Category Archives: Vampires Realm

Masquerade and Vampires Realm Series News

Posted on 9th September 2011 by Felicity Heaton

This week I’ve been working on the next novel in my popular vampire romance series, Vampires Realm. I’ve made some progress on Masquerade since Monday. I finalised the new improved plot and made the necessary changes to the 30000 words I had already written before my muse decided to introduce some new characters and improved ideas for the story.

Tuesday was a day off this week, but on Wednesday and Thursday I managed to write around 22000 words for the story. I’ve made great progress and I’m really happy with the story so far, and it’s always nice to get past the point where the hero and heroine start to get together. Everything is in motion in the story now so I just need to keep going with the flow. It’s easier said than done though. This morning I was supposed to get up and get on with some blog tour posts and then write another 12000 words. Unfortunately, I woke up really tired and groggy and wasn’t really in the mood to write. The day was against me, and it took me most of the morning to get my blog stuff done and then my sister popped around and before I knew it, it was early afternoon! I wasn’t in the mood to write then, so I headed out and picked up some sketching materials and then did some preliminary designs for the Her Angel series romance trading cards I’ll be making soon.

I’m really pleased with the designs I’ve come up with so far and now I just have to bring them to life. Again, easier said than done! I just hope that my skills as an artist can live up to the ideas I have. I’m going to work on these until they really shine and stand out from the crowd. I have a great idea to make them really unique (other than the fact they’re hand drawn art) and I can’t wait to get them finished and printed now. I’m sure they’ll look fantastic. Plus, as a bonus, I’ll be able to use the images on my mini-site I’m creating for the series and maybe on merchandise too.

Next week, I’ll continue writing Masquerade. I just need to push on with it and not let myself get lazy. I’ll probably hit the coffee shops until it’s done and just focus on it. I think I can have it finished by Wednesday, which would be great. I probably have another 30000 words to write. It’s a shame I wasn’t in the mood to write today, but I don’t feel it was a complete waste of a day as I have my sketches done for the romance trading cards and I came up with more ideas for Her Demonic Angel. It seems angels were pushing for attention today. lol.

I really want to do a second edition for the Prophecy Trilogy, which makes up the first three books in the Vampires Realm series. I wouldn’t change anything major in the story, but I do feel I’ve grown as a writer now and I want to smooth out some of the weaker writing in it and polish it up. The trouble is, the trilogy weighs in at 350000 words, which is a lot of editing time. Because I would want to make some major revisions to the writing to improve it, it would probably take me quite a while. Off the top of my head, around 44 days of work. I don’t really have enough time at the moment. I wish I did because people ask me whether they’ll come out in paperback and I want to say yes, but I don’t want to put them into paperback until I’ve edited them and I’m happier with them. That’s the trouble with writing. The more you write, the more you improve, and the more you look back and go – man, I could have written that better. I take comfort from the fact that people love the Prophecy Trilogy so it can’t have been that bad!

I think this all comes back to the fact that I have too many stories to write and not enough time!

I’m going to get a couple of blog posts written for the Her Angel tour and then call it a night.

Posted in Her Angel Series, Masquerade, paranormal romance, vampire romance, Vampires Realm | Comments Off

August paranormal romance book news

Posted on 2nd September 2011 by Felicity Heaton

Her Dark Angel - best selling angel romance book

My fantastic offer on my angel romance novella Her Dark Angel made August very special for me. It was the first time I had managed to break into the top 1000 on the US Kindle Store. At its peak, Her Dark Angel reached #735 out of over 750000 books and was #11 in Kindle Store > Romance > Fantasy and #12 in Books > Romance > Fantasy. It would have been wonderful to break into the top 10 in those categories but I’m sure I’ll manage it soon.

On the UK Kindle Store, Her Dark Angel reached #320 out of the hundreds of thousands of books listed there and ranked at #2 in Books > Fantasy > Paranormal, #7 in Books > Fantasy >Romance and #7 in Books > Romance > Paranormal.

Her Dark Angel is still only $0.99 and is a great introduction to my best selling angel romance series Her Angel. Since I’m offering this book at a $2.00 discount, you can get the entire series in e-book for less than $11 right now!

Her Guardian Angel - angel romance novel

Since the release of Her Guardian Angel, the fourth book in my Her Angel series, I’ve been scribbling down ideas for the next novel, Her Demonic Angel. It’s going to be as big, emotional and hard-hitting as Her Guardian Angel, so you had better all prepare yourself. This time, you’ll probably need to make sure you’ve read Her Guardian Angel so you know enough about the world to really enjoy the plot to the maximum degree.

Her Guardian Angel has started receiving reviews at various book blogs and it’s doing great so far. I think reviewers are really surprised by the depth of the plot and just how emotional the book is, and also the course the series is taking. I had promised that it was going to be one heck of a thrill ride and I think I delivered. It’s great to see it doing so well, getting four and five star reviews, and it makes me happy as I put so much effort into making it original and I had wanted to write something with emotional punch. Yes, I know most of my stories play on the readers emotions, but this one is really intense and the action and pace is super-fast. Here are snippets from some of the reviews:

“I feel like this book has changed the entire dynamic of the universe Felicity Heaton has created.Â Something big is introduced and if the series continues I can see it having huge impact on the overall battle between heaven and hell. The battles are big, the love isÂ even biggerÂ and the betrayals our heroes face is game-changing. Just the way I like my romances.”

