It’s character intro week! Over the next few days I’ll be introducing some of my characters from Heart Blade, Book 1 of the Blade Hunt Chronicles. The gorgeous art work is by Corinna Marie and used with permission.
Camille Darkwing
Camille by Corinna Marie
Camille Darkwing is a French Canadian half-demon. Gifted a full demon’s blood in 1932, the petite immortal teen is often underestimated, and that’s just the way she likes it. Most half-demons feed off darker emotions, such as anger, or fear. But Camille’s Immortal Hunger is a little…unusual. Fitting: after all, Camille has always preferred to do things her own way.
PAPERBACK PROMO:
At the moment only the e-book is up for pre-order. Once the paperbacks go up for sale (probably on or near release date, February 14th), I’ll be running a special giveaway. The first 30 people to order a paperback copy and email me proof of purchase will win a set of four postcards with Heart Blade character art by Corinna Marie. More on this later!
It’s character intro week! Over the next few days I’ll be introducing some of my characters from Heart Blade, Book 1 of the Blade Hunt Chronicles. The gorgeous art work is by Corinna Marie and used with permission.
James Asher Deacon
Ash by Corinna Marie
James Asher Deacon, or Ash as he’s known to his family and friends, is a seventeen-year-old sentinel, a descendant of angels. His father leads the New England Chapter of sentinels, and fully expects Ash to take over when he grows up. Ash isn’t sure he wants to serve the archaic system of laws that turned a blind eye to his mother’s death, but what else is a Scion’s son supposed to do?
PAPERBACK PROMO:
At the moment only the e-book is up for pre-order. Once the paperbacks go up for sale (probably on or near release date, February 14th), I’ll be running a special giveaway. The first 30 people to order a paperback copy and email me proof of purchase will win a set of four postcards with Heart Blade character art by Corinna Marie. More on this later!
It’s character intro week! Over the next few days I’ll be introducing some of my characters from Heart Blade, Book 1 of the Blade Hunt Chronicles. The gorgeous art work is by Corinna Marie and used with permission.
Adeline Raven
Del by Corinna Marie
Adeline Raven has been a half-demon for a year. Del was sixteen when she was Gifted a full demon’s blood and lost all of her human memories. The only thing she remembers is carving a message on her arm with a knife. The scarred letters that spell NEVER on her left forearm are a constant reminder to stay true to herself and never give up.
PAPERBACK PROMO:
At the moment only the e-book is up for pre-order. Once the paperbacks go up for sale (probably on or near release date, February 14th), I’ll be running a special giveaway. The first 30 people to order a paperback copy and email me proof of purchase will win a set of four postcards with Heart Blade character art by Corinna Marie. More on this later!
Finally, the cover I’ve been teasing you all with for months. I’ve been longing to share Merilliza Chan‘s gorgeous artwork, and here it is in all its glory.
The official reveal took place on Sunday over at SFFWorld.com; check it out for an exclusive sneak peek excerpt.
Heart Blade is now up on Goodreads, and the e-book is available for pre-order on Amazon. The paperback (yes, there’s a book-book for those who prefer it!) will be available for purchase on release day.
I have more treats coming! The talented Corinna Marie has been working on some Heart Blade character art for me, and I’ll be introducing four of my main characters on the blog over the next weeks.
E-BOOK PROMO:
The e-book version is at a special promotional US$0.99 at the moment. If you don’t have a Kindle, you can download the app for free onto your tablet or phone.
PAPERBACK PROMO:
For all those interested in the paperback version, I have a special promo lined up for you. Once the paperback hits Amazon, I’ll be giving away exclusive sets of postcards with Corinna Marie’s character art to the first 30 people to send me proof of paperback purchase. More on this later!
I recently tore through the entire Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater. This was serious binge reading of the ‘don’t come up for air before you’re done’ variety. I love (Love, LOVE) all of her characters from the first to be introduced, Blue, to latecomer Henry. But my hands down absolute fave has got to be Ronan Lynch.
What is it about those fictional (not so) bad boys and girls? I’m talking about those characters that are all rough and tough on the outside, with a center core of sweetness. The ones who give off all the appearance of a grumpy porcupine to their fellow characters while we sit on the sidelines silently screaming, “Just love them already!”
