Seeds of Immortality – the cover

Well, Seeds of Immortality is done, pre-edited, and off to my beta readers. So I took a bit of time to work on the cover, and here it is:

Here is the back cover blurb:

With the demon lords stepping up their bid for world domination, Templar commander Ryan Chamberlain knows that the Templars and Arcanists will have to learn to work together. But thousands of years of animosity are not easy to wipe away in just a few months. In a bid to smooth over the transition from enemies to allies, Ryan agrees to partner with Salina Fry, one of the most powerful Arcanists. But it only takes one mission to convince him that the sexy sorceress might just be the death of him.

Salina knows she can’t trust the Templars. Especially their leader, Ryan Chamberlain, no matter how good looking the man is and if that pompous wind-bag thinks he gets to run everything in their new little partnership, he’s got another thing coming. Maybe batting those dreamy eyes at other women gets Ryan what he wants, but if he gets in Salina’s way, she just might have to kill him.

The war escalates as the demons rise to power, and just when mankind needs them most, Gaia and the High Lord have gone missing. Only the Seeds of Immortality hold any hope for mankind, but can Ryan and Salina put aside their differences long enough for the Seeds to blossom?

Seeds of Immortality is the third book in the Demons Rising Saga. It’s a tale of love, tragedy and triumph in a very dangerous world.

 

I’m pretty excited about this book. it completes the Demons Rising Saga and sets up a whole new dark future for me to adventure around in. You can rest assured I’ll be returning to the story line, though I’m not sure when my writing schedule will allow me.

Coming up next? Edits on Son of Thunder, and diving into the sequel, Daughter of Darkness.

Until next time,

Steve

The Seeds Are About To Be Planted

At long last I am back working on Seeds of Immortality, the third book in the Demons Rising series. I am almost finished with the first draft, and hope to have it done, edited, and to my beta readers sometime next week. Then comes the fun of putting together the cover.

With luck, this will be my last self-published title. Now that I have a publisher I will be able to spend less time on things like covers and formatting, and more time on writing, editing and promotion. It’s been fun, learning the process from the ground up, but I have so many stories I want to tell, it will be nice to have the Soul Mate team behind me as I move forward.
Until next time,

Steve

Get ready for act 2!

Well, my brief stint as an actor is over (for now anyway). We had a great run this weekend. Lots of laughs and applause, so I must have done something right.

I had a ton of fun, and interacted with an incredibly talented cast and crew.

And…I’m exhausted. After the final performance we tore down the set, and moved costumes, props and set pieces back into storage. There is so much that goes on before and after the show that people don’t see, and so many people onstage and behind the scenes that make the magic happen. It is a complete team effort.

It was a creative process much like my writing. We built scenes, created characters and told a story. We had a fantastic director to pull all the pieces together.

But, unlike writing, this was a group effort. Tomorrow (yeah, I’m giving myself today off) it’s back to just me and my computer.

Then again, I now have a publisher on my team, and an artist working on my book cover… and soon an editor helping me sharpen my story. I also have a wonderful (and growing) group of friends and fans, my audience, reading my books and following me. Maybe writing is not so different from putting on a play. If I think of Swiftly Beats the Heart as my overture and Demons Rising as my first act, then it appears that Son of Thunder is just waiting in the wings.

Get ready for Act 2!

Until next time,

Steve

 

Interview today at SMP Authors

I’m being interviewed today on the Soul Mate Publishing Author site. Stop by at http://smpauthors.wordpress.com/

For Lack of Three Little Words – A Tale of Two Whorehouses

A little over a month ago I was asked to play a part in our local theatre production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. I play the Texas Senator that gets caught (literally) with his pants down in the whorehouse, plus a number of other fun and challenging bit parts. Our first show is this coming Thursday.  It has been such an incredible experience working with this wonderful and talented group of thespians.  They made this old man, who hasn’t set foot on a stage in almost 40 years, feel welcome and comfortable.  I just can’t say enough about how great the cast has been.

To prepare for my part, I sat down and watched the movie version of Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, starring Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton.

 

*****[SPOILER ALERT]*****

I AM ABOUT TO REVEAL THE ENDINGS OF THE MOVIE AND STAGE PLAY.

IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO ATTEND AND WANT TO BE SURPRISED, STOP READING NOW!

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

*****[SPOILER ALERT]*****

 

 

 

At the end of the movie the Sheriff (Burt Reynolds) confronts Miss Mona (Dolly Parton).  Dolly sings her theme song I will always love you, lamenting the fact that they can never be together because she’s a whore and he wants to run for public office. Burt simply responds “I love you.” He picks her up and carries her to his pickup truck and they ride off into the sunset to live happily ever after.

It’s a romance, plain and simple. I write romance, and believe in Happy Ever After. It’s in my soul, and it’s the heart of every romance I write. Happy Ever After happens. You can count on it.

So, imagine my surprise when we get to practicing the end scene in the stage play.  The Sheriff confronts Miss Mona. Instead of her singing I will always love you. He’s just sung She’s a good old girl, a song where he says that he’d like to tell her some things, but she already knows. In the stage play he never says those three precious words “I love you,” and tragically two people, so much in love, part forever.

Up to the ending, the story is essentially the same, but for lack of three little words, the ending is different. The movie is a romance, the stage play is a tragedy. It made me wonder how many times in real life people lose out, not by what we say, but by what we don’t say.

It’s something to think about later, though. Right now I’m thinking about dropping my pants in front of a couple of hundred people this weekend. It should be good for a laugh at least.

Until next time,

Steve

Winter projects

It’s shaping up to be a great winter for writing. This morning I sent the newly formatted and pre-edited copy of Son of Thunder off to Soul Mate Publishing. I am so looking forward to working with one of their editors to really polish my baby.

My next goal will be to finish Seeds of Immortality, the third book in my Demons Rising series. I am very close to the end and hope to have it done, edited and to my beta readers before Thanksgiving.

After that I plan to concentrate on Daughter of Darkness, the sequel to Son of Thunder.

On top of all that, I have two very exciting projects in the works. I was discussing a concept I had with a couple of my fellow RWA romance writers. The idea is that I co-write a novel with one of them. They would write the female perspective in the book and I would write the male perspective. We would alternate chapters and see if anything materialized. Two of the ladies said they’d be interested in the project so about the middle of September, one of them and I started writing a paranormal-erotic-thriller we’re calling Mind Games. We’re 20 chapters in and I think the story is fantastic. A few weeks ago the second author jumped on board and we began a YA action-adventure novel. It’s been a fun challenge for me to jump between the two stories and I am excited about what we’re producing. I will bring you more information on these projects as they move forward.

Now, that should be plenty to occupy me right through the end of the year and beyond, however certain characters, from the other novels I have on the back burners, have started calling to me lately. They really want to tell their stories.

It looks like my New Year’s Resolution this year will be to be prolific.

Stay tuned,

Steve