Blue Moon for Bianca

Well, it's my own little version of a Blue Moon - this month I get to blog TWICE on BTV! The Keeper of the Calendar schedules us all every so many weeks (I think it's 4) and this month, I ended up blogging at both the beginning of the month and now, just before the end of the month. Neat, huh?

I'm happy to say, a lot has been going on. First, I should mention that the rest of the Dragon Knights books will be coming out in print - one per month - until next March. So next up is Border Lair on October 1st, I believe.

This new print edition has a bonus in it. It also contains the new novella, Master at Arms, which was written expressly for this purpose. So you get two stories in one book. You can pre-order this new print edition at Amazon, B&N, Samhain, and wherever print books are sold.

I'm hard at work on a few different projects at the moment. We're in the middle of edits on a book that will probably be releasing next March, called Harry's Sacrifice. It's the 5th and final book in my award-winning Resonance Mates series and I'm glad to finally have the book on its way to publication. I know a few die hard fans have been waiting a long time for it!

I'm also finalizing the 2nd book in my Tales of the Were - Redstone Clan series. It's called Red, and it will be out later this month in both ebook and print. Here's a little bit about it...

Steve Redstone agrees to keep an eye on his friend's little sister while she's partying in Las Vegas. He's happy to do the small favor to an old Army buddy. What he doesn't expect is the wild woman who heats his blood and attracts too much attention from Others in the area.

Steve ends up defending her honor, breaking his cover and seducing the woman all within hours of meeting her, but he's helpless to resist her. She is his mate and that startling fact is going to open up a whole can of worms with her, her brother and the rest of the Redstone Clan.

As I said, it will be out mid-October. I don't have a final date yet, but stay tuned to my website, blog, etc. I'll be announcing the date as soon as I know. Meanwhile, I have another book that is now available for pre-order...

Wolf Quest is the much-anticipated sequel to last year's RT Award Nominated Wolf Hills. It releases on December 10th, but you can pre-order it now! Here's a little bit about it...

Love and magic lie at the heart of this storm... as well as a whole lot of danger.

When Major Jesse Moore, brother to the Wyoming Pack Alpha, is sent to Iowa to check on his sister-in-law's cousin, knocking politely isn't an option. Sounds of a struggle send him storming into her kitchen -- where he finds anything but a damsel in distress. The tiny human woman knows how to handle herself in a fight, and all Jesse's senses shout she's his mate.

Exotic-animal vet, Maria Garibaldi has never trusted the magic her aunt and grandmother claim is her birthright. She's always known about the Others, but she had no idea she was also part of their world. When Maria sets out with Jesse to find the parents of a young grizzly shifter she found and treated, she learns the meaning of temptation in the form of the ex-Special Forces soldier.

As passion flares, the trail leads them toward the eye of a massive storm... where an unspeakable evil awaits the right moment to destroy the good in the magical world.

Warning: Things get explicit when a werewolf wants his mate and he doesn't care where they are. Outdoors, indoors, wherever and whenever -- never get between a wolf and his woman.

Pre-Order Now from Amazon, B&N, Samhain and wherever ebooks are sold.

As always, you can get more information on all my books on my website: WWW.BIANCADARC.COM

See you next month!

- Bianca

Aliens, Shifters & Dragons! Oh my!

Happy Labor Day, everyone! Well, everyone in the U.S., that is. ;-) I'm enjoying my "day off" by... working! Big surprise there. A writer never really gets a day off.

I opened my email this morning to find edits for Harry's Sacrifice - a book that will (hopefully) be out next March, though I don't have a firm release date for it yet from the publisher. It's the fifth and final book in my award winning Resonance Mates series and I'm really happy to finally have it in the pipeline for publication. It's been a long time coming.

I'm also putting the finishing touches on my next Redstone Clan book, titled simply Red. The hero is Steve Redstone, the second eldest cougar shifter in a family of five brothers. Each will be getting his own story either later this year or early next year. With any luck, Red will be out in mid-October.

The next story, Magnus, is slated for either late December of January release, but I already have the cover. Isn't he yummy? He's a werecougar, but he has this thing for a woman from his past. A woman with fangs...

I'm also working at drumming up some more votes for Dragon Knights: Master at Arms, which is up for Book of the Month over at LASR. If you feel so inclined, please go over and vote. I think the voting ends today. The book came out on 8/20 and I'm really pleased with how well it's doing. Here's a little bit about it...

