Last month, I was very excited to reveal the new style ‘Blackthorn Bites’ for Blood Shadows. I was even more thrilled with your response!
As you know, Bookouture and I had a purpose. Alongside our favourites from the series launch, we put these new Bites on their own Pinterest board and asked you to vote on your favourites. The ones with the most votes would help decide the Bites direction for the next book in the Blackthorn series, Blood Roses.
Huge thanks to everyone who participated by visiting Pinterest to vote, comment and repin your favourites, as well as all your likes on Facebook.
We had a clear winner and I’m super-pleased with the result…
Simple yet striking with the background words taken directly from your reviews to date, this was undoubtedly one of my favourites too. Needless to say, I cannot wait to see what Bookouture come up with based on this!
And as it’s only two months until the release of Blood Roses, keep your eyes open for a few teasers coming very soon. 😉
I’ve been extremely lucky to have visited and discovered some amazing blogs lately, especially as part of my US blog tour. I met some terrific people willing to read, review and promo Blood Shadows, let alone take the time to interview me.
I also had an invite outside of the tour from Romy Sommer of the fabulous Minxes of Romance. Knowing of this talented team of writers, I was thrilled to be offered a guest spot. I was even more thrilled that Romy not only took the time to read Blood Shadows before the interview, but loved it too.
My interview went live today, so if you’d like to come and say hi, please do.
And thank you to everyone who has sent in questions for Kane. Don’t forget the deadline is tomorrow if you’d still like to ask him anything. More news of that soon!
Ahh, Kane. 🙂 The bad-boy vampire is great from a distance, but just how up close and personal would you honestly be willing to get?
If this file landed on your desk, would you be locked in a room alone with him? Could you sit in place of Caitlin in the interrogation room and get him to talk? A little while ago, Aimee Duffy was the first person apart from Caitlin Parish brave enough to do this, and she doesn’t mind admitting she found it just a little unnerving – even behind vampire-proof glass!
And now Kane’s going to be interviewed again – and I’d love you to be a part of it.
At the end of this month, I’m going to be featuring on GraveTells (super-excited!) and will be dragging Mr Malloy with me. And I am really, really hoping you’ll help me out.
I need to come up with some daring, probing, insightful, imaginative (and hopefully fun!) questions for Kane to answer as part of an introduction to a whole new group of readers who have never heard of him and have never heard of Blackthorn.
If you’d like to join in, if you have a burning question you have longed to ask him, if you think you can tempt other readers to discover Kane for themselves, feel free to post your question/s in the comments sections here. You also have the option to tweet me, Facebook me, or even email me if you want to keep it purely between us. 😉 You have until Friday to send them my way.
Oh, and just to be clear, I’m signing a disclaimer against being held accountable for his actions if you ask the wrong kind of question…
The Blackthorn Bites are back and this time we’d like you to have your say!
We’re already super-excited about the release of Blood Roses (out in April!), and starting to think about what our ads will look like. To help with this, we’ve selected our favourite Bites that were put together to help promote my debut paranormal romance, Blood Shadows, including some exciting NEW ones – and we want to know which ones you like best.
A brand new Bite will appear each day for the next week on Twitter and Facebook but, for those of you who follow me here, you can see them all NOW over on a brand new Pinterest board I’ve created.
On the first board you see, named ‘Please VOTE! Vampire Romance Bites’, Bookouture and I have selected our top 10 ‘Blackthorn Bites’. Tell us which are your favourites and those with the most votes are the direction that we’ll take for Blood Roses.
Simply vote with a like or a re-pin, or you can comment to let us know what you think. Also feel free to tweet, Facebook, share and even upload the Bites to your own blog.
I promised yesterday that I’d give a few hints of what’s to come in Blood Roses. So for those of you who are struggling in anticipation, here are five things you can expect that might tide you over for now…
Expect new characters…
Blood Shadows was Kane and Caitlin’s story. Blood Roses is not a continuation of that, though they do get a mention. Don’t worry – they will be back! But Blood Roses is Caleb and Leila’s story. Feel free to check on the ‘Books’ tab on this site if you’d like to know more about what lies ahead for them.
Expect to see more of Blackthorn…
Each book in the series will reveal more about Blackthorn. In Blood Roses, you’ll learn more of what life is like in the district as well as aspects of how it is run and controlled. You’ll visit parts you haven’t been before.
