Michele Hauf's Blog, page 9

New cover!

Playing With Fire is the last Nocturne Bites you'll ever see.  The line comes to a close at the end of this year, and Nocturne Cravings is the replacement for your digital short-story paranormal romance needs.  Kinda cool that I debuted the line with Racing The Moon, and now I'm helping to bring it to a close.  A little sad, too.   (sniffle) 

Backlist books for sale!

In the interest of clearing out the huge stacks of books in my basement, I'm going to sell half of them.  Most of my backlist is available in paperback, and if you order a copy it will be signed (state if you want it personalized to a specific person).  I'm going to charge $3 each, and that will cover the postage.  I won't make a bucket o' cash on them, since media mail is around $2.20.  Heck, you can't even get the one cent copies at Amazon for that price when postage is added in!
I will only accept payment by Paypal, so email toastfaery@gmail.com the list of books you'd like (and quantities) and I will send you a Paypal bill (include Paypal email you use).  Include your mailing address as well.  This is only open to US residents because the postage would far exceed the price for out of US.  Offer good until copies are sold out!  Here is the list of titles I have:

Ashes of Angels
Fallen
Angel Slayer
The Other Crowd
The Bone Conjurer
Swordsman's Legacy
Forever Vampire
Seducing The Vampire
Her Vampire Husband
Moon Kissed
The Highwayman
Faeries Gone Wild (antho)
Midnight Cravings (antho)
The Devil To Pay
Winter Kissed
His Forgotten Forever
Kiss Me Deadly
Familiar Stranger
From The Dark
Getaway Girl
Flawless
Once A Thief
Rhiana (tradesize)
Gossamyr (tradesize)
Seraphim (trade or mm)

Blog appearances will be posted soon!

Blog appearances will be posted soon!

The Devil To Pay

Thought I'd highlight this book today because it is the followup book to KISS ME DEADLY, which is still a free download anywhere you look online.  I always say I don't write sequels, and I don't, in the sense that you don't have to read a certain book before another book in order to understand what is going on in the second book.  But I do have a few 'followup' titles where I will write about the child of a previous hero/heroine.  The Devil To Pay is Ivan Drake's story, and he is the son of Nikolaus and Ravin Drake.  You don't have to read KMD to understand what is going on in Ivan's story.  I explain a few things at the beginning.  But if you read TDTP, and like it, you may want to read about his parents.  And vice versa!

So I couldn't resist writing about Ivan after, at the end of KMD, I realized what his parents did before he was even born.  I won't give details here because that might spoil the end of KMD.  But it really demanded another story, and Ivan was born.  He's Himself's fixer, which means, when the devil yells, Ivan jumps.  He's indebted to Himself, and just wants to be free.  Here's a pic I used to get me into Ivan's head as I was writing:

He just wants out.  And I love that intense look on his face.  But he has to go up against a very powerful witch in order to do so, and witches and vampires, historically, have never gotten along.  You can no longer buy this book new in paperback format.  You'll have to search the used bookstores or buy it from a seller online.  But you can also get it in digital format at any online retailer.  Let me know if you like it!

THIS GLAMOROUS EVIL

You can get it today!  Read the first chapter here.

Dancing!

All right, so the celebrities have been paired with their dancers.  This could be an interesting season.  Here's my thoughts:

Carson Kressley and Anna Trebunskaya: Love Carson and Anna.  Could be an awesome duo, and could go far if Carson has an dancing ability.

Rob Kardashian and Cheryl Burke:  I don't know the celebrity but Cheryl will kick his butt.  I suspect he won't last longer than 3 episodes.

Ricki Lake and Derek Hough: Derek is the master choreographer, so he could take Ricki far.

J.R. Martinez and Karina Smirnoff: Is this a sports guy? They usually do pretty well, but I'm going to predict he'll make it halfway through.

David Arquette and Kym Johnson: He might play it for laughs, or he could have some talent.  This could be an interesting and very fun pairing.

Chaz Bono and Lacey Schwimmer: Their biggest obstacle will be Chaz's weight. Otherwise, I think they'll get along schwimmingly.  ;-)

Hope Solo and Maksim Chmerkovskiy: Yay, they gave Maks an athlete.  Then again, sometimes they do well, other times not so well.  Depends on how much confidence Hope has, and I don't know her at all.  Here's hoping she's in it for the long run because you all know the only reason I watch this show is because of Maks.

Kristin Cavallari and Mark Ballas:  Mark is another awesome choreographer, but I'm guessing he's not going to get much out of this chick.  But I don't know her at all, so she could surprise us all.

Ron Artest and Peta Murgatroyd: Don't know either of these two.  Have no opinion.

Chynna Phillips and Tony Dovolani: Love Tony, but he often gets paired with old ladies who don't last long.  So he might have someone who can show him some legs this time around, but I suspect they won't make it to mid-season.

Nancy Grace and Tristan MacManus: This is the guy I've been wanting to see more of since he debuted last season.  Too bad they paired him with Grace.  I suspect she'll be the first one out, unless they keep her around as the usual 'bad accident we like to watch'.

Elisabetta Canalis and Val Chmerkovskiy:  Can we handle two Chmerkovskiys on the show?  I'm not sure.  But I still love Maks.  Will be interesting to watch Val and see if he can get some movement out of the stick-thin Canalis.

My prediction for top three?  Maks, Anna and either Derek or Kym.

You know you want to read everything by Megan Hart!