— Kelly, Reading the Paranormal — click here for the full review

“This book had me glued to the pages. It was an unputdownable read with an array of characters that you feel an instant connection with, a swoon worthy hero who risks it all for the woman he loves, and a strong heroine who will fight right along side him, this book truly has it all.”

— Paromantasy — 5 STARS — click here for the full review

“I LOVED this book!! It has to be the best in the series so far. I couldn’t put it down. I read the whole thing in one sitting, and used a box of Kleenex in the process. I swear I cried my way through it, and was a total emotional train wreck by the end of it all. But it made for an amazing read!… You have to grab a copy, it will awe you.”

— Madame D, Madame D’s Boudoir — 5 STARS — click here for the full review

Awesome, huh?

August also saw me complete the second draft of my upcoming vampire romance book, Heart of Darkness. Heart of Darkness is a stand alone vampire romance novel, and features one of my favourite heroes, Aleksandr. He’s a bit of a rake and a little behind the times on modern women because he’s spent the past four hundred years focusing on hunting the vampire hunters that plague his species, but Elise, the heroine, whips him into shape as he pursues her like a predator chasing prey. Heart of Darkness will be out on October 22nd, so make sure you pencil it into your diaries!

I also had a great chat with fellow author Candy Nicks / Alexandra Marell and hit upon a great idea for a trio of very hot vampire erotic romance novellas. I quickly typed out around 6000 words of outline for the three novellas and now that I have the stories set out on paper and in my head, I’ll be writing them soon.

Masquerade, the tenth book in my vampire romance series, Vampires Realm, has taken another bump because of the novellas ideas I have, so I’ll be pushing that down the queue. Since the trouble it gave me that forced me to stop writing it at 30000 words in and made me re-evaluate the plot of this vampire romance novel, I’ve spent time writing down new ideas for the improved plot and figuring out how to overcome the problems I thought it had in terms of characters. I’ve got everything together for it now and I just need to rewrite the outline to include all the new plot ideas and changes I want to make and then I’ll be ready to start writing it. Thankfully most of the 30000 words I had already written is still usable.

I think that was all my writing news for August. It was a really eventful and busy month for me, and now I have a new trio of vampire erotic romance novellas to write, September and the rest of the year will be just as busy!

Posted in 2011 releases, angel romance, Heart of Darkness, Her Angel Series, Her Dark Angel, Her Guardian Angel, Masquerade, paranormal romance, reviews, vampire romance, Vampires Realm, writing | Comments Off

When writing becomes a business

Posted on 29th August 2011 by Felicity Heaton

Remember when you were young and you did whatever you wanted and that was okay? You didn’t have a care in the world and took life one day at a time, searching for fun and doing as you pleased. Then, one day, you grew a little older and realised that at the same time you were growing up, and if you wanted to make something of yourself, you had to cast aside your Devil may care attitude and don one of responsibility instead… you had to approach things differently because now everything mattered.

I’ve been writing since 2005, back when I was e-published, and became an indie romance author in 2006, and since then I haven’t ever thought about writing as a business. To me it was a bit of fun and I wrote whatever I wanted and did as I pleased, much like a kid, without any thought about what type of story sold and where my career was heading. I was the rebellious youth without a care in the world, content with writing whatever came to me and if it sold, then that was great, fantastic in fact considering the poor e-book market prior to 2010. Back then, I never believed writers when they said it was all about market research and what books were popular, and writing for that market. I wanted to write whatever I felt like writing, so I did. I paid no attention to the market, but I guess it helped that I love vampires and decided to write them, and also seemed to end up writing stories quite different to the rest out there, gaining myself a bit of a following.

Just like a reckless youth, I have finally found myself growing up. Late last year, after talking to my husband about it and seeing my sales increasing and my readership increasing with it, I decided to take the plunge and say goodbye to my full-time job. Originally I was going to spend a few months a year contracting because that brings in enough money to keep me afloat, but I’ve been able to go from March 2011 until now living comfortably on my book royalties. At the moment, I don’t have to contract, but I’m well aware that the tide is always turning and things rarely stay perfect, no matter how much we would like them to.

Anyway, the change in my life, the leap from the safety of having a full-time job to becoming a full-time writer instead, has been a catalyst for greater change. I think I’ve grown up and now I can understand all those authors who talk about keeping an eye on the market and what sells, and focusing on that. I’m not talking about writing for market, because I don’t think I can ever do that, but I’m talking about harnessing what I have that is selling well for me and focusing on that. It’s very strange for me to do this and it’s been a gradual process, a gentle evolution of my approach to writing, and it was only recently that I realised what had happened to me. Growing up is never easy though, but with my writing having become more than just a fun past time in a part time capacity and without the safety of my full-time job as a developer, I have to suck it up and deal with it. I can always contract, but I think I want to give this writing thing my all and really make something of it.

So I’ve been looking over my stories, and monitoring what books sell and what don’t do as well as those, and where my strengths lie right now. It’s been quite painful at times, because there’s still that rebellious part of me that wants to write whatever the heck she likes and get away with it. I guess I’m disappointed that books I thought would sell well aren’t doing that good. It’s great that other paranormal romances books of mine are doing fantastically though, and it just means that I have to be more fluid about the timings of new books in the series that aren’t doing as well. I guess that boils down to if it’s selling really well for me right now then the next book in that series is going to be shifted up the writing order, and if it’s not doing well, then it has to take a back seat.