Master at Arms

When Cara's half-brother is gravely wounded, she rallies the defenders of their keep as best she can. She knows how to fight, but is smart enough to realize she cannot-and should not-lead men into battle. No, that is the job of the Master at Arms, a mysteriously attractive foreign fighter named Tristan.

But when deadly, venomous creatures called skiths attack, only dragons can save them. A flight of dragons arrives in the nick of time-among them an unpartnered dragon named Rath and his mate with her handsome knight partner, Sir Thorn. Until Rath finds a knight and both knights find their lady, the dragons cannot be together. But fate may have just stepped in to help both dragons and men.

Caught on the ground, Rath is in serious danger from a rogue skith when Tristan comes to his rescue. His courage impresses the dragon greatly. This is a man who could be a knight... if his loyalties can be won by dragonkind.

And all is not as it seems with Cara's family and the half-brother who wants nothing more than to pack her off to a loveless marriage, sold to the highest bidder. It will take all the diplomacy and skill of both Thorn and Tristan to set things right... and win Lady Cara's heart for themselves.

Warning: When two dragons really want something, it's best not to stand in their way. And when their knights are focused on a single woman, nothing and no one will stop them from getting what they want. Beware! This trio gets up to all kinds of naughtiness in the pursuit of true love.

Buy Now from: Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Samhain - and other fine ebook sellers.


And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the sequel to Wolf Hills. It's called Wolf Quest and it'll be releasing on 12/10. I can't wait!!! It's a werewolf story with a twist. Lots of magic and magical creatures in a very action-oriented story. I really think people are going to like it! At least I hope they will!!!

So that's my Labor Day - work, work, work. I hope you all managed to get in a barbeque or something! It's pretty rainy here on Long Island today, so that wouldn't have really worked for me anyway, but it's nice to dream...

B.

Bianca D'Arc
www.biancadarc.com

Dragons and Cougars and Bears, Oh My...

When you stop to think about it, what we call romance fiction today is quite a far cry from what it used to be. Shapeshifters and fantasy creatures have gone mainstream in a big way - something that was taboo when I first started reading romance back in high school. Back then it was all sea captains, pirates, gang bangs and rape fantasies.

So in some ways, we've evolved. Rape and incest (yes, I remember those books too! Published by big "NY" publishers!) are no longer considered allowable by most publishers. Thank goodness. And character types that were discouraged - I clearly recall submission guidelines saying "no vampires" for example or "no rock stars or celebrities" - are now commonplace.

I think a lot of this came about because the tiny cabal of publishers congregated in New York (where I was born and raised, and still live, by the way), have lost their monopoly on what books get published. The advent of small press publishing, and now, self-publishing, means that the readers decide what they want to read, rather than a small group of twenty-something editors fresh out of college and the elder statesmen in their editorial meetings.

Now, readers vote with their wallets. If they like a particular type of hero or storyline, they search it out and buy the book. As hundreds of thousands of people do this, it becomes clear what the reading population considers worth their time and money. It's very democratic, actually, and kind of beautiful.

I, myself, have been dipping my toes into the self-publishing waters this past year with what I consider good results. I see it as cutting out the middle-man. And as a bit of a control freak, it puts me in charge of a lot more. I get to choose the cover. I get to oversee the editing process. I choose who I hire to edit and proofread. I choose the cover artist and work with them to finalize the design. These are luxuries you never get from a traditional publisher.


It must be working because my indie book, Slade, is competing in All Romance eBook's Ultimate Shifter Challenge. If you haven't voted yet, please consider voting for him! He's in the 9th pairing this week, so scroll down and click! :)

I haven't given up on traditional and small press publishing completely though. An all-new novella in my Dragon Knights series is coming out later this month, on August 20th. It's called Master at Arms and it is a companion piece to the second book in the series, Border Lair, which will be re-released in print in October.

In fact, all the Dragon Knights books are being re-released in print, starting with Maiden Flight this September, one book per month until next March's release of Keeper of the Flame in print. And I'm very proud to say that Maiden Flight was just honored with a TOP PICK! from RT Book Reviews Magazine in their latest issue.

Sci fi is another area that was never really considered part of romance until recently. I've always loved it and looked for it when I was younger and thirsting for romances set in some fantastical future - or better yet - in space. My EPPIE Award Winning, futuristic erotic romance series, Resonance Mates, will draw to a close with the fifth and final book, Harry's Sacrifice.

