It’s
been some time since my last blog entry. So, I thought it was high time I check
in to let everyone know what I have been up to in my absence. Upon releasing Awaken, the first book in my new trilogy, The Priestess and the Warrior,
and finishing up Accept,
book two of same trilogy, I decided to take a small break and write a fun
little short story about vampires.
Tons of research goes into The Priestess and the Warrior series, and I have been overcome with a
longing to write a small story for my own entertainment before I finish the final book, Avowal.
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| St. Louis Cathedral Right before the rain. Satisfyingly gloomy and mysterious. |
My
original plan involved writing a quick little read which I could share for
free on various media sites. I love
vampires. For those of you that know me, you know I have been a closet vampire
fiction girl since I was 9 years old. Naturally,
my “just for fun” short story would be about what else but vampires. On this one topic, no research was needed. Again, since I was 9 I have consumed every
single piece of vampire literature I could grasp with my hands. I’m practically an expert; I thought.
Errr…
326
pages later…
No,
your eyes are not playing tricks on you.
Short story, hah! Only this week
I finished up the final chapter of the fun little vampire story, and lo and
behold, it’s 326 pages and 36 chapters.
That’s right! It’s the longest short story in history. It’s a freaking novel. AND I have done more research for this book
than any other I have ever written. The
only part that I had right about this entire project is that it has been very
fun to write. The atmosphere is dark and
lush. The vampires are moody and beautiful. What’s not to love?
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| Lone Sousaphone The promise of music to come |
Needless
to say, I should have known before I put pen to paper that I could not possible
write only a few pages about vampires, especially when the entire story takes
place in none other than New Orleans, my favorite city in the entire world. So, now the titled book, Bound by Blood, is a working
novel that I shall release sometime in the near future as I continue to finish
up the final book of The
Priestess and the Warrior trilogy to be titled Avowal.
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| Panoramic of one of the Easter parades we attended. The corner of Bourbon and St. Philip. |
In the
meantime over Easter weekend, I took a much awaited sabbatical to the beach for
a few days, and then crowned the trip with the perfect outing on Easter Sunday
to New Orleans for a little lunch and a couple of Easter parades! It seems that whether I am attempting to
write a short story that takes place in that beautiful, vibrant city, or
whether I’m stopping by for a little lunch and adventure, I cannot seem to
shake New Orleans from my soul.
If you
are interested, available in both paperback and for Kindle, you can purchase a
copy of Awaken here: bit.ly/AwakenTPATW.
Clearly, I have been bitten by the Crescent City Muse. New
Orleans is the spark to my imagination and the song in my heart. What inspires you?
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| Elaborate Mardi Gras Indian Costume We met this man on the corner of Jackson Square. |
ReplyDeleteI love that you love New Orleans so much! I hope you will continue to write stories that happen in this wonder world that is graced by so much art, music and delicious food! I think it must be grand to write something “fun” that turns out to be an actual book filled with the ambiance and city you love. BOUND BY BLOOD sounds like a fine tribute towards the Crescent City, your beloved Vampyres, and of course, both the living and non-living that daily grace and inhabit those macerated-in-luscious-history old brick cobbled city blocks which form the Vieux Carrere. What inspires me? Passion…passion for music, for theatre, for art, for creating food and sharing it with those I love, and for people who demonstrate great heart….I am inspired by the people I have met in New Orleans, too, for they have tremendous heart. One day, I hope I become a citizen of that heartbeat and dwell there among their passion…for life. Please write more books about New Orleans!!
There is a great chance that after I finish writing Avowal I will write more New Orleans based books. I, too, am planning to move to the Big Easy.
DeleteI think, like me, you have a great passion for beauty and heart. Beauty is found in so many different mediums. New Orleans happens to be one of them.