At the moment, my strong series are Vampires Realm (which has always done well for me and deserves more attention) and the Her Angel series. I’m watching the sales figures for Vampire Venators to see if Forbidden Blood picks up speed. I have faith that it will as it’s vampire romance and quite unique. My real trouble maker is the Shadow & Light Trilogy. It’s not doing well and is selling far less than I expected for an urban fantasy type paranormal romance. I’m not sure whether it’s the decision to have a witch heroine coupled with a half-demon hero that has caused the low sales. It’s quite different from other books on the market because most of them include a vampire somewhere, or perhaps a shape-shifter.

I really want to continue with the Shadow & Light Trilogy, and have some fantastic ideas for the remaining two books and a little side-story with other characters, but I will have to drop it down the writing order along with Vampire Venators. It’s a shame really, but that’s the business of writing. I can’t put off writing the next Vampires Realm book or Her Angel book for the sake of writing a series that is floundering. It doesn’t make sense to do that, no matter how much I wanted to have the next book in the Shadow & Light trilogy out in early 2012. It doesn’t make financial sense, and it seems cruel to make readers wait for more in the two selling series so I can do as I please. If readers are eager for Vampires Realm and Her Angel, then I have to give them what they want. Of course, I don’t want to disappoint readers who are eager for more in the Shadow & Light Trilogy or Vampire Venators series either. It’s a double-edged sword really. I want to make everyone, including myself, happy… but some things have to give and my business head engages and tells me that you’ve got to write what’s hot while it’s hot.

This doesn’t mean you won’t get an instalment in the Shadow & Light Trilogy or Vampire Venators series next year, it just means that you’ll be waiting until I have Her Demonic Angel released and another Vampires Realm story out before you get them. Don’t worry, I can write fast enough to get them all out next year, I hope. It’s still a strange feeling for me to have and it tightens my stomach thinking about having to move books down the pecking order for the sake of playing the market. I guess I just have to go with readers and the votes they make with their wallets. If I have several hundred readers a month buying Vampires Realm and Her Angel books on Kindle and less than a hundred readers paying for Shadow & Light Trilogy, I have to go with the larger group. That sounds harsh even to me. lol. That’s business though, folks. Whether I like it or not, I have to grow up now and put on my serious face.

One thing I can promise though… you can expect at least five novels out of me next year!

Posted in Her Angel Series, Shadow and Light Trilogy, Vampire Venators, Vampires Realm, writing | Comments Off

Long Samples of my Paranormal Romance Books

Posted on 27th August 2011 by Felicity Heaton

Hi all… I hope you’ve had a good week and are having a great weekend so far!

I’ve uploaded a great extended excerpt for Her Guardian Angel now. You can download a five chapter sample in PDF format from my website.

You can also download long excerpts for two more of my books, Ascension and Forbidden Blood.

Just go to the book page on my site and click the large “download extended excerpt” button in the column below the book cover!

Here’s the links to books with special extended excerpts. Just click on the covers or the read more button to go to the website and download them!

Her Guardian Angel

A guardian angel dedicated to his duty, Marcus will do whatever Heaven asks of him, but even his loyalty has its limits. When his superior orders him to gain Ameliaâ€™s trust through seduction, Marcus starts to question his mission and his feelings…

paranormal angel romance book

110000 words

released: July 2011

Forbidden Blood

In a dark world where vampires exist and where Source Blood, a rare human blood type, can bestow godlike powers upon them, the vampire Venators of the Sovereignty fight to protect the humans by banishing those who drink it to the endless dark…

paranormal vampire romance book

126000 words

released: June 2011

Ascension

A witch on the verge of achieving phenomenal power, Lealandra must turn to her half-breed demon ex-lover Taig for protection from the dark force that is after her and also from her own magic. With her Counter-Balance dead and her coven against her…

paranormal / urban fantasy romance book

91000 words

released: April 2011

Hunter’s Moon

The horror of the night he failed to save his werewolf pack from the cruelty of their vampire masters has haunted Nicolae for one hundred years, driving him deep into the Canadian wilderness in search of peace. That peace is threatened when…

paranormal werewolf romance book

65000 words

released: February 2011

Love Immortal

Rescued from werewolves by the most breathtaking man she’s ever seen, Lauren is dragged into the fight of her life and a dark world she never knew existed. There, she discovers that she’s the latest reincarnation of a goddess and must drink the…

paranormal vampire romance book

157000 words

released: January 2011

Winter’s Kiss

Their lord drinks blood and they are dead men walking. The tales of the mansion donâ€™t stop Nika from falling for one of the guards, but when wolves attack her and he rides to her rescue, she discovers that her knight is anything but saintly. He is…

paranormal werewolf romance book

78000 words

released: June 2009

Seventh Circle

Born with powers similar to a vampireâ€™s, Lilith has spent her life hunting demons for Section Seven. On the same night as she watches a vampire kill her best friend, she is faced with her worst nightmareâ€”a client who is not only attractive but a…

paranormal vampire romance book

106112 words

released: November 2008

Prophecy: Child of Light [book 1]

A vampire unlike any other, Prophecy lives life in the dark until the night she encounters Valentine, a gorgeous vampire who is both her enemy and the man who will change her life forever. Convinced that the prophecy about her is wrong and unable…

paranormal vampire romance book

135000 words

released: March 2007

My extended excerpts are generally between 4-10 chapters long!