Take Han Solo. (Put your hands down, I’m not actually offering him!) When we first meet him in New Hope, he’s all, ‘Oh, I’m so bad, I’m the baddest badass smuggler around.’ But by the time the original trilogy is over, we all know him for what he really is: yes, grumpy and irritatingly stubborn. But, at the same time, loyal, caring, and 110% a secret Hufflepuff. (Shut up. You know Han would be a Hufflepuff. Just sayin’.)
The aforementioned Ronan Lynch is another one who’s crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. When we meet him in The Raven Boys, he’s all snark and swearwords, a shaved-head-and-tattooed bad boy supreme. When The Raven King rolls around, we know better. Sure, he’s still a street-racing punk with an attitude bigger than anyone I’ve seen in a while, but he has this amazing capacity for love and for goodness, and if by book four you haven’t fallen for this dreamer, then please, what is WRONG with you?
How about those (not so) bad girls? Like Kate Harker from Victoria Schwab’s Monsters of Verity duology. In This Savage Song, Kate’s all sharp edges and nails you wouldn’t trust anywhere near your eyes for fear she’d gouge them out. A gangster’s daughter on a mission to prove herself, Kate could just be one of those thoroughly bad to the bone girls that crop up every now and then in fiction. And nothing wrong with that, but. But. She isn’t. There’s sweetness, somewhere under all those rock-hard layers, and longing, and a desperate need to love and be loved. I can’t wait for the concluding book, Our Dark Duet, to come out in June.
And hey, let’s not forget Disney. The House of Mouse can (not so) bad with the best of them at times. One of my fave princess movies is Tangled, in part for the creative use of frying pans and for the World’s Best Horse. But a big part of the appeal is bad boy Flynn Rider, especially when we find out that under all that sass and ego, he’s actually the adorable and sappy Eugene.
Yup, show me a character who’s a prickly marshmallow, and I’ll show you me in a molten puddle of goo. Or, well, maybe not, because no one wants to see that. But I do tend to melt for the difficult ones, for the tough guys and girls with all the secret hidden vulnerabilities. They’re so hard to resist. Especially when they tip you a smuggler’s wink and whisper, “I know.”
The end (of the year) is nigh! Cue much panicked screaming and Kermit flailing as I rush around trying to finish all the stuff (ALL THE STUFFS!) that I should have finished oh…about a month ago.
Procrastination, thy name is DVR queue.
I’ve actually been keeping pretty busy, even taking into account distractions like the CW 4-show crossover week, and the growing pile of books I’ve bought and not read yet. I’m working hard on Night Blade, book 2 of the Blade Hunt Chronicles, and have sailed past the halfway mark now, with the finish line on the not-too-distant horizon. There are lots of cool bits in Night Blade that I’m having a blast writing, such as the splendiferous ballroom scene I hammered out yesterday.
I have lots of artsy goodness I’m looking forward to sharing. My publisher is putting the final touches on my gorgeous cover, and soon I’ll be able to show off all the glory of Merilliza Chan’s work. I also have a treat lined up for January: the talented Corinna Marie is drawing some character art for me, and I’ll be introducing you all to four of my key characters in the weeks before Heart Blade launches. (Stay tuned for character art postcard giveaways in 2017!)
February 14th is creeping closer, and I can’t wait to set Heart Blade loose upon the (poor unsuspecting) world. Review ARCs are almost ready to go, and I’m excited to see what people have to say about Del, Ash & Co.
In the meantime, for those who’d like a taste of my work, I have a short story (yes, another one!) due out sometime in January. More updates on that soon, but the Journeys fantasy anthology by Woodbridge Press promises to be amazing, with an all-star group of authors and a stabby little tale by yours truly.
I started watching Season 1 of MTV’s Teen Wolf this week because #curious, and because I’m twelve years old inside (I’m always telling people that and somehow they never believe me!). I may already be hooked on the show (okay, I’m hooked), and it’s mostly because of Dylan O’Brien’s work as ‘Stiles’ Stilinski.
His character is sweet and funny, and is responsible for some absolutely laugh out loud moments. Seriously. It’s been a while since I’ve actually laughed out loud at a show like that (and yes, I know it’s technically a drama or something, but STILES!).
