Silk & Shadows

Currently working on: Page proofs for DARKNESS UNDONE!
Mood: Focused

Putting together a book for your reading pleasure seems to take forever. After writing it comes the rewriting and then revisions, then more revisions, then line edits and copy edits. In between, there are cover conferences and back cover copy proofs, and finally* — finally! — page proofs which is the writer’s last chance to tweak the words. That’s where I am now on the fourth Marked Souls novel, DARKNESS UNDONE, which means the story is now in its almost final form — finally!*

So here is the cover — finally!* — of DARKNESS UNDONE, a novel of the Marked Souls.

The war between good and evil has raged for millennia, and as a powerful new enemy ascends, the Marked Souls are pushed to the ragged edge…

Sidney Westerbrook has always studied darkness and damnation from a sensible distance. Now, to earn his place as a league Bookkeeper, he must discover why Chicago is such a battleground of soul-linked warriors. But the research becomes personal when he finds himself over his head and under attack — and at the mercy of a waif with demon-lit eyes and a deep yearning in her heart.

Alyce Carver has been alone longer than she can remember, battered by the living nightmares that haunt her city. Cornered by yet another gang of demons, she unwittingly joins forces with a handsome scholar who can salvage her past, and she in turn may be the key to his investigations. But she won’t let him go until he shows her everything she’s been missing.

What begins as an experiment in possession becomes a trial by desire so powerful it threatens both their lives, even as it binds their souls.

Read the first chapter here.

* By “finally” here, I mean “not really” here. DARKNESS UNDONE will be “actually” available in March. But Sid’s story is available for pre-order at:

Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble
Powells | Indie Bound | Indigo | Blackstone Audio

I do, however, have an actual cover flat, which is a printed version of the book jacket. If you’re interested in such things, leave a comment on this post and I’ll have random.org draw a winner for a giveaway next week.

So, the other day…my ten year old began asking me prolific questions. The conversation went something like this…

Daughter (ten years old and in her “I’m bored” mode as usual): Mom, why do you write about paranormal stuff?

Mom: Well, it is a very popular genre right now.

Daughter: So, you think if you write paranormal that you’ll get big sales?

Mom: That would be great! But that’s not the only reason WHY I write it.

Daughter: Why do you write it then?

Mom: I like the idea of being able to create characters who have supernatural powers and I enjoy the mythology and fantasy of it all.

Daughter (twirls her hair, staring out the window): But you didn’t invent demons.

Mom: No, of course not but I invented the ones in my book like this vampromancer demon who is part vampire and part necromancer.

Daughter (scrunches up her nose at me): But vampires aren’t real. Demons are real.

Mom (suddenly feeling inadequate as to how to respond to the too smart 10-year-old): Yes, well, I write fiction and so my characters aren’t necessarily based on the real study of demonology.

Mom (feeling smart with her wise answer).

Daughter: Hmmm…well can you name any real demons?

Mom (trying to wash dishes and break up battle between a 3 year old and a 1 year old that is currently brewing nearby): Uh, well…let’s see…

Daughter: Because we studied about demons in Bible class.

Mom: Oh, good. I’m getting my money’s worth out of that school.

Daughter (rolling eyes at Mom): I’m serious. Demons are real. Vampires are not demons.

Mom (deep sigh): Let’s talk about this more later. I can’t really concentrate on this discussion with your brother and sister screaming and my hands in the dishwater.

Daughter (shrugs): Okay, well anytime you want to learn about REAL demons…you know where to find me.

Mom (smiles)

How did these kids get to be so smart at such a young age? I mean, when I was 10 years old (I struggle to remember the time) I was into those little pencils that had the removable lead pieces that you pushed down from the top of the pencil to replace it with a freshly sharpened piece. Then you put the used piece back through the top to advance the next nub of lead downward. Kind of like a mechanical pencil but I think they were called “push pencils”. Anyone remember those? The ones I had were the kind where the pencils themselves were also scented with a fruity scent.

That was my 5th grade obsession. That and the new bad (very bad) permanent that my mother (who was a cosmetology student at the time) gave me. I wanted to look like Molly Ringwald and came out looking like…well…most definitely NOT Molly Ringwald.

I was also into this nifty little machine named Atari that my Dad brought home for us. It was the first in real video games and I was determined to master the game “Pong” before all the other kids in my neighborhood.

I most definitely was NOT thinking about demonology or the study thereof. So, are our kids smarter than us? There’s a show dedicated to just that theory (Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?) and despite the fact that my sleep deprived brain couldn’t focus in on my daughter’s impromptu discussion of demons—I’m still the boss in this house. Or, am I?

