I’m the featured author today over on the Carina Press blog as we count down to launch! The first post is up, which describes the premise of the book and where the original idea came from. Later today, the first chapter will be posted to whet your appetite for June!
Fun facts about the book and me will be posted on Facebook and Twitter today as well. For example, I ordered coffee from Atitlan, Guatemala because that’s where the bulk of the story is set.
Since I’m not writing new material this month and June is not that far away, I decided to start teasing you with snippets of The Bloodgate Guardian, coming this June from Carina Press.
You’ve been seeing bits of this story under several different names for quite some time. The original first draft was my first NaNoWriMo project in 2007, then titled Night Sun Rising. Over a year went by before I got around to the first round of Revision Xibalba. I spent a lot of time expanding the book, adding subplots and tons of characters. However, I kinda went overboard, and ended up cutting those subplots out. Can you say too many characters?
Now the story is leaner, tighter, and concentrates only on Jaid and Ruin (yes, he got to keep his name!!). Ironically, exactly the story I ended up with in 2007, just revised, polished, researched, etc. Not to worry, though — those subplots I spent so much time on will become the fertile soil for the next book. *winks*
So, here’s part of the opening scene of The Bloodgate Guardian, Chapter One.
He never hated his magic until it compelled him to kill.
From the broken shadows of his temple, the priest watched the encroacher attempt to work his doomed magic. Brilliant ruby pooled in the pocked basin of the altar and overflowed, streaming across the hand-carved stone in vibrant filigree. The blood glowed like molten rock hot from the earth’s heart, releasing magic into the night.
The once all-powerful priest shuddered, his skin crawling with the caress of power. His nostrils flared to catch the tantalizing scent of sweet copper. Such temptation. He tightened his grip on the starved jaguar pacing within him. Such power.
The city once known as the Mouth of Creation had kept his secrets for a thousand years. Now he must kill this man to protect that forbidden knowledge. Keeping to the shadows, the priest called out, “As Gatekeeper of Chi’Ch’ul, I command you to leave my city or die.”
The man whirled and whipped the bloody heart behind his back. At least this one’s victim had been a goat and not human. “Nobody else should know the name of my dig. Who are you working for?”
The priest stepped into the moonlight, and the other man recoiled. With the jaguar prowling the cage of his body, he knew all too well the image he made: eyes gleaming like golden lamps, jaguar spots dotting his arms and blending with the tribal tattoos on his upper body, angular cheekbones and sharp forehead compounded by the stark topknot pulling his hair back from his face. The man had discovered the city, unburied it stone by stone. He could not help but recognize a priest of what had once been a grand and powerful nation. “My city has already been destroyed. Would you destroy the world as well?”
“I have powerful, rich friends,” the man said, backing away slowly. “Name your price.”
So be it. Small golden lights began buzzing around the priest and his bones throbbed with magic. “Nothing you can offer will stay my hand. As long as I live, these sacred waters shall lie still and silent. My curse demands your death. The Gates must remain locked until the Return.”
Ignoring his threats, the man smiled with elation. “We were right! I knew it. After all these years, I finally found the center of the world!”
The balls of light blazed brighter. A golden swirling wave obliterated his vision. Bones cracked and twisted. His scream of pain rumbled bass, a jaguar’s roar piercing the night.
Tail lashing, the jaguar crouched in a pile of torn denim. The sharp stink of his prey’s fear burned his nose. It had been a very long time since he’d hunted. The big cat knew his purpose. He was only called forth to kill.
The foolish man turned toward his modern equipment stationed on the nearby boulder, presenting his back to the jaguar. “Jaid, don’t come here! Don’t trust anybody and don’t let the codex out of your hands! Especially don’t give it to Venus Star!”
The jaguar growled a threat. If this person possessed the codex, he must die too.
Whirling, the man ran up the peninsula that extended over Lake Atitlan. He slung the goat’s heart out over the water and threw his weight off the side, angling toward the beach instead of the lake. Effortlessly, the jaguar leaped after him. The man gasped in pain and rolled away, narrowly escaping the slashing claws.
Wet with rain, a sudden gust of wind swept across the shore. Clouds boiled across the sky to hide the moon and stars. Thunder rolled through the night and the ground trembled. Lightning split the sky, winds increasing until the trees thrashed and waves whipped the surface of the lake.
A shape formed in the darkened waters. Thrashing, bulging outward, a hand rose from the depths. Water broke, cascading down the sceptered arm, which was white and blotched with spots of age and disease.