I turned in the completed manuscript a few weeks ago and just signed the contract last week. (Because that's the way I like to do business, when possible - I hate signing first, then having due dates and deadlines. Who needs all that stress?) I'm hoping the book might make it onto their publication schedule for next March, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the publisher comes up with.

And as far as indie books go, my next project is called simply, Red. It's the second book in the sub-set of stories devoted to the five Redstone brothers. The Redstone Clan books are part of the larger Tales of the Were series that started way back when with a book called Lords of the Were.

The follow-up to that, called Inferno, was also published by small press, but then the series took a departure. I did a short story that was set in that world as a promotion for ARe a couple of years ago and after that, I decided to take the rest of the series indie.

In December of last year, I published Rocky. It was a story I had written years before and was finally able to pull together the way I always wanted it. It met with what I consider huge success. I had intended it as a test, but the readers responded well enough that I decided to write more. Rocky led to Slade and Slade led to Grif, the first of the Redstone Clan.

Grif was also a book I had written years before, but I'd never finished it or submitted it anywhere. The Redstone brothers and their relatives have shown up in cameo and supporting roles in many of my paranormals, but I never had a chance to tell their stories... until now. Over the next six months or so, the rest of the Redstone brothers will get their books, starting with Red, followed by Magnus, then Bobcat and then finally, Matt.

I hope you'll enjoy the ride as much as I do! And I'm sorry for getting so long winded. Usually, I never know what to say when I sit down to blog, but today, for some reason, I'm finding it hard to stop! (I've already cut this blog down three times!) ;-)

To find out what I'm up to, visit my website at www.biancadarc.com or catch me on facebook! :)

Until next time,
Bianca

Milestones

Last week - Valentine's Day, to be exact - marked a milestone for me. It was the 7th anniversary of my being a published author. I can't believe I've come so far in a direction I never, in a million years, expected to go. Wow. Seven years and 20-something books later... I'm about to hit another milestone - sort of - and come full circle.

You see, the first book I ever had published was Dragon Knights: Maiden Flight, way back on 2/14/06. It was reissued last August in a new edition with a new, sexier cover, but the story is essentially the same.

The milestone comes in when you realize that next week, my seventh Dragon Knights novel will be released. Keeper of the Flame is brand new, novel length, and will bring us all back to visit Draconia, it's dragons, knights, shapeshifters, etc, yet again.

To be precise, there are - or will soon be - a total of 10 Dragon Knights stories. Seven novels, if you count Keeper of the Flame, and three novellas. One is already out and has been for years. It was part of the I Dream of Dragons anthologies several years ago. It's called Wings of Change.

Later this year, two new novellas will be released. Dragon Knights: The Dragon Healer will come out in ebook in July and be part of the new print edition of Maiden Flight (the print book will have the novella in it as a bonus story). Dragon Knights: Master at Arms will come out at the end of August and will likewise be in the new print edition of Border Lair.

I'm really enjoying going back to my roots with the dragons and knights this year and I can't wait to see how the new stories are received by readers. I'm always nervous until I start to hear back from the readers!

And this year is also marking a return of sorts for me. I took quite a bit of time off from writing the past three years and only in recent months have I started to write more. I hope to continue to improve on that and get quite a few more stories out this year. Wish me luck! ;-)

Meanwhile, here's a little bit more about Keeper of the Flame and links where you can pre-order it and The Dragon Healer (which is already on sale on Amazon). Hope you like it!

Keeper of the Flame

A warrior, a maiden... and a passion that could set the whole world aflame.

Dragon Knights, Book 7

Despite the fact he is the largest of his half-dragon brothers and better suited to fighting, Hugh has been sent on an undercover mission. Forced to stay in human form, he must discover if the land of Helios is truly the Draconian ally it pretends, or something more sinister.

When he witnesses injustice in the form of a misshapen baby gryphlet kicked out into the cold, he cannot remain in the shadows and watch the child suffer. All he can hope for is that his act of kindness will go unnoticed so his mission can continue.

But someone does notice. When Lera cautiously approaches Hugh, she is drawn to his strange, foreign magic. She is entranced by its irresistible allure -- until assassins come calling and reveal her true identity.