In Courting Demons, Paisley thinks she’s the boss too. She’s the mother of two children, a much more powerful witch than she realizes, and now the judge of all demons in the Underworld. But really, we may all have something to learn from our kids.

What is something you’ve been taught by your kid? Or, better yet, what were you “into” in the 5th grade?

Thanks for hosting me today at Silk & Shadows. Hope everyone will chime in with their own lessons learned.

Giveaway for the day:

Leave a question or comment to be entered to win today’s prize: A Vintage Push Pencil and an e-book copy of Courting Demons!

Then, enter to win my book tour Grand Prize Kindle by following me on tour and e-mailing me the answers to each question of the day at the end of tour. The more questions you answer, the more entries you gain.

Question of the Day:

Kerri Nelson discovered her love of writing at an early age and soon became a columnist for her local newspaper winning the Outstanding Young Journalist of the Year Award for her efforts.

Giveaway for the day:

Then, enter to win my book tour Grand Prize Kindle by following me on tour and e-mailing me the

Question of the Day:

© Kerri Nelson 2011

Currently working on: Sorting through my TBR mountain
Mood: Earthquaky

With all the traveling I did this summer, I didn’t get as much reading done as I wanted to. Of course, I NEVER get as much reading done as I want to. My once-upon-a-time-reasonable To Be Read stack has become a pile, and then two piles, and then a mountain, and now it’s a mountain on the verge of sliding down on my head. But I did manage to pluck a few new reads from the threatening collapse.

SHADOW TOUCH by Erin Kellison

I’d had Erin Kellison’s SHADOW BOUND in my TBR pile for ages, but never even had the chance to start it. After I roomed with her at Authors After Dark in Philadelphia, I felt soooo guilty. (Note to self: You should never sleep with an author whose books you haven’t read.) So when I got home, I dug through the mountain… and kicked myself for not having read it earlier! There is the dark and tortured hero, who of course I love, and there’s the heroine who is much more than she is willing to admit, and there’s a world one step from the edge of darkness.

After I finished SHADOW BOUND, I immediately went out and snagged SHADOW TOUCH. This ebook novella is a great introduction to the world of the Segue Institute, where desperate people are working round the clock to save the world from the dark forces of the wraiths. (And when last I checked, SHADOW TOUCH is FREE at Amazon!)

SEDUCE ME IN DREAMS by Jacquelyn Frank

Sometimes I find an author whose list of books is long enough that adding them to my TBR mountain could send the whole thing into a deadly slide. But if you haven’t read Jacquelyn Frank’s Nightwalker books and need a jump in where you aren’t so far behind, you can start with the excellent new Three Worlds books. SEDUCE ME IN DREAMS is the first of these hot, futuristic, military heroes.

I fell in love with futuristic romances decades ago with Ann Maxwell’s FIRE DANCER series, but futuristics with a strong love story can be hard to find. This series has love — and sex! — in spades. Happy sigh!

WILD AND STEAMY by Meljean Brook, Jill Myles & Carolyn Crane

These are more novellas and in ebook only format too, but they were so fun I had to include them here. I downloaded the ebook for one of the many plane rides I had to take this year and it made the interminable airport wait actually pleasant. Such is the power of a good book.

Meljean Brook’s has a story from her Iron Duke world, Jill Myles has a sexy shapeshifter menage, and Carolyn Crane checks in with a wonderful, twisty noir story from her Disillusionists series. The stories felt very different from each other, which was interesting in an anthology and perfect for the chaotic vibe of an airport. If you sit down to read it in more comfortable surroundings that don’t include overhead speakers announcing your flight has been delayed — again — then you will find something in this book for several different moods.

What was on your summer reading list? Report in on any Silk And Shadows post this week. I’ll be giving away a copy (not MY copy, of course) of Erin Kellison’s SHADOW BOUND that I stole from her at AAD. (Note to self: Room with more authors whose books you haven’t read so you have an excuse to buy more books.)

What I Did On My Summer Vacation
By Jessa Slade

My summer started with a family road trip to bury my grandfather with full military honors at Arlington Cemetery. He has a lovely spot next to an apple tree with a peek-a-boo view of the Washington Monument.

Although the reason for our gathering was somber, we had a wonderful reunion with the whole clan where we spent several days at a cottage on a back channel of Chesapeake Bay, harassing the blue crabs and eating Maryland Madness ice cream (lemon ice cream with raspberry swirl, chocolate chips and white chocolate; yes, sounds like madness, but tastes like summer).

Speaking of tastes of summer, I returned home to the first cucumbers of the season. Being a lazy homemaker, I invented this great pickle recipe:

• Take 1 cucumber.
• Slice it thin.
• Put it in an empty jar of store-bought pickle juice.
• Let sit for three days.
• Eat.

