Some Old, Some New Back to Blog
Hey everyone! Lauren Dane here, thanks for having me, Cynthia! I thought I’d talk about my latest release from Samhain, Cascadia Wolves: Trinity – featuring one cat shifter, one werewolf and a very sexy (and lucky) witch who gets them both!
Since Jack Meyers appeared on the page when I wrote Tri Mates, I knew I wanted to give him his own HEA. I didn’t know how, I didn’t know who but once he played such a big part in Standoff, I knew it would have to be soon.
Fortunately for me, my editor thought the same, as did many readers who wrote to ask me to give Jack his own story. Given the end of Standoff, the story would need to take place Boston, where the National Pack is located and Jack serves as Enforcer.
Of course, once I started tinkering around with ideas, he didn’t want to be with another wolf, he wanted a witch named Renee. But again, as I started to work on the synopsis, Renee already had a man. Her man was Galen de La Vega, a very sexy lawyer who also happens to be a jaguar shifter.
These three had a lot of great chemistry as I began to write. At first I wasn’t sure how they’d end up as a ménage. I’d already done a tri-mate bond in Tri Mates and it’s very rare anyway, obviously too rare to have one twice in the same series, LOL.
So I started to build the world Galen inhabits, the world of his shifters and their bond with a partner is different, though no less intense and special, than wolves. Add to that the fact that Renee is a powerful witch and the possibilities for how they come to be bound to each other were endless (and I hope the way I went works for readers as much as it did for me as I wrote)
I love this world and I’m thrilled that I was able to continue it with some new characters in a new city! Trinity is part one of a two book story arc – Renee and her men get their HEA by the end of Trinity, but there’s something else, a larger story about Renee and Kendra’s past and the threat to their future – this was too big to tie up neatly in just one book (much like the Pellini story was too big to end in a book or two). This something is a problem her sister Kendra will help solve in the next book – I’m tentatively calling it Hunted just now, but I’m working on the proposal so the title may change as I get through the story a bit.
I love this part of the process – because the more I write, the more I want to know more about the world of the de La Vega cats (Galen’s seven siblings and his parents who lead the jamboree). The great thing is that they’re living in the same city as the National Pack that Grace and Cade now lead so there’s some back and forth between my wolves and the cats too. Lots of new ground to break while still keeping in contact with those characters I’ve grown to love so much.
Writing is the best job I could ever imagine. Yes, there’s stress and heartbreak, but there’s far more joy and limitless opportunity to create new stories, new worlds, new characters and to fall in love with them.
I hope you do as well!
Wanna win something? What’s your favorite kind of paranormal character? A vamp? A shifter? A witch or demon? Any fave characters or books? I’ll give away a copy of Cascadia Wolves:Standoff, the book where readers really get to know Jack Meyers – to one of the commenters at the end of today. Good luck!
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Were-cats are fun. We were just talking about that at our chapter meeting on Saturday. Witches are always good.
I’m not sure if I have a favorite paranormal character. I have favorite writers who can just about any creature interesting. 🙂
Just brought trinity and since it is the wee hours of the morning am just doing my best to distract myself from starting it now..
My all time favourite kind of paranormal character is dragons, I am a major sucker for dragons, must be the fantasy reader in me. (Though I do love cat shifters – which is part of the reason I really want to read this book like now.)
ROFLMFAO
Waves to Edie #1 – a great name you have there!
I love all things paranormal, but shifters are the closest to my heart. I just have soft spot for furry animals, lol.
Don’t enter me in the contest~~Happy Release Day!!
I really love all paranormal characters, but if I had to choose just one I would have to go with vampires. I love me a good hot vampire!!
Trinity sounds great and happy release day!
For me it’s wolf shifter all the way! Totally fell in love with Kendra Leigh Castles wolves in her MacInnes Werewolf Trilogy.
Hi Lauren
I like witches and vampires. One of my favorite books is BLACK BODY by H.C. Turk. I think it’s one of the best books about witches I’ve ever read. Happy Halloween!
I have to go with witches. I have been intrigued by them for as long as I can remember, starting with watching Bewitched on TV when young, up through reading all about the Salem witch trials. I even got to visit Laurie Cabot’s shop in Salem one year (and actually passed by her in the street)! 🙂
Not witches, but I very much enjoy reading the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon.
Have to say shifters have been my favorite books. Love that whole alpha thing 😀
Happy Release Day!!!
I love vamps! My love affair with them started with Barnabas Collins from Dark Shadows and has only gotten stronger.
Hi Lauren! Congrats on the new release! My favs would have to be vamps, shifters and demons. I honestly have sooo many favs, but I am currently reading Deep Kiss of Winter – K. Cole and G. Showalter. Fantastic so far. Can’t wait to read Trinity!
Wow, this is hard. Pretty much a tie between vamps and shifters. Just love the vamps from the Argeneau Series by Lynsay Sands. Totally fell hard for Thomas 😀 Now my shifters love, love, love those shifters from the MacInnes series by Kendra Leigh Castle 😀
Congrats on your release, Lauren. Always exciting.
I’m rather partial to shifters. Not necessarily wolves (although they are a favorite) but I like a shapeshifter who can do different critters. Sorta like Sam Merlotte in Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse series.
