31 July 2008

change of title

You may notice that one of my titles has recently changed.

Originally, Gregory L. Norris and I were going to do an anthology of revisited (i.e. urban fantasy), unsanitized Grimms' tales titled ONCE UPON A TIME...YESTERDAY. When all was said and done, we'd each come up with between 65K and 75K of work for the anthology. They were all fabulous stories, and Greg's were interconnected, which meant we couldn't just drop anything out. So, rather than release a single 140K monster of a book, Terri at UTM decided to release two separate anthologies--one of Greg's work and one of mine, connected by theme.

Long story short? We obviously didn't want to have two books with a single title, and Greg's portion fit better with the YESTERDAY part, since his contains a time travel to the past and a generational type of story, including both past and present. All of my stories are set in the current time or thereabouts. After much deliberation, Terri decided that Greg would keep ONCE UPON A TIME...YESTERDAY, and my anthology will be titled ONCE UPON A TIME...TODAY.

30 July 2008

UPDATED release schedule

You're going to notice some changes, of course. I have tentative dates for TYGERS and all the Grimms' stories I've written from UTM, for instance.


You'll notice that I have at least one release a month from July 2008 through March 2009. The Fall/Winter releases should end up somewhere in that range, as well. That comes out to 14 releases in 9 months. One of the down sides to having so many publishers is that they may all schedule you at the same time. It's never been this bad before, but...hey. It happens. I may have to push a few back a bit. So, stand by for more changes.


July 2008:

Last Chance for Love (K1) in e-book and print from Phaze


August 2008:

Fates Magic (FW1) from Phaze


September 2008:

Rites of Mating (K2) from Phaze


October 2008:

Matchmaker's Misery (K3) from Phaze

"Catch Me, If You Can" from Mojocastle/UTM e


November 2008:

Double Image (K4) from Phaze

TYGERS from UTM


December 2008:

"Three Wishes" from Mojocastle/UTM e


Fall/Winter 2008:

Written In The Stars (SM1) from Mundania Press, LLC.

"One-Hour Burial" in Pretty Scary from Dark Hart Press


January 2009:

Restrained (K5) from Phaze


February 2009:

"The Temptation of Eve" from Mojocastle/UTM e


March 2009:

Alien Encounters (K6) from Phaze

Once Upon A Time...Today in print from UTM (includes "Catch Me, If You Can," "Three Wishes," and "The Temptation of Eve")


Spring/Summer 2009:

Monsters of Myth from Mundania Press, LLC.

"Melting The Ice Queen" in Forbidden Love: Fire and Ice from UTM

Renegade's Run (REN2) from UTM


More coming soon!

NEW REVIEW

NEW REVIEW!

https://www.darkangelreviews.com/Last_Chance_for_Love.html

"LAST CHANCE FOR LOVE is an ambitious, lengthy Sci-Fi/Fantasy Romance that truly delivers! Ms. Lyons does an excellent job of creating the world of Kegin, giving it customs, mores, language and life while keeping it believable and realistic. Her character creation is also fantastic as even secondary characters are well rounded and ready to jump off the pages. The plot contains mystery, romance, adventure, betrayal, redemption and love—both for mates and family. I really loved the depth of this story, it was engrossing and although too long to read in one sitting, I was always anxious to return and find out what happened next. Each section had new facets to recommend it; Susan and Jole's story sets the stage and setting and I feel is the most romantic, Mik and Danellan's story the most heartwarming, Alex and Lyssa's is the most exciting and Pyter's the most heartbreaking. The romance is exciting, sensual and sexy and although graphic I truly would consider LAST CHANCE FOR LOVE to be erotic romance as opposed to erotica. Since this is touted as Book One, I can honestly say I am looking forward to reading Book Two as I would be very happy to revisit this world again!"
Reviewed by Sandi Potterton for Dark Angel Reviews 4.5 Pixies!


To purchase LAST CHANCE FOR LOVE, now available in both print and e-book, visit Phaze!

18 July 2008

first time in print

Not me, of course. I've been in print a few dozen times now. No, I'm talking about one of my best-loved worlds (Kegin) and books (LAST CHANCE FOR LOVE). A Dream Realm Award Finalist in 2003, the book has been re-edited and now includes the matching novella SECOND SON. For the first time ever, this book has released in print from PHAZE! An e-book version is also available, for those who didn't catch the stories the first time around and prefer e-book.


What's the story with Kegin? Simply put, Kegin is separated into several distinct timelines...the legendary/mythological Kegin stories, the historical Kegin stories (including THE LAST OF FION'S DAUGHTERS and CONQUEST), and the contemporary Kegin stories (including LAST CHANCE FOR LOVE).