Expect more revelations about the prophecies…
The prophecies were mentioned in Blood Shadows but not elaborated upon. That’s because it’s Caleb and Leila’s role to reveal much, much more. Expect to come away with a much clearer idea of what’s in store.
Expect a few more pieces to start to fit together…
One thing you’ll come to see in the Blackthorn series is how the characters’ stories are going to intertwine. For those who remember Blood Roses from New Voices, you might have already started to piece a couple of things together at the end of Blood Shadows. You certainly would have picked up on a familiar name fleetingly mentioned. Yes, expect to meet one rather significant member of the vampires’ Higher Order.
Expect it to be darker…
I have been told I skirted close to the edge at times with Kane, well expect more of the same with Caleb – and more often. The intentions are darker, the sexiness is darker and so is the mood. I was once told Caleb was irredeemable. None of my vampire heroes are irredeemable – I just like a challenge. But yes, he is incredibly bad… this is Blackthorn, after all.
Blood Roses is the second book in the Blackthorn series and it’s due out this Spring!
I had an email come through this week, from a fan turned very special friend:
“I love Blood Shadows, don’t get me wrong, it’s fantastic. But Blood Roses is probably my favorite book EVER (the portion I’ve seen). I am so bloody (yes pun intended) excited about it, I can’t even tell you.”
I got a bit emotional when I read that. A big part of the emotion is because I’ve reached that stage now when I know I’ll soon be parting with Blood Roses. I’ve been working on revisions in the background since the launch of Blood Shadows, and those who follow this blog and Facebook will know those revisions went back to Bookouture on New Year’s day. My editor will be back in touch with me in the next few days to give her verdict – that basically means I’ll know how much more work it still needs before the final polish. After that, it’s line edits and copy edits before I finally hand it over.
Blood Roses has been with me a long time. It was conceptualized years ago (I can’t even pinpoint when), the majority of it written back in 2007. Although it’s not my first published book, I will always look on Blood Roses as the book that launched my career as a published author.
It was entered in Harlequin Mills and Boon’s New Voices competition back in 2010, where it got into the final – the only PNR to do so. It’s scary to think I nearly didn’t enter. I submitted right before the deadline. It was the first time I’d put myself out there for scrutiny and was a test of whether I had what it took to write romance. I was terrified because it wasn’t just a competition – it was going to help me make the decision whether I tried to launch my Blackthorn series or turned my back on romance a while longer to continue focusing on supernatural thrillers.
If you don’t know about the competition, writers uploaded a chapter on an open forum for readers to comment (readers also got to vote). Blood Roses came under scrutiny straight away, but not for the right reasons. I entered the longest opening chapter in the competition – almost 9,000 words long. I remember reading speculation over why I had done it, not least the assumption that I had misread the rules. The simple truth was that I was so convinced I would get nowhere, I entered the biggest chunk of work I could in the hope that, even if I bombed in the competition, I might at least catch an editor’s eye. I didn’t have the confidence to believe I could do that in 3,000 words.
Of course it meant that when I got into the Top 10, I was left with only 700 words for chapter 2 and then only 200 for the pivotal moment when I progressed into the Top 4. It worked in my favour though, with readers again speculating whether I’d manage it or not. The response when I did was fantastic. And those supportive comments, along with the belief of my amazing mentors – Lesley Stonehouse and Rhyannon Byrd – gave me the courage to re-enter in NV 2011 where I finished a finalist again.
Blood Roses helped me believe in myself as an author. It shaped my writing. It gave me the best opportunity to launch my writing career. It taught me that I don’t have to write like anyone else – that I’ll find my readership as me and not by trying to follow in anyone else’s footsteps. It taught me that romance readers are more open minded than I gave credit for before I became a part of this amazing community. It taught me there is a place for books like mine that are a little bit dark, a little bit dangerous and a little bit different. It taught me that I had to stop hiding my writing in a drawer.
I understood exactly what my friend was saying when she sent me that email, and responses like that will be the ones that help me let go of Blood Roses when the time comes. Looking back, I also realise how much I’ve moved on in the last two years from writing purely for myself to having the courage to share my books with an audience.
And that’s why Blood Roses is, and always will be, so special to me.
Come back tomorrow if you’d like to get a few hints of what to expect. No spoilers thought, I promise!