Happy reading!

Posted in extended excerpts, Her Angel Series, paranormal romance, Shadow and Light Trilogy, vampire romance, Vampire Venators, Vampires Realm | Comments Off

Masquerade, books on writing, and ear ache

Posted on 27th August 2011 by Felicity Heaton

My ear is giving me hell today, so I’m mostly sitting on the couch in my living room reading a good book on Characters & View Point. I want to finish this one, and then read one about story structure I bought recently, and then I’ll continue plotting Masquerade. I read a section of Masquerade yesterday, the 30k I had written before realising the story was taking a new direction and that I needed to rethink the current plot in light of that, and the changes to the characters.

I’m getting good ideas for it, but it’s going to be difficult to take Vivek, the hero, who is shown in poor light in the first chapter because we’re in Sophis’s, the heroine, point of view and she’s pretty riled at him and set on being in a bad mood with him, and is therefore slightly off in her opinion of him (heck, we’ve all been there right? Someone does something and we interpret it the way we want to because our judgement is coloured by our current emotions… rather than seeing things clearly and for what they really are, we put what the person has done in a bad light and grow angrier at them when in reality we should find out why they did something and perhaps their explanation would temper our foul mood). Basically, Vivek comes across as a less than sterling bloke, but she’s totally misinterpreting everything and flying off the handle because he’s hurt her feelings and she feels as though he’s on a non-stop mission to get her kicked out of the guard.

Okay, he is in a way, but only because he’s going about tackling his desire to protect her in the wrong way and the guy wants to keep her safe to a fault, so he doesn’t quite see that what he’s doing is actually hurting her since her life is the guard.

So you see… it’s the age old dilemma. I need the tension between them, but I don’t want the reader to lose all sympathy for the hero in chapter one and have him painted as a bad guy that is then irredeemable to the reader. No one loves a hero like that. I guess I need to make sure that it’s clear in chapter one that Sophis knows that this isn’t like Vivek and she feels she needs to find out what changed him from the man who saw her through her training and had always had time for her. I need to make sure that the reader… yes, you… realise in the first chapter that Vivek isn’t usually like this and what he used to be like, how close they once were, and make you stick it out so you find out why he’s acting like an ass in her opinion (he’s not really… she’s just blinded by her anger towards him because of his behaviour towards her).

Why do my heroes always give me trouble? lol. It’s never the heroines. It’s always the men in my life that like that cause these little upsets. Although… if Vivek hadn’t given me such grief, and therefore my writer heart hadn’t tried so tirelessly to give him a reason to be so hard-headed and a bit of a male pig, then I wouldn’t have found a new depth to Vivek and the story.

My meds are kicking in to get rid of the ear ache but Vivek is giving me a royal headache! I’m sure I’ll find a way to balance him in the first chapter so readers aren’t judging him badly and will give the guy a chance to show just how fiercely protective, passionate and brave he is. I can vouch for him. He’s a good bloke once you get to know him. lol.

Anyway, I’m off to assess my work load and continue reading this book on Characterisation. I think it’s really important as a writer to keep learning. I’ve read a lot of books on writing but I find something new in each book I read, so every one is worth it and I feel it really helps me hone my craft and offer a better experience to readers. Maybe while I’m reading I’ll find a way to fix Vivek and that first chapter, and find that balance I need to intrigue readers about Vivek and have them questing to discover just why he wants her off the guard, and just what happened in their past to change him.

😀

Posted in Masquerade, paranormal romance, vampire romance, vampires, Vampires Realm, writing | Comments Off

Hunter’s Moon – character interview with Nicolae

Posted on 19th June 2011 by Felicity Heaton

As part of my Paranormal Pandemonium 2011 Blog Tour, Iâ€™m interviewing some characters and doing some posts on my own blog too, Indie Paranormal Romance Books. Today, I caught up with Nicolae, the hero from my vampire / werewolf romance book, Hunterâ€™s Moon.

If you havenâ€™t met him already, hereâ€™s the lowdown on Nicolae. Nicolae is a dark, sexy, and rugged ex-alpha werewolf with a past that could make any woman want to kiss the guy. Heâ€™s strong, a loner since the events that led to him fleeing Europe, and can be charming when he needs to be. Heâ€™s a born leader and extremely protective, and very territorial. He wonâ€™t let anything happen to anyone or anything in his territory, even if that person is a vampire.

FH: I have Nicolae here with me today to talk about his book, Hunterâ€™s Moon. Firstly, can you tell us a little about yourself?

Nicolae: Ah, what like? I mean, is it alright to talk about that stuff?

FH: *nods* You can tell us anything. Itâ€™s all cool.

Nicolae: Alright then. Iâ€™m Romanian, although I have lived in Canada for the past century, and Iâ€™m a werewolf. Hell, it still sounds crazy when I say that aloud, even though Iâ€™ve been a werewolf for two centuries now. I was turned in Romania and lived with my pack there. It was peaceful until the vampires came for us. We didnâ€™t stand a chance. My sire, the alpha of the pack, and I, and the other warriors amongst us tried to fend them off. They rounded us up and took us all to the compound. It was hell. I donâ€™t want to think about it even now. We had done nothing to deserve such brutal treatment and abuse. Our pack had lived in peace, keeping to ourselves, never treading into vampire territory. When I finally managed to put an escape plan into action, I only made things worse. I lost my entire pack that nightâ€¦ and fled here, to a place where I was free of the vampires.