She is Valeria, queen of Helios, Keeper of the Flame. And she has been betrayed. Together they must risk everything to uncover the traitors and reforge the alliance between their lands. Yet beneath their blazing passion, both are still keeping secrets. Secrets that the Sacred Flame will reveal -- if their love survives its cleansing fire.

Warning: When a dragon prince and a Flame Keeper come together, the conflagration is definitely too hot to handle!

Pre-order Keeper of the Flame now from: Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Samhain

Pre-order The Dragon Healer now from: Amazon

What's Happening in Bianca D'Arc's Worlds Lately...

So much has been going on over here since the last time I visited this blog... I'm sure I'll miss a few things, but the biggest recent thing has been the release of TALES OF THE WERE: ROCKY, which is still burning up the charts. Here's a little bit about it:

On the run from her husband's killers, there is only one man who can help her now... her Rock.

Maggie is on the run from those who killed her husband nine months ago. She knows the only one who can help her is Rocco, a grizzly shifter she knew in her youth. She arrives on his doorstep in labor with twins. Magical, shapeshifting, bear cub twins destined to lead the next generation of werecreatures in North America.

Rocky is devastated by the news of his Clan brother's death, but he cannot deny the attraction that has never waned for the small human woman who stole his heart a long time ago. Rocky absented himself from her life when she chose to marry his childhood friend, but the years haven't changed the way he feels for her.

And now there are two young lives to protect. Rocky will do everything in his power to end the threat to the small family and claim them for himself. He knows he is the perfect Alpha to teach the cubs as they grow into their power... if their mother will let him love her as he has always longed to do.

Buy it now from: Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Smashwords - and other etailers.

How about we look at some upcoming releases? I actually have one next week that will mark a bit of a milestone for me...

On Tuesday, 1/29, the last of my old Dragon Knights novels is being re-released. DRAGON STORM was revised for the release a bit more than the other five books in the series and marks the end of the re-releases. From now on, we will be having all NEW books in the series. Three new stories are slated for 2013 - one new novel, KEEPER OF THE FLAME, releasing on 2/26 and two new novellas - THE DRAGON HEALER and MASTER AT ARMS - which will be out in July and August of 2013.

First a bit about DRAGON STORM, in case it's new to you:

Their love will span the ages... and two very different worlds.Caught in a magical storm and deposited in modern-day Oregon, twin dragon princes Darius and Connor are looking for a way home. Instead they find something most unexpected - their mate. The one woman who holds both their hearts in the palm of her healing hand - along with secrets about her origins that link their shared destinies.

When Josie patches up the injured man on her doorstep, her snowcat instincts tell her he’s much more than a man. And so is his brother. She also knows her dragon lovers cannot fly free in the modern world. The only way to return them to their rightful place is to face the failures of her past, and leave the safety of her forest cabin to seek her estranged grandfather’s counsel. There she learns the painful truth: returning Darius and Connor to where they belong could mean giving up everything. Even her only chance for true love.

But fate has other plans for the trio. Magic swirls all around them. Whether it is for good or ill, only time will tell...

Warning: Contains a fiery hot ménage a trois, a wild cat-woman and two hunky dragon studs in black leather. A little time travel makes everything more interesting, doesn’t it?

Available for pre-order from: Amazon - Samhain

And in a surprise move, THE DRAGON HEALER is already up for pre-order, so here's a little bit about it:

What’s better than a knight sweeping you off your feet? Two knights.

Silla is a healer riding circuit on the border, helping those in need. When she hears the pained cries of a dragon in distress, she comes to his aid, using most of her precious supplies to help the badly injured creature.

The dragon’s knight, Brodie, is fascinated by the woman—the miracle worker—who has come to help his friend. She is both beautiful and kind hearted and he quickly realizes she is his destined mate. And if she is Brodie’s mate, she is Geoff’s as well, for Brodie’s dragon was mated to Geoff’s dragon many years ago.

Geoff doesn’t believe in the tales of love at first sight among knights, but he knows that when either he or Brodie finds a wife, they will share her. Hearing about the dragon’s injury, Geoff and his dragon race to help, only to find the dragon on the mend and Brodie in bed with the most stunning woman Geoff has ever seen.

Love at first sight turns out to be real and it strikes them all as they come together and realize that no matter what the obstacles, they are meant to be together. Silla is the missing link that will join their lives and make them a true Lair family.

Warning: Knights like to get frisky and these two are no exception. Beware the passion, playfulness, a bit of bondage and a whole lot of three-way loving with a tiny bit of exhibitionism thrown in for good measure.

