I sent out an early ANGEL OF DARKNESS excerpt to my newsletter members (See? All the more reason to join my newsletter!), and now it’s time to share the excerpt here on the blog. 🙂  Hope you enjoy it!

Unedited excerpt from ANGEL OF DARKNESS (Kensington Brava, 11/29/11)

He’d been created for one purpose—death.  He was not there to comfort or to enlighten.

Keenan’s only job was to bring death to those unlucky enough to know his touch.

And on the cold, windy New Orleans night, his latest victim was in sight.  He watched her from his perch high atop the St. Louis Cathedral. Mortal eyes wouldn’t find him. Only those preparing to leave the earthly realm could ever glimpse his face so he didn’t worry about shocking those few humans who straggled through the nearby square.

No, he worried about nothing. No one. He never had. He simply touched and he killed and he waited for his next victim.

The woman he watched tonight was small, with long, black hair, and skin a pale cream.  The wind whipped her hair back, jerking it away from her face as she hurried down the stone cathedral steps.  The doors had been locked. She hadn’t made it inside.  No chance to pray.

Pity.

He slipped to the side of the cathedral, still watching her as she edged down the narrow alley way.  Pirate’s Alley.  He’d taken others from this place before.  The path seemed to scream with the memories of the past.

“No!”

That wasn’t the past screaming.  His body stiffened.  His wings beat at the air around him. It was her.

Nicole St. James.  School teacher.  Age twenty-nine.  A woman who tutored children on the weekends. A woman who’d tried to live her life just right…

A woman who was dying tonight.

His eyes narrowed as he leapt from his perch.  Time to go in closer.

Nicole’s attacker had her against the wall. One of the man’s hands was over her mouth, the better to make sure she didn’t scream again.  His other hand slammed against the front of her chest and held her pinned against the cold stone wall.

She was fighting harder than Keenan had really expected.  Struggling. Kicking.

Her attacker just laughed.

And Keenan watched—as he’d always watched. So many years…

Tears streamed down Nicole’s cheeks.

The man holding her leaned in and licked them away.

Keenan’s gut clenched.  Knowing that her time was at hand, he’d watched Nicole for a few weeks now.  He’d slipped into her classroom and listened to the soft drawl of her voice.  He’d watched as her lips curled into a smile and a dimple winked in her right cheek.

He’d seen laughter in her eyes.  Seen longing. Seen…life.

Now, her green eyes were filled with the stark, wild terror that only the helpless can truly know.

He didn’t like that look in her eyes. His hands clenched.

Don’t look if you don’t like it. His gaze jerked away from her face.  The job wasn’t about what he liked.  It never had been.

There’d never been a choice.

They have the choices. I only have orders to follow.

That was way it had always been.  So why did it bother him, now?  Because it was her? Because he’d watched too much? Slipped beside her too much?

Temptation.

“This is gonna hurt…”

The man’s grating whisper scratched through Keenan’s mind. Neither the attacker nor Nicole could see him.  Not yet.

One touch, that was all it would take.

But the time hadn’t come for her yet.

“The wind’s so loud…” The man lifted his hand off Nicole’s mouth. “No one’s gonna hear you scream anyway.”

But she still screamed—a loud, long, desperate scream—and she kept fighting.

Keenan truly hadn’t realized she’d struggle so much against death.  Some didn’t fight at all when the time came. Others fought until he had to drag them away.

Fabric ripped. Tore.  The guy had jerked her shirt, rending the material. Keenan glimpsed the soft ivory of her bra and the firm mounds of her breasts.

Help her. The urge came from deep within, but it was an urge he couldn’t heed.

“Don’t!” Nicole yelled. “Please—no! Just let me go!”

Her attacker lifted his head. Keenan stared at him, noting the gaunt features, the black hair, and the eyes that were too dark for a normal man.  “No, baby. I’m not lettin’ you go.”  The guy licked his lips. “I’m too damn hungry.” Then he smiled and  revealed sharpened teeth that no human could possess.

Vampire. Figured. Keenan had been cleaning up their messes for centuries. A mistake. That’s what all those parasites were. An experiment gone wrong.