FH: Here being the remotest place on Earth. It must have been hard for you to deal with everything that had happened, and Iâ€™m sure many womenâ€™s hearts have gone out to you already. Can you tell us about what happened in your story, Hunterâ€™s Moon?

Nicolae: It was around a century after I had escaped Romania and the nightmare of losing my pack, and I was finally learning to deal with it all in my own way. A night time hunt with the local timber wolf pack turned that all on its head. The peace I had found was shattered by a group of hunters and a woman. Tatyana. A vampire. It was difficult for me to accept her presence in my territory after everything I had suffered at the hands of the vampires, but the threat of the human hunters drove me to take her back to my cabin and help her heal. I had needed to know what she did so I could protect the local werewolf pack and the timber wolves. I thought she had brought them with herâ€¦ I couldnâ€™t have been more wrong.

FH: In Hunterâ€™s Moon, you meet Tatyana. How did you meet and how did you feel about her initially?

Nicolae: Looking back now, I canâ€™t believe that I ever wanted to leave her in that clearing to die from her wounds or the sunlight. Sheâ€™s everything to me. The reason for my existence. It was difficult to get past everything that had happened to me, all the pain in my past, and accept her in my life and my territory. I was never sure whether I was coming or going at first. She tied me in knots and challenged everything that I believed about the vampires, and Iâ€™m glad that she did. Weâ€™ve both had hatred bred into us, and it was time for us both to open our eyes and look at each other for ourselves, not have our judgement coloured by what weâ€™ve been told to believe and what had happened to us in our past.

FH: You have a lot of history with the vampires of Europe and itâ€™s generally frowned upon for a werewolf to enter into a relationship with a vampire. Was it difficult to get past the terrible thing that the vampires did to you and your pack, and fall in love with Tatyana?

Nicolae: Of course it was, but Tatyanaâ€™s bloodline werenâ€™t responsible for what happened to me. The European vampires are often at war with each other, squabbling over territory and other petty things. Her bloodline, the Nocens, probably hate the Tenebrae bloodline as much as I do. I know that it was difficult for Tatyana too, and I think that helped me cope with my feelings and face them. Werewolves donâ€™t have laws against relationships with another species, but vampires do. Tatyana is risking a lot by being with me. When we eventually return to Europe, weâ€™ll have to be careful about it. If the Law Keepers discover that Tatyana is with a werewolf, theyâ€™ll hunt her down and kill her. Not that I would let them get close enough to try, but itâ€™s always there at the back of my mind.

FH: How has life been since the events that happened and brought you together?

Nicolae: Peaceful. It might sound crazy, and sometimes I feel as though Iâ€™m dreaming, but everything has settled down again since the end of our story. Tatyana is slowly building a relationship with the local werewolves, and even the local timber wolf pack is beginning to accept her. Sheâ€™s hunted a few times with us, and has learnt that catching the deer weâ€™re chasing isnâ€™t the way into a wolfâ€™s heart. She lets the timber wolves have the glory now, and theyâ€™re getting along better for it. Hell, even I wanted to snarl at her when she beat us to the deer that time. *laughs* Sheâ€™ll make a good pack member one day, when she stops trying to be the alpha female. Sheâ€™ll tell you different of course. Sometimes, when we hunt together and itâ€™s just us, I let her win. Donâ€™t tell her I said that. Sheâ€™ll wring my neck if she thinks Iâ€™m letting her beat me to the prizeâ€¦ but itâ€™s all worth it. Seeing her smile, seeing her happy and proudâ€¦ thatâ€™s something Iâ€™ll do anything for. Even losing a hunt. Sheâ€™s beautiful when sheâ€™s standing over a fresh kill, empowered by her victory. And hellâ€¦ sheâ€™s a saucy vixen afterwards too. My little alpha female.

FH: Your story, Hunterâ€™s Moon, is a book in a series. Can you tell us a little about the series and can we expect see more of you in other stories in this series?

Nicolae: Shouldnâ€™t you be the one telling me that? *laughs again* Iâ€™m sure weâ€™ll cross paths again at some point. The series you write based on the werewolves of my home continent and the vampires of the pure European bloodlines truly reflects the darkness and the danger of our world, but also the intense passion and the deep love we feel for our mates, even if the ones we fall for happen to be the enemy.

FH: Describe yourself in one word?

Nicolae: Iâ€™m thinking. *looks pensive* Failure springs to mind, but Tatyana would argue about that. Letâ€™s see. She would sayâ€¦ complicated. I would probably sayâ€¦ possessive. Itâ€™s the wolf in me. *cracks a charming smile*

FH: Thank you for meeting with me today and chatting. Is there anything else that youâ€™d like to add?

Nicolae: Only that I want your solemn promise not to mention any of what Iâ€™ve said when you interview Tatyana. If she comes back knowing any of this, Iâ€™m hunting you down.

FH: Hmm, Iâ€™m not sure thatâ€™s much of a threat. I would probably pay to have you hunt me down. *looks at audience* Wouldnâ€™t you?

Here’s a little information about Hunter’s Moon and the places it’s available:

Hunter’s Moon
F E Heaton
The horror of the night he failed to save his werewolf pack from the cruelty of their vampire masters has haunted Nicolae for one hundred years, driving him deep into the Canadian wilderness in search of peace. That peace is threatened when unfamiliar hunters and the scent of blood lead him to a beautiful woman and a hard decisionâ€”face his past and help her or risk losing everyone he cares about again.

