31 July 2011

Where am I and what am I doing in this leather outfit?

A long time ago in a land far, far away… well, you might know it as Canada, I tapped out my first awfully melodramatic words in the realm of fanfiction.

No, no - don’t run!

Actually, fanfiction was only a sideline in addition to working on my own original works. But I did end up with quite a following in the fanfiction world and one sweet fan email from a young man in Pennsylvania who just adored my work.

Of course you know where that led. Yep, a few years later I left the Great White North to marry the poor fellow and settle down in the U.S. Being a Kept Woman (trademark pending) now I turned my attention full time to writing science fiction and paranormal romance, writing what I liked to read and wanted to read.

I charged into the official writing world with a few short story sales to places such as GRIT Magazine but lived for that yearly bit of insanity known as NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. In 2008 I bashed out a superhero novel based on my love of comic books, superheroes and all those darned annoying questions I kept asking myself.

Why did the bad guy always get away? What was wrong with the court system that even when the bad guys got caught they’d escape or be freed by the next issue? Who were these people anyway?

A year later the book was contracted by Samhain Publishing and “Blaze of Glory”, the first in a series, hit the virtual and physical shelves in April, 2010. The sequel, “Heroes Without, Monsters Within” is due to be published in January 2012 with a third book in the works.

Here’s the official blurb for “Blaze of Glory”




Saving the world is easy for a superhero—unless you’re a fraud.

Jo Tanis is a superhero, fighting evil on the city streets, using her ability to feed off electromagnetic energy and fire off charges—and it’s all just a show. The Agency captures her and others like her when their powers begin to manifest, pitting them against each other in staged, gladiatorial fights. An explosive implant on the back of her neck assures she’ll keep right on smiling for the camera and beating up the bad guys.

When Earth comes under attack, suddenly the show becomes deadly real. Unable to deal with a real alien, the “supers” are falling in droves. Millions of innocent civilians
are going to die…unless Jo can cobble together a team from among the fake heroes and villains the Agency enslaved. Including Hunter, who not only promises to show
her how to deactivate the implants, but seems to know more than he should about how the mysterious Agency operates.

Forcing a rag-tag bunch of former enemies to work together is the least of Jo’s problems. The trick is determining if Hunter is friend or foe—and becoming the hero everyone
thought she was before the world is destroyed for real.


Not too long after that I ventured into the world of steampunk with “Wild Cards and Iron Horses”, delving into my long lost love of Westerns and adding a dash of the old television show “The Wild Wild West”. Published by Samhain in August of 2010 in ebook form with the print version out in June 2011, it was well received by steampunk fans.

Here’s the blurb for “Wild Cards and Iron Horses”








Their love rides on a spring and a prayer...

During the recent Civil War, a soldier risked his life to save Jonathan Handleston—and lost. With the help of an advanced metal brace on his crippled hand, Jon now travels from one poker tournament to the next, determined to earn enough money to repay the man’s debt.

Prosperity Ridge is supposed to be the last stop on his quest, but his brace is broken and he needs an engineer to repair the delicate mechanisms. The only one available is Samantha Weatherly, a beautiful anomaly in a world ruled by men.

Sam is no fool. Jon is no different from any other gambler—except for his amazing prosthetic. Despite a demanding project to win a critical contract to develop an iron horse, she succumbs to the lure of working on the delicate mechanisms. And working with the handsome Englishman.

Like a spring being coiled, Samantha and Jon are inexorably drawn together. Sam begins to realize honor wears many faces, and she becomes the light at the end of Jon’s journey to redemption. The only monkey wrench is Victor, a rival gambler who will stop at nothing to make sure Jon misses the tournament.

Even destroy Jon and Sam’s lives.

Both “Blaze of Glory” and “Wild Cards and Iron Horses” were nominated for the 2011 Prism Awards, given out by the Futuristic, Fantasy and Paranormal Special Interest Chapter of the Romance Writers of America. Both books came in Second Place in their respective categories.

I’ve also got an unnamed paranormal romance coming out in February 2012 from Carina Press about a private investigator called into a murder investigation by her family. Not *that* type of family-her Felis family who threw her out of the fold years ago because of her disability. But when the murdered victim is also a Felis her family needs the best on the job and the best happens to be Rebecca Dejardin, no matter what her status or disability.

So… that’s about it about me. Aside from my Wookie I’m also presently owned by a fat fuzzaloid named Mitchell who loves to cuddle on hot, hot days and have a Second Life as a clockwork dragon in the steampunk town of New Babbage in the virtual world of Second Life.



And as a true Canadian… *offers tea and scones*

There’s cold beer over here for the rest of you. Good Canadian whiskey if you need it and proper Guinness for those of you who like to chew on your beer.

Have a good day!


Sheryl Nantus
http://www.sherylnantus.com

3 comments:

Xakara said...

Wonderful introduction! So glad to have you aboard, Sheryl! :)

~X

Jean Marie Ward said...

Welcome, Sheryl. And not to worry, lots of us cut our teeth on fanfiction. My particular vice was HIGHLANDER. First fiction I'd finished since high school. :-)

Jody W. and Meankitty said...

I don't know about the whiskey, but you definitely write in my favorite subgenres otherwise :)

Jody W.