Nicole opened her mouth to scream again and the vamp sank his teeth into her throat. Then he started drinking from her, gulping and growling and Nicole’s fingernails raked against his face as she struggled against him.

But it was too late to fight.  She’d never be strong enough to break away from the vampire. She was five feet six inches tall. Maybe one hundred thirty five pounds.

The vamp was over six feet. He was lean, but muscle mass and weight didn’t really matter—not when you were talking about a vamp’s strength.

Keenan stared at the narrow opening of the alley. Soon, he’d be able to touch her and her nightmare would end.  Soon.

“You’re just going to stand there?” Her voice cracked.

His head whipped back toward her.  Those green eyes—fury and fear—were locked on him.

Impossible.

She shouldn’t see me yet. It wasn’t time.  The vamp hadn’t taken enough blood from her.

Nicole shoved her hands into the vampire’s chest, but he kept his teeth in her throat and didn’t so much as stumble. Her neck was tilted back, her head angled, and her stare was on—

Me.

“Help me.” She mouthed the words as tears slipped down her cheeks. “Please.”

She could see him.  Every muscle in Keenan’s body went tight. “I will.”

Today, I’m helping JoJo celebrate her blogoversary–and one commenter at JoJo’s Book Corner will win an ARC of ANGEL OF DARKNESS (scheduled for release on 11/29).  So come on by and help us celebrate!

Okay, all of the info that is to follow is just my opinion, based only on my personal experience. Because some folks have been asking me about my take on self-publishing versus traditional publishing, I figured I’d share my thoughts.  So here they are. 🙂

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When I think of self-publishing and “traditional” (NY) publishing, I don’t see this as an either/or situation. Some authors may–that’s fine. Again, these are my opinions and folks are certainly entitled to have their own take on this situation.  For me, publishing comes down to this:

I want to reach readers. I want to attract new readers. I want to deliver quality stories to my readers. I want to keep my readers coming back for more books. I want my readers to tell their friends about my stories. I want them to enjoy my books.

It’s all about the readers.

When I decided to self-publish BOUND BY BLOOD (paranormal romance novella) in early April, I published the story because I wanted to provide my readers with a bonus read that hadn’t been scheduled for the year and because I hoped to reach new readers with the low price point that I used for the book (.99).   I believe that self-publishing and traditional publishing both can work for the author.  As I said, I want to reach as many readers as possible.  My print books get into the stores, and they reach readers who want print copies of my books.  My .99 novella reached those readers who read primarily on their ebook devices–folks who didn’t mind spending a small amount of money to try out a new-to-them author.

Currently, BOUND BY BLOOD has sold just under 14,000 copies.  With my publisher’s permission, I included an excerpt from NEVER CRY WOLF at the back of BOUND BY BLOOD.  The thought process here?   I suspect you know where this is going…it would be free promotion for NEVER CRY WOLF.  BOUND BY BLOOD featured a werewolf hero, so did NEVER CRY WOLF.  If folks enjoyed BOUND BY BLOOD, it stood to reason that they might also be interested in checking out NEVER CRY WOLF.

Did that strategy work for me?  Well, ebook sales are exploding right now–that’s for sure.  I don’t have concrete numbers to share with you (sorry, it will take months before I get royalty statements for NEVER CRY WOLF), but I can tell you what I saw during the book’s release. For the first week that NEVER CRY WOLF was out, it stayed in the top 100 Nook Books list at B&N.  This was the first time that any of my books had made the top 100 for Nook Books.  And to stay there for the first week?  Yes, I was very happy with that information.  As for Amazon sales?  Well, a month after it’s release, the book is (numbers change so this will alter throughout the day) ranked #899 on the Kindle.

My ebook sales are showing an upward trend, definitely.  Is it because more folks are switching to ebooks?  Certainly part of the upswing. Is it because folks read BOUND BY BLOOD and decided to give NEVER CRY WOLF a try?  I think that helped the initial swing–I think it helped b/c Amazon and B&N both send out those lovely emails that say, “Since you read…” (and suggest folks try my latest release).

What does all this rambling talk mean?  Well, it means that I believe an author’s self-published works can lead to additional sales of her traditional stories. I believe that an author’s traditional sales can lead to more sales of her self-published works. I don’t think one method is better than the other. For me, they both work very well together.

