Happy Friday! I have a special teaser to share with you. I hadn't planned on posting it, but a reader contacted me on Facebook and asked for a little bit of Brennus in honor of her birthday. So, you guys can thank Teaka Lilly for this one :) Happy birthday, Teaka, and many, many more. This is a teaser with Brennus and Emil <--(new character in Iniquity), but it's told in Russell's point of view. (As always with most of my teasers, this has not been edited. It's in its raw form and subject to change.) TEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASE TEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASE TEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASE TEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASE TEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASE TEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASE TEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASE TEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASE TEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASE “Tell me who killed my mentor!” Emil demands. He’s torn up about it.
“Casimir? Was he yer mentor?” Brennus asks, toyin’ with Emil. “Ye should tank da aingeal who did it. Casimir wanted Genevieve for himself. He planned ta use her ta gain power in Sheol.” “He’d never betray me.” Emil’s anger is a tangible thing. Brennus shrugs. “He did. Maybe ye’re na dat important after all, Emil. Dey’ve probably been spoon-feedin’ ye dat nonsense since ye were born. Finn, whah’s worse dan an evil aingeal?” Finn grins. “A spoiled evil half-aingeal?” Brennus grins as well. “Och, ye have ta luv me brudder; he’s so cheeky. He was always da favourite.” Emil isn’t amused. “You’ve kept Simone from me.” Brennus’ expression becomes serious; his fangs engage, click. “She’s Genevieve, and she's moin.”
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Okay. We have to talk. Many of you have been more than understanding and patient with me regarding the release of Iniquity, and for that I'm eternally grateful. For the few who are not, the next part of this post is going to be for you. I've been feeling your displeasure with me lately. A few readers have been very vocal about it. It's clear: I'm not living up to expectations as far as the publishing and the release of Iniquity are concerned. Believe me when I tell you that I KNOW that I'm not. I just want to clear up a few misconceptions so that you have the facts regarding my books. I wrote Under Different Stars WHILE I was writing Incendiary (book #4). I finished them at roughly the same time. I have not put Iniquity on hold in order to write Under Different Stars. Some people have expressed their anger with me for publishing Under Different Stars before Iniquity. Writing and publishing are ways that I help to support my family. It would be silly of me to have a book finished and not publish it just because I haven't finished the series that you already love first. And again, it has little to do with the delays to Iniquity. I did put Iniquity on hold for a month and a half to write The Divided. The Divided is a short story that will be included as part of an anthology and was originally due to the publisher in September of 2013. (I've already turned it in, but the deadline has since been extended to the end of January 2014 for the authors who haven't finished theirs yet). I'm not getting paid for this short story. I did it to benefit an organization that I believe in. All proceeds will go to that organization. The Divided should release this spring/summer. (I have no control over when it gets published, but I'll let you know when it comes out, just in case you're interested.) So, Under Different Stars didn't hold up Iniquity, but The Divided did for a bit. The real reason I haven't published Iniquity yet: I'm still writing it. The reasons I'm still writing it are complicated. I can pinpoint a few. I can't rush or force the way a story develops for me. It would be insane for me to try because it wouldn't turn out well. I have to go where the story takes me and that's what I've been doing and it simply takes what it takes to write it. I have really high expectations to fulfill: yours and mine. I've said it before: this book has to be better than every other book that came before it in the series. Every. Single. Book. So it's a lot of pressure and emotion and I get in my head a little and I have to step away from it from time to time. I'm trying really hard to be a better writer. It's important to me that when you read my books, you escape this world for the fictional one. When you finally return to this world, I want you to feel like this one is the fictional one and mourn the loss of the other one acutely. In the beginning of my career, it was flattering to be compared to other authors and their work. It was like, "WOW, that's awesome!" But now, my goal is for you to read me and say, "Wow, that was unlike anything I've ever read." I don't know if I'll get there, but I'm going to try. I'm going to keep typing words into my computer, string together sentences and paragraphs, and hopefully create a world to which you can disappear. When I reach the end of the story, I'll tell you. You will be the first ones I tell. I promise. If I miss this "early 2014" deadline, too, then I miss this deadline, too. In a few years, most people won't know or remember or care how long it took me to write Iniquity. They'll only care about whether or not