The jaguar clamped his ears and tail tight to his body and terror rippled through his fur. Oh, stupid human fool! Why had he opened Xibalba, with no wards to lock the demons beyond?
Shuddering with horror, the man whimpered. “Where are the golden plumes? The jade feathers? This isn’t Great Feathered Serpent!”
The jaguar swiped at the man’s abdomen. Jerking away, the man screamed and fell backward into the lake. He thrashed helplessly, then sank like a stone through the Gate as a Lord of Death crawled onto the beach with another demon right behind.
Snarling, the jaguar slammed into the first demon, trying to knock it back through the Gate. Even weak as a newborn babe, it refused to go back to the Place of Fright. The other Death Lord crawled out of the lake clutching a small hunk of flesh. Cradling the now-cold heart to its mouth, the demon feasted, while the other sniffed the air. His gaze turned unerringly to the goat carcass above.
Every drop of blood would give them power. Power that could destroy the world.
This is an incredible back-and-forth dual (duel!) review of Dear Sir, I’m Yours, between The HEA Lover and The Geeky Lover at Book Lovers Inc. They get into characters, go way back to the free prequel Letters and free sequel Take Me — what an incredible, detailed review! Plus they had some awesome things to say about Conn. *winks*
Conn… *drools* Sorry about that, Conn is just perfect. When I read Letters I was intrigued by him. He had so much power about him, he really is a Dominant. I was under his spell! I still am in fact. I loved him even more after reading DSIY, he’s perfect! He took his time to explain everything to Rae. And such a wicked mind!! Spank me Conn Spank ME!!
Haha, I love it. It made me laugh out loud!
Overall Impression:
The HEA Lover: I want to say: Go read it!! This is an amazing story, and if you are, like me, a newbie to BDSM you will enjoy the ride. The characters are so attaching I didn’t want to leave them. Letters is a Free read, every one should at least try to read Letters. If you love letters you will love DSIY. You won’t regret it, I am VERY happy I listened to Susi’s recommendation, it was a perfect book for me. I cannot wait for Victor’s book to be out, I’m so excited *bouncing* I feel like I didn’t do justice to how amazing this book is.
The Geeky Lover: Agree with all the above. If you alway thought you are to vanilla for BDSM this book will change your mind. It’s such a lovely emotional story that will take your hand and approach this topic in a way that will leave your heart touched and body overheated. Take a look at Letters if you are unsure and believe me, you won’t regret it.
Thank you so much, Book Lovers Inc! I’ll have an interview with them on April 5th, so watch for the link!
Dear Sir, I’m Yours is up for best erotic romance of 2009, hosted by Beth Kery. Details here.
Jump on over to the Carina Press blog to see the incredible cover and read the cover copy for The Bloodgate Guardian!
Susi of The Geeky Book Worm wrote an incredible, detailed review for Rose that really touched my heart. What makes this review so special is the way she used my own language (e.g. na’lanna) right back at me!
Gregar is a special one- he has so much darkness, shadow inside that it sometimes broke my heart. He’s a passionate man with a really wicked grin and oh so many other good characteristics but he really can be scary from time to time. I can’t even say for sure why I loved him so much. Perhaps cuz I wanted to hug him and make it all better? I’m really not sure but Gregar is so my new book boy friend.
The Rose of Shanhasson grabbed my heart from the first sentence to the last word and I wanted to scream for the next book when I closed this one. Okay, it’s probably not for the faint of heart with all the blood and shadows in it but I felt honored with every drop. The emotional build up was heart wrenching from time to time and the sexual tension will boil your blood. The fantasy is fascinating and wonderfully developed, the storyline thrilling through the whole book. All in all a must read for all the fantasy lovers out there who love to read something hot and spicy. The Rose of Shanhasson so deserves the title na’lanna for me.
Thank you so much, Susi! I’m so honored to have met you on Twitter!
I’ve known Tia online for years but never queried her to review any of my work for two reasons: she doesn’t do e-books and she doesn’t typically review sexier books. However, she picked up a copy of Survive My Fire while Drollerie Press was running a free download, and gave it a shot reading on her iPod.
I’m doubly honored that she chose SMF as an e-book introduction and also reviewed my debut on her excellent Debuts & Reviews site.
The voice is what captured me in this story, and what held me throughout. It is otherworldly, surreal and utterly engaging.