This only works two or three times before you leach all the flavor from the pickle juice. As lazy recipes go, I think I’ve hit a new personal low.

The pickle juice had only just gone bland when I departed for two reader conventions: RomCon in Denver was a laff riot with events like Build-A-Hero (pictured below, where I contributed the rippling abs, thankyewthankyewverymuch) and Authors After Dark in Philadelphia.

AAD, which is geared specifically for paranormal readers, is in NEW ORLEANS next year! On Bourbon Street! A seven minute walk from Cafe Du Monde beignets! You’re coming too, right?

Scarcely had I returned home (again) when I left (again) on a long weekend writing retreat up in Washington state.

To prove I was working reeeelly hard (shuh, right):

And now I am back at my computer (again) ready to work hard (really, this time). As a welcome home present — to you! – we’re giving away some book treasures from my travels and from some of my favorite book friends.

At the end of the week, Random.org will choose a winner from our newsletter subscribers. If you are already subscribed, just say hey. If you aren’t signed up yet, you can do that from the upper left corner, right up there, see it? One winner will get a party pack of Laurie London, Erin Kellison and Elisabeth Naughton. And I bet I can find some goodies for two more winners too, so go sign up.

We’re glad to be back! How about you? Eager for the change of seasons, or are you clinging to summer with both hands and all ten summer-pedicured toes?

Technically, the Frostbound release was yesterday, but since today is my blogging day, I’m going to have another release mania moment. Unleash the hounds! Bring on the chorus line of dancing vampires! It’s here! It’s here!

I’ve already posted the book trailer, but here is the link again

For anyone who has escaped the cover copy thus far, here we go:

Every dog might have his day, but the hellhound guards the night . . .
As a snowstorm locks down the city, more than the roads are getting iced. Someone’s beheaded the wrong girl, and vampire-on-the-lam Talia Rostova thinks it was meant to be her. Now she’s the prime suspect in her own botched murder—and the prisoner of her smoking-hot neighbor.

Lore is a hellhound, bred to serve and protect, so he’s not freeing Talia until he’s sure that she’s the prey and not the hunter. You’d think a beautiful woman in his bedroom would be a good thing, but trouble-prone Talia has run afoul of someone more sinister than your average lunatic killer. An ancient Undead is wreaking vengeance on the city—and on her—and Lore will have to go far beyond a stake to put him back in his grave . . .

And that Lore is one naughty puppy.

To celebrate this big moment, I have ONE ARC left and I will autograph it and send it to some lucky person who comments on Silk and Shadows between NOW and NEXT Wednesday (June 15th). I will mail internationally and your comment can be in response to any post that is put up during that time period. Comment every day and multiply your chances to win.

Currently working on: Chicago booksigning tour
Mood: Easter candy overdosed

I’m in Chicago for the Easter weekend, touring most of the bookstores within 50 miles. [Side note: If you live in Chicagoland and want a signed copy of VOWED IN SHADOWS, check with your local bookseller to see if I blew through.] I spent two solid days on the drive-bys, hitting as many stores as I could, signing the books in stock, and handing out goody bags filled with bookmarks and romance trading cards from fellow writers along with my book. Stock signing tours are fun, but tiring.

Yesterday, I spent Easter with my family. Woozy with exhaustion and excessive sugar intake, I listened to the priest’s homily and contemplated the Easter story of resurrection. I was also thinking about chocolate Easter eggs as well as the surprise elements and features on websites, DVDs and other electronic media which are also referred to as Easter eggs. The common element to all these Easter moments is rejoicing, whether that’s rejoicing in the  promise of eternal life or rejoicing in the discovery of a hidden chocolate or digital treasure.

As tired as I was after all the running around, I might have forgotten for a moment I should be rejoicing about having a book to sign. But even worse than that, sometimes I forget to rejoice in the writing itself. Just as eternal life shouldn’t overshadow that “This is the day the Lord has made” (emphasis mine), so I have to be careful that the joys (and trials) of being an author don’t overshadow the writing.

As I move forward with Book 3 launched and Book 4 almost a year away (yeah, yeah, it’ll be here before I know it) I am going to remember to rejoice. I will:

• Write anew and write a new…something
• Try something short and fresh as springtime
• Find the heart and spirit of my writing and set it free

Which aspects of writing or your other favorite pastimes continue to surprise and delight you? Leave a comment any time this week for a chance to win one of the goody bags I handed out this weekend.