The new Nocturne Cravings line debuts this Thursday with my book, THIS GLAMOROUS EVIL, and Megan Hart's OUT OF THE DARK.  Today it's all about Megan, and she sent me a link to an excerpt on her site [click here!] and another exclusive excerpt to whet your appetites for the rest of the book.  

Excerpt:

Luke looked up, searching for the light, and instead found nothing but more darkness. He'd fallen so fast and hard he didn't realize it at first, but then the pain exploded in him. Not just from the thud of his body against the rocks as he plummeted through a hole in the cave floor that hadn't been there moments ago when the others crossed it. Slashing, ripping agony tore through his ankle, then his back. He opened his mouth to scream. Something leathery and foul, reeking of spoiled meat, shoved inside to choke him silent. The pain and pressure in his ankle released, but then a hot wind blew over him as the sound of something flapping hummed in his ears. Flapping like wings. He pushed back, scrambling over hidden terrain as his headlight bounced wildly. He hit a wall and a cascade of rocks and dirt fell over him, making him cough and choke again.He'd fallen about twenty feet into a cavern so vast from side-to-side his light couldn't even touch the sides of it. The hole through which he'd fallen—no, not fallen. Been pulled, his mind said. He'd been yanked through that hole by his ankles, which throbbed and ached. He lifted his pant leg to look at the blood oozing from four puncture wounds just above the top of his boot. He spat, then again, to clear his mouth of the horrible taste. He looked up to the ceiling, noting how the hole that had been big enough to fit his entire six-foot-two frame had filled in, leaving a mounded hill of dirt, debris and boulders that would've made a convenient ladder up to the cavern's roof...if there'd been any sign of an exit left.Dust had covered his headlight, but the helmet had protected his head from damage. Looking at the size of the rocks that had thumped down all around him and feeling the ache from where one or two of them had punched him in the back and shoulders, Luke knew he was lucky he was still conscious. He wiped his fingers across the light, clearing it, but it flickered when he touched it. The glass felt cracked. He'd fallen on his pack, the extra flashlight digging into the small of his back. He rolled off it to dig inside. Found his water bottle, the protein bars he always packed. A first-aid kit he'd need to use on his ankle in a few minutes. But for now, he needed light.He could hear the faintest sound of shouting, and another slew of rocks and dirt slid down from the place he'd come through the floor. Still no sign of the hole. He shone both lights up and up, across the ceiling, searching for any hint of light or sign of the place he'd fallen through."Holy shit." Luke tried to say it aloud, but his throat would make nothing more than the hoarsest croak.He'd been in caverns covered with bats before. The things he saw clung to the roof like bats, they had the same leathery skin as bats, but they were not bats. The size of a fifth grader, human in form but for the overlong fingers and toes that helped them cling to every crevice. Human eyes blinked, shining red in the wash of light from his headlamp, and the creatures hissed at him. A fresh wave of that stink reached him, and Luke put a hand over his mouth and nose to fight from retching.They moved as one, crawling the surface of the cave. The hissing got louder. Luke got to his feet, hopping on his wounded ankle and hunched from the pain in his back, but dammit, moving. At the base of the pile of dirt and debris that had fallen along with him, he found a severed...paw was the only way to describe it. Thick claws coated in blood. His blood, he thought as the room spun and he fought to keep the shadows from taking him. Above him, the hissing got louder. It burned his eardrums, poking like pins inside his head. Like voices, but none that he could decipher. Had he been clocked on the head harder than he'd thought? But no, a quick shine of his light up to the roof again showed him the same things. They didn't recoil from the light this time. They focused on it.And then they came down.All of them at once, burying him in a pile of reeking, leathery flesh and claws that tore at him. Teeth that fought to find his flesh. He hit one of them with the heavy flashlight, breaking the bulb but sending the creature screaming into the dark. Another. Then another. Rocks fit into his fists, became weapons. He kicked and punched. He found his voice when one of them sunk its teeth into the tender webbing between his thumb and forefinger, when the flesh tore, when the thing tore away a chunk of him. Again and again he fought as the hissing whispers got louder, searing his eardrums. The stink rose, too, until he choked with it. Writhing, Luke hit out again and again. Screams of pain and fury rose around him, not echoing in the cavern but inside his skull. Bones crunched. Blood coated him. He fought.He killed.Later, much later, Luke would eventually give in and agree with the version of the story that said the cave simply collapsed beneath his feet a few feet from the exit. He would stop insisting that something had punched through the cave floor and pierced his ankle with thick talons, the same kind that carved up his back and chest. He would accept the explanation of a blow to the head, coupled with a cave-in, for his injuries. Later he'd smile and nod at whatever the doctors said so he could just get the hell out of the hospital. He'd convince them he believed their "truth."But all of that was a lie.Something had taken him into the dark and tried to hurt him, and he'd hurt back.And something was still out there.

It will happen

I found this picture online today and have been thinking about it all day.  Seriously.  I decided it's going to be Trystan Hawkes' apartment in Paris.  But beyond fiction, I really need this to be MY place.  I've been pondering what needs to happen to make it so.  Winning the lottery is a long shot, but how else would one come by a few million to buy a place like this?  Write a lot of freakin' books.  A LOT.

But it's something to dream about, and it now sits on my computer desktop so I can see it every day.  I have a goal.  Now to get there.  ;-)

What about you?  Do you have a picture of something you want/need/desire that you would love to get to?

September 1st release...

Forever Vampire featured at Vampire Ball

Any readers from Hollywood out there?  On August 27th the Bar Sinister will host the annual Vampire Ball, and will be giving away copies of FOREVER VAMPIRE!