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A Monstrous Rampage

Holly’s first book, Monstrous Rampage, is now available!

This is book 5 in the Dynosauros series, which should be read in order (it’s not standalone).

Monstrous Rampage Dynosauros Book 5

I’m finally getting the dinosaur squad of my dreams—but I may not survive them.
When I came on an archeological dig to Guatemala with my friend Natalie, I never expected to long for a dinosaur squad of my own. They’re monstrously huge and scary but the alien super-soldiers treat her like the most precious thing in the universe. Even when they’re shifted into their creatures.
Sue me, but I want that too.
However, I don’t run into a hunky naked guy in the jungle like her. Instead, I’m kidnapped to a spaceship god only knows where. I wake up in a laboratory with our traitorous professor—who’s not really human—leering down at me.
Then he feeds me to a mutant dynos deemed too dangerous and unstable to ever leave his cell or lead a squad of his own.
In the complete darkness of his prison, I can’t even tell what he looks like but he’s huge. Pissed. And worse, crazed after suffering endless experiments as a test subject.
Even if Natalie’s squad can find and jump me to safety, I can’t leave him to suffer. I’ll pay the price to free him. Even if he destroys the alien ship—and me—in a murderous rampage.

Free in Kindle Unlimited.

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Hel(l) Came (Again and Again)

Just following up on last week’s post about the four-year-old incomplete sex scene.

I worked on ONLY this book since that post instead of my two-wip pronged approach I’ve been trying to build. My theory was if I set Helayna aside again, it might be another four years. I can’t do that to you, me, or her. I need her story figured out. So every time I sat down to write, it was Queen Takes Darkness.

Even when I could only get 200 words. Even when it felt like stripping my own skin off as I crawled over shattered ice crystals. I kept going. Even if it felt like I wasn’t making any progress at all. I re-read the scenes, over and over, trying to get momentum built. I referred back several times to the Sept 2021 notes, cursing myself for not writing more down. I knew Svar had backstory that was super important. But what was it? Whatever vague idea I had was gone into the ether. I hadn’t left myself a single clue outside of a few hints in the books themselves.

I inputted (my #2 strength). Going over the dark alfar lore again. Refreshing the vibes I was going for. The Darkness playlist has been playing nonstop in my house. In the car. (Okay, I did play Taylor’s Life of a Showgirl too but it was primarily Helayna’s playlist!)

Part of what made this particular set of scenes so hard is that I was introducing two new characters and moving straight into sex. I needed their backstories. Their hangups and personalities. They had to be people, real, interesting, and most importantly, distinct from all the other Blood I’ve created.

Then when I got through them… I still had Svar’s backstory to figure out. I kept wanting to flinch away and do something easier. Lighter. But I had to see. So I knew where to go.

And then even after we made it through that Darkness, I still had one more Blood to go. Because when a vampire queen is working her way through her Blood, no one gets left out.

I think I broke my personal longest sex scene record. If I start with the first disrobing and go all the way through to the end of the last scene, it’s over 16k (edited – forgot to include the last scene!). Not all of that is actual sex but it’s all part of the journey. Learning these new characters. Finding new powers. Building relationships. That’s why, when people say they skip the sex scenes, it just does not compute for me.

If you skip one of these scenes, you’ll never know Svar’s backstory. Why he is the way he is. Who Dörr is as a person at his core. I may complain about how many sex scenes I end up writing in these books, but it’s always transformative and powerful. Which is why they’re hard to write–but hopefully that’s what makes them memorable.

This week, I’m planning to move back into my two projects a day schedule so I can get Blizzard Bound moving again. I don’t want it to go too cold. (Haha) Though now that I’m over the hump in Helayna’s story, it may all be downhill from here and she may win out. We’ll see.

Gee, that’d be terrible if I could finish BOTH of them before December….

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Headless, a Limited Edition Dullahan Anthology

Now available in Kindle Unlimited! This limited edition anthology includes a short prequel story for Guillaume. I will have signed print copies available shortly so keep an eye out in the shop! Grab it while you can, because this anthology will only be available for three months.

