D'VAIRE

Five weeks ago, I sprained my finger and unfortunately, the tears in my collateral ligaments are still healing. I’m back at the orthopedist at the end of the month to check on it and with some luck, I’ll get to stop wearing the straps anchoring it soon. As you can imagine, it’s limiting my time on the computer. But I'm squeezing in as much writing and editing as I can. It was great to finally return to the D’Vaire household with Scales and Stone, and we’ll be there again for the next edition to the series, which is a holiday story. In my Facebook group, I’ll reveal the first hint about what to expect from the D’Vaires and their loved ones tomorrow morning. Although I’d hoped to be finished with a book by now, I’m still plugging away at it. The characters are being patient with me, which I appreciate. Like Scales and Stone, it takes place at the D’Vaire mansion, and it’s been fun to hang out with some of my favorite people. At this point, I’m still paranoid about whether these...

Caution: If you haven't read Blaze of Eternity yet, there are spoilers ahead! Resurrection of the Fallen was a book that, despite its length, I completed in less than three weeks. As fast as Conley drives, it’s not much of a surprise that he had to make sure his story was told swiftly. I worked from morning until night, and that book remains one of my favorite stories. The only slow day was the day I had to write the death scene. It took me a few hours to brace myself to write it, but it was otherwise a wonderful experience. One thing I love is the format, but I didn’t want to replicate unless the right project demanded it. While historical romances are something I adore and getting to play in around in the past is always fun for me, I figured Resurrection would be completely unique in that way. I know some readers don’t enjoy reading the historical content, but I started this series for me, and I will continue to write characters and stories that move me and make me want to read...

Shadowy Illusions was a fun, but emotional project, and I'm thrilled that Amaury was so insistent on telling his story. He definitely deserves a happily ever after, and so do his mates. After spending a few months hanging out with the Gennevioses, I enjoyed them, but I was ready to move on.  I’ve spoken several times now in my Facebook group about how many of the books this year contain characters that came into my head long before the D’Vaire series planted its roots in my brain. I'm not sure why they chose now to demand things, but I was happy to oblige. The next book is the last of those…at least for now, because I have a ton of old stories, and I certainly can’t predict who is going to jump in and request a story next.  Unlike Matebond Dance and Deliciously Enchanted , where the stories paralleled their original tales, the couple coming next barely resemble their foundational characters. Their story has edged its way near the top of the list of books I love most. It featu...

It’s been six months since I wrote a blog post. I didn’t intend to stop writing them for so long, but life got in the way. Between struggles with a lack of creativity and some minor medical issues, I’m trying to work my way back to writing daily. But I did finally finish a book!  At the start of the year, I was burned out and wasn’t sure how to get my guys to talk to me again. I’ve mentioned before that I have OCD. I also struggle with depression. This year my doctor and I decided medication was a necessity. It has helped. So has balancing out my other health struggles and my ever-changing role as a spouse to someone with primary progressive multiple sclerosis and Sjogren’s syndrome.  This time of year, I always try to send my editor my dates for the following year. I decided to commit myself to fewer releases in 2024. I’m going to put out five novels and a short story. The biggest change is that they won’t all be D’Vaire books. To find some inspiration, I had to take a huge s...

Last week, Grymmie’s tale finally went live, and Lich Reaper’s Lament was the second longest book in the series. There was a ton more planned in the outline, but if I’d included everything, I would probably still be writing it! One thing I wanted to assure everyone is that although we learned little about enchanters, that won’t be the case for long. Since Lich Reaper’s Lament , I wrote two different books featuring Devlin’s race, and you’ll learn plenty about their people next year. If you’ve finished Lich Reaper’s Lament , I’m sure you’re already wondering what’s next. Book thirty-four features a character who first entered the series in Imperial Twist . His race is small, and he calls Las Vegas home. As for his mate, he’s new to the D’Vaire world and so is his race. In my reader’s group tomorrow, I’ll share the first picture hint with the blurb following in a couple of weeks. Since it’s the end of the year, let’s talk a little more about what to expect from the D’Vaires in 2023. I wr...

The husband and I flew to Washington, DC for a long weekend and we had a wonderful trip. My niece and her family spent most of that time with us, and we’d gone entirely too long without seeing each other. On Sunday night, we had the awesome opportunity to attend an Iron Maiden concert and one of my favorite bands, Within Temptation, opened for them. While we had a fantastic time on our trip, sleep was not high on our priority list, so it’s going to take me a few days to get caught up. Beauty and Valor was released about twelve hours or so before I boarded my plane, and I really hope everyone enjoyed Preston and Ridgely’s story. Preston is an old character, and many details about where he came from and what race he belonged to changed, but the core of who he was never differed. He went through a few mates before I found the right one, and Ridgely was the perfect fit. Halfway through Gargoyle Birthright , that pair was distracting me, and there was no question that their book was re...