Pre-order it now from: Amazon

And if paranormal or epic fantasy menage isn't  your thing, I also had a recent short story release in THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF FUTURISTIC ROMANCE, which is also available as a standalone ebook called END OF THE LINE. Here's a bit about that one:

Jit'suku Captain Fedroval - Val for short - shoots down a one-man fighter out near the Galactic Rim, but the pilot, much to his surprise and horror, is a woman named Lisbet Duncan. The alien jit'suku have a strict warrior code. In their culture, making war on females of any species is a shameful stain on one's honor. The captain doesn't quite know what to do with Lisbet, but he can't let her die alone in space. He orders his men to tow her life pod into his much larger battle ship.

Val is the last of his line - heir to a legacy that cannot be continued on his own world - because no respectable jit'suku woman will have him after the destruction of his family. He has put all his considerable resources into building his state of the art battleship and joining the fight to take the human galaxy, hoping to restore his honor in some small way. This is Val's first foray into human space and his first encounter with a human female. And wouldn't you know it? He falls for her, head over heels for her.

Lisbet is attracted to Val as well. When he puts the moves on her, she can't resist his masculine charm, but she doesn't like being a prisoner - even if she is being kept in a gilded cage, treated more like a guest. She doesn't know a lot about jit'suku culture and it's pretty clear they don't understand much about humans. It's going to be fun educating her captor about just how headstrong, fierce... and loving... a human woman can be.

Buy it now from: Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Smashwords - and other etailers...

I have hopes for a few more releases this year but no solid news except for the sequel to WOLF HILLS, which is called WOLF QUEST and is currently scheduled for release in December from Samhain Publishing.

So we're all caught up for now, I think. If I missed anything, you can always find information on my website: www.biancadarc.com or catch me on facebook. I'm on there as "biancadarc" if you want to find me. ;-)

Happy New Year!!!

Dragon Knights New Arrivals!

 

Great news! All of the novels in my award-winning Dragon Knights series are being reissued, one per month, with new covers and new (minimal) edits. They started with the first book, Maiden Flight, in August.

 

The second book, Border Lair, will be released later this month, on September 25th. The new editions have seriously sexy new covers, all done by the amazing artist, Angela Waters. She also did the amazing cover for my last book, Wolf Hills, and all the Brotherhood of Blood series.

 

So this month, from me, you're going to get a bit of a "commercial" - sorry. I'm just so excited about having these books reissued with new covers and, as I said, new edits. For those of you who might have already read this series, the edits aren't anything major, so you're still good, I think, with the original versions.

The big thing we're building up to is the release of the new Dragon Knights novel, Keeper of the Flame, scheduled for next February.

 

Here's a little bit about Maiden Flight, which is availalbe now, for your delectation...
 

War is coming for the dragon knights…but love may find them first.

Dragon Knights, Book 1

A chance meeting with a young male dragon seals the fate of one adventurous female poacher. The dragon’s partner, a ruggedly handsome knight named Gareth, takes one look at the shapely woman and decides to do a little poaching of his own.

Sir Gareth both seduces and falls deeply in love with the girl who is not only unafraid of dragons but also possesses a rare gift—she can hear the beasts’ silent speech. He wants her for his mate, but mating with a knight is no simple thing. To accept a knight, a woman must also accept the dragon, the dragon’s mate…and her knight, Lars, too.

She is at first shocked, then intrigued by the lusty life in the Lair. But war is in the making and only the knights and dragons have a chance at ending it before it destroys their land and their lives.

Warning: Contains dragons, their sexy knights and a damsel who is not quite in distress. Sizzling hot m/f/m scenes may leave you breathing fire.

You can buy Maiden Flight now from: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Samhain, and other fine ebook sellers. This book will be reissued in print next year. In the meantime, you can still find this story in the print volume called Ladies of the Lair, which contains the original editions of both Maiden Flight and Border Lair.

Bianca D'Arc
Come over to The D'Arc Side... www.biancadarc.com

New Release: A Way to a Dragon's Heart

A Way To A Dragon's Heart
Xakara
ISBN 978-1-59578-878-8

Dragon Shifter Kryssa Drake works twenty-hour days, seven days a week racing toward a sabbatical and hiding from the dating world after a devastating break-up that left her questioning her sense of self. The highlight of her day is the two hour lunches spent listening to Near Human, Xander Luciano, co-owner of Luciano's Deli across the street, and living vicariously through his on-again, off-again relationship with Avian, Caleb James. Over the years and countless intimacies of their friendship, Kryssa has grown to love Xander and the idea of Xander and Caleb but ideas and potential are not enough to brave the pain of the past so soon.