it was any good. I want to show you something. It's not the Bestseller list or the Hot New Releases list, although, I do like those lists, too. It's Amazon's Top Rated list. It's a list based on customer reviews. Because of you and your reviews, Under Different Stars made this list. Thank you, it means the world to me. It says that maybe I did something right. I know that it'll probably be off this list soon because it's really hard to make it and hang out on it for any length of time. But, for a moment on January 7, 2014, you put me on it, and that's amazing. And that's also why I won't rush Iniquity. Anyway, that's my spiel. If you're still with me, then I have something about Iniquity that I want to share with you. Iniquity has so many highs and lows for me already. But I'll share one of the highs with you. It happened a couple of days ago. I was writing a scene and Brennus kept pushing into it and talking when I hadn't thought he would be in it at all, so now he's in it because he insisted. Anyway, after I wrote it, I was getting ready to go to my neighbors' house because I've blown them off so many times they think I hate them, but really it's because I don't feel like I have any time in my life right now to be social. They're really very lovely people, it's just that any time I'm not writing or thinking about writing, or dreaming about writing, I feel guilty. Anyway, not the point, the point is: remember in Indebted when Evie picks up Brennus' weapon in the armory and it sings to her? Well, I never really knew what that song was. It never was like I could really hear it, I just wrote that it made music and went on with the story. So I was getting ready to go out and thinking about Brennus and the battleaxe that makes music and I started hearing the song in my head--the whole song--it's like having an orchestra playing the melody in my mind. And since then, the song has been with me everywhere I go, like a broken record. And now, finally, I think I know what it is and what it means to the story. It's really important, but I can't tell you why because that would ruin it. But here is a portion of the scene where Brennus forced his way in. I hope you like it. It's told in Russell's POV. (This scene hasn't been edited. It is in a raw form and subject to change.) TEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASE TEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASE TEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASE TEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASE TEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASE TEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASE TEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASE TEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASE TEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASE TEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASERTEASE The doors of the library swing open behind me. “Aww, whah’s dis?” Brennus’ smooth voice asks. “’Tis aingeals, Finn.”
“’Tis.” Finn’s voice agrees. “Uckkk,” Brennus makes a rude sound, “and da other.” “Brennus,” I hiss. “Why are ye lettin’ dem have da pretty dark-winged aingeal, da other?” he asks me conversationally, as he walks into my line of sight. He looks at the Power angel holdin’ me hostage by my throat. His eyes shift to Djet and Anya. “Hallo, pretty aingeal,” he says to Anya, “I’ve missed ye.” Her eyes widen as her hands grip Djet’s arm that holds the sharp dagger just below her chin. “What are you doin’ here?” I growl at Brennus. He moves in front of me and bends down to my eye level, studyin’ me. It’s shockin’ to see his black, velvet wings beyond the unbuttoned collar of his stark-white dress shirt. They're almost like an elegant accessory to complete his ensemble of dark, tailored dress pants and expensive shoes. His meticulously well-kempt black hair doesn’t even move as he leans near me. Faerie writin’ scrawls in intricate tattoos over Brennus’ neck. Behind his ear, there's somethin’ I’ve never noticed before; it’s another small, glowin’ tattoo on his not so pale flesh—one that looks like the battleaxe I’d found in the armory back at his castle. “I came here ta retrieve da portrait of me queen dat da Reapers stole from me castle,” he nods toward his brother Finn on the other side of me. Finn demonstratively holds aloft a rolled up canvas; his iridescent green eyes twinkle like this is all very amusin’. “Nasty wee craiturs, dose Reaper aingeals—tink dey can reap everyting, but dat portrait is moin—given ta me in trade by a Fallen one.” “Ahh, who are ya tryin’ to kid? You killed Freddie and kept it.” “I did na say ’twas a good trade for him.” “You must be Brennus,” Djet says behind him. Brennus’ eyes narrow as he straightens to face Djet. “If I must,” Brennus says pleasantly enough, but his anger is recognizable to me. “And ye must be Emil.” Fallen angels move in closer, surroundin’ Djet protectively, while their eyes focus on the back of the room by the doors. Behind me I hear click, click, click, click, click, click...hundreds of Gancanagh fangs engagin’ at once. “How do you know that name?” he asks Brennus. “Ye’re Emil. Yer last lifetime was in Lille, France, was it na? About a century ago,” he states, exudin’ confidence. “And, like a coward, ye enjoyed frightenin’ wee lasses den.” Judgin' by the look on Djet’s face, I should start referrin’ to him as Emil. |
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