Happy Thanksgiving, my friends. I hope you all have (or had) a lovely one. While we’re all eating and out shopping for Black Friday, I thought I would share with you an essay I wrote last year (slightly updated!) about unusual paranormal characters in Romance.
But before I do, I wanted to let you know that the ebook of Keeper of the Grove is on sale for $.99, today and tomorrow–for Black Friday. You can find it at Amazon .
Modern paranormal romance caters to women who want to dream a little more than the average reader. They crave the weird and just looking at the romance pages in Amazon or at the shelves in a bookstore, you’ll see publishers are catering to that wish list.
These days the main star of the genre, though, seems to have gelled down to two factions: Vampires and werewolves. As a reader of the genre, and as a lover of mythology, I’ve often wondered why that is. After all, the world’s mythologies offer so many different types of monsters (yes, I said the M word ;)) to choose from.
Fairies (also spelled faeries). I’ve always loved them. In fact, when I was a child I wrote a story about a faery wedding taking place in my front yard. So mention the idea of a faery tea party and I am so there! 🙂 It doesn’t hurt that tea parties make me think of Alice in Wonderland, another big love of mine. 🙂 Some of the faeries in my tea party are out for a little mischief so, watch out. 😉 Well, what would you expect when you invite the King of the Dark Faeries to tea? Yes, I did. He’s really a gentleman though, unless you push his buttons right. Shouldn’t be a problem, though. I invited his beloved, a faery godmother candidate, to the party as well. That should remind him politeness is a virtue. Now, what kind of tea would you like, my friends? Green? Chamomile? Some tasty rose hip tea? Oh, that will do nicely. Oh dear. Do be careful with that faery dust, Ianthe. My goodness!
When Ianthe began her career as a faery godmother, she stumbled so badly that Snow White will probably never speak to her again.
After a long suspension, she’s finally been given a chance to redeem herself…but everything on this latest assignment is going wrong.But why?Worse, she definitely doesn’t need an attractive mortal man distracting her from her duties.
Of course, needs and wants are two different things.
Briak has had his eye on Ianthe for a very, very long time, but he’s been waiting for just the right moment to make his move. Despite the fact all hell’s about to break loose on his watch, he can’t resist the opportunity to insert himself into her magical assignment. Can he convince Ianthe of her true calling and thereby win her heart? Or will his subterfuge ultimately cost him her love?
Uh oh, I hear drums! Let’s hope that doesn’t mean the faeries are getting up to trouble! *sigh* Must go corral them. In the meantime, enjoy a cup of tea and have a great time, and happy midsummer!
If you’d like to check out Changeling’s Crown it’s on sale at all ebook vendors. Don’t miss more of the party at the Midsummer Night’s Dream blog hop.
News, well…There’s not much news to report. I’ve been working on revising a novel for release, I hope in another month, but we shall see. Also, as you can see, I’ve had lots of fun hosting guests. I hope you haven’t missed any of them. In the meantime, another review popped up for Changeling’s Crown:
“Changeling’s Crown by Juli D. Revezzo is a delightfully light fantasy romance filled with humor, an endearing heroine and a darkly fascinating hero….Fun, fast, filled with light humor, a taste of darkness and just the right touch of magic, kind of makes you forget that Ianthe DID have a job to do!”~ Di, Tome Tender
Thank you, Di! I’m pleased you enjoyed CHANGELING’S CROWN.
When Ianthe began her career as a faery godmother, she stumbled so badly that Snow White will probably never speak to her again.
After a long suspension, she’s finally been given a chance to redeem herself…but everything on this latest assignment is going wrong.
But why?
Worse, she definitely doesn’t need an attractive mortal man distracting her from her duties. Of course, needs and wants are two different things.
Briak has had his eye on Ianthe for a very, very long time, but he’s been waiting for just the right moment to make his move.
Despite the fact all hell’s about to break loose on his watch, he can’t resist the opportunity to insert himself into her earthly assignment. Can he convince Ianthe of her true calling and thereby win her heart? Or will his subterfuge ultimately cost him her love?
Did you have a magical Valentine’s day? We did. It’s downtime and the short slide down to spring (and spring break) right? 🙂
I’ve been writing away and almost finished with (what I hope will be) my next release. So stay tuned for that. More magic is on the way. In the meantime, Changeling’s Crownis on sale for $.99 extended through the 19th. If you haven’t gotten it before I hope you’ll check it out.
When Ianthe began her career as a faery godmother, she stumbled so badly that Snow White will probably never speak to her again. After a long suspension, she’s finally been given a chance to redeem herself…but everything on this latest assignment is going wrong.
For our treat today I’d like to introduce you to a sweet new paranormal romance author. Dylan Newton and I had dinner together this winter and I’ve been looking forward to introducing she and her works to you for some time. She’s just had a new title released and I’m glad to bring you this conversation with her.
Author Dylan Newton
Dylan Newton was born and raised in a small town in Upstate New York where the local library was her favorite hang-out. Despite earning a degree in English Literature, Dylan spent more than a decade sidetracked by an executive position in corporate America before leaving to pursue her true passions: motherhood and writing. Dylan married her high-school sweetheart and they are busy living out their own happily ever after with their two incredible daughters in sunny Florida.