Now, let me spend a few moments talking about price point.

BOUND BY BLOOD is available for .99. Why .99?  Well, because this story is 20,000 words, a novella. I wanted to price the novella affordably. I also believe that if you are a reader looking for a new author, you are more likely to spend .99 on an ebook.  After all, you only have .99 to lose if you don’t enjoy the book.  Low price points are good tools for attracting new readers.  They certainly attract me when I’m looking for something new to read on my Kindle.

As far as the actual method of publishing–it was easy.  Amazon has a series of videos that walk you through self-publishing on their site.  I’m a visual learner. If I see something being done, I understand and can learn faster. Those videos were super helpful for me.

I realize that this post is getting long, so I’ll end things here for now. (Though I may be back with a 2nd part tomorrow.)  If you have any questions for me about my self-publishing experience, please ask.

Thanks!!

Update:  The winner of IN A TREACHEROUS COURT is…Khelsey. Congrats!!

Today’s special guest is an author not to be missed. Michelle Diener‘s debut IN A TREACHEROUS COURT, promises to be a fabulous tale of adventure and action.  I am super excited for Michelle’s upcoming release, and I’m very glad that she’s guest blogging with me today.  Welcome, Michelle!

RULES OF BEHAVIOUR

Thank you to Cynthia for inviting me back to blog! As I count down to August 9th, the release date of my debut historical novel, In a Treacherous Court, which is set in the court of Henry VIII, I thought I’d get everyone into a courtly mood by doing a show and tell on some of the quotes I have at the start of each chapter in IN A TREACHEROUS COURT.

I couldn’t use the language of the time in the book (it would be like reading a book in Shakespearean English), but I wanted to set the scene, give readers a taste of the cadence and poetry of the speech of the time and some context to the rules and mores of behaviour under which my characters would have lived. My solution was to use quotes from THE COURTIER, an Italian book on courtly manners written by Count Baldessar Castillo around the time IN A TREACHEROUS COURT is set, which was translated into English by Sir Thomas Hoby a number of years later. The book is in four parts, and the first part is really the ‘quick guide’ or cheat sheet for the rest of the book, containing the main DOs and DON’Ts on how to behave at court. It was great fun choosing a rule for a courtier (my hero, Parker) and a rule for a lady in waiting (my heroine, Susanna) for the start of each chapter.

The main characters in IN A TREACHEROUS COURT are based on real people. My heroine, Susanna Horenbout, was trained as an artist and illuminator in her father’s studio in Ghent (in modern day Belgium), and art historians are sure she was sent over to Henry’s court ahead of her father and brother. The hero is John Parker, one of Henry VIII’s ‘new men’, courtiers who were not noblemen, but in the meritocracy Henry was trying to establish, loyalty, and usefulness, could definitely overcome a lack of blue blood. They are both outsiders, but talented enough, and intelligent enough, to find a place for themselves in the world they find themselves in.

The Count Castillo’s advice on the fitting and proper behaviour for those who wanted to advance at court just worked so well. Where I could, I tried to match up the quotes (sometimes tongue-in-cheek) to what was happening in the scenes of that chapter. Some of my favourites include:

The Chiefe Conditions And Qualities In A Courtier: Not to be a babbler, brauler, or chatter, nor lavish of his tunge.

Of The Chief Conditions And Qualityes In A Waytyng Gentylwoman: To shape him that is oversaucie wyth her, or that hath small respecte in hys talke, suche an answere, that he maye well understande she is offended wyth hym. (LOVE this one! :))

The Chiefe Conditions And Qualities In A Courtier: To be handesome and clenly in his apparaile.

Of The Chief Conditions And Qualityes In A Waytyng Gentylwoman: To be heedefull and remembre that men may with lesse jeopardy show to be in love, then women.
The Chiefe Conditions And Qualities In A Courtier: His love towarde women, not to be sensuall or fleshlie, but honest and godly, and more ruled with reason, then appetyte: and to love better the beawtye of the minde, then of the bodie.

Of The Chief Conditions And Qualityes In A Waytyng Gentylwoman: Not to be lyghte of creditt that she is beloved, thoughe a man commune familierlye with her of love.