After almost 30 years of writing, 21 years since I’d written my first paranormal romance and 16 years of Blackthorn in the making, 2012 was the year when I finally became a published author.
My avid followers will no doubt have picked up on the fact I haven’t had a moment to breathe since then. No sitting with my feet on my desk, sipping Pepsi whilst I dreamily doddle plotlines in my notebook in-between gazing out of my study window. Oh no.
In April of 2012, I’d resolved I’d had enough of sitting on the Blackthorn series and needed to seriously pursue publication. I set up a blog (a must, I was told by my new writerly friends) and, in June, started submitting to publishers.
I’d prepared for the long-haul – weeks, months, maybe even years of waiting. Okay, the latter is an exaggeration – I’d decided I’d self-publish if it came to that. But on Friday 13th July, came the request from Bookouture that changed everything. Less than a month later came ‘The Call’ along with a very impressive book proposal and fantastic plans for Blackthorn.
September was the month of secrets. I blogged about being offered a three-book deal, but had to remain hushed about who by until Bookouture was launched and all the finer details were tied up – not least the contract! And, gee, was it tough keeping quiet!
Finally, at the end of October, I was finally able to announce that I had signed with Bookouture and my brand new website was launched. News of my signing went global and there were over 1,000 hits on the news feed in the first couple of days.
As if that wasn’t exciting enough, straight after, Hollywood came calling. Yes, they really did! I didn’t say much because, well, basically I knew the chances were minimal. It was still amazing to have had the book requested though and the feedback from the head of creative affairs, although a no, was great:
“I really enjoyed BLOOD SHADOWS, Lindsay is a wonderful writer. She’s crafted one heck of a world with Caitlin, Kane, VCU and the Soul Ripper. A few of us really took to the book and world creation but, alas, the consensus was that it isn’t exactly what…is looking for.”
I didn’t have time to dwell though, because we were already in November – and what a month November was!
First came the cover reveal for Blood Shadows. And for anyone who has got a hardcopy and seen who the designer was (yes, I know some of you have!) you’ll know why I was so ecstatic about who took the project on. Shortly after came the first of the fantastic and fun Blackthorn Bites. Within days there was the release of the awesome Blood Shadows book trailer. On Thursday 15th, I shed a tear when I held a copy of my book in my hands for the first time. Then on the 27th November (give or take a few days…) Blood Shadows was finally officially launched.
The promotions kicked off instantly and haven’t stopped since, not least with my U.S. book tour starting on 28th December and running through the whole of this month.
And the reviews. Ah, the reviews. I have come to discover that reviews are single-handedly one of the most rewarding and, at the same time, utterly terrifying parts of being a published author. I’ve been lucky that, apart from a handful of ratings (rose bombers spring to mind anyone?), the reviews have been amazing. So thank you to every single person who has taken the time and the effort to share what they think on Amazon and Goodreads. There is no better way to get my books into the hands of new readers than through those reviews, so believe me when I say I appreciate your effort more than I can possibly express here.
And during all of this, I’ve feverishly been working on revisions for Blood Roses, which I sent back to Bookouture on New Years’ day. Yay! More about Blood Roses very soon…
But before I go, when I announced by blog tour last Friday, I did promise to tell you about my Christmas present this year.
I’m the kind of girl who, as long as I get a couple of notepads and a pack of pens or pencils, I’m usually a pretty happy bunny as far as presents go. Throw in a bottle of my favourite Thierry Mugler’s Angel now and again and you’re guaranteed to raise a satisfied smile. Fortunately, I have a husband whose imagination, year after year, spans beyond my feeble attempts at a creative list for Santa.
I must be honest though, this year I did give him a hint of what I wanted. I didn’t quite expect the end result though. Welcome to my new study wall…
Now if that isn’t motivation enough to keep writing Blackthorn books, I don’t know what is! And yes, if you wrote one of the earlier bites, you are up there! So huge thanks to Michele Hauf, CC Mackenzie, Fiona Chapman, Lindsey Clarke, Amity Grays and RomFan Reviews.