Pastry Chef and Near Human, Xander Luciano, has spent the last two years trying to charm Kryssa out of her vow of a five year isolation following her break-up. He's spent that same two years sorting out his feelings for his college sweetheart, Caleb, and trying to figure out a way to pin the restless Avian down or to finally make peace with a few months of happiness at a time. When Caleb opens the pastry café they always dreamed about and invites him to become a partner, Xander sees the flicker of hope that maybe half of his dream is about to come true. When he's volunteered by Kryssa's brother and boss to assist her in her current projects as well as help her relax in his cabin up north, Xander thinks his persistence and culinary skills just might help him have it all.

Sometimes the only way to get a good man to settle down is to have a good woman help. And oft times the most direct way to a Dragon's heart is through her stomach.

Contains: Scaly sex, make-up sex, not quite breakup sex, all marinated in an M/F, M/M and M/M/F awesome sauce

Read An Excerpt Here

Buy Link

Xakara
www.xakara.com

The Tangled Web - Dragons

As a change from the literary, I thought I’d share some of my passion for textiles in the context of our topic this month, dragons.

After all, dragons are great knitters.

Er...

In all seriousness, though, for those of us who have had a lifelong affair with dragons, it’s natural to want to expand on that love into other areas. I stumbled onto cross-stitch back in high school when a friend taught me the art after I had learned embroidery. I found it appealing: the simplicity of “X’s” all over the canvas and voila, art. The artist can vary the appearance of the image by placing the cross-hatches of the “X’s” in a certain order and by using half-crosses and varied thicknesses of floss. The resultant variety of expression is spectacular.

It didn’t take long for artists who sell kits to crafters to catch up, once they did. I’m going to share a few of my favorites, as well as some sources in case you want to get your own kit.

This one is a kit I picked up with my coauthor in mind. What I like about it, is that it’s not automatically obvious whether the dragon is a villain. I choose to interpret it that he’s a helper to the wizard, rather than an opponent.

Then came Teresa Wentzler’s fantasy art. Wow. She is awesome. Her designs are both whimsical and serious; by that I mean that she treats the subject with respect. Prior to the 90’s, much of the art I saw was silly - childlike animations that didn’t do any kind of artistic justice to the topic. I love Wentzler’s designs for their beauty and originality.

My source for many of these kits is a neat little site called 123 Stitch. They have a huge library from which to choose.

Other companies I like are Janlynn, Bucila (part of Plaid online), Dragon Dreams, and Dimensions. Dimensions has an exclusive line called the Gold Collection that costs a little more but has fine threads, canvas, and more complex designs. Well worth exploring.

How do you express your love affair with dragons?

Dragons in Love/In Love with Dragons

Greetings, Kittens!


This has been a lovely month of monsters and mayhem and it’s my turn to talk about the creatures that move me the most. Turns out, it’s all of them!


For eight consecutive childhood Halloweens, I dressed as a vampire. I loved everything about the vampire concept, from immortality to inhuman fascination. As a product of the Anne Rice Generation, I didn’t see them as monsters, but simply as people who were capable of monstrous things—just like everyone else. The paranormal romance trend couldn’t have come too soon for my taste. In fact, I would have liked to see it spread at least a decade sooner, to fill that ever growing cavern of how I regarded supernatural creatures vs. how they were portrayed in horror.


Fast forward twentyish years after reading, Interview with the Vampire, and I’m surrounded by exactly what I longed to see—preternaturals as the heroes rather than automatically the villains. That change was the first step in broadening my supernatural palate. It’s not that I didn’t feel for werewolves, the classic cursed just seemed too painful and sad to really be drawn to it. That element disappeared on the paranormal romance front and I was able to see them in the light that they always deserved.


Roleplaying games and fantasy novels moved the idea of werewolves to shape-shifters and an entire world of possibilities opened up. Feline shifters were an immediate favorite, but dragon shifters became a complete fascination. Fantasy rpgs and novels are filled with intelligent dragons that like to walk around among humankind and leave behind half-dragons, dragonkin, dragoons and pseudodragons to name a few variants. This predilection led to all sorts of ideas and opportunities to play with the dragon mythos, and the idea of sexy dragons plays into everything I wanted from every other creature.


