Meredith Hart's Blog, page 6

Fall Cleaning Time!

I’m gearing up to order a bunch of shiny new paperbacks – with my shiny new covers – so I can do a few in-person events this fall.

But what am I going to do with all these old paperbacks kicking around in their old covers?

I mean, it’s no surprise that I have a book-hoarding problem, right?

Turns out, I have a huge box filled with books that have covers I no longer use and titles I changed years ago. For example, the book in the picture, In the Shadows of the Citadel, is now known by the much catchier title Shadows and Secrets.

So, what’s a book dragon to do with all these, uh, Limited Editions? I can’t just… throw them away.

Nope. I’m going to give them away – to you!

To keep things fair, I’ll select the winners randomly from readers who have reviewed at least one of my books. To enter, just share a link to a review you’ve written, tell me what series you’d like, and share your email.

Click below to check it out!

Click here to win a book

When is the next book coming out?!?

Well, to quote the supercomputer Deep Thought, who was tasked with finding the answer to life, the universe, and everything in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy…. I’ve got the answer, but you’re not going to like it.

It’s 42

No, I’m kidding. That’s the answer to life, the universe, and everything.

Before I get to the other answer about when then next book comes out, let me explain a few things. Here, have a seat by the fire, because this might take a while.

So, I’ve never done much for my book releases. I write the book, hire someone to do the cover, put it up for preorder if I’m especially organized, and then email the lovely people on my newsletter list when it comes out. I used to run ads, but they stressed me out so much that I stopped.

That’s what some authors call a soft release. It’s what I’ve been doing since I published my first book in 2016. And it’s worked fine.

But here’s the thing.

I’ve been making money off these books.

Crazy, huh? All my life people, told me there’s no money in writing, and yet here I am, paying the mortgage every single month with cold, hard cash people pay me to read about imaginary adventures I made up while sitting on my couch in my pajamas.

Making money has me thinking about the business aspect of this whole writing thing. As in, perhaps I should put some of that money back into my business.

But where should it go? I can only buy so many covers, and I don’t want to go back to checking spreadsheets five times a day to track my ad spending.

Maybe you see where this is going.

After a lot of freaking out and a bit of thinking, I’ve decided to reinvest in my business by making my next release hard, not soft. So, buckle up, buttercup, because I’m going off the deep end.

New cover designer. Character art. Book boxes. Promotion company.

This is so far out of my comfort zone I might need a new zip code and a Xanax prescription.

Of course, money alone isn’t enough to pull all this off. A hard release also takes time. Which is where the answer comes in.

My next books comes out…

THIS WINTER

It’s winter, my friends. Maybe December, maybe January, but not any earlier.

I know. Winter is a long way off. I’ve never gone this long between book releases, so if this feels like a long time to wait for you – trust me, it feels even longer for me.

Like a lot of things in publishing, this release strategy is a gamble. I’ll have a lot of time to make my next book, Monster of the Dagger Mountains, as good as it can possibly be. I’ll do everything I can to make the release as epic as possible.

And then I’ll send it out into the universe and hope for the best. In that way, at least, it will be a normal book release.

Click here to join my newsletter for more updates

Reader Question about Characters

Question: How do you find your characters? 

Answer: The short answer is – they find me!

In fact, it’s usually the characters who kick the door down and start insisting I write their damn story. That’s what happened with Loki in Trickster’s Lover, Lyria in Flame and Blade, and Rowan in Heart’s Escape. They just showed up.

And sometimes a character doesn’t turn out like I expect. I didn’t think Doshir was going to be such a nice guy when I started writing the Deceptions & Dragons series, and I absolutely didn’t mean to make Heart’s Escape a slow-burn.

Because I’m a pantser, or a discover writer, I get to know the characters as I write the story. Often, I’m halfway through the book (or more) by the time I really understand why they’re doing the things they’re doing. For example, Gaul was a mystery to me until the last book of the Flame & Blade series.

Once I get to know them, of course, I start revising the book — and I try to make it sound like I knew what I was doing all along!

Thanks for asking!

Got a question? Click here to ask it!

I have to share this!

Reviews make my day! And this one is just too good to keep to myself.

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Tabitha reviewed Heart’s Rescue on Goodreads. This is what she had to say:

“The dialogue in this book, the banter—chef’s kiss!!! It’s not even advertised as a comedy, but the characters are SO funny. Sarcastic and yet genuine at the same time. The MMC is kind of a mess, but he’s OUR mess, and it feels so good to see him get his happily ever after. The FMC’s backstory means she could’ve easily fallen into a sort of lame “rebel princess” role which I would’ve hated, but instead we get a fascinating character who is dealing with the much-more-relatable issue of not fitting into the role that was laid out for her, in spite of her best efforts, and the feelings of rejection and “why am I like this” and “am I the only one who feels this way?”

Suffice to say, the characters are great, the dialogue is fantastic, the plot contained some interesting mysteries without being too dense or decentering the romance, and the ending gives the MCs their HEA and leaves a clear path forward for the rest of the series without feeling like a cliffhanger.”

Click here to read the review on GoodReads

Wild Strawberries and *that* F&B Scene

The wild strawberries are going nuts in the woods behind my house this year.

Of course, every time I see one of these little beauties, I think about *that one scene* in Flame and Blade. You know, that scene.

I love that scene. Almost as much as I love wild strawberries.

In fact, I think I’ll share it with you now…

Flame & Blade Sneak Peek

A flash of red on the ground caught my eye. I bent down to examine the mat of little plants covering this hillside and found serrated, trilobed leaves. Yes. Wild strawberries. This hillside must face south; strawberries would thrive here.

I glanced to Lyria, who had just started tugging Theo the donkey up the last pitch. As she vanished over the horizon, I picked as many of the sweet little fruits as I could reach, filling my open palm. When I crested the hill several minutes later, Lyria was waiting for me with one of her usual scowls.

“What took you so long?” she demanded.

“Close your eyes,” I answered, with a grin. “And open your mouth.”

Her scowl deepened. “What, are we four years old now?”

“I have something for you. You’ll like it, I promise.”

She wiped a hand across her forehead and rolled her eyes. The rain picked up, hammering down the leaf-laden branches above us. 

“Vethe—”

“Come on,” I said. “Trust me.”

Her hand dropped to the dagger in her belt. I took a step backward.

“Or, don’t,” I said. “And spend the rest of your life wondering what I was going to do.”

Lyria stomped her heel in the mud, a habit I strongly suspected she’d picked up from Theo. “Oh, fine.”

After another enormous eye roll, followed by an expression of utmost disdain, Lyria closed her eyes. Her soft, full lips parted. My insides twisted with a strange, sharp, and almost pleasant rush of longing. I slipped my fingertips between her