As you can tell, the Count Castillo had some great advice for the men and women of court 🙂 .

Seeing as we’re talking about advice, what’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? There is a giveaway of a pre-release copy of IN A TREACHEROUS COURT to one randomly-drawn commenter (US residents only, unfortunately).

Looking forward to hearing some great advice!

Michelle Diener

Michelle Diener lives in Australia with her husband and two children. She’s worked as an editor, a publisher, managed a small IT business, and now writes full time. Her debut historical novel, IN A TREACHEROUS COURT, is due out with Simon & Schuster’s Gallery Books on August 9th, and the second book in the series, KEEPER OF THE KING’S SECRETS, is due for an early 2012 release. You can find out more about her at her website (http://www.michellediener.com), her group blog (http://www.magicalmusings.com) or follow her on twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/michellediener ) or Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Michelle-Diener/196593580366013)

About the book:

Henry VIII’s most lethal courtier and his newly appointed artist become the only thing keeping him on the throne – and if they survive, neither will ever be the same.

John Parker is one of Henry VIII most useful courtiers — utterly merciless and completely loyal. But one small favour for his King will pull Parker into a deadly plot against the throne, one that will test his courage, his resolve, and most especially, his heart.

A commission from Henry VIII should have been the crowning achievement of Susanna Horenbout’s career, but before the beautiful and talented artist even sets foot in England, she finds herself in possession of a secret that could change its history. With Parker as her only protection against killers who will stop at nothing to silence her, Susanna has to trust the dangerous, enigmatic courtier. She’s used to fighting in a man’s world, but she never expected to be fighting for her life.

What people are saying about IN A TREACHEROUS COURT:

“IN A TREACHEROUS COURT is an action-adventure-mystery-historical that grabs the reader on page one and doesn’t let go. It reminds me of SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE in the way it captures the “feel” of Tudor England, moving with equal aplomb from royal palace to refuse-clogged London street to leaky rowboat on the Thames.” Kate Emerson (Author of BY ROYAL DECREE: Secrets of the Tudor Court)

“Awesome! History woven flawlessly into riveting fiction.” Tammy J. Schneider (Special Features Editor and book reviewer at “Affaire de Coeur” magazine)

“Just when readers think there is nothing new to be learned about Henry VIII, debut author Diener delivers a taut suspense . . . that will keep you turning the pages.” Kathe Robin (4 star review in RT Magazine August 2011 issue)

Update: The winner of the Kindle copy of THE LOST IS…Natasha A! Congrats, Natasha!

Happy release day to my writing buddy (and awesome author) Caridad Pineiro! Her latest paranormal romance, THE LOST, is available today.

Adam Bruno is no ordinary millionaire. The heir to an ancient race possessing a dark, powerful magic, he can shapeshift and create energy. His gifts make him a living weapon and have forced him to live in seclusion. But now an inhuman force hunts down Adam-just when he finds someone who makes him feel more human than he ever imagined possible . . .

Home from combat in Iraq, Bobbie Carerra wants only peace, yet soon joins Adam in a terrifying battle against paranormal enemies who hide in plain sight. She’s drawn to his strength of mind and body; he’s attracted to her courage and intoxicating energy. Their scorching passion can either transport them to the heights of ecstasy or-if Adam’s powers rage out of control-destroy them. But when an invisible brotherhood tightens its nets and someone Adam trusts betrays him, only a heartrending decision can save them.

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Want to read THE LOST?  I’ll give one random commenter an ebook version (sent from Amazon) of THE LOST.  (And remember, you don’t have to own a Kindle to read the Kindle version–you can use the free Kindle for PC program.)  Want to win?  Then just tell me a great book you’ve read this summer.

But wait…there’s more…

On Wednesday night, I will be participating in a video chat with Caridad. We’ll be talking books, answering questions, and giving away prizes (aren’t prizes always fun?).  Here are the details:

DATE: July 27th, 2011
TIME: 6:00PM Pacific / 9:00PM Eastern
DURATION: 30-45 Minutes

Where:  Book Candy Author Chats

– use the guest tab (not registered users tab)
– enter your name in the guest field
– click enter button to join

Hope to see you there!