In the contemporary timeline, Kegin is a world fighting back genetic decay and attempting to cross-breed genetically-strong women to save their world.That wouldn't be quite so traumatic to the women if they knew what they were and were raised to the idea, but they weren't. Once they reach adulthood, the age of 20, they are brought through the gateway to Kegin on the next gateway cycle and presented to their mates, problematic at best...and all the worse when the American government becomes aware that there are aliens living on Earth.

The current game plan is to release the next 6 books in the series in quick succession, so those who've started with LCFL and RITES OF MATING (EPPIE Finalist 2006) will get a chance to find out 'what happens next?'!

17 July 2008

sharing the MUSE SALON

Okay...everyone has been after me for pictures since I announced that my new office was finally finished, and since Rob just helped me get the new doors up (thank the puppy for me NEEDING new doors) and the art hung, here she is...

The entire space is about 8'x12' or so. As you can see, I have heavy folding doors to close the room off from the rest of the house.


The entire left wall is covered with bookshelves of course.


If you've ever wondered how I organize myself, the last bookshelf is a half-size. On it, there's the Love-Me Shelf and two shelves of current research material and written scenes/stories. In addition, I have boxes and shelves (elsewhere) of finished drafts and edits.


In front of the bookshelves, I have my reading chair and the hand-woven rug Rob bought me in Bahrain in 1992 or so. I've been waiting all these years to have a place worthy of displaying it!


Above the organization shelves, I have the single window in my office, capped off with a lace curtain and a rose quartz drop (unfortunately still partly-covered in paint tape...snicker). To the right of the window, I have a picture of the muse. The picture is an ink drawing by the wonderful Robert Quill! If you haven't checked out his work, you should.


The right wall starts off with a set of heavy shelves that contain my promo gear and supplies. Draped on it is a Celtic cross shawl that Rob bought me in Scotland in 1996. I've always hung this in my office space.


To the left of that is my half-size file cabinet, and above that...THE ACCOLADE, topped with a second lace curtain. Rob bought the painting for me in 2001, and it has hung in every office since then.


The centerpiece of the room is the computer desk, a huge corner desk that usually houses both my desktop computer and the laptop. As you can see, the laptop is away from the desk, at the moment.


Along the wall behind the right side of the desk, there is a picture of my youngest and her 'twin cousin,' what my sister and I refer to as our 'bookend babies,' one of the three fairies I've attached to the walls, a picture of Rob and I when we were dating, a plaque of the Irish Blessing that I've hung in every house we've owned since 1994 (I bought it when I was pregnant with my oldest), and my two inspirational pieces to keep me motivated.


For anyone who doesn't know, the 'inspirational piece' on the left is a fan letter from 2004 that so touched me, I still have it hanging on the wall. The one on the right is a couple of mentions I got in magazines, my first Romantic Times review, and the printout of Oct 17, 2003 (when Fion's Daughter and Second Son were #1 and #2 rated in erotic at Fictionwise...and Emma Holly's Menage was #3).


Above the left side of the desk (the far wall of the room), I have my animals (have to bring the skunk my youngest keeps trying to steal back down from my bedroom) as well as a couple of my certificates for finaling in awards.


The crowning glory of the room is the leopard painting hanging above the desk. This has a particularly fond place in my heart, at the moment. When Rob took me on vacation for our 20th anniversary this month, he actually bought the painting off the walls of our first hotel room at Adventure Suites, just because I liked it.


And THAT...is the grande tour! Now you know how I work...nice and cozy in my little nook...when I'm not on the edge of the couch with a lap desk.

Brenna

summer news part 1


It's been a while, and I'm just getting back online. So, what's been going on with me?

The last month of school for the kids is always a mess, of course (chorus, band, track and field, academic league, math league, etc.)...and add to that four of the five household members with the flu, medical emergencies, conferring on cover art, doing edits for books coming out soon, orthodontists, and so on...

You'd think summer would be a relief, but it's not...unfortunately. I always have grand plans of visiting my sister and getting writing and editing done, but it never quite works out that way. I love her dearly and wouldn't have her any other way, but vacations with Lisa always end up as working vacations. To top it, we couldn't go outside the house much, because there were two wildfires (including the Dismal Swamp burning) that meant you couldn't see the next block.


Being home, strange as it seems, is more relaxing than vacation. As per my doctor's instructions, I'm trying to both work out and keep the stress down. Among other things, that includes a daily walk in the park with the kids...



After almost two impossible weeks of trying to get online at Lisa's (imagine 12 people, two of them professional writers, trying to share a single online computer...wince), I came home full of plans to write and edit.

Read part two to find out what happened next!