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Hello again

Posted by Jeaniene on Apr 28, 2011 in Blog | 71 comments

I looked at the blog and saw that it’s been a month since I posted. Wow, time flies! What have I been doing these past thirty days, I’ll assume you asked? Lots of things.

From April 1st to 14th, I was feverishly working on my novella for THE BITE BEFORE CHRISTMAS anthology. Longtime blog readers may remember that the first half of a novel is the hardest for me to write. This novella is close to the length of half a book, so it felt like pushing uphill the whole way. Despite this, I’m pleased to say that I heard from my editor yesterday and she really liked the story, so revisions will be of the lighter, clarify-this, expand-on-that variety. Cue me wiping my brow with a “whew!” sigh of relief. What’s this story about, I’ll again assume you asked? . It’s a Cat and Bones tale called Home for the Holidays, where long buried secrets of Bones’s past resurface to take a bite out of their holiday cheer. I’ve mentioned in other places that a member of the Night Huntress crew has known some bombshell things about Bones’s history that even he wasn’t aware of. In Home for the Holidays, I finally get to reveal who that person is and share those secrets with readers, which I’ve been itching to do.

Then, on April 15th, I did something I’ve wanted to do for over a decade – moved out of South Florida. Don’t get me wrong, if you like the sun and heat, that is the place to be. I burn easily and get migraines in high temperatures, though, so from April through November (yes, heat indexes in April already topped the 90′s on a regular basis), I stayed indoors most of the time. That’s not fun, even for an introvert like me. I am now in the North Carolina mountains and I love, love, love it. I’ve been outside almost every day since I moved and it’s been wonderful. Even my dog seems to love it. She wants to go on long walks with every potty, whereas before, she’d run outside, pee, and then dash back into the air-conditioned environment, lol.

As with all things, though, there have been some drawbacks. At some point between our closing on the house and arriving there two weeks later, a valve on our water heater had burst and flooded the downstairs. Good thing I’d already decided I hated the carpet, because the sodden mess had to be pulled up. Then the movers had taken all my paperwork out of my various desks and piled it into one big box, forcing me to do something I hadn’t done in years – organize *cue screams of horror*. That took a scary amount of time, but now I’ve weeded through all of it and only saved the things I really needed. After doing that, I was bitten by the Organize bug and went through all my clothes, pulling out things that I had kept under the myth premise of “If I lose ten/fifteen/twenty pounds, this will look great on me!” Ahem. Goodwill, you are about to get a lot of clothes, many of them never worn.

Aside from that, we’ve had little blips. Took over a week for the cable to work properly, and it was a tennis match between Charter saying it was TiVo’s fault while TiVo lobbed the blame on Charter. The house needed blinds everywhere since it was a second home for the former owners and they must not have been here enough to worry about privacy. We also had security installed, the gas checked (the fireplace smelled, well, gassy to me), the furnace cleaned out, and the list goes on. Every day, a new company or repair person has been by to check or work on one thing or the other.

In the midst of that, I went through galley pages for ONE GRAVE AT A TIME and made a lot of changes and corrections. Every time, I think I’ve been so thorough at the copyedit stage, yet once the story is formatted and laid out in book form, I find so many glaring errors. It’s extra frustrating to know that the Arc’s will not have any of these corrections. Yes, every Arc is marked with a big note about how it’s not a finished copy and errors are likely, but one day, I dream of having a clean, error-free Arc! (Dream on, everyone in publishing just muttered). I don’t have Arcs yet, but when I do, I’ll hold my usual contests. Reviewers and bloggers interested in receiving one will need to contact Avon’s publicity department. I only get a couple for contests and have no control over which sites get sent an Arc for reviewing purposes, sorry.

Because of moving and deadlines, I wasn’t about to attend the Romantic Times convention in Los Angeles, but I heard that it was loads of fun as usual. I was also very happy to hear that ETERNAL KISS OF DARKNESS took the award for Best Vampire Romance. Big smooches to the RT reviewers for that, though they’ll have to wait until next year in Chicago to get those smooches in person.

A few people have asked if I could post deleted scenes from ETERNAL KISS OF DARKNESS. Sorry to say, but there really weren’t any. As for THIS SIDE OF THE GRAVE, there’s one small scene snippet featuring Vlad in a cowboy outfit that I’ll have to dig out, but give me a little time. I’ll be sure to let everyone know once it’s up.

And finally, I spoke to my editor firming up the plot summary for Vlad’s book and discussing my wish list for the cover. My editor and I are in agreement that we’d like to see just Vlad on the cover, with him and Leila on the stepback (kind of a reverse of the Cat and Bones covers). Now, I need to brainstorm a title for the book. It won’t have “grave” in it to denote that it’s NOT a C&B book, but I don’t know if I want a recurring word in his titles or not. Do you like it when a series has a recurring word in the title, or does that make you crazy? Also, if anyone wants to share their idea for a title for Vlad’s book, please do. If my editor gives your suggestion a thumb’s up, I’ll be sure to mention you in the acknowledgments, if you’d like.

That’s it for now. The rest of this week/weekend, I have some contest prizes to address and mail out, then on Monday, I start writing Vlad and Leila’s story. Onward!

