Re-Release: The Grave Watchers

That's right folks, the Grave Watchers is back on the market! For those of you have already written reviews, it would be awesome if you could repost them to the new Amazon page.

This time around there's an ebook version and a paperback! With shiny new cover art courtesy of myself.

Blurb:
Death rides a pale horse, and she is a beauty. Since man first buried his dead, she has watched over them. With her hand she raises those select few, those disturbed and maimed, to new life. These risen souls are duty bound to protect the souls still buried and resting. The souls restless and walking.

Sebastien Crowle is such a watchman. But as a villain so profane and perverse enters the scene with a crime the likes of which Sebastien has never seen, can he stop the villain and confront the ghosts of his own past as they begin to rear their heads?

New Release! Death's Children, The Grave Watchers Book 2

At last, the newest edition to The Grave Watchers series.

Blurb:

Augustine Fleur went into the grave knowing that curiosity killed the cat burglar, when she rose she discovered a world where curiosity kept one alive. A newly risen Grave Watcher, Augustine stumbles through her new world under the guidance of Sebastien Crowle, who has his own baggage. But while Augustine may have left the grave behind, there are those who would much rather she never did.

The Ghost King, a mythical entity of terrible power is stalking her, demanding something be returned to him. Except Augustine has no memory of the theft, and he’s getting impatient. With a grave disturbed in London, and vampires to blame, it also begins to look like the long held peace between vampires and Watchmen is coming to an end.

Augustine must unlock her memories if she’s going to solve the riddle of her time in the grave and save the people she’s come to care for. She may just die again trying.

Brandi dear, you did make it into the book! I hope you like the incarnation, though it wasn't quite how I initially intended to get you in there. 

I have to say, this one was in the works even prior to the first one coming out, but it was, for some reason, just a bumpy ride. It was the work of a lot of friendly harassment encouragement and well worth it in the end. I hope you all enjoy this foray into the world as much as I enjoyed writing it. 

Cheers, 

Missouri

News

First off, for my patient Night Wars fans, we just signed the contract for The Hellfire Legacy! So you'll be getting the next Fynn book by...April? I'm taking a stab in the dark on that one.

Sort of a blurb:

All those questions Fynn has been left with over the last two years are about to be answered. The forces that have been at play since before he was even born are ready to confront him. The truth behind his brother's coma, the truth behind the Division building attack, and the truth behind Cormac's interest in his family. New faces and old join together to help fill the void left by the attack, and it's clear there was a traitor amongst them. When the traitor shows up alive, when he should be dead, the manhunt is on, dragging Fynn and his crew to Columbus Ohio to protect his Uncle, and then to Boston, and finally to Ireland, where everything started, Fynn just doesn't know it yet.

The next Gravewatchers book is coming to you in January. Sebastien is in the book, he's just not the main character, that honor belongs to Augustine, a newly risen Grave Watcher from the nineteen thirties.

Blurb:

Augustine Fleur went into the grave knowing that curiosity killed the cat burglar, when she rose she discovered a world where curiosity kept one alive. A newly risen Grave Watcher, Augustine stumbles through her new world under the guidance of Sebastien Crowle, who has his own baggage. But while Augustine may have left the grave behind, there are those who would much rather she never did.

The Ghost King, a mythical entity of terrible power is stalking her, demanding something be returned to him. Except Augustine has no memory of the theft, and he’s getting impatient. With a grave disturbed in London, and vampires to blame, it also begins to look like the long held peace between vampires and Watchmen is coming to an end.

Augustine must unlock her memories if she’s going to solve the riddle of her time in the grave and save the people she’s come to care for. She may just die again trying. 

And then there's The Servant's Heart, a story from the world of The King's Dog, which is looking at a February release. 

Terence has spent his life in the shadows. Even now, far from his home country serving the Lady Linnaea, he lurks behind a servant’s mask. But secrets like his cannot be hidden away forever, and as his mask starts to slip, the castle weaponsmaster, Iolyn, begins to take more notice of him. Will budding romance be enough to shake Terence free of his past? Or will he always be stuck in the shadow of a tainted bloodline?  

That's all for now folks! Cheers and Happy Holidays!

Missouri 

Addendum: I'm trying to put a mailing list together for those of you interested, mostly it will be release information, contests and free-read updates. I'm not a fan of spam, so I won't send you any. Probably a once a month sort of thing. Just shoot me an email at missouridalton@gmail.com with the header: Mailing List, and I'll add you in!

