Waiting

It's a little less than 2 weeks until the release of Betrayed: Book 2 -The Road to Redemption!

I find this in-between time nerve wracking.  After months of planning, writing, revising, working on graphics, tweaking, formatting and the plethora of other little steps that go into publishing a novel, its all over.

There's a lull.  I'm not 'talking' to the characters anymore.  I'm not wondering how their relationship will turn out. That's set in stone except for changing a word or two here and there, based on feedback from those who a reading the ARCs.  I'm not writing the blurb or fiddling with the cover art.

I'm waiting.  

And worrying.

And contemplating what the first reviews will say.  

My mind starts to race and my stomach begins to knot as I wonder how the story will be received.  My editor and friend, Jan, reassures me but it's still not quite enough.  As we promote the book with banners and videos and excerpts and giveaways, I begin to think that we're over-hyping the book (if there is such a word).  What if the readers are disappointed?  Will they accept the way the characters' fates play out?  Is there enough angst, enough action, enough romance?  Maybe I should have changed that one scene.  Perhaps I should have read the story over just once more.  A few more tweaks and...

I have to stop myself.

Jan told me she'd quit if I dared to touch the story again so I reluctantly take my fingers away from the laptop keys and close the file.  I try to busy myself with long neglected housework.  I begin to format the book for the paperback version on Createspace.  I try to relax and open myself up to the next set of characters who are stirring the interest of my muse.  

And I wait for release day.

In what order should you read the Law of the Lycans?

There's often some confusion over the order in which to read my books.

1. You can read the stories in the order in which I wrote them: The Mating, The Keeping, The Finding, Bonded, Betrayed: Days of the Rogue
2. You can read them in timeline order: Bonded, The Mating, The Keeping, Betrayed: Days of the Rogue, TheFinding
3.  You can read them by story strand:  Bonded, Betrayed: Days of the Rogue, The Mating, The Keeping, The Finding.

Check out this graphic and you'll see what I mean.

Quite truthfully, I get confused at times as well!  I do apologize but it's all the fault of my muse.

Let me explain.

The first Lycan book I wrote was The Mating followed by The Keeping and The Finding.  It was so nice and tidy, one book following the other in a linear fashion.

Sigh.

Then Damien appeared.  He's a rogue, so of course he had to cause trouble.  Damien came out of nowhere. I had no intention of creating such a character but there he was, walking into the story line of The Finding.  He was obviously a tortured soul with a dark, tragic past and suddenly my imagination was on fire, trying to figure out what had made him this way.  I decided to write about his background.  That's when all the confusion began.

My muse decided that Damien's story started three years prior to The Mating which meant I was travelling backwards in the Lycan timeline - say goodbye to the linear development of the series!

I decided I could handle it, though.  One book out of order wasn't too many, was it?  How naive I was!

I'd no sooner started on Damien's story when his friend, Reno began demanding attention.  (And when Reno demands attention you have to give it to him!)  Damien's story turned into Reno's story and thus Bonded was 'born'.  It was a good book, even if I do say so myself, and there was some of Damien's story in there.  Surely that should suffice.

I was wrong.

Damien informed me he wasn't ready to move on to the place I first met him near the end of The Finding.  Another book was needed.  He was very adamant about it and so I caved and wrote Betrayed: Days of the Rogue.  Of course, it was also out of timeline order as well. Grrr....

Finally, with this next book, The Road to Redemption, things will be back in sequence.  I'm crossing my fingers that the rest of the series progresses in a nice straight line.  Mind you, there's this new character who appeared near the end of Road to Redemption and my muse is whispering in my ear about his background....

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my new blog. (I am a complete newbie at this so please be kind, lol!)

At the moment, this site is mostly 'under construction' but I do want to share with you some exciting news:  Betrayed: Book 2 - The Road to Redemption will be released May 1.

You can place your pre-order at iTunes. 

 Other ebook retailers will have pre-orders available in the near future.

If you've been waiting for the rest of Damien's story this is it!  Stay tuned for excerpts :)

-Nicky