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What Is Love

I have this thing I like to say any time the topic comes up: “I like my men like I like my books—fictional.” Because, really, what avid reader out there hasn’t at one time or another fallen in love with a fictional character? If you’re one of the Lucky People whose minds are able to translate words printed on the page into vivid images and scenes in your mind’s eye, it’s almost a foregone conclusion. And if you’re a writer on top of that, well… infer from that what you will. LOL The joke is meant to be funny, but it speaks to something much deeper: the love I have for books and writing. And I know I’ve talked about… Read More »What Is Love

Coming 2023: Shadow Hawk

I come to you today with an exciting announcement I’ve been keeping under wraps for quite a while: my next book release! It’s probably not one you were expecting. I wasn’t, either. It just kind of snuck up on me while I was too busy watching the horror show the world had become when the pandemic hit. But it’s one that has been at the back of my mind for years. Now that it’s finished, I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. Get ready, because later this year, the Shadows are coming back. SHADOW HAWK will be the 5th installment of the Blood & Shadows series, and will be followed by at least one more full-length novel. This one is a… Read More »Coming 2023: Shadow Hawk

Ragnarok is Coming. Soon…

Geez, Aly, way to bury the lead there… Nah, I made you all wait long enough. 😉 In case you missed it in the video, Prince of Deceit has an official release date: December 21, 2020. I hope you’re ready, because the end of this saga is going to get dark, bloody, and intense. And I didn’t realize it when I set the date, but it’s eerily fitting for this particular book. You see, December 21 is the day of the winter solstice, or Midwinter. It marks the longest night of the year, the end of the dark and the beginning of the return of the light. The dawn of a new age, so to speak. If you remember that… Read More »Ragnarok is Coming. Soon…

Last but not least…

The Beast Series has a new cover (finally)! This one was really difficult to do, partly because the story is so close to my heart, and partly because it has been done so many times, it’s almost impossible to make it look original. I must have done at least 15 different versions of the cover before I got to this one, and all of them made me want to throw my brand new laptop against the wall. Hard.

So here’s what I finally came up with. It has elements of every Beauty and the Beast story on it, because that’s what it is, but I’m hoping I made one of those elements just unique enough to make it stand out. The tarot cards that play such a huge role in the story had to be included in some fashion, and three of the versions I attempted had them on the cover in different ways. I ultimately discarded them because, while they made amazingly stunning pictures, capturing particular scenes like a movie still, there was no way for me to add the book title and author name without completely ruining the effect.

This was my compromise: me going back to what feels natural to me, which is “less is more.” I didn’t want an overly elaborate scene, I wanted a visually striking representation of the story itself. I also wanted something stylistically similar to The Rebel Court series cover, since they both fall under similar genres, but not identical, because there are significant differences between the two series. Do you think I accomplished all that?

Read More »Last but not least…

Thank You Rebel Followers!

Dear friends, Hello again! I have returned from my exotic Hawaii vacation refreshed, rejuvenated, and raring to go right back again. Seriously, my Zen took a huge hit upon reentering the big city. Apparently, I am still a small town girl at heart. Oh well… one day. I wanted to write a quick note to thank my Rebel Court followers out loud for signing up for Catch Me. Your response has touched my heart, and I’m saving each and every one of them (which is  usually pretty creepy, but I’m a writer so I get a pass 😉 ). Your packages are all ready to go out in the mail tomorrow, so you should be getting them soon. 🙂 If… Read More »Thank You Rebel Followers!

Blood Hunt Release Date

Good morning and happy Friday! A quick announcement for your pre-weekend today. Last Sunday, I sent out a Newsletter with a full chapter of Blood Hunt and its official release date.  That chapter won’t be reposted anywhere else. Sorry if anyone missed it. I did promise that my Newsletters would be worth it for those who signed up. If you’re not on the mailing list yet, you can add yourself here. The good news is, I will be posting the release date for Blood Hunt. But before I get to that, some news to share: Blood Moons is doing wonderfully its first week. Both the digital and print versions are now available across the board at online retailers around the… Read More »Blood Hunt Release Date

The Royal Wizard and Dragonblood Series

Curious things have been happening of late. Ever since I began posting “Dragonborn” news, excerpts, and images on my Facebook page, I’ve had fans of The Elder Scrolls game franchise commenting on the similarities between my book and the games. It surprised me somewhat, because I am not a gamer, and had never heard of these games before the first comments started pouring in. On their warnings and advice, I did a little research into the matter. What I discovered was that there are no similarities in the structure, plot, or characters between my books and the popular RPG games, other than their being high fantasy and including dragons and other classical creatures of fantasy and mythology. That’s the good… Read More »The Royal Wizard and Dragonblood Series

What Makes A Hero(ine)? A wee rant in defense of one

If actions speak louder than words, why do we fall in love with book characters who do horrible things, simply because we know their intentions are good? Especially in Romance, the hero is usually a man with a past (or even present) filled with many violent deeds that would make us run for safety if we couldn’t see into his thoughts (translate: in real life). But everyone instinctively trusts in him, because we expect the story to have a happy ending–through his actions. Why is that?

Read More »What Makes A Hero(ine)? A wee rant in defense of one