Me being me, and a writer-type person, I’ve been trying to pick apart what I find so appealing about his character, and of course that made me think about other funny, sweet, and slightly quirky characters who brighten up the stories they live in. Here are some of my page-and-screen favorites.
Leo Valdez (Heroes of Olympus series, Rick Riordan)
I’m a huge fan of Riordan’s work (my kids know I get first dibs on all the new books) and he has a lot of fantastic characters. But Leo’s been one of my faves since he first waltzed onto the page in The Lost Hero. He’s intelligent, talented, and fiercely loyal. He’s also a wise-cracking prankster who uses humor as a shield and a weapon, and who broke my heart over and over for doggedly keeping going with a smile while feeling small and ignored inside. SERIES SPOILER: a quiet and heartfelt thank you to Rick for series ending reasons.
Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling)
There’s no writing about sweet and quirky without mentioning Luna. She’s practically the poster child for it, and my top HP character too. Like Leo, she’s fiercely loyal to her friends. And also like Leo, she keeps on going with a smile even if inside she must be sad and lonely – because seriously, the amount of bullying and derision she comes up against in the series is gut-wrenching. But Luna remains true to Luna, and she refuses to bow to peer pressure and convention, remaining an adorable ray of sunshine. She IS her name: ethereal and moonstruck, blessed with a huge heart and lots of love to give.
Waldo Butters (The Dresden Files, Jim Butcher)
I love Butters. He makes me smile every single time he appears. He started out geekily sweet and earnest, equal parts terrified and fascinated by Harry Dresden and the supernatural world. He’s grown since then, maturing and becoming more powerful and at ease, but he’s still essentially Butters and he still makes me smile. Also, have you READ Skin Game? (Been there, bought the t-shirt. Literally. See photo below.) Go, Butters!
Verity Price (InCryptid series, Seanan McGuire)
Verity isn’t the sidekick or wacky best friend – the usual suspects for this sort of character description. She’s the Big Main Character. But she definitely falls under the banner of sweet, funny, and quirky. She cracks me up with her running commentary on everything from ballroom dancing to her sex life. (What?! I can like characters with sex lives. Just because I have Leo and Luna on my list doesn’t mean I’m ACTUALLY twelve.) She’s also a darling who would do anything to save her friends. And although she’s a kick-ass warrior with a weapons collection to rival that of many fictional assassins, she still manages to get herself into situations that are as hilarious as they are dangerous.
Francisco ‘Cisco’ Ramon (The Flash, CW)
Cisco cracks me up. It’s that sweet and slightly dorky grin of achievement every time he comes up with a new name for a villain. It’s that adorable never-give-up optimism of his. It’s his insistence at playing fashion designer for every hero on Flash and Arrow, and being so incredibly proud of his costumes. It’s…pretty much everything about one of my fave characters on a show FULL of fave characters. (I love them all. I want to hug them all and buy them puppies.) Cisco is such a nice guy, it actually breaks my heart a little whenever he has a sad or frowny moment. (And then I want to buy him MORE puppies.)
‘Stiles’ Stilinsky (Teen Wolf, MTV)
The new kid on my list. He’s supposed to be the sidekick, but in Season 1 at least, he steals the show. (“Why is it starting to feel like you’re Batman and I’m Robin? I don’t wanna be Robin all the time!” S1E3) His one-liners are hilarious, and so is his brain-mouth-disconnect-blurt-everything-out style dialogue, but it goes beyond that. He’s extremely loyal, and always ready to drop everything to help out his best friend, or anyone else who asks for help, even if he doesn’t actually like them. He’s a genuinely nice guy. And yes, I’m insanely jealous of the scriptwriters for coming up with this character!
Beast Boy (Teen Titans, 2003 version, CN)
I miss this show. I miss this show A LOT. Sorry Teen Titans Go!, but no. Just No. Nice try, but you’ll never be that glorious 2003-2006 version. All the characters in Teen Titans were great, but Beast Boy was my darling. He was sweetness incarnate, with an extra side of goofy and adorable. Seriously, did anyone NOT like Beast Boy in this show? In fact, I’d settle for a new show that’s just Beast Boy going around being nice to people as he turns into different animals. Can that be a thing? Please?
These are just a few of my book and screen darlings. Feel free to add your own in the comments!
Butters (Dresden Files) t-shirt from the Worldbuilders store
Juliana Spink Mills 