Bearing a heart filled with grief and with vengeance on her mind, Tatyana is intent on killing the hunters sheâ€™s tracking and returning to her vampire bloodline, but her plan didnâ€™t include being shot with poisoned arrows or rescued by a glowering alpha werewolf who stirs forbidden hunger in her.

When the hunters make their move, will Nicolae be able to stop them before itâ€™s too late? Will he be able to overcome the darkness in his heart and embrace his desire for a vampire? And can Tatyana face her fears and risk her life for the sake of forbidden love?

ebook price: $2.99
paperback price: $6.99
genre: paranormal werewolf romance
length: 65000 words
rating: sultry
released: February 2011
Book 9 in the Vampires Realm series

Available in e-book from:
Author’s website: http://www.felicityheaton.com/ebooks.php?title=Hunter’s%20Moon
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Hunters-Moon/F-E-Heaton/e/2940011207600/
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/hunter-s-moon/_/R-400000000000000351166

Available in paperback from:
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1460978544/
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1460978544/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hunters-moon-f-e-heaton/1030625714

Posted in 2011 blog tour, 2011 releases, character interviews, Hunter's Moon, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, vampire romance, vampires, Vampires Realm, werewolf romance | Comments Off

Angel romances, Assassin’s Creed and blog tours

Posted on 10th June 2011 by Felicity Heaton

This week has been long, but not exactly fruitful. Thanks to my obsession with Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and my need to play it every day for at least a couple of hours, my focus is shot. I have managed to struggle with my short attention span and bring it under control enough that I have managed to get the final two chapters of Her Guardian Angel re-written and ready for editing, but other things in my schedule have suffered.

I can’t lay the blame solely at the feet of Ezio from Assassin’s Creed. I think in part my lack of concentration and focus this week is down to overworking. I’ve been working non-stop recently and it was only a matter of time before my mind shattered and I wanted to do something other than author related work.

I’m just thankful that once I get the final two chapters of Her Guardian Angel edited, I can put it to rest for a while, and that I managed to get it done before heading off on holiday for a few days. A much needed holiday, that’s for sure!

When I return, I’ll be thrown straight into the release weekend of Forbidden Blood, but I think I can deal with that if I get everything on my list done and dusted, and therefore only have to worry about release stuff when I get back. I am looking forward to the release of Forbidden Blood. I want to see what readers think about the take on vampires in this one and whether there’s interest in the series. I already have a vampire romance series on the go, so it will be interesting to see what sort of reception this one gets. The Vampire Venators series is quite different to my Vampires Realm series, so hopefully there’ll be room for both of them.

I’m having a dilemma at the moment about what to write next. My schedule is very tight right now, but I really want to get the next Shadow & Light Trilogy novel written, edited, and released this year. I’d love to get it done for September and move Masquerade to October or December. Hmm. It’s tricky though and it is providing me with a bit of a headache. I keep working my calendar, shifting things around and seeing if I could write it and get it edited in time. It’s possible, but it would mean some seriously long days. Going to crunch the numbers again later and see if I’m just asking too much of myself.

I have to take into account that I’m signed up to around one hundred appearances this year at various blogs too. I need to make sure that I have time to get the articles for them written as well as getting books written or edited. On top of this, I want to start offering a flash fiction in my newsletter every month, and I have a few short stories that I want to write as freebies too.

I think I might quietly go away now and have a breakdown. Lol. When I took the leap to become a full time author, I had figured it would be easy and that I’d be able to get stuff done in no time because I had all day to do it rather than just a few hours a day. Wrong! Stuff just came along to fill those hours!

Right, I had best go get on with said stuff.

Felicity

Posted in forbidden blood, Masquerade, Shadow and Light Trilogy, Vampire Venators, Vampires Realm, writing | Comments Off

Editing, designing, and actually some relaxing

Posted on 6th June 2011 by Felicity Heaton

I’ve been scatterbrained all week because I’m really absorbed in playing Assassins Creed: Brotherhood at the moment. Since my original PlayStation 3 went kaput with the red light of death post software update (and Sony denies that it could possibly have anything to do with that) and I had to get a new one, I wanted to play a game that I hadn’t started and lost the data for. AC: Brotherhood was that game. I think I’ll definitely end up re-playing the second Assassin’s Creed game too as I loved that one to pieces, and playing this one has opened a deep desire to play that one too.

I have managed to get some progress done on my second draft of Her Guardian Angel. The edit is coming along really well but I want to get it finished this week because I’m away on holiday for a few days next week. I don’t want to lose my flow with the story and know that I will if I suddenly have a break at such a critical moment. I have around 60 more pages to edit, but that includes beefing up a few scenes, and adding in a completely new scene to the ending to really magnify it and make it end on a more dramatic and satisfying conclusion. I can’t see it taking me too long to get it done, and I think I can definitely get it done this week if I’m good and can resist the lure of AC: Brotherhood long enough to actually get some decent work done.

I still haven’t decided whether I’ll be writing another story in this series. I need to weigh up everything I want to get done for next year and see if I have room for it, and see if there’s enough interest in the series when Her Guardian Angel hits virtual shelves. If there’s a good response to this novel, then I might write another novel in the series.