But that wasn’t all. As you’ve probably guessed, I’m a fan of personal gifts. So when this little chap was handed to me, overwhelmed doesn’t begin to describe it. Say hello to Batty…
This little chap was handmade especially for me by exceptionally talented, local artist Minerva (of Minerva Twist). She’s thrown a creative spin on a variety of animals but this was her first attempt at my personal favourite – a bat. Not only is he reading a copy of my book (and the glasses are uncannily like mine too!), but she even went to the trouble of joining the oo’s together just like on the cover of Blood Shadows and putting a dot after the ‘J’ in my name. Now that’s the attention to detail I like. Thanks Minerva, you ridiculously talented lady, he’s absolutely gorgeous!
And that’s it – here’s hoping 2013 brings just as much excitement!
Finally, huge thanks to my super-supportive, long-suffering husband who makes sure I eat, drink, sleep and, on occasion, get suitably socialised. Massive thanks you all my wonderful, wonderful supporters, including my fantastic new-found writing friends – to those who have been published this year and those who are going to be published in 2013, here’s wishing you every success. And for those who haven’t got there yet, I’m rooting for you with every digit crossed. I’m a walking example that dreams can and do eventually come true. DO NOT give up.
So here’s an extra special thank you to the amazing Oliver Rhodes, founder of Bookouture, for not only making my dreams come true in 2012, but for making my first two months as a published author more exciting and fun than I ever could have imagined.
I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas! I got something really special this year that I want to show you on a blog post very soon. But blog tour information first…
Those of you who follow me on Facebook will know my blog tour around the U.S. started today. This is a somewhat nerve-wracking, albeit equally exciting, experience. Courtesy of Bewitching Book Tours, 30 U.S. book bloggers kindly signed up to host me over a month. There will be a mixture of me writing guest blog posts and being interviewed as well as bloggers promoting Blood Shadows or, the really scary stuff, reviewing it.
My first post is over on Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer and is up already. For those who have been following me since I launched this blog in April, you’ll be in familiar territory because I’m revisiting a blog post I wrote for here (under a different title). It’s the only one I’ll be repeating, but as a lot of people enjoyed that one, it broke me in gently! Other posts I’ll be writing will be, amongst others, creating Blackthorn, what I’ve learned from reader feedback, why vampires makes the perfect anti-heroes and the challenge of being a British PNR author.
For those who want to follow the tour closely, I’ve listed where I’ll be and when below – as well as what I’ll be doing for each. I will, of course, put reminders on Facebook. If you’re able to come and support any of them, you’d be most welcome!
Ah, Christmas is almost upon us – and it’s the most disorganised I’ve ever been! The decorations aren’t up, the food isn’t bought and I only have half the presents… Still, one thing that I have managed to do (all thanks to Bookouture!) is set-up a giveaway of 5 signed paperback copies of Blood Shadows. You have to be a member of Goodreads (or sign up) in order to be in with a chance of winning one, but all you have to do is click on the ‘Enter to win’ button below. It’ll run for a month and Goodreads will choose the winners.
Oh, and for those who have already asked, as much as I’d like to oblige, I’m afraid that the answer is no – Kane cannot deliver them personally. 😉
With Blood Shadows now having been out almost a month, the interview invites are coming in. I’ve discovered two things about myself through the interview questions I’ve received so far – anything deep or probing and I can give you an answer more or less straight away, but ask me about my favourite book or what song I listen to most and you’ll have me floundering for hours.
I’ve had three interviews so far with another three coming this week and another two booked for after Christmas. I’ve also got a blog tour around the US starting on the 28th December courtesy of Bewitching Book Tours. I always hope, as I open the questions, that there will be something a bit different asked. Something I’ve not been asked before. I’ve been very lucky with all three this week, especially as they’re so close together, that each interviewer has offered a unique set of questions and a very different style. It kept me on my toes and that hopefully means it’ll be more interesting for you if you read them.
We’re kicking off the week with Aimee Duffy. When she approached me and said she didn’t only want to interview me, but also Kane (brave girl!) and Caitlin ‘Jeremy Kyle’ style, I thought it was inspired. When I threw in an added curveball to the questions she had sent me and asked her, instead of asking about me, why she didn’t focus on my perceptions of my characters (no one had done that yet), she was onto it within minutes.
I’ve never answered questions so quickly or easily.
If you’d like to see what I and Kane and Caitlin had to say for ourselves, you can find the full interview (and a flatteringly gushing review of Blood Shadows) here.
Thanks for the interview fun, Aimee! And the terrific review. 🙂