Headless Anthology

Beneath the moon and stars, on the darkest nights, the Dullahan ride—headless men and women, who usher in both desire and dread as they whisper on the wind.

From forbidden encounters to deathly run-ins and even passionate unions that defy fate itself, the stories in this anthology weave the allure of danger and the timeless pull of the heart as heroes, heroines, and villains come into contact with a Dullahan who knows their name. Their tales will transcend life and death with the unexplored romantic side of Dullahan throughout the ages.

In a world where love can be both a blessing and a curse, these authors invite you to ride with the Dullahan, and discover that sometimes the greatest love is the one that comes from the most unexpected places.

Stories from:
MK Mancos
Joely Sue Burkhart
AL Davroe
Molly Burkhart
Rivka Spicer
Lexi Ostrow
N.F. Schmitt
E.G. Christopher
Landra Graf
Bobbie Hart

Guillaume’s story is called, “Knight Loses Head.”

Triune Executioner. The last living Templar knight. 

Before I earned these titles, I was also known as the Dullahan, the headless demon knight of Payns. This is my story, long before I ever swore my oath to Her Majesty Shara Isador. 

If you dare to read my tale, you’ll learn the truth of my curse, and the suffering I endured before I came to my queen’s side in Kansas City.

For this knight cannot die.

Headless anthology with Sir Guillaume, Templar Knight
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Come Hel(l) or High Water

It’s always hard to pick up a project after I set it aside for whatever reason. It’s doubly hard when I was in the middle of a sex scene…

Now add four years and try to pick up that project and make sense of it again.

I never intended to be gone from Helayna’s story for so long. The longer she lay idle, the harder it was to decide to pick up her story again. Their Vampire Queen’s world is so large and complex, I knew it was going to be tough to get all of the characters, magic, and story lines back into my head.

Finishing Karmen’s last story was easier–because there were crossovers into Shara’s story. So I could work on them both at the same time. Draw inspiration from one to help with the other.

Helayna’s story doesn’t have the same crossovers, at least where I left her. But I know I need her story figured out before I can get much further in Shara’s. I think I can finish Queen’s Purge without Helayna’s or Karmen’s stories laid out, but I can’t get much further after that.

Not without these queens ready to go.

I honestly hadn’t realized it’d been four years since I started Queen Takes Darkness2 until I couldn’t remember something and went looking for my notes. I have a current House Isador journal/bible with all the characters listed from all the houses. That’s what I’ve been using the last couple of years as I worked on Crusade and now Purge. But none of what I needed was in that notebook. So I went to my shelf, thumbing through journal after journal. All the way back to the thin traveler’s style notebooks with the flimsy paper. (I don’t use them any longer–I hate it when the ink ghosts or bleeds through to the other side.) My horror and shame grew as I kept going back further and further.

To September 2021.

Geez. No wonder I can’t remember what I intended to do next for Helayna!

Granted, I was going through Hel myself back then. My divorce wasn’t final. He was still dragging me to court. I was having to pay for everything, both our kids (including college) and his bills, while unable to publish much for fear it’d add another copyright into the mess. Giving him another weapon to come after me.

But Helayna deserved better.

Even the 13,000+ words I had was pretty rough, to be honest. You wouldn’t think four years would make that much of a difference in my writing style, but it definitely did, at least in her case. I’ve edited those words pretty hard, and now I’m trying to get through that sex scene from Hel.

You know I’ve written an 8k sex scene before. For a vampire queen working her way through her Blood, it can get a little… messy. Laughs.

A week later, and I’m still struggling. Last night, I finally set the scene aside and pulled out her prequel and book one (now in print!) to re-read everything. Just to get it all back in my head. What her intimacy journey had been like with her Blood so far. What their hang ups and insecurities were. What they all needed. What they were scared of.

Now well armed, I’m back in the trenches. Though I’m certainly giving “come hell or high water…” a new meaning.

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The New Era Begins

I’m home from Literary Love Savannah, and this time, I didn’t have an Evil Day Job to immediately get back to!

Instead, I spent yesterday luxuriating in some new stickers and creating my plan through July 31st. Give me a purple pen, sticky notes, washi, and stickers, and I’ll prepare for book world domination.

