An ominous howl of wild laughter drifted up on the night air from somewhere down the hill, closer to the Hudson River, in the mystical heart of Sleepy Hollow.
Katy bolted upright in bed, filled with weird urgency—as if something needed her immediate attention—but she couldn’t remember what.
Of course not. You're still asleep.
The thought flitted through her semi-conscious mind and vanished like a wisp of smoke. No dreams tonight.
Since there's a bit of a nip in the air in the historical, mystical Hudson Valley these days, and candy and costumes are already in the stores, I'll take that as a sign Halloween is coming-- even if the trees and grass are still bright shades of spring and summer green.
When I think of October, I think of Sleepy Hollow. When I think of Sleepy Hollow, I think of SLEEPY HOLLOW DREAMS, my erotic paranormal from The Wild Rose Press.
So instead of six sentences from Surfer Dude or Cole & Lara or other WIPs, I'm going to excerpt mini-bites from SLEEPY HOLLOW DREAMS over the next few weeks. Gonna try to keep the blog non-X-rated. Stay tuned to see if I'm up to that challenge.
As always, comments welcome.
(And, in the interest of full disclosure, the second sentence here is actually four sentences in the published book. Yeah. I cheated. So sue me.)
Enjoy!
The crisp October breeze tossed a branch against Katy Lyndhurst's half-open window.
Clatter... scratch... scratch... scratch.
A creak from the vicinity of the bedroom closet.
Bang.
The accompanying rotten-egg whiff of sulfur made her wrinkle her nose in sleep. More scratching against the windowsill.
“What do you think happened, Cole?” Lara asked, gesturing at the over-the-top honeymoon decorations dripping forlornly off the cabin’s redwood beams and rafters. "Always one thing or another with Bree. She's never been the same since September 11."
Cole shrugged to ward off the black despair that shadowed the most hidden part of him and threatened to descend again, as it had for ten years, when he considered his sister’s inner demons -- more private and personal than his own.
"Eighteen, engaged to be married that June. We couldn’t get her to return to the living – not for a long time after.”
Haven't had a writing friend -- aside from Six Sentence Sunday peeps -- pop round to the old blog here in absolute ages.
So I'm pleased as can be to welcome author bud REBECCA ROYCE, an HVRWA chaptermate, Six Sentence Sunday participant, Twitter tweep, blogger, person I've met in Real Life and... most of all prolific writer of paranormal romances.
Please join us as Rebecca kicks off her month-long blog tour for her latest novel, LOVE BEYOND TIME, the first book in her Outsiders series. Follow her on the tour, comment on the blogs she visits, and you're in the running for a $50 Amazon gift certificate Rebecca will be giving away. (More on that later.)
1.I'm familiar with your Westervelt wolves series, but for those of us new to the Outsider series...what's an Outsider? The Outsiders have always existed. They live on the outskirts of society, helping to keep balance in the universe. They preserve the Yin and the Yang of our lives.But a prophecy telling the birth of the greatest evil the world has ever known, throws things askew. 2.What will I love, love, LOVE about Kal? Is he damaged? Is he a hunk? Is he crusty? Does he have a squishy, mushy heart? Does he have superpowers? Is he just a really, really good guy? Or a really, really bad boy?
Oh yes. Kal is yummy.He is damaged, emotionally. Having been raised by his father’s greatest enemy, he is a good guy who has been convinced he is bad.He needs his soul mate—the one woman who can understand him—and he believes she was killed when they were babies.
He can control the weather, harness the energy from lightening.He’s a Warrior—designed to fight the evil in the universe.He’s hunky, tall, dark haired, and so unsure he can love.
3.What does he love most about Isabelle?
Outside of the physical, Isabelle completes Kal. She is tough but supportive. She cares about people.She is there for him. As far as she is concerned the rest of the world can go to hell if Kal is not fine.
4.When Kal and Isabelle first meet, what does he like least about her? Or about their situation? He doesn’t like that she doesn’t know she’s an Outsider. She doubts everything about the Outsiders.He doesn’t like that she has to be used in potentially dangerous ways.He doesn’t like that she has no idea how to protect herself. 5.Boxers or briefs? (I just like to throw that one in. I will leave the answer up to you!)