Hi, Dylan! Thanks for being here. Why don’t you tell my readers a little something about your work? What was the inspiration for Any Witch Way? Dylan Newton: As I am a huge fan of the band, “Godsmack,” whose lead singer is purported to be Wiccan, curiosity compelled me to look into the Wiccan religion. I stumbled across a passage I fell in love with in the religion’s creed (called the Wiccan Rede): “With a fool no season spend, Lest ye be counted as his friend. Merry meet and merry part, bright the cheeks and warm the heart.” That passage inspired the first scene where my Wiccan hero and young, troubled heroine first meet, and once I’d begun my research and found a sweet, but deliciously sexy-sounding ritual called the “Five Fold Kiss”…well, I knew I’d have to write this book!
Oh yes. I could see that inspiring many a love scene! 🙂
Do you have any advice for writers just starting out? Dylan Newton: It’s not magic. You can do this! My first novel, DESPITE THE GHOSTS, was the product of the NaNoWriMo campaign (where you write 50K words in 30 days of November). After finishing the book (ended up at 83K words), I got writer and reader feedback which I used to revise and polish it until it shone. Then, I created a query letter, and sent it to many, many, MANY agents and editors until landing my contract. I can attest to the fact my formula works–because that is exactly how I got my first publishing contract! It’s really four steps to becoming published: 1. Finish your book. 2. Using writer/reader/agent/editor feedback, revise it to within an inch of its life…or yours. 3. Submit to agents/editors. 4. Repeat steps 2-4 until you get a contract. And while you’re repeating those steps, keep writing, keep reading, and hang out with other authors and writers. Nobody understands a writer’s plight better than another writer, and you need that support system to keep your dream alive.
If you weren’t a writer, what career might you have pursued instead?
Dylan Newton: This one’s easy, because my first career wasn’t writing—it was running a call center and leading project management teams in a Fortune 500 company! For over a decade, I worked in corporate America, where I’m convinced I contracted testosterone poisoning. Working with all men has its perks—they’re easy to get along with. As long as you can talk football, you’re part of the ‘in’ crowd with men—with women, it’s much more complicated. But I believe working within a practically all-male environment for so long pushed me to more estrogen-rich activities when I left—hence romance novels!
What can curious fans expect from you next? Dylan: My spicy little paranormal romance ANY WITCH WAY, from The Wild Rose Press, is out in all e-formats now. It’s by far the hottest book I’ve ever written, and quite a bit darker than the others—I love it! Also, I have another novel coming out in 2014 (also with TWRP) called DESPITE THE FANGS featuring a female werewolf with a bad attitude who meets her match with a mysterious hottie who blackmails her into finding his missing son.
Oh dear. Sounds like trouble! Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers? Would you like to share anything more about your work? Dylan: Here is the book trailer and synopsis for my paranormal romance novella, ANY WITCH WAY:
Graduate student Lily Andrews resigned herself to a life of perpetual virginity. With her recent twisted appetites and weird fugues hospitalizing every would-be boyfriend, it’s no wonder she uses her coursework as an excuse not to date.
Then, she meets a witch.
Joshua enters Lily’s life to complete penance for a deadly spell he cast centuries ago. Joshua must counter Lily’s demon-wrought fugues with his own Wiccan magick, or lose her forever.
As the pivotal Wiccan holiday, Samhain, approaches, time is running out. Together, they must battle an ancient dark force, fighting for their lives and their new-found love…ANY WITCH WAY they can.
Thank you for coming by today, Dylan! It was a pleasure chatting with you. Folks, if you’d like to check out Dylan’s works see the links above. I hope you enjoyed this installment of our little conversations!
Okay, there’s a reason for the silly post title of this Sweet Saturday Sample/Sunday Snippet. In this scene from my new book, Keeper of the Grove, Aaron’s just turned over a note to Stacy which will change everything. (It’s a little longer than the customary six paragraph but…I hope you will find it intriguing…)
[Stacy] unfolded the paper, and her breath stopped when she read the words written there in black ink.
Ms. Macken, I have something you might be interested in. A rare diary in your ancestor’s handwriting. Should you be interested, tell Mr. Fielding. I’ll unlock my vaults for you. D. McDunn
“McDunn? Who’s McDunn? What is this?”
“A private collector. According to our last chat, he sounded fairly adamant that you should have the diary.”
“Someone local?” she asked.
Aaron nodded.
“Do you know how much he’s asking for it? We’re a little low on cash.”
“He didn’t discuss figures. It can’t hurt to ask.”
She thought a moment. Depending on varying factors, old diaries could be very inexpensive, or priceless. Which category would this fall into? “I just don’t know.”
“What’s the harm in taking a look?”
An interesting question. She wondered why he cared whether or not she saw the thing. If he really was a harshad warrior, and if the diary could stop the war, why didn’t he just present it to their leaders and be done with it? And leave me out of it.
****
If you’d like to find out more, to read more of Keeper of the Grove (formerly Passion’s Sacred Dance) it’s available at Amazon.
For instance, in Victorian mythology you’ll find a nasty fella called Spring-heeled Jack . He could make crazy leaps into the air, or from buildings, had claws for hands and fireballs for eyes. Imagine running into him in a dark alley. Continue reading “#BlackFriday and unusual paranormal characters in Romance” 
Some of the faeries in my tea party are out for a little mischief so, watch out. 😉 Well, what would you expect when you invite the King of the Dark Faeries to tea? 
Yes, I did. He’s really a gentleman though, unless you push his buttons right. Shouldn’t be a problem, though. I invited his beloved, a faery godmother candidate, to the party as well. That should remind him politeness is a virtue. Now, what kind of tea would you like, my friends? Green? Chamomile? Some tasty rose hip tea? Oh, that will do nicely. Oh dear. Do be careful with that faery dust, Ianthe. My goodness!
Juli D. Revezzo, author of the Antique Magic series and more 