Blood Series Re-release Date!

Hey folks! I'm afraid my brain was pulling a blank last Monday, which was one reason why I didn't whip up a post for y'all. The other reason is that I had my edits back for my sweet contemporary romance Stepping Stones. So every spare minute I had I was working my way through the manuscript.

Not a lot has happened since my last post a fortnight ago, well, I finally met Dianna Hardy ;-P I soooo totally did and it was so great to meet her finally. I'm not going to go in to details since it was here meet and greet event, but I had a great afternoon and Dianna is just lovely and awesome.

So apart from that  fab afternoon, I've had the first round of edits for Stepping Stones, which I emailed back to my editor last Friday. I also received the cover art for SS, which I love. It has been designed by the same cover artist who did the original cover - the one with my old publisher, Noble Romance - but I have to say, although I loved the original, the feel of this one is more spot on. The cover reveal will be on 18th April with Bex 'n' Books and I can't wait for you to see it. It's soooo pretty.

I've also had the final edits for She-Wolf, which I have already started reading through. Eek. Final edits, which means She-Wolf is almost ready for publication, but when I received the rights back for SW and it's sequel, Cranberry Blood I made the decision to publish them together, which I will be doing.

So, Cranberry will be sent to my editor next month. My hope was to have both books - and swag etc - ready for August 2014 and by the look of it August will indeed be the month the books are published. Now, call me silly but I only felt it was right that the date be that of the Full Moon. My poor Werewolves have been neglected for too long and I want to make their re-release a damn good one. Plus, I'm hoping by this point I will have finished/submitted my fairytale WIP and will be working on the next book in the series.

So, She-Wolf (the Blood Series Prequel) and Cranberry Blood (Book 1 in the Blood Series) will be re-released on August 25th 2014. Yay! I'm soooooo freaking excited!!! So make note of the date Werewolf lovers! It's going to be fang-tastic! Yes, I just went there. ;-P

~ * ~

She-Wolf

The Blood Series Prequel

Blurb:

Dealing with the Rogue Werewolves terrorizing his Pack? Simple.

Trying to convince his mate he does want to be with her? Bloody impossible.

Owen MacLaren is the Alpha's son and the Pack's second, and he has never been one to let anything get to him. So when a bunch of Rogues begin purposely dumping mutilated bodies around the Pack Keep, he is more than ready to deal with the Werewolves responsible.

But one night off and a trip to a local strip joint for a colleague's stag night changes things, and Owen soon discovers he isn't immune to everything . . . .
 

Being an independent Loup and travelling the world? Easy.

Having to come home and face the Werewolf who broke her young heart? Challenging.

After five years away, Clare Walker finds herself back home in Scotland, working in a strip club. The tips are decent, and she gets to dance, but it isn't a place she thought she would ever be, let alone Owen, her Pack second and the mate she has always desired.

Although Owen is determined to prove he wants to be with Clare, things can't go smoothly between them, not when they have past issues to sort out and a bunch of unusual 'Rogues' to deal with.

~ ~ ~

 

Cranberry Blood
Book 1 in the Blood Series

Blurb:

Killing Vampires? Easy.

Tracking someone? Simple.

Helping, and protecting a Vampire slayer . . . . Bloody hard work!

Thirteen years ago, Brendan Daniels made a deal with a psychic. In exchange for information on the whereabouts of a Rogue Werewolf, he promised to help and protect Sofia's granddaughter. Unfortunately, he had no idea what he was letting himself, or his Pack, in for.

Nothing about Heather is simple, from her weird dietary needs to her life’s mission. The girl can handle herself, but the promise to protect her soon becomes a need, and one he can't fully understand.

Vampire Slayer.
Born Infected.
Addicted to blood . . . but not by choice.

Heather Ryan is the current Slayer in a long family line. Like all before her, she has spent her life searching for her ancestor, Marko Pavel, the Vampire her family has sworn to kill. If that isn't complicated enough, she is also a born "Infected", and to keep her from becoming insane or giving in to her darker side, she is on a very strict diet.

Now that her Grandmother Sofia has passed, it is up to Heather to take the family legacy into her own hands. Or at least, it would have been...if her Grandmother hadn't sent a Werewolf to help her.

What is the irritating Brendan supposed to help her with? Sofia never told either of them. Luckily, it doesn't take long for Heather and Brendan to find out that the Vampires have big plans, and that the Leeches have waited a long time for them both.

A brief update on death, a busy life, and my current WIP.

What a month it's been for me. My mother passed away on the 19th February (in case you didn't know) after suffering from breast cancer for four years. She was only 57. It's been hard to write this month, because in all honesty I'm pretty exhausted - sort of exhausted in my mind, and there's so much to catch up on and do at home, too, with my own family, and my daughter, as well as a host of other things that need to be done after someone dies.

So, writing The Spell of Summer is both a reprieve and a challenge. It's a good thing I like challenges. I'm hitting around 1000 words a day at the moment - I'd like it to be 2000, but I find myself tiring out too easily (it doesn't help that I have a cold right now), so 1000 it will have to be until I can get back up to speed. That's fine. 1000 words a day still finishes the book on time.

I'm leaving you with three things today, one is the new book trailer for The Spell of Summer. Then, a brand new excerpt from the book, shared on Facebook yesterday, and the last is a link to an online radio station where I'll be doing an interview this Sunday, after meeting up with a few readers and authors in Manchester on Saturday. I am sooo looking forward to it, but yes - life is busy right now! Lol.