A New Release and News

Today we see the release of The Eagle's Scheme, which is a sort of but not really follow up to The King's Dog about a lady knight named Joslin. This story introduces a new country and takes place after the events of The King's Dog, and hopefully illuminates some more of the political structures. I'm working another which will be from Germaine's POV and clear up some of Morraine's eccentricities.

Now, on to other news. First off, you may have noticed my announcements on FB and the Twitter, but I've recently contracted not one, but two new novels. The first of which is of course Death's Children, a sequel to The Grave Watchers, which is about a freshly risen watchwoman named Augustine Fleur under the loving guidance of our dear Sebastien. Expected release is sometime in January.

Now, the new news. I've contracted my very first YA novel! I've signed a contract with Prizm for a book called Vampirism and You! which follows the early days and confusion of a newly turned teenage vampire, Louis Von Graves. He has a handbook, a foster sire and a bad attitude. The displaced British native ends up in an American high school and hijinks ensue as he tries to figure out A) Should he feed on drama kids or cheerleaders B) Is he not attracted to human girls, or is it vampire girls to C) Should he wear false fangs while playing Dracula in the school play?

You'll get to go along for the ride as Louis navigates through a very dark world with a dose of humor, stoicism and lots of sarcasm.

As an aside, I'm considering starting a new blog for my YA stuff. Not sure just yet, seeing as I don't write anything with material I wouldn't have read as a teenager, but still. Thoughts and comments appreciated on this matter.

Cheers my darlings.

Death's Children

Because I am an inordinately chipper mood, I've decided to post a snippet of Death's Children. Enjoy my lovelies, because it's almost done.

Louis lit a cigarette. A very thin, brown cigarette that smelled like cherries and vanilla. He blew out a curl of blue smoke and sighed.

            “I have never smoked in public before,” he confided. “I would have gotten such shocked expressions—even in Pari.”

            I smiled. “Being grown up has lots of benefits.”

            “Oui. I can kiss a woman without her feeling uncomfortable. I can flirt without being called adorable. I can make love without it being perversion.” He smiled at me. “You did this for me.”

            “I had to.”

            “Why?” He took another puff.

            “I just—I felt something. Between us.” I swallowed. “When you looked me in the eyes my heart raced. I’ve never felt like that before. You—excite me. You frighten me. You…I don’t know what I feel when I look at you. I don’t understand how I can feel this way when I just met you.”

            “I must confess to similar feelings. I had put aside such things many years ago, to save myself pain. I threw myself into running Paris. To reclaiming the government. To protecting my legacy. And then you kissed me. Now, all I can think about is you.” He looked into my eyes. “You haunt me, Augustine and I don’t want you to ever stop.”

            There, with the sun setting and the sky turning purple in the dusk, I kissed him. I kissed him because I didn’t have any more words. I didn’t know what else to say.

            His hands were strong, large. He pressed me against him and I felt…safe.

            He took my lower lip between his teeth and bit down gently, as Claude had done, but he didn’t stop there. His tongue flickered across my lips and without hesitation, I opened my mouth and delighted in the sensation.

            His fingers tangled in my hair and all around us there was blue smoke from his cigarette and the smell of cherries and vanilla. He tasted like cherries. I had to remind myself we were in public, and with regret, pulled away from him to catch my breath.

****

Obviously, not Sebastien. Death's Children is a story seen through the eyes of a newly risen Watchman (woman), named Augustine Fleur. Sebastien is a big part of her story, however, as he is now responsible for the girl fresh from her grave. New and old characters fill the pages and you'll find yourself answering questions from The Grave Watchers, and discovering a great deal more about Sebastien's world. 

I'm also plotting out a book three, which will hopefully not take as long to write, which will be from Claude's POV. Because everyone loves Claude.

Cheers my doves! 

Moving...

It is finally happening, I am moving into an apartment and shall no longer be living out of a suitcase and decorative boxes. I feel practically grown up. Not too grown up mind you, don't worry. I've been playing with the idea of a Bones short story... Perhaps set in Egypt during his hey-day.

Also thinking of doing a book from Claude's POV, which I think would be hilarious and decidedly on the raunchier side--this is Claude we're talking about.

In other news, I'll be participating in NaNoWriMo this year, it will be my third year! If you want to look me up there my username is Hemlock_key. I wrote a YA horror novel last year, the year before that I wrote the first draft of The Grave Watchers and this year? Well, I'm writing a children's book. Yup. It will be my first venture into the 10-15 age group since I myself was that age.

I'm thinking of doing a series of posts about books that shape writers. The ones that shaped me specifically, but I think guest bloggers would be fun for that. I am also toying with some YA novels for LBGT youngsters. Still plogging away at Death's Children, the sequel to The Grave Watchers, it's just not shaping up.

