4:30 in the morning to finish it. I’ve read it twice more since then and then I had to dive back in and re-read the entire series.
Words that come to mind:
Lush
Savage
Exquisite
Heart-wrenching
Love
On Saturday, June 8th, I had the delightful opportunity to see Ms. Singh at a local event called Boas and Tiaras. I had to take a moment since I was there as an author to catch her in the hall and go absolutely squee over the books. You see two years ago, I made some predictions about the series and was utterly delighted about those results. It thrilled me to be able to share with her just how immersed in the world she created that I have become and how much I loved the characters there—so much so that I literally do not care who she writes about next in this world, because I know I will love it. I have loved them all.
For now, I am deeply satisfied, but I know the hunger will come again as soon as we hear the title for the next book and we see the cover and of course, the countdown begins for 2014. But until then, I can visit the world occupied by Lucas, Vaughn, Dorian, Clay, Sascha, Faith, Judd, Brenna, Clay, Tally, Max, Sophia, Katya, Dev, Hawke, Walker, Lara, Sienna, Toby, Marlee, Ben, Roman, Julian, Tamsyn, Nate, Riley, Mercy, Drew, Indigo, Riaz, Adria, Kaleb, Father Perez, Vasic, Aden and so many more. I have a free pass.
I own the whole series.
So from the bottom of my reading heart, since reading truly was my gateway drug to writing—thank you Nalini Singh. I think Heart of Obsidian was the best yet and I cannot wait to take a trip back to Dark River and Snow Dancer country. My passport is ready!
As an author, it should come as no surprise that I love reading...I love reading so much I've lost hours of sleep night after night for years just to devour the next book in my TBR pile. But one of the drawbacks to being a full time writer means I don't get to read as often as I might like. I went to a conference a couple of weeks ago, spent time with readers and authors and came home with a burning desire to read--particularly several new releases that were scheduled to come out! I also came home with a cold that I haven't been able to shake (due in large part to the fact that we're in allergy hell season at the moment, too!)
Reading in Sunshine
You know the song, Walking on Sunshine?
This is how I feel about reading! This past week, I had the privilege of sharing release day with some of my favorite authors and while I'm on deadlines and I have so much to do, but I'm setting aside time every day to read--why? Because it's a rare joy that I tend to push aside because of "work" that has to be done. I write books, because I love to read and sometimes, you have to go back to the basics and read, read, read.
I have loved Patricia Briggs for years, her Mercedes Thompson series ranks as probably one of my favorite series of all time. Every book adds deeper nuances and layers to the world of Mercy, a coyote, and the wolf pack she calls home and the Alpha she loves. Adam and Mercy's romance fills me with hope and admiration--they aren't perfect, but they love each other so much. I devoured Frost Burned in one sitting and it's another exceptional addition to a fantastic world. If you haven't checked out these books, start with Moon Called and prepare yourself for a wonderful new addiction.
Lynsay Sands writes a lot of books, but her Argeaneau vampires are my favorites. While you don't have to read these in order, I would recommend it so you can see the world unfold. Sands' vampires are the descendants (and in some case the actual survivors) of the immortals of Atlantis--a handful who received nano technology that repairs their bodies but requires that they restore their blood supply. They aren't "vampires' of myth and legend, but they are fantastic. This is Anders' book and I'm crazy happy about it almost as much as I was for Christian Notte's book last year!
Nalini Singh is a gifted story teller and whether you love her angel books or her psy-changeling series (I adore both), she has a way of drawing you into her world and making it vibrant and alive inside of you. Wild Invitation features two previously published novellas (both of which I adored the first time and loved reading for a second) and two new ones--including one about Walker and Lara. Reading these three books reminds me of exactly why I love reading, why I became an author, and the demand to read them had me setting aside my to do list and chapters to write because I wanted to read.
Read.
Read.
Read.
When I realized that my new series from Samhain would share a release day with these fantastic storytellers, I squee'd like a fangirl. Four days later, I'm still nudging aside the writing I have to do or hurrying to get my chapters in so I can go play in their sandbox, dance in their worlds, and read in sunshine.
It's official! I'm a paranormal romantic. Not that this should surprise anyone who knows me, but being a bit of a schizophrenic writer, my love of the paranormal has waxed and waned in my book choices through the years. Like the cycles of the moon, I always return to a robust love affair with the books that marry two of my favorite genres: romance and fantasy. Weaned on romance novels courtesy of my grandmother, I fell in love with fantasy in my late elementary, early junior high career via Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Urban fantasy is something of a no brainer, but paranormal romance is like the cherry on my the library cream sundae!
What You Need To Know
So what do you need to know about me? I'm a fairly prolific author, I've always got about ten ideas vying for my mental attention. At any given time I'm editing one novel, writing another and plotting a third. If you're thinking that I'm a little bit nuts, don't worry.
I'm a lot nuts. Remember the schizophrenic comment above? Well, my love all books and genres translates into several series from erotic contemporary romance to paranormal romance to urban fantasy and one of my particular favorites at the moment: paranormal western historical romance. It's a marriage of everything I love in all those genres.