EXCERPT from The Spell of Summer, copyright © Dianna Hardy, 2014. All rights reserved. (Text subject to change before publication.)

“Uncle Jamie! Look what I've got!” squealed his approaching little niece – the whole crew behind her – delight shining from her eyes at the colossal, spiral-shaped ice lolly that was almost half her size.

“Wow! That's … er … huge. You gonna finish all that?”

Becca nodded enthusiastically, not a trace of doubt evident, that he couldn't help but laugh.

The boys were already to the bottom of their ice cream cones.

A dripping one was held in front of his face. “For you,” said Pippa.

He eyed her suspiciously. “Is that supposed to be ice cream? It looks like it's been eaten.”

“Me,” butted in Becca, voice muffled by her lolly. She slurped her way free of it. “It was my ice cream, but a big, fat wasp attacked it.”

“Aaaah… The screaming?”

His sister nodded while Candy let out a low whistle signifying that the memory of the tantrum was just a little too much to bear.

“It was a really big wasp, Uncle Jamie. I think it was trying to sting the ice cream.”

“So, I get a half-eaten, wasp-stung ice cream for lunch?”

Merri laughed.

A real laugh that sort of tinkled out of her – not that insane crap she'd pulled earlier in the ocean – and it was the first time he'd heard her laugh today. No … for over a decade. It sort of threw him.

It also made him want to make her laugh more, and he was so completely fucked. So much for getting his life back together…

Released June, 2014. All info about this upcoming summer read here: http://www.diannahardy.com/the-spell-of-summer.html

(Click to enlarge image)

Check out my live radio interview on Sunday at 12pm until 1pm, on The Book Worm, at Fab Radio International: http://www.fabradiointernational.com/  See you there!  

Dianna xx

Little Update

I'm afraid today's post is just an update in regards to WIP's and release, folks.

She-Wolf has gone through one round of edits - I have been told I could receive the second set this week - so I'm pretty certain will be done and dusted by the end of March. Cranberry Blood will be sent to my editor as soon as she is finished. I'm aiming to have the first two books in The Blood Series re-released in August. I'm feeling good about August, not that I am pinpointing and exact date, not until at least one round of edits has been done on Cranberry. So stay tuned.

I just got my first lot of edits for Stepping Stones, my sweet contemporary romance. It was contracted with Bono books (Decadent Publishing) at the beginning of the year. I'm looking forward to getting stuck in and getting this book sorted for re-release - book was previously published with Noble Romance Publishing. A release date has yet to be assigned.

My WIP for Decadent Publishing Beyond Fairytale Series has a beginning! No title, but a beginning lol Yay! I sat down and hammered it out yesterday. I will be reading over it again as I have the very bad habit of doing that before continuing with any book, but I'm feeling good about it at the moment. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Once the WIP is done and submitted my focus will then turn to Blood Book 2 as was the original plan.

So, two sets of edits to get through this following fortnight, and then I will be diving back in to my WIP. How are you spending the remainder of your March?

And Happy St Patrick's Day!!

WIP Progress

Firstly, as part of Read an eBook week, from March 2nd - 8th, my fairytale retelling, Razel Dazzle is FREE on Smashwords. All you have to do is enter the coupon code RW100 at the checkout.

So, if you're a fan of Rapunzel and like sexy, modern, fairytale retellings, hop on over to Smashwords and get your FREE copy today! - http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/371656

Secondly, I am super sorry for not posting last Monday. I kinda forgot and didn't remember until Wednesday, but was completely blank in the topic department, not that I can say I'm thriving with interesting information today, but at least I'm posting this week.

So a fortnight ago I was rambling on about how I'm not a planner - which is still very true - and how I was going to dive into this project and go with the flow . . . yeah, it didn't go as well as I though it would. Turns out that as well as being lazy, my muse is also being a complete pain in the ass lately. I really don't know what I have done to tick her off so much, but hey, she's stuck with me so she will have to get over herself.

So, no planning and no going with the flow, which is very frustrating and lead to me doing the only other thing I could do in this situation; leave what I had and just let it all stew in its own juice. I really didn't think it would stew and also believed it would probably take me weeks to come up with something, but surprisingly one part of the story revealed itself while I was dusting, and then I very small idea fluttered in my head two days later followed by a light bulb moment and . . . BAM! I have a story.

I realize how bad it sounds for me to kinda say that, but two weeks ago I was throwing ideas all over the place and not liking what I came up with, but the story plot I now have, oh I'm happy, I really am. The characters have already introduced themselves to me, and slowly things are starting to piece together. I started writing yesterday, but don't feel a 100% happy with the way I have started the story, despite the fact I know how it opens, but that's okay, all I have to do is play until I am happy. The point is after much fretting - which I was doing for many reasons, all of which I have pointed out in past posts and wont go into again out of fear of sounding like a parrot - I have started, and it feels so good to start a new story after such a rough and slow year of writing.

I have my playlist which consists mostly of songs from Florence and the Machine; they just fit the mood of the story and characters, love that! I have rough notes. I love my characters even the baddie. I'm excited. It's nice to be excited every once in a while, don't you think?

Hope you've all had a fab Monday, and that the next two weeks are lovely for you all. I won't be posting next Monday, because I will be away visiting family. So, have fun and hopefully in two weeks I have something more interesting to share with you. ;-P