If you’ve never seen the series, but think someday you’ll want to, turn back now. There are a few spoilers in this list…

1. Throw them a curve ball: Take an ordinary high school cheerleader and give her an inescapable destiny as a vampire slayer.

2. Pit them against villains capable of killing them: Such as an ancient vampire who not only sucks the slayer dry, he leaves her face down in a puddle. Caveat: If you do this, you also need to give her friends who can conveniently save her life…

3. Make their nightmares come true: Afraid of spiders, clowns, or public speaking? Good. Because all the bad guys can’t be demons. Welcome to the slayer’s world.

4. Stomp on their hearts: Let her fall in love, only to discover that love can cause serious, earth-shattering problems, like awakening the soulless vampire buried in her boyfriend.

5. Kick them when they’re down: Ensure the only way to save the world is to run said boyfriend through with a very sharp sword.

6. And then just for the heck of it, kick ‘em again: When she finally gets up the courage to date again, have that guy dump her after one night of sex.

7. Take away all their support: Mentors? Fire them. Friends? Turn them into hyenas or magic-addicted dark witches. Mother? Make her a zombie, have her do the nasty with the mentor, then kill her.

8. When in doubt, make them sing: Literally, for a whole episode. And while she’s singing, have her blurt things she’d never say otherwise, wound all her friends, and almost go up in flames. Then blame it on a tap-dancing demon.

Fortunately, Buffy’s ego is never completely shattered by all that happens to her–she’s a terrific example of what doesn’t kill you (or does kill you but you come back to life) makes you stronger.

Any other Buffy fans out there?

Currently working on: Obsessively refreshing my sales ranking to see if somebody somewhere bought one of my books
Mood: As mentioned, obsessive

This is release week for VOWED IN SHADOWS. Book 3 of the Marked Souls officially hits shelves tomorrow, and I am:

A. Frantic
B. Terrified
C. Horrified
D. Utterly sleep deprived
E. Thrilled
F. All of the above

Yeah. It’s F.

I suppose I could have stopped at D because in the past two weeks, I’ve had multiple dreams about falling off cliffs, getting rolled under by tidal waves (although those could be because of Japan, not release week), being important places without my shoes, hiking up an endless mountain (once, right before I fell off a cliff), and cookies.

The cookie one is obvious; no subtext needed there.

Release week is when the pages hit the pavement. The work is in the wind. Where it goes…Who knows? Hence, A through D above. It’s unnerving to know the spine — the book’s and, in a way, mine — will be cracking in someone else’s hands.

But that’s the point — for me, anyway — of writing. Hence E above.

When I started writing, I always intended to get to this point. I just didn’t have a good sense of what “this point” would look like.

Strangely enough, it looks a lot like walking up an endless mountain without your shoes and staring off the cliff to the raging seas below. The cookie (hopefully hermetically sealed against salt water) is somewhere down there. If I dare throw myself over.

Scary, but maybe more rewarding than walking down the mountain barefoot.

I guess, honestly, I thought there’d be more flying; maybe there is more flying for some writers. I have flying dreams occasionally, and I really like them. But in the release week version of the dream, it’s mostly slogging and plummeting. And the cookie fuels the next hike back up the mountain.

Not sure what it’ll take to earn my wings. Maybe New York Times bestseller? That’d be awesome. Maybe just more cookies. Then I’d HAVE to hike, to burn off the calories.

For tonight, I’ll just hope to dream about something that doesn’t wake me up with my heart pounding. I’m saving the pounding heart for my trip to the bookstore tomorrow to see Jonah on the shelves

Since it’s release week I HAVE to give away a signed copy here along with a set of Marked Soul romance trading cards. Leave a comment anytime this week for a chance to win! And thank you, as always, for reading.

Two lost souls
One last battle
None will walk away
Untouched

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Borders
BooksAMillion ~ Powells Books ~ Indigo ~ Indiebound

The war between good and evil has raged for millennia,
with the Marked Souls caught in the middle.
Now two lost souls will tip the precarious balance…

Possession by a demon cost Jonah Walker his faith, his humanity, and his wife. Once a righteous missionary man, he endures immortality with nothing but a body for battle and a bent for retribution. But his last devastating fight left him wounded beyond healing and his only chance to redeem his soul lies with a fallen woman.

Thrust into a wicked underworld of shadows and sin, Nim Hamlin can’t believe her wanton ways as “the Naughty Nymphette” enthralled a demon…and a damned saint. The world she knows doesn’t deserve deliverance. But the touch of this good man’s hand holds an unholy allure–and she’s never been any good at resisting temptation.