Aside from editing, I’ve been busy adding a new section to my website. I have a fun stuff section back in place now. At the moment, there’s just some computer desktop calendar wallpapers there. I’ll be adding more stuff as it comes to me. You can find it in the main menu of my website under the heading Goodies.

I’ve been busily writing down notes this week too, mostly for stories in the Hades’ Boys series, Vampires Realm series, or Shadow & Light Trilogy. I’m hoping to get some more books written for the latter two series soon, and also get the Hades’ Boys series started.

Part of my preparation for writing this new series, and continuing my writing in general, comes in the form of four new books that I purchased last week. I’ll review them here when I’m done with them and let everyone know what I thought about them, and whether I think they’re any good as tools in a writer’s toolbox. Here’s a list of the ones I’ve bought:

Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card
Beginnings, Middles and Ends by Nancy Kress
20 Master Plots and how to build them by Ronald B Tobias
What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter

I’m mostly interested in the first two books at the moment. I also want to re-read some of my books that I love and keep on my shelves. Most of them are in the Write Great Fiction range and are really useful and insightful. I’ve learned plenty from them.

I think I’m going to read the first two books on this list before I write Masquerade, my next Vampires Realm novel/novella.

In other news, I’ve been busy formatting all the files for Forbidden Blood‘s release on June 18th. It’s going to be a manic release weekend for me as I’m away in Istanbul just before it and won’t have much time to prepare for the release. I’m hoping to get Forbidden Blood added to Smashwords and Amazon just before I go, so it should be available for purchase at those sites a few days before its official release. Not long now. I hope you’ve all been enjoying the sneak preview chapters of this book, and that you’ll rush out to buy it. It’s going to be a great new series for me. I’m debating whether to set up a mini-site for the series, a little like my Vampires Realm website.

That’s all from me for now. Excuse any typos as I’m tired and it’s cold in my office today, which makes typing difficult… and I really need to crack on with my work!

Posted in forbidden blood, Hades' Boys, Her Angel Series, Her Guardian Angel, Shadow and Light Trilogy, Vampires Realm | Comments Off

Her Guardian Angel second draft and blog tour

Posted on 27th May 2011 by Felicity Heaton

It’s been another mixed week for me here in castle Heaton. I started the week with a schedule for each day, and I’ve stuck to it for the most part, but there has been a little shift here and there between my set times for thing. I haven’t been spending as much time editing Her Guardian Angel as I should have been as I have so many guest blog spots coming up in my blog tour and I wanted to get ahead of the game and get lots of them done now.

I have another 6 or so to write and then I’m clear until the end of June. I’m hoping to get some of them written this weekend and then sent out. The crazy thing is I have around 18 blog dates for promoting Forbidden Blood and now I have to think of 18 unique things to do for them!

Monday and Tuesday was spent catching up on admin stuff and also addressing comments that I had made during my initial read through of Her Guardian Angel. I started out with 106 comments, mostly notes on improving areas, adding new stuff, repetition, and other things. I worked my way down to 13 major comments (generally layering more stuff into scenes or adding new stuff) and prepped for starting the full edit. I was meant to start that on Wednesday, but wound up writing blog posts and doing other stuff related to writing. I did start my edit again today, and have reached page 27 of 220. It doesn’t sound like much, but at this stage it’s good progress. I’m pleased with the story so far and it’s in good nick, so doesn’t need heavy editing, just polishing and tweaking, and paying attention to the details.

I also signed up to participate in Six Sentence Sunday, so watch out for my first one this Sunday, and sorted out my blog tour schedule, including adding new dates.

I think it’s been quite a productive week, and my muse is enjoying my new structured approach to my days, although I think he’d like a bit of a break for a few days. I think I’ve worked every day for the past couple of weeks, so I need some downtime and some rest. I did manage to get another book read this week. It was a Kindle freebie, Her Vampire Husband by Michele Hauf. Much better than the previous freebie I had read by her, Kiss Me Deadly, which I only gave 2 stars to and that was a push. This one gained 3 stars from me, and I would have given it 4 but I was a bit irritated by the heroine and the authors blatant attempts to make her sound young. I like a more mature kick-ass kind of heroine in my stories.

This week has also seen me thinking about my release schedule for next year, and also writing notes for the next book in the Shadow and Light Trilogy. The first book, Ascension, has been getting great reviews, so there’s all this pressure to make the next novel just as good, if not better, than it. I don’t mind a challenge, and I think the story I have in mind will appease readers and reviewers. There’ll be plenty of action and passion in this one too, and a very kick-ass Taig and Lealandra, and yeah, they might just go to Hell to find out what happened to Taig’s parents.

Other books I’ve been writing up notes for are When Darkness Falls which is a Vampires Realm story I’ll be writing for next year, and also my Hades’ Boys series. I’m really hoping to start writing that series this year and to get the first couple of books in it released next year. It’s going to be a kick-ass series and I think everyone will really like the heroes in it, and the heroines too because they’ll do their share of kicking butt, or at least assisting to kick butt.

I think next year is going to be as full of paranormal romance books as this year is for me. I wish I could find the time to write another science fiction romance, but I have to focus on what my muse is into, and at the moment it’s vampires, demons, and gods, with the odd angel tossed in for good measure.