For Kal? Briefs.
6.I think it's fabulous you've got so many series going. Clearly when a plot bunny rears its fuzzyhead, you do not bash it like whack-a-mole. How do you deal with those pesky critters?
Right now it’s the hardest it's ever been. I have four active series and one I finished.I don’t think I’ll ever do four again.But I love all of them and I just have to write them when they come up.
7.Clearly, you don't waste as much time playing Angry Birds as I do. Do you have a definite writing schedule you try to keep? Are you successful at it? You've got little ones. How hard is it to juggle writing and family time?
Juggling with the kids is the hardest thing I do.I try to write in every second of spare time I have. The Internet is a time-suck forme and I have to get better control of that.I just try to be really organized about it.
8. What's Isabelle's idea of a sexy, romantic date:
a. disco dancing
b. kung fu fighting
c. demon hunting
d. drunk and disorderly
e. popcorn and a movie
f. wine and chocolate
g. other
9. What's Kal's idea of a sexy, romantic date:
a. Nascar
b. football
c. baseball
d. bar fight
e. food fight
f. creature features
g. other
10. What's up next for you?
Right now I’m writing Love Beyond Sight, which is the fourth book in this series. And Love Beyond Sanity comes out October 1st.Also, I have a short contemporary story called Behind The Scenes coming out too.
Born one half of a perfect pair, Kal has spent his life believing his other half is gone. But when fate thrusts Isabelle into his arms, he will have no choice but to become the man he was destined to be. That is, if he can battle his own demons first.
Not willing to accept her heritage as an Outsider, Isabelle tries to hide from the truth. But when Kal’s life is on the line, she will have to step forward and embrace her powers or watch everything she has come to love disappear.
Excerpt: She had not told her counselors about her secret 'dream man'. She wanted to but every time she thought to open up about it she found herself unwilling, or better put, unable, to share him with anyone. So she contented herself with good friends and the love she had with her family plus the pleasure she took from doing her work. But lately, it hadn't been enough. She wanted babies. She wanted his babies.
Rebecca will be giving away a $50 Amazon.com gift certificate. Just follow her on her blog tour and comment on the blogs where she guests. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning.
As a teenager, Rebecca Royce would hide in her room to read her favorite romance novels when she was supposed to be doing her homework. She hopes, these days, that her parents think it was well worth it.
Rebecca is the mother of three adorable boys and is fortunate to be married to her best friend. They live in northern New Jersey and try not to freeze too badly during the winter months.
She's in love with science fiction, fantasy, and the pararnormal and tries to use all of these elements in her writing. She's been told she's a little bloodthirsty so she hopes that when you read her work you'll enjoy the action packed ride that always ends in romance. Rebecca loves to write series because she loves to see characters develop over time and it always makes her happy to see her favorite characters make guest appearances in other books.
In Rebecca Royce's world anything is possible, anything can happen, and you should suspect that it will.
Surfer Dude shrugged out of his evening jacket and draped the garment across the back of a chair.
Turning to her with the toothy smile of a rogue shark sighting dinner, he loosened his tie and began popping the black pearl studs that split his chest and drew the eye to his attention-grabbing torso.
She hadn’t asked him to -- all she'd had in mind was examining the tension in his neck and shoulder muscles -- but she wasn’t about to stop him.
When he peeled off his crisp linen dress shirt, she sucked in a sharp breath and her legs turned to water, the blood racing through them boiling like the stygian rivers in his brother's underworld realm.
Taryn Kincaid writes paranormal, historical and contemporary romance, sometimes spiced with a little humor or a lot of snark. Get swept away by her swoon-worthy heroes. Her latest, AMBER'S ACE, is her 3rd Black Hills Wolves book, following WOLF'S SONG and ANOTHER CHANCE in Decadent Publishing's popular multi-author series.
Visit Taryn at her website http://tarynkincaid.com, as well as Twitter, Facebook, tsu, Pinterest and Goodreads.