How does everyone feel about a female protagonist?

Sebastien Answers Some Questions and a Contest

Gravetells.com was kind enough to offer an interview up to Sebastien, who after a few shots of bourbon, was more than willing to facilitate. Check out the full interview for some fun facts.

 In celebration of the Review/Interview, I'm running a little contest. Comment on this post with answer to how many stars Sebastien gave Bones and using a random number generator I shall choose a winner.

The winner's name will go into my next book (if you'd like to be a dead body, random bad guy or witness I'll take preference into consideration) and a copy of my new short, The King's Dog.

The contest will run until Midnight, EST, October 8th, so get commenting!

Cheers,

Missouri

Review

The Gravetells review of The Grave Watchers, is out now. An interview with Sebastien will be up on October third.

Big News V 2.0!

Two of my short stories shall be published! Fiends in Low Places, which takes place within a world I've been working on for some time now, will be published as part of the Charity Sip Blitz Anthology, proceeds for which will benefit the It Get's Better Project. I'm super excited for the opportunity to help such a wonderful charity.

The second short, The King's Dog, will be released stand alone. Not sure on a date yet for that, but I am unabashedly excited to say the least.

And, of course, don't forget, The Grave Watchers was released little over a week ago! I'm putting together a book trailer to help with promotion, and my Alma Mater did a very nice little article on the release for the Alumni blog.

I'm still working on the sequel, hoping to finish it around the end of September.

Well, that's all for now.

Cheers!

Release Day!

That's right ladies and gents, The Grave Watchers has officially hit the shelves of cyber space today!

Shifting Steam

Submitted my Shifting Steam short for that anthology. *fingers crossed* A thank you goes out to my beta readers today. You are all amazing!

In other news, I'm still mashing away at the Grave Watcher's sequel, still working on the sequel to something else and enjoying a couple days with my family as they just came in from the east coast.

Also reading--lots of reading. I checked my count for the year and nearly choked. So far, this year, (counting graphic novels) I've read ninety books. (Twenty five of those (I think) were graphic novels)
 No matter how you slice that, it's fair impressive. My goal was 52. Well, I think I've met that goal for the year. At the moment there are seven books on the floor waiting to be read, and I know for a fact three books are coming out this summer that I want to read.

It seems Jim Butcher is coming to my neck of the woods on his book tour, which means getting to meet him and get Ghost Story signed! I'm very excited. His full schedule is here, and really, I can't believe I got this lucky! Now to get the day off work...

Edits, Revisions, Additions

I received the revisions from my super editor this week, and because it is who I am, went through the document in a couple sittings to make the asked for and necessary changes. I'm a minimalist about that sort of thing generally, especially after something has been through several peer/personal edits already.

I think I'm happier with the novel now as it stands, but we'll see what the man with the red pen says. There could still be some tweaking to do.

In the mean time, I'm working on Death's Children, working on beta-ing a story for the person beta reading DC (she's amazingly patient I think) and am looking forward to an end of summer release for The Grave Watchers. 

My dear mother has been showing the cover art off to anyone who will look at it, to which I am pleased and only slightly horrified about. I'm one of those author's that finds it difficult to let family read their work.

Hopefully I'll have more news soon, as well as a riveting article about the pistolsword!

Ha Ha!

I thought of  titles for The Grave Watchers series!

I'm still debating to be honest

The Annals Umbra
The Skulls
The Necro Files
The Dead Files
Deadman Diaries

Any and all input with be appreciated.

Word of the Day: Osculate [os-kyuh-leyt] - to come into close contact or union. 

Writing!

Despite the fact that's it been a week since I slept more than five hours at a time (or at night) I've managed to write. I'm working on Death's Children, which should be the sequel to The Grave Watchers. (I need a name for this series.)

So, in the spirit of sharing, there's a short excerpt of the first chapter after the jump. Enjoy.

Word of the Day: Solidus [sol-i-duhs] (n) : technical name for the slash (/) punctuation mark. 

Tools

So You're a Cartoonist?

Tools of the trade. My tools include my Wacom tablet, a pencil/pen and whatever paper I have handy. I use GIMP, Corel Painter Essentials, SAI, Photoshop Essentials and whatever else I have lying around.

Yes, I do art. I write. It's kind of a big deal.

Writing usually happens on a keyboard these days, though I also write out by hand. I prefer graph paper and a liquid ink pen.

I'm a touch picky about my pens. A touch.

Here's Sebastien, the MC from my recently contracted novel, The Grave Watchers. More news will come as I have it. Cheers!