I also think next year is going to be a year for series books. At the moment, I’m planning to release the Shadow and Light Trilogy #2.5 and Shadow and Light Trilogy #3. Book 2.5 in the series is a novella focusing on another two characters in the series. Alongside those two books, I’ll release another Vampire Venators story, as well as one or two Vampires Realm stories. I’m debating whether to write another novel or novella in the Her Angel series. I do have a character in mind for one, but I’m not sure whether it’s novel or novella material. He’s in the Her Guardian Angel novel, so you’ll get to meet him then. I’ll judge whether to continue the series when that one is released.

Last up for next year is my Hades’ Boys. I need to design a website for it, gather all my materials, and also prepare other stuff for it. It’s going to be a very big series of seven novels. I have the first three roughly planned, and their place in the overall arc that runs through the series. I think the characters are basically there now, with only a little more work needed on them. I’ve been working on this series in the background since 2007 or maybe 2008. It’s been years anyway. It’s probably about time that I wrote it, and I feel I’m in a place now where I can justify writing it and I feel I’ll make a top job of it. I’ve been reluctant before now because I wanted to write it when I was at the top of my game, and had learned enough about writing to produce something amazing with this series. All seven books will be linked, although there’ll be individual baddies for each hero to fight, but those baddies will all be part of the same team, and I’ll reveal little by little who the big bad is behind everything. Just talking about it makes me want to write it!

Back to work for me.

Don’t forget that tomorrow is the third chapter of Forbidden Blood on Sneak Peek Saturday. There’s only 21 days left before this book is released in e-book, and shortly afterwards in paperback.

Also, don’t forget to enter my 500 BLOG FOLLOWERS INTERNATIONAL GIVEAWAY if you haven’t already. Following the instructions on the giveaway page. Invite your friends too. We’re up to 375 followers now, so there’s only another 25 to go before we reach the next level of prizes!

Happy reading everyone.

Felicity

Posted in 2011 releases, 2012 releases, Ascension, forbidden blood, Hades' Boys, Her Guardian Angel, paranormal romance, Shadow and Light Trilogy, Vampire Venators, Vampires Realm, When Darkness Falls | Comments Off

adventures in paranormal romance and blog giveaway

Posted on 20th May 2011 by Felicity Heaton

Well, it’s been an eventful week, but at the same time, not very eventful. Time seems to be slipping away from me at the moment and my motivation is hitting a low spot. I have so much that I need to do, that it sort of piles up and then overwhelms me. I have decided that it’s not easy having releases only 4-6 weeks apart. I’ll have to address that next year. I just don’t feel as though I’m putting enough into promoting each separate book. As soon as a new one come along, I forget to promote the previous one. Bad me. That’s not the way to sell books!

I was distracted from my work last week because Reunion was listed as FREE at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, so I was promoting that when I probably should have been continuing to promote my paid-for releases like Love Immortal, Hunter’s Moon, and Ascension. All three are available in e-book and paperback now.

This week, I spent the Monday and Tuesday doing the initial read through of Her Guardian Angel, the fourth book but the first novel in the Her Angel romance series. On Wednesday, I inputted all of the changes I’d noted down on the book (I read on paper initially as it gives me a better experience during this phase when I’m supposed to read as a reader would, not an editor or writer) into the word document, so it’s ready to go. There’s over 100 comments to address, but most of those are about repetition of words / thoughts / feelings. I also have some smoothing out to do in the latter half of the book, and I want to change the ending to make it more dramatic. I’m not sure if this will be the finale of the series, or whether I’ll write another novel for it. I do have a character in mind for another novel or novella, but I need to take stock of the success of the series. I guess if Her Guardian Angel sells well and people make positive noises about wanting another or liking the character I have in mind for it (who appears in Her Guardian Angel), then I’ll probably write the next book.

I’m also trying to decide what to write for December. I have a release slot penned down on my schedule. I was thinking about writing the next Shadow and Light Trilogy novel, which will follow on from Ascension and track the progression of Lealandra and Taig’s relationship. I could also write the next Vampire Venators series novel. Both require some world building. It definitely won’t be a Vampires Realm series book as I’ve had two of those this year. Don’t worry, I’m hoping I can write two more Vampires Realm stories for next year. That’s the downside to series. I have four on the go at the moment (well, that I’m actively working on anyway), plus another two that I want to start, one of which is my seven book Hades’ Boys series. With all those series to balance, it’s difficult to keep my schedule in order. I think next year will definitely be very series-orientated, even though I have a few stand alone paranormal romance books that I want to write.

I did manage to get some downtime this week. Husband and I went out yesterday to the cinema and watched Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in 3D. It was good. Probably up there with the best movies I’ve seen this year. Definitely blockbuster material, and Johnny Depp was fantastic as usual. Did some shopping afterwards and went to Yo! Sushi for scrummy pumpkin korroke and doroyaki.

Today I should be working on the second draft edit for Her Guardian Angel, but I’ll spend it writing blog tour posts as that’s quite a weight pressing down on me and I’d like to get a whole bunch of them written and sent off so they’re not playing on my mind and I’ll be able to focus on my edit.

Oh, and I started my 500 Blog Follower International Giveaway this week. We’ve reached around 330 followers now, and I’m thrilled by how quickly my followers have risen and touched by the effort some readers have been putting in to help me spread the news about this giveaway. You guys rock, and you rock hard!

I’ve also had a great review or two for Ascension, and my other novels. It’s great to get reviews coming in for them. I’ll try to take snippets of them soon and add them to my website for everyone to read. Sometimes it’s difficult to get a good snippet though.

Wow, this has turned into a long blog post.

What shall I write for December?