On Tuesday, I finished the latest D’Vaire book despite an unexpected break in the middle to have new flooring installed in several rooms in my house. I wanted the project to happen while I wasn’t writing, but sometimes schedules are far harder to manage than they should be. Regardless, I kept on track and completed the second D’Vaire book that features three men picked by Fate to be together. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know each of the guys. Two of them are characters that have appeared in the series before, though they never shared a scene, while the third was introduced in the last book I wrote. One guy had a cameo way back in Resurrection of the Fallen and has appeared a couple more times since then. The other was in a single book, Unpredictable Fate . Let’s talk about the recent release, Gargoyle Birthright . What a joy that household was to create, and I didn’t want to leave them. In fact, another book is already completed that features a member of that household. He was so ...

It doesn’t seem possible that I’ve published thirty books and four short stories, but somehow, I have! When I first started writing Dra’Kaedan’s story, I wasn’t sure I’d finish it. Through the years, I’d created other series and barely wrote more than a few chapters in each project. But my life changed. My biological mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and it galvanized my thoughts. If I wanted to be a writer, then I damn well needed to get my act together and make that dream a reality. The stitches were barely out of my arm after a recent elbow surgery when I picked up my notebooks and handwrote Dra’Kaedan and Brogan’s book. My mother was growing sicker, and I was exhausted physically and mentally, so there was no celebration on the day I completed it. I don’t even think I told anyone. Without worrying about publishing, I set it aside and started Gavrael and Gedeon’s story. Everything came to a screeching halt because I needed another surgery. A month later, my mother died. She...

The Fractured Fallen was a surprise book for me. Toby and Gentry were supposed to be a short story, but I’m so glad they insisted on more. It was interesting to think about the fallen knights in a way that wasn’t perfect. As good as Drystan and Conley are at ruling their people, they can’t be everywhere at once or anticipate every situation. I have a feeling that introducing their new testing strategies isn’t the last of the changes that the Reverent Knights will make in the coming years. Also, I must say I absolutely love what LJ Anderson of Mayhem Cover Creations did for this cover. All of her covers are fantastic, but to take that shield (without the RK on it) and swords from Resurrection of the Fallen and fracture it went far beyond my expectations! As for the group of friends that now surround Gentry and Toby, this is not the last you’ll see of them. Later this year, one of them is even featured as a main character, so I hope you enjoyed getting to know Ridgely, Warner, Jackson,...

Putting together my thoughts for this blog wasn’t easy. While my anxiety and I regularly approach release days with varying levels of dread, Venerably Daray made me decidedly queasy. It wasn’t because I second guessed my decisions—for me, the story dictates everything. I do not sway my characters from telling their tale. Although I generally know the reason behind the events, those may not be revealed for a few books or many. The storyline for  Venerably Daray wasn't straightforward. I was thrilled with Samson and Brynn’s love story when I completed the novel. But there were other parts of the book that bugged me and there were many, many revisions. I still wasn't satisfied so I stepped away from it. As the weeks passed, I looked to other projects and got some much-needed clarity. The result was the full story of Venerably Daray and the lives of the reapers. One worry I had was that the events that unfolded after the matebond ceremony would somehow take away from what the boo...

Scheredin’s story wasn’t one I ever thought would come to fruition. As I created the D’Vaire universe, I put Noirin and Scheredin in there because they’re a vital part of my life and it was fun to add my gaming personas into my fantasy world. However, while Noirin’s path was chartered quickly thanks to Rafe and how his romance with Aleksander worked out, Scheredin didn’t cooperate in the slightest. His personality emerged as I poked and prodded at him, and he was full of surprises. I tried to pair him with multiple partners, and although I was pretty sure about his magic, I wasn’t positive he wanted to be a dark warlock until I wrote The Dragon Masquerade . But from the start I wanted Scheredin’s partner to have something to do with his gaming. For me, that was a neat way to honor the true Scheredin who exists virtually. Thankfully, Scheredin and Kieran liked the idea too, and when they were ready, the details spilled out in a rush. Their book wound up being one of those that was relat...

