WIP Wednesday – Eternal Mates Series and Unleash (Vampire Erotic Theatre romance series book 6) with Sneak Peek!

I’m talking about two different series today, and two rather different books. I finished the first draft of the first book in the Eternal Mates series on Saturday, and the completed book is around 94500 words. I wrote this first draft in a record 11 days, which is quite impressive, even if I do say so myself. I haven’t decided what I’m doing with it yet. I’ve been debating the future of the series and whether it will be another one I indie publish. The more I read about NYC and book contracts and publishers at the moment, the more reluctant I am to hand over this book. I’m not sure why I want an NYC deal now. Five years ago, when indie books were few and far between and ebooks were going nowhere slowly, NYC seemed fantastic and an amazing place to be. Now, I’m not so sure. I make a living as an indie writer, I have fantastic readers who are all amazingly supportive and always seem to be chomping at the bit for my next book. I’m not sure what NYC can offer me that I can’t do or achieve for myself. Do you guys care that I’m not a big NYC published author?

There are so many variables when it comes to NYC, and every chance that a book contract with them right now might limit what I can do as an indie, or may mean this series doesn’t end up as I envisaged it, or might end up never seeing the light of day for years, or ever.

It’s a tough decision, and one I’ll be thinking about while I work on the book. It may turn out that I decide to write the first three books of this series and the Guardians of Hades series, and release them in 2014, all 2 months apart or something crazy. Would you like that?

I haven’t worked on this next book this week really… but wanted to update everyone on it…

 

 

This week, I’ve been mainly focused on marketing work because I’ve been meaning to tackle it for some time now but never found the time, and I don’t want to go through this whole year without getting a better plan in place for my books and my career.

On Monday, I printed out Unleash (Vampire Erotic Theatre romance series book 6) and I’ll be beginning the second draft of the book next week, after reading this book at the weekend. I can’t wait to delve back into it and I’m really excited to see how it turned out. Hopefully, it won’t require too much work to get it into shape, but I know there are things I need to address in the book. Small things, but they’ll take time to fix up. Mainly description and detail stuff.

The reason I’m mentioning Unleash at all today is because I made a solemn vow on my Facebook fan page to consider posting a sneak peek of the book and since everyone has been so good, and so many of you are desperate for a tease of this book, I decided to post a snippet from the opening chapter…

As with all my sneak peeks, this is first draft, and yes… this is the opening of the whole book. Prepare for a cuteness overload though, as you’ll be seeing Snow in a whole new light.

Unleash – Sneak Peek

“Snow.”

The gentle feminine voice curled around him, warming him in spite of the frigid cold that bit at his fingers and nose. A sense of joy spread through him as he tried to run through the deep snow, his small legs and arms pumping hard, his focus locked with determination on his prey. The owl’s wings were bright even though no moon shone tonight. The crisp white blanket spread across the landscape highlighted everything as though his night vision was already as acute as it would be when he matured.

“Snow.” The voice called to him again, tender with affection and laced with amusement, but also a note of concern.

Mama.

Snow ran harder, giggling and arms reaching, stretching towards the bird in flight above him. Colours danced across the inky starlit sky beyond, ribbons fluttering on an unknown breeze in the heavens. He had never seen anything as beautiful as this night.

The snow began to shallow, the incline leading him deep into the valley basin. Mountains rose around him, pure white ragged canvases that reflected the luminescent turquoise, pink and blue shimmering above them. Breathing hard, he slowed to a walk and scanned his surroundings, searching for the owl. His hearing sharpened and he caught the quiet flutter of wings and the whisper of a branch shifting as the owl landed in a nearby copse of trees.

His mother’s voice was distant as she called to him. He knew he should return now before he made her frantic again, but he wanted to capture the owl and show his papa that he had grown since last winter and was able to hunt now. Papa would be proud if he killed the owl.

Snow hunkered low, his pale furs and white hair allowing him to blend into his stark environment. He stalked towards the trees, his eyes fixed on the owl, keeping as close to the ground as he could and moving silently through the icy snow that reached his knees.

Mama called again.

He stilled and slowly looked back over his shoulder, following the trail of his footprints through the snow, torn between returning to her and continuing.

“Snow!” The usual softness in her voice was gone, replaced by fear.

Snow stood swiftly and frowned.

His hands were warm.

Wet.

He looked down at his hands and stumbled backwards, eyes wide and heart thumping wildly. Blood.

His eyes darted from his drenched arms to the snow around him. Blood slashed across the snow too, stark crimson against pristine white.

Snow panicked and bolted for the trail that would take him back to his mother, his heart thundering hard against his chest and limbs shaking so badly he could barely keep himself from falling to the ground.