They were ancient like vampires, could alter their shape like werewolves, were clever like fae/faries, and had layered emotions and complexities like humans, but with the wisdom of nature itself. They were people in the truest sense of the word, but a people that could be anything and everything else as well. What’s not to love?


Although I grew up on high fantasy that spawned my love of dragons, I’m not suited to write it. I’m more geared towards urban fantasy and romantic fantasy. Instead of high fantasy’s epic battles, I’d prefer dealing with the battles of the sexes and the battles of the heart. Yep, I have no classic sword and sorcery in my future to be sure. What I do have, is a paranormal romance with dragon shifters. It’s in the immediate future, Halloween Day in fact. And it won’t be the only one!


A Way To A Dragon’s Heart is the first introduction of dragons into my Therian World. The reception has led to many more ideas, one of which may be the closet fantasy/kingdoms/king’s honor type stories I’ve ever written or will write, and I’m excited. But that particular idea is a tale for another time, let me introduce you to A Way To A Dragon’s Heart.

Dragon Shifter Kryssa Drake works twenty-hour days, seven days a week racing toward a sabbatical and hiding from the dating world after a devastating break-up that left her questioning her sense of self. The highlight of her day is the two hour lunches spent listening to Near Human, Xander Luciano, co-owner of Luciano's Deli across the street, and living vicariously through his on-again, off-again relationship with Avian, Caleb James. Over the years and countless intimacies of their friendship, Kryssa has grown to love Xander and the idea of Xander and Caleb but ideas and potential are not enough to brave the pain of the past so soon.


Pastry Chef and Near Human, Xander Luciano, has spent the last two years trying to charm Kryssa out of her vow of a five year isolation following her break-up. He's spent that same two years sorting out his feelings for his college sweetheart, Caleb, and trying to figure out a way to pin the restless Avian down or to finally make peace with a few months of happiness at a time. When Caleb opens the pastry café they always dreamed about and invites him to become a partner, Xander sees the flicker of hope that maybe half of his dream is about to come true. When he's volunteered by Kryssa's brother and boss to assist her in her current projects as well as help her relax in his cabin up north, Xander thinks his persistence and culinary skills just might help him have it all.


Sometimes the only way to get a good man to settle down is to have a good woman help. And oft times the most direct way to a Dragon's heart is through her stomach.

Where the heck is my stuff?

Experts say that moving is one of the most stressful events in a person’s life. Anybody who’s ever moved will probably agree with them. My husband and I moved just at a week ago, and I’m certainly stressed out. For one thing, I had no idea we had so much…um…stuff. We only moved about three miles, which you’d think wouldn’t be that bad, but moving is moving, and it was pretty dang stressful.

For some reason, which I’m still not clear about, I was “volunteered” to drive the U-Haul. I think I did pretty well, except for the whole backing over the mailbox thing. But I did manage to get the thing close enough to the porch that it could be unloaded. So there we were, surrounded by boxes, our carefully thought out, organized moving plan gone to hell in a U-Haul.

The next day, I went to a writers group meeting—actually a party for our one year anniversary. Ten minutes before I left, I found my hairbrush—for which my fellow writers are quite grateful. We had a great time, and I went back to my new storage space, I mean home.

At one week, we’re slowly digging out of our box maze. And it does feel like home already. So now my muse—she’s a dragon, by the way—has decided I need to get back to my writing. Now. I tried to argue, saying that I still have a lot of unpacking to do, plus being extremely busy with that whole life thing. She doesn’t care. She started by giving me dreams that were obviously plot or character intensive. A sure sign she means business. I ignored her, and last night I actually dreamed a character, plot, research I should do (and who I should ask for help), and even the opening words of the story. Peachy. Like I don’t have three manuscripts in the works (at different stages) and need to get them done. Why can’t I dream about one of them!

Okay, back to the boxes. Later maybe I can work on one of the manuscripts. Not the new one. Nope. Even if it is haunting me. The heroine is a fascinating person. And the beginning seems quite interesting. I have other things I need to work on. Really. Plus all those boxes.

Excuse me, my muse is calling—and there seems to be smoke coming out of her mouth. Oh boy.

Have a great weekend!

Cheryel
www.cheryelhutton.com