If you haven’t already entered my Paranormal Creatures Contest, then hurry and send me your entry! July 1st is the last day of the contest–the winner will be announced on July 2nd.

Here are the contest details:

Would you like to win an autographed copy of Secrets, Volume 18: Dark Passions, featuring my novella, The Wolf’s Mate and an autographed copy of my paranormal romance, The Wizard’s Spell? If so, then enter my Paranormal Creatures Contest! The contest officially begins May 1st and will run until July 1st. Participants must be 18 years of age or older.

To enter this contest, simply tell me your favorite paranormal creature–and why this being is your favorite–in 50 words or less, please! Send your entry (with a subject line of Contest) to info@cynthiaeden.com. I’ll post the entries here on my contest page, and a winner will be randomly selected on July 2nd.

Note: Contest entrants will automatically be added to my newsletter list. If you do not wish to be added to the list, simply type “No newsletter” at the bottom of your contest entry.

About six months ago (jeez, has it really been that long?), I was working on a vampire story for Red Sage. The tale, now called BLOOD HUNT, is about a female vampiress with a taste for bad boys.

Nema Alexander, the heroine of BLOOD HUNT is a strong, independent, but somewhat reckless character. Nema also happens to be the first female character I created who began the story as a vampire. I loved writing about Nema. I loved her spirit, her drive. But, as I was writing her story, I kept thinking…

I could make this character darker. Harder. Wrench the light away and just see what lurks beneath the surface.

I started imagining a second vampire heroine. One driven by impulses much, much more dangerous than Nema’s.

I couldn’t get the idea of this second vampiress out of my head As soon as I finished BLOOD HUNT, well, I just had to launch into another vampire tale.

And Maya Black, the heroine of my second Kensington Brava novel, was born.

One character, leading to another.

Has this happened to any other writers out there? Have you created one character–a hero or heroine–and then been given a burst of inspiration to create another?

is up at The Bradford Bunch. I’m talking about romance books that have been made into movies. Check out the post and let me know what you think!

So today, Nick and I went house hunting. We tried a different area–Midtown. Midtown is known for its great historical homes. Some of those homes are way, way out of our price range (think Tara from Gone With the Wind), but others are much more affordable.

We were meandering through one, and I counted five fireplaces inside the house. I’m a huge fireplace fan, so the sight of FIVE really excited me. Of course, the realtor ended my excitement quickly by telling me they were for show. Not one of those five fireplaces actually worked. Sigh. The rooms were all huge, with ceilings over sixteen feet tall, and the doors looked like they were almost twice as tall as the doors in my current house. We took Jack and went upstairs (and by the way, the stairs were these interesting, twisting steps–each step was a different length from the one above it).

Once we left the house, I asked Nick what he thought. He paused a moment and said, “The upstairs kinda reminded me of the Amityville House.”

To which I immediately responded, “I know! Cool, huh?”

The horrified stare he shot back at me clearly said he didn’t think the house was cool.

Oh, well. Better luck next weekend.

And how was your Sunday???

JaynieR was kind enough to interview the authors of The Bradford Bunch. If you get a chance, hop by her blog and check out the interview.

Happy Sunday!

And by the way, I finished reading The River Knows by Amanda Quick last night–excellent book!!