“Snow.” His mother’s voice was frantic now, terrified.

Mama.

Hot tears burned his eyes and he ran harder. His foot snagged on a tree limb hidden beneath the snow and he slammed into the cold embrace of the earth. His arms shook as he pushed himself up and his heart missed several beats when he saw that the landscape around him had changed. The mountains were different. He looked back over his shoulder. The moon was full and a lake nestled amongst the mountains, glittering under its silvery light.

His mother called again, and he found the strength to shove to his feet and run, faster this time, using all of his speed and his limited senses to scour the strange land for her.

A beautiful chateau loomed ahead, warm golden light glowing in several of the windows of the grand stone building. Conical towers speared the dark sky in places, the deep brown tiles obscured by snow, giving the place a gothic appearance suited to this nightmare unfolding before him.

A bloody trail led towards it, cutting across the snow, black in the moonlight.

Snow followed the wretched trail, knowing it would lead him to his mother, fearful that he was already too late to save her.

 

Did you enjoy that sneak peek?

Do you care that I’m not an NYC author and what do you think of having 3 books from the Guardians of Hades Series next year, and maybe 2-3 from the Eternal Mates Series?

 

About Felicity Heaton

I'm a NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY best-selling author writing passionate paranormal romance books as Felicity Heaton and F E Heaton. In my books I create detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons! If you're a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, Larissa Ione, Kresley Cole, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter and Christine Feehan then you will love my books too.

This entry was posted in Eternal Mates, Guardians of Hades, indie publishing, paranormal romance, Unleash, urban fantasy, Vampire Erotic Theatre, vampire romance, writing. Bookmark the permalink.
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Kathie_heck_2005
Guest

That was awesome. I don’t care if you aren’t a NYC author. Your writing is fantastic. Always keeps me on the edge of my seat. Can’t put a book down once I start.

Felicity Heaton
Guest

Thanks Kathie! I think my NYC desires are left over from when I first started writing, and long before indie ebooks really took off. Some things are harder to shake than others, and I’m sure I’m just seeking validation when I should be feeling validated anyway because of all my wonderful readers!

Mariephinisee
Guest

Loved it. I don’t care your not a NYC author your work is great.

Felicity Heaton
Guest

 Thanks Marie! I had fun going back to Snow’s youth in parts of this book.

Marci Stamas
Guest

Ok, #1 I’m jones’n for some Guardians of Hades, really. But, you do what you can do and I’ll be happy.
#2 You should be an NYC author, but whatever. We will still buy and share 😉
This sneak peek has me thinking…that blood, was it caused by him?

Julie
Guest
I don’t care that you’re not a NYC Author, I love you’re books and to be honest it’s nice to have a UK Author that writes such Fantastic Books and you have written soooo many you’ve got quite a Library but if you did write for NYC I would still buy them if I can get my hands on them,but it’s a big decision and one only you can make.Good luck with that. I seriously loved the snippet, Snow is sooooooo Cute, it’s hard to imagine him like that and can’t wait to read more when the book is out… Read more »
Revell
Guest

I just discovered your books in the last month thanks to I Love Vampire Novels on facebook.  Since then I’ve read 10 of your books.  I’m really enjoying the vampire realm and vampire erotique books.  Can’t wait for unleash and eternal mates.  I think you could be a NYC author, but you should do what makes you happy.  Will you do anymore vampire erotique books after unleash?  Would love to see another book about Callum & Kristina after the twins are born.

Tracy
Guest
Felicity, thanks for a fabulous teaser….. bulk buying tissues already in preparation of Snow’s book!!! The big guys story is gonna be one helluva rollercoaster I’m betting….. both emotionally & plot-wise!!!!  Both the EM & GoH series sound awesome.  Not fussy in the slightest that you aren’t a NYC author. Love the books you’ve put out already and if you’re happy working the indie route, it’s not broke, why fix it?!?! Reading comments from some authors who both self publish and have a deal with a publishing house, you often hear that the indie work they have had in the pipeline… Read more »
Kerbytejas
Guest
I think as a writer there are probably some really great things that happen with a BIG City (NYC) Publisher backing you, I also think that the author may lose out, have to compromise their books, or sell out to play that game – after all the publishing houses are a corporate entity, they do not really have your best interests in mind. NYC and many parts of the US are very expensive to live in, are stressful, crowded, and in some cases not open minded places ( not that this is unique to the US). I think in this… Read more »
Jellytotsmuggler
Guest

We don’t care if your not a NYC published author – we (your fans) love what you do and how you do it!
You have to do what you think is best for you – your fans will remain loyal anyway.
The Idea of both series being released next year with no waiting (or hardly any waiting) time between novels sounds fantastic! 🙂

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