If you’ve read Soul of the Imperian , you’ve probably realized by now that its story is incomplete without Demonically Daray . Which is why despite the difficulties I had with crafting Hexaniys and Eduard’s story, I couldn’t leave it out of the series though I did consider it. But then again, I have contemplated keeping many of the stories far from the public eye—such is the nature of my scared little heart not wanting to put my guys out in the world to be judged. As I mentioned in my last blog post, Eduard and Hexaniys once had a complicated plot, but it fell apart as things developed in other books.  I wanted more than to mention it as a footnote in Paszra’s book that Eduard had met his mate, so I developed essentially a prologue to the Imperian’s story and gave the Skeleton Lord his happily ever after. It wasn’t something I was completely happy with, but I had to contend with the characters and what they wanted. It was probably unsatisfying to read about Hexaniys’s lack of magic...

I enjoy trying new things as I create new stories in the D’Vaire world, and Demonically Daray was another first for me. Although it was my fourth short, I hadn’t attempted to write a romantic one prior to Hexaniys and Eduard’s story. It wasn’t easy for me. I like diving deep into projects and exploring the facets of the characters. They aren’t a new couple. Eduard rushed to tell me all about his other half immediately after he first showed up in my head many years ago. Initially, their plot was far more complicated, but since it wound up coming so far into the series, much of the original story was no longer possible or relevant to the D’Vaire world now. I kept trying to force them into uncomfortable situations to create something far longer, but Eduard and Hexaniys weren’t having it. They are a couple who adored each other, so I had to switch my mindset to accommodate them. I’m happy with the result and there are more demons ahead, but there will probably always be a part of me that f...

With the recent release of The Vampyr’s Husband , the question that keeps popping up is who shot James? Since the humans remain uncooperative and the crime scene was horribly muddied, the sentinels have no suspects. Whether we discover the culprit in a future novel is uncertain, but there are several people close to James who aren’t content with the mystery.  As far as the animosity that exists between humans and the Council, there is no easy fix. The Council remains uninterested in investing time and resources in what they see as an unsolvable issue and the humans barely acknowledge that sorcerers and shifters exist. We’ll have to wait to see if any bridges can be built to narrow the large chasms that separate them. James and Nikolai were a treat to write. It’s ironic how things work out sometimes. Nikolai was a foundation character who pre-dates much of the series. The first version of him had him as the nephew of the vampiric leaders who were pretty horrible people. His relation...

Although it’s been a week since Lockmage Legacy came out, I finished it last summer so it was incredible to get to focus on Josh and Donnell again. When I was writing Triple Affinity , I initially didn’t plan on writing back-to-back bear books. In fact, Owen had a mate until I started crafting that outline but it fell apart and now, I’m back to square one with him and Donnell has been through a few himself that didn’t pan out. His first story was a triple matebond like Artair’s, but it didn’t mesh. Much like Damian and Marcus in Imperial Twist , there was never a sense of balance. Some months later, a version of Josh came to light, but the initial version of him was somewhat different. While he was a mage, he had no title, and he wasn’t a hybrid, either. But as I journeyed through Triple Affinity , this brash version of Donnell’s mate who demanded a new name for himself materialized and Josh was fully formed. Normally when I finish a project, I want to journey as far from the couple ...

I feel like the past month or so has raced by and for me, it’s been a productive couple of weeks. Since I like to plan ahead, I’ve already ordered my 2022 planner and am finalizing my publishing schedule with my editor. We’ll get more into that when we get further into the year, but there is plenty more D’Vaire on the horizon! I changed how I do things this year and so far my experiment is working out great. It’s helping me create a balance between writing and all the things I prefer to avoid when I’m in the middle of a book. It's also giving me plenty of space to develop things fully, so I can focus on every detail. I also need breaks from books to breathe a little and recharge my batteries.  Although I know some mate match ups that I haven't written yet, I've worked my way through all the plots I've already developed, so my guys require time and coaxing to tell me everything. Speaking of stories, I’ve passed the three quarters mark in my current project. When I finish...

The Dragon Masquerade came out last week, and I want to thank everyone who read it! I had fun visiting with Aleksander and Rafe, and although it was supposed to center exclusively around them, it was awesome to hear from voices I haven’t been able to work into previous novels. As for our High Kings, I can never resist them and hope they come back for many more stories. I will always need more Rafe and Aleksander! I talked a lot about short stories and my issues with them in my last blog, so I won’t bore you with it all again. I have one more short story written, and it’s my first one that is centered on two mates finding each other, which will be out much later this year.  My brain likes to complicate things in such a way that it’s difficult for me to narrow my focus and craft smaller projects. I’m also a fast reader and have always been drawn to longer books. I just hate for a good story to end! That being said, I’m really a minion to these guys and I let them get away with whate...