Thank you so much, Tia!
I’m sure this will change many times before everything’s finalized, but this will give you an idea of what Ruin and Jaid’s book is about. I might have to have a contest to get help in coming up with a world/series title!
Called “Ruin” because he destroyed his entire civilization, the Gatekeeper is sworn to kill anyone who tampers with the Bloodgates, which are portals to the mystical realms of the Maya gods. After countless centuries, he believes his curse will end with the current calendar cycle — until humans discover the ruins of his city on the shores of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, and unbury the last copy of a codex detailing his magic.
When Dr. Jaid Merritt’s partial translation of the codex accidentally sends her father to Xibalba through one of these Bloodgates and releases demons from the Maya hell, the “Un-Indiana Jones” is forced to face her fears and travel to Guatemala on her first dig in twenty years.
To save her father, Jaid must survive the Gatekeeper’s wrath and help Ruin reclaim — and relock — the Bloodgates before the bowels of Xibalba empty into our world.
Adrian Paul, Clive Owen, and Dwayne Johnson were in my office.
Okay, okay, it was actually Gregar, Conn, and Ruin. Gregar and Conn were shooting the bull so loudly that I could barely read my e-mail. Gregar had challenged Conn to an arse competition–something I would pay a great deal of money to see, actually–but Ruin moped in the chair beside me.
He arched that infamous Rock brow at me. “So?”
“I don’t think they like your name.”
He blew out his breath in a miserable huff and slumped even further in his chair. “I told you Ruin was a stupid name.”
I rolled my eyes. Yeah, sure he did (remember?). “Your real name isn’t much better.”
He jerked upright and glared at me. “What’s wrong with Dwayne?”
“Nothing.” I smiled innocently. “Your real name is Xbalanque.”
“Bless you,” Gregar called out.
Ruin flipped him the bird. “What else did they say?”
“That I killed you one too many times.”
He groaned like I was murdering him with my bare hands. “You didn’t give me a happy ending?”
Gregar smirked. “She does enjoy killing us off.”
“Some of you can’t die,” I retorted. “No matter how many times I kill you.”
“A Death Rider never stops, never quits, until his mark is dead.”
“Shut up, bub.” Ruin growled, flexing his bare chest to draw my attention to the tats marking his arms and throat like the dark spots of a jaguar. “This isn’t about you.”
Laughing, Gregar bent over and slapped his thighs as though the other man had made a great joke. “It’s always about me.”
“Hope may vanish, but can die not;” Conn quoted his favorite poet. “Truth be veiled, but still it burneth; Love repulsed, – but it returneth.”
Ruin leaned forward, gathering himself like a great cat preparing to pounce. “What the Xibalba does that mean?”
“Win some, lose some,” Conn drawled.
Gregar jerked his hips so the memsha fluttered dangerously high. “Challenge me, lose them all.”
Shadows thickened about Ruin. Snarling, he crouched. His eyes glowed like lamps in the darkest jungle night. “You do know that I can crack open your chest and remove your heart while it’s still beating, right?”
“Bring your blood, bub,” Gregar purred, unsheathing his ivory rahke.
Of course, this was all just fun and games for warriors like him and Ruin, but I decided to put an end to the dramatics. My coffee was getting cold, and Conn couldn’t wait to get back to grading his stack of Freshman essays on dead dudes who write crappy poetry.
[Conn glared at me as though he could read my mind.]
“Enough, already. There will be no exploding chests or blood sacrifices, at least not today. You have your happy ending–I already fixed it–although we may still have to change your name. Let’s wait and see what the editor says when we get the first round of edits.”
The taunts and growls suddenly ceased and three pairs of eyes drilled into me.
Ruin straightened, all thoughts of blood magic forgotten. “What did you say?”
I smiled. “I got the call from Angela James. Your paranormal Romance is going to Carina Press!”
The Road to Shanhasson is up for best book of 2009 at Whipped Cream! Voting starts on Monday, Feb. 1st here. To refresh your memory, here’s the wonderful review by Holly.
This book pushes the limits to new levels, in terms of passion, strength and pure lust. The scenes between the three main characters are so explicitly hot and erotic I expected my e-reader to melt. Ms. Burkhart creates her world so skillfully, the people and places become real to the reader, and the emotions are deep and, at times quite gut-wrenchingly real. There were many places in the story where I cried along with Shannari, at her depth of loss and her heights of joy and passion.