As darkness gathers in the sweltering Chicago summer, Jonah and Nim must conquer the demons of their past to face even fiercer monsters in one last assault.  But first they must put aside their doubts and disbeliefs and let their passion for each other burn through the shadows to ignite their furious power…

Read Chapter 1 here

When I first began writing, I had not yet discovered my local chapter of the RWA, and my writing was a very solitary effort. Even after I found my chapter mates, the actual writing I did was on my own and the disappointing rejection letters/contest results were handled on my own.

My intent is not to make my writing life sound overly melancholy—I actually have enough self-confidence to push me past most disappointments. But life is full of ups and downs, and occasionally, I would find myself in the sitting amidst the pits in the cherry bowl.

My method for dealing with that was to surf the internet in search of wisdom from other people—otherwise known as famous quotes. Reading how other people handled trials and misfortune helped me put those rejection letters in perspective. In the beginning, many of the letter were form letters, yet I somehow managed to read between the lines and take the feedback personally. Yeah. Writers can be neurotic.

Anyway, back to the quotes. Every time my lack of progress got me down, I’d open up that file of quotations, pull one, and print it large as life to hang over my computer. I wasn’t the only one to meet rejection or feel the pinch of failure. Many others—including some brilliant people—had traveled that path before me.

So, for the benefit of those who might need a lift, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite quotes…

Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt. –William Shakespeare

Success is the good fortune that comes from aspiration, desperation, perspiration and inspiration. –Evan Esar

The best way out is always through. –Robert Frost

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. –Albert Einstein

Success is how high you bounce when you hit the bottom. –Gen. George S. Patton

Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown. –Ross Perot

You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will. –Stephen King

Never give up, never surrender. –Galaxy Quest

Do you have a favorite inspirational quotation? Care to share it (or them)?

Currently working on: Revising
Mood: Hack and slash and burn and pillage

So it’s the week before Valentine’s Day and all the stores are filled with cheap chocolate and expensive flowers, neither of which will last until February 14 if purchased today.

Okay, maybe I’m sounding a little bitter about sweet, sweet love, but that’s because I’m in the midst of revisions. The characters I loved so much in the brainstorming phase, who I struggled and grew with through the hot draft, now inspire my scalding vitriol as I shriek my frustrations at the innocent computer.

In this way, writing is very much like love is very much like butter cookies.

Stay with me here.

Step 1.
Butter cookies come from a cookie press, a glorious device I just discovered (thanks to XY for the wonderful Christmas gift). The disc that exudes butter cookie dough is deceptively pure and simple. It looks like this:

That barely even looks like a heart, does it? See how the first stage of butter cookies is very much like the first stage of love and stories? Pure, simple, easily scrubbed, and nothing at all like you’ll have at the end.

Step 2.

Yeah, Step 2 and it’s starting to get a little messy, in butter cookies, love and the story. You learn stuff you didn’t necessarily want to know: that the loved one snores, the characters snore too, oh, and you forgot to put an egg in the cookie dough mix (which, by the way, in case you were wondering, doesn’t substantially alter the butter cookie recipe; mostly makes it a shortbread cookie; yes, this is personal experience talking).

You can live with Step 2, you think. But no process has just two steps…

Step 3.
The raw dough of your love — and your story and your butter cookies — has to undergo (dum-da-DUUUMMMM!!!) The Trial By Fire.

Warning: Don’t actually put your butter cookies in a wood-fired oven. You will not be happy with the results; no, this is not personal experience talking (for once), it’s common sense. Which admittedly doesn’t make as good a story but makes better butter cookies.

Your love and your story WILL go through an actual Trial By Fire at some point. No, strike that, not at some point; it will happen when you are at your weakest point, when you can’t possibly stand it, when it’s impossible.

And just as butter cookies stay raw dough without the time and heat of the oven, love and the story will stay soft and unformed and strangely tasteless.

Step 4.
Because despite all the heartache and waiting and the occasional scorched fingers, it’s worth it.

When I’m in Step 3, it’s nice to have a reminder of Step 4. Which is why I’m making the butter cookie press — super fast and convenient! unlike love and writing — my reminder. Because Step 4 — the glass of cold milk, The End, the kiss as the curtains drop — does get here eventually.

And now I can share a bit of Step 4 love with you, in this week before Valentine’s Day. No, not butter cookies. They don’t ship well. (And, yes, I ate them all.) But I do have a festively Valentine’s pink galley (a large-size Advanced Reading Copy without final copy edits or the real cover) to give away.

So if you’d like a chance to win a copy of VOWED IN SHADOWS, Book 3 of the Marked Souls, coming out in April, leave a comment about love or writing or butter cookies. On Valentine’s Day, random.org will help me pick a winner from comments left on any post this week.

Good luck in love, in writing, and in butter cookies!