71 Comments

Booklover / May 4, 2011

I really love the C&B books and all the off stories. I have to agree with Acheronlover, “Wicked Heat” sounds like a great way to explain Vlad. He is my favorite character and I have been eagerly awaiting a book about him. Congrats on your move!!

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Rachel / May 4, 2011

I think a good title for Vlad’s book would be “If Unburned” I think it captures Vlads past and hopeful future in two words.

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Tina / May 4, 2011

hey jeanine,I just started reading your book and it is awsome!the night huntress series and I will be moving onto the 2nd book soon:-)I usualy not a book reader because it hard for me to find one that keeps my attention but yours do.I like the fact its got the supernatural twist to it cause i also like twilight!and the fact your books are bout a young woman in her 20s is a plus:-)thanks again for writing these cool books:-)

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Jai / May 5, 2011

Hi Jeaniene! This is my first posting and wanted to start out by saying how much I love your books. My sister actually suggested the series to me and once I read the first book, I flew through the rest and was able to catch up by the time “This Side of the Grave” was released. I also love that you have such a broad collection of items and prints on printfection.com. I wish more authors would offer book memorabilia for their fans. My sister bought me the “If I Die” tote bag for my birthday yesterday . And since I am a future med student the fact that part of the money goes to Doctors without Borders is an added bonus and only makes me a greater fan.

I am so excited that you made the move to North Carolina! I’ve lived there all my life and the weather really is one of the best things about the region. And the Blue Ridge/Appalachains are, as you already know, gorgeous. I hope this means you will have more book signings in this area now

My suggestions for Vlad’s book are “Up in Flames” or “Fire My Desire”

Can’t wait for the next books!

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Sarah Barr / May 5, 2011

Great books recommend them to everyone!!!
How about Into the Fire for Vlads’ book.

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nico / May 7, 2011

I think a good name for Vlad’s book would be “Feel the fire” I love your books and I can’t wait for”One grave at the time”.

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Tracy / May 7, 2011

LOVE your books! I was hooked SO fast! I agree with the other title suggestions…”Fire” should be in the title. Also I really like the recurring word in the title. Thanks for all your hard work!

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Michelle B. / May 8, 2011

Your books are fantastic and I can’t wait for the next one!

Some suggestions for Vlad’s book, “Passions Ablaze”, “Compassion Ablaze” or “Hearts Ignited”.

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Darlaine / May 10, 2011

I love me some Cat & Bones, best series so far, im so excited Vlad is finally getting some much needed attention…oooohhh can’t wait.
I really thought there might have been something between Vlad and cat’s mum, but never mind maybe that will be Ian aye? (hint,hint)

How about Vladhelsing for a title, ties in with his movie humor, and still has a Cat & Bones feel to it.
LOVE your series Jeaniene.

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MonaL / May 11, 2011

Your books are the best I love them. There the only worn out books I have because I’ve read them so many times.

Can’t wait for Vlad’s book!! I thought of some names:
‘Eternal Flame of love’
‘Fire of my Heart’
‘Beyond the Burns of Passion’
‘Tempt the Flames of Mercy’
‘Fire Unleashed’
‘Dark side of Fire’

I know I got too excited but I hope they help

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Carrie T / May 15, 2011

I like and dislike the reoccuring word in titles. For one it’s easy to know what series the book belongs in BUT sometimes I personally cant ever keep them straight..lol.(unless I look at the covers). For Vlad’s title how about: DARKNESS AWAKENED, TAKEN BY FIRE, HEATED SURRENDER. I keep wanting to use works like eternal, kiss, and crimson but those are in Spade and Menchereses titles. May post more if I come up with any that moves me.

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Vara / May 16, 2011

Hi
<3 your books ……
Which is why I wanted to suggest – Under Fire – as the book title.:D
Hope that helps

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Vara / May 16, 2011

Hi
<3 your books ……
Which is why I wanted to suggest – Under Fire – as the book title.:D
Hope that helps

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Whothepiore / May 27, 2011

Hi!
I was reading your forum for a long time now and just thought I might wanna get an profile here and comment once in a while.

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lydiaS / June 21, 2011

everytime I read your books I can’t stop. so, yes I’m an addict. gosh, I’m so happy that I attended my english lessons, otherwise I would have needed to wait until the translated versions would be on the market. and let me tell you that bones british english slang is totally lost on them. anyway, just wanted to tell you how excited I am about all the new books coming! I was looking forward for Vlad. A recurring word in the title can be ok if the story fits as it was by c&b. By Vlad words come to mind like hot,heat, burning and fire. maybe a variation of them would do? for example: hotshot, heated atmosphere, burning desire/heart/man, fire hazard and so on… I find the suggestions further up very fetching: Fire Unleashed, TAKEN BY FIRE and HEATED SURRENDER
by the way thx for all the excerpts!they keep me going while waiting an rereading!
just one question: did I get it right that there will be a book about Ian? Because I really would like to know who are the other 2 people he cares about (mentioned in spades story).
greetings from germany (Husum an der Nordsee)

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Jessica / November 7, 2011

hi love ur books can’t wait to see read Vlad’s story i think as for title for this book something to with fire or touching cause of Vlad power n Leila’s power so i guess something like “The Burning Touch” kinda corny i know but i’m guessing that most of the story will be about Leila learning to except her power so i think something along that line of thought would be good for the book title again can’t wait till the book comes out!!!

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serviokze / June 29, 2012

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