Hmmm….this is hard. I have to give the ribbon to shifters—especially werewolves. I love reading about shifters and the pack’s mentality. Currently I’m reading and hook on Kate Daniels Series by Ilona Andrews.
Edie #1 – this is the first cat shifter I’ve written, have just been waiting for the right combo of story and characters I guess. I will definitely be back though!
Edie #2 – Thank you! I hope you like it!!
Melissa – I love shifters too!
Lori – thank you! Vamps are uber sexy too, broody, I love the joyfully bad ones, LOL
Angela – oh good one!
Mel – I haven’t heard of that one, must check it out!
Susan – I love Kenyon too
Michele – definitely a high point with shifters, I totally agree!
Jody – oh yes, the original broody television vamp (love him too!)
Barb – Oh good reading choices!
Amy – oh yes, I love those too!
Liz – Sam is a fabulous character – love him.
Sue – Oh yes, the pack/family thing is one of my favorite parts too
Hi, Lauren! I think I tend to prefer shifters too–I like the whole multi-faceted person/ality aspect. And as Sue mentioned, the pack/family connections are really fun, *and* often lend themselves to additional stories, which I am all for!
Congrats on the new release, Lauren. I like shifters and vampires, but ghost stories are my favorites. I really enjoy Heather Graham’s ghost books.
I love shifters, and am partial to Dragon shifters (less common than most)But then I just love dragons in any shape, really. So much power and beauty there.
Oooooh, give me a dragon shifter any day!!1 HOT!!!
Valerie
in Germany
I can’t seem to choose between vamps and shifters, but all paranormals are great. I’m reading Kresley Cole right now and her books have a little of everything that’s out there and Cynthia’s books also have a mix of paranormals and they’re great too…
I have to get Trinity, it sounds awesome. Need to keep up with the collection!
My favorite is Shifters of all kind!!! I’m reading Shelly Laurenston right now, getting ready for her new release coming up – The Mane Squeeze!
Hi Cynthia 🙂
Thank you for having Lauren Dane here today.
Thanks to Lauren for the great post and congratulations on TRINITY’s release today.
All the best,
RKCharron
xoxo
I love all kinds of paranormal characters and have a few favorite authors. I have to say though that my favorite characters are Mercy and Adam from Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series, Vane Kattalakis from Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Were Hunters and Cadeon and Rydstrom Woede from Kresly Cole’s Immortals After Dark.
I love vampires – especially those powerful, sexy ones, but shifters/were’s are great too. Keri Arthur’s Riley Jensen is great because she’s both vampire and werewolf, the best of both worlds.
What a hard decision–I like writing vamps, but I enjoy reading about any paranormal character–except demons. I don’t care much for those. I look forward to reading about a jaguar!
Congratulations on your new release, Lauren, looks great, sounds better and I hope to soon add it to my tbr pile!
I love vampires too. I just started reading differant kinds of paranormal so I’v only read a few vampire & ghost ones so far. Congrads on your new book.
I would have to say Vampires but Werewolfs are all most up there whit them.your book sounds great I will have to add it to my list of books to get some day.
sasluvbooks@yahoo.com
I like vampires and shapeshifters, those seem to be my favorites. I’ve been thinking about getting into some dragon stories but I haven’t yet.
I am beginning to like shifters better. and I already have this one in ebook. This is fantastic book.
It’s too hard for me to choose a favorite paranormal character. I like them all for different reasons. Shifters and vamps are definitely the most prominent, but I like witches and fae and pretty much everything else there is.
Some of my favorites are Shelly Laurenston’s shifters and Larissa Ione’s beings from her Demonica series.
woohoo, a chance to meet Jack. He sounds intriguing. I must say my fav paranormal character is a shifter, mainly because there are all sorts of them from the big cats to the alpha wolf. I agree with Karin, Shelly Laurenston is a favorite for her shifters and her hysterical sense of humor. Thanks for the chance.
c.
My favorite paranormal character are wolf shifters as the men are alpha and the women stand up as well. Looking forward to reading Trinity.
Shifters all the way!!!!! I love shifters, mostly large cats, and wolves…though I’ve seen several comments about dragons so I may have to give those a try.
I love that they are alpha, have animal instincts as well as human. Some of my favs, which are not really shifter, but have animal DNA so they share some of the same traits is Lora Leigh’s Breeds series.
Congrats on Trinity! Haven’t read the Cascadia Wolves series yet…not quite sure why, but need to put these on my buying list 🙂
This sounds like a great book! I can’t wait to read it, anything about wolves count me in!
I think it should be required reading for everyone who writes a paranormal, Lauren. lol! You’ll have to search for a used copy or try Abe books or Powells. Me thinks…..
Physically hideous and powerful monsters are of course terrifying, but what about the more subtle type of fright? The kind that messes with your mind until you can’t tell what is real and what is imaginary. Better yet, how about a creepy critter who is pysically formidable and a master of derailing your reality!
I love all kind of shifters no matter if werewolves, tiger, jaguar etc and vampires!
I love shifters no matter the species and vampsires.
I love my dragon shifters, but the vamps are my very favorites.