It’s ridiculous how excited I was to start my day yesterday — because of the stickers. I didn’t need an alarm. Once Honey Bun was up, I hopped out of bed and got busy printing my new pages for the rest of July. I’m using a combination of HB90 Daily pages (on the left) and Sarra’s Rough Draft Challenge notebook (on the right). I’m using it both to sketch out my day–and then also hold myself accountable with how I actually spent my time. When I got up. How long of a lunch break I took. When I got tired or distracted.

The RDC pages work best for a single story, and I’m concurrently working on several, so it’s not ideal. I may tweak this process for August, maybe even a separate RDC page for each book? Though that seems a little extreme, even for me. Especially since each book already has its own place in my bullet journals to record the sprint tallies, notes, and any journaling thoughts I want to capture.

Yes, bullet journalS, plural. Right now, I’m actively working in four different journals, and I’ve got at least two others started for different projects. I do combine ideas into journals once they get going, mixed with general brain dumps and actual journal pages. Once a series reaches a certain size, it really needs its own. The House Isador journal is almost completely full. I probably won’t even try re-copying all of the names and characters over to a new journal, but will keep the old one as the reference and add new pages in the second.

The Dynosauros world got its own journal with the completion of Monstrous Baby. And yeah, I started Monstrous Rampage today.

I’m also about 2/3 of the way through a short story for Guillaume in the Headless anthology.

I pulled out Blizzard Bound’s journal (combined with other stuff currently) and will prepare for a re-read and pick up that project again this week.

Once Guillaume’s story is done, I intend to re-read what I’ve got for Queen’s Purge, and maybe even Crusade, so it’s all fresh. Though I may also have to work on Helayna and Karmen’s stories concurrently once I get a bit further in Shara’s plot.

See why I need so many journals? I can’t keep it all in my head any more.

I’m also returning to my Kanban board for admin tasks, though it’s not fully set up yet. I used it to prepare for LLS and still have some outstanding tasks I need to wrap up now that I’m home. Like a retirement party! I’m planning to write in the morning and early afternoon, and then do admin tasks in the late afternoon before dinner. Molly and I still Zoom most weeknights too with a goal of two more evening sprints.

So I have no excuse for not getting a shit ton of stuff done this July.

Despite it only being the 16th, I’ve already written more this July than I did the entire month last year, even with taking last week off for LLS. July is historically a really hard month for me (so is August) but with enough stickers….

I can do anything.

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A Jurassic Baby

I honestly wasn’t going to write more in the Dynosauros series. I planned a trilogy. That’s what I wrote. I was happy with the way it ended.

However… I kept getting questions and ideas in my head. I wanted to see how the squad handled a baby. I wanted more Axxol. I wanted to see Natalie step more fully into her new reality. I wanted to see Akylla grow.

One thing lead to another, and now Monstrous Baby is here.

This series is just so FUN I couldn’t help myself. Dinosaurs running amuck. Out of this galaxy appendages. More aliens. I had a blast, though it did take me way longer than I hoped to finish the book.

Full disclosure, I fully plan to write more now, with Holly’s story starting in Monstrous Rampage. I’ve actually already plotted out (loosely) her first book.

I’ve also commissioned an artist to illustrate the guys, and I’m making character cards that I’ll have available at LLS, and future, here on the website (once the full set is completed).

Monstrous Baby

I delivered our beautiful alien-human baby, but now we have to figure out how to stay alive.

After thousands of years, dyni have successfully mated and bred young in the wild with a human. Me.

It’s crazy how fast my life has changed. Instead of searching for lost civilizations, I’m the mother of a dynos hybrid. Moments after she was born, Akylla could join the cybernetic grid my mates use to communicate. We don’t know what she’ll be capable of yet, but she’s absolutely fearless, brilliant, feral, and growing in leaps and bounds. Watching her wrap five terrifyingly huge super-soldier killing machines around her pinkie is hilarious.

However, we will never be safe. Draco Sirius Command knows their former assets have rebelled—and successfully bred offspring they don’t own and can’t control.

I won’t allow them to have my baby. She won’t grow up in a laboratory or endure re-programming like the squad in between missions. I may only be human, but I’ve got secrets of my own that I’m only just now learning to use.

They won’t take us alive.

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Special KickStarter Projects

I’m excited to be participating in two special projects this summer.

First up, we have Hot Winter Nights, a PNR Advent box. I’m offering a book that hasn’t been in print before, along with 29 other authors. If you love spicy paranormal romances, unwrap either 15 or 30 presents for yourself this holiday season.

Second, I’m working on a special edition Their Vampire Queen collection that will be available late July.

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Shara’s Finally Back

It’s been a long time coming. Longer than I intended. But Shara Isador is finally back. On May 3rd, grab Queen’s Crusade to continue her story!

Now for the long-winded post…

I’ve talked a little about the divorce and how ugly things were in 2019. Before that too, but once the divorce paperwork was filed, it got even nastier. Shara went into hiding and I locked her down. Hard. I had to keep her safe.

(I had to keep myself safe.)

Slowly, things got mostly better but he continued to take me back to court over. And over. And over. Finally I got a final resolution – so I thought – and then he filed a new motion. It was crazy. I couldn’t do anything. My life was in limbo. Which put Shara in limbo too. I still wrote, but I couldn’t get her to talk at all. Everything was “temporary.” Even the rental where we lived. I couldn’t afford to move until I knew what was going to happen.

Last year was better. I finally got the all clear to start my life. I moved forward with building my little red house on the Burkhart farm. But of course that took longer than I expected too, and while a dream come true, it was stressful making so many decisions. Then I ended up living with my dad for five months rather than a few weeks. All my clothes and books and shipping supplies went into storage. I had to go buy winter clothes because it was summer when I moved in with him. I had one suitcase and whatever I brought home from Literary Love Savannah in July.

I love my Dad and I’m so grateful he let me stay with him. But it wasn’t MY space, you know? It was hard to establish any kind of writing routine. I worked and slept in the same bedroom. I was a guest, and I didn’t want to lock myself away to write all night after working all day. I was also going through Evil Day Job interviewing for a new position (since Retirement had been sold) and that skyrocketed my stress levels off the charts. Not knowing if I’d still have a job after 29 years. Not knowing which team I might end up with. My mind was consumed with what ifs and contingency plans.

At 53, I was basically homeless and starting over with my professional career. It sucked. Big time.

However, Shara finally started to whisper to me again. I had enough to write the first chapter, and I read it at the House Isador party at LLS in July. Temporary housing made it extremely difficult for me to get into any kind of regular writing routine, so I really couldn’t work on her story much until I moved into my house just after Christmas.

On Jan 2nd, I started Chapter Two of Queen’s Crusade. I only missed 9 days of writing until I finished the first draft on March 31. (Considering I only managed to write 2k TOTAL in July of 2023, I was pretty pleased with that!) I did things a little different this time. I made myself SIT on the draft rather than race to publish. I took my time. I wrote another 12k of extra scenes for the second draft, and then I started the bonus Queen Takes Blood scenes immediately (coming soon). I wanted all of it done and ready before I finally hit publish.

No last-minute deadline scrambling. For one, I’m too old for that shit. And second, Shara–and you–deserve my best. Especially after waiting so long. It was hard to sit on my hands. I felt like the kid who’d saved up all her allowance to buy the best Christmas present ever, and I CAN’T WAIT for you to open it!

But this time, I’ll have the print version ready immediately. Patreon copies already went out. The newsletter bonus will be finished and ready to go. And best/most important of all, I think you’ll be way happier with the book and especially the ending.

Endings aren’t my strong suit. Probably because I’m so excited to FINISH. I don’t like to add “superfluous” scenes once the plot scenes are resolved. However, those extra details add richness and depth to the story, and I think you’ll be really pleased with those extra details.

I can say that I really think it’s one of the best books I’ve ever written. It’s definitely one of the longest at 118K (not including the Blood prequels).

Now the nerves begin to set in. I hope you love Queen’s Crusade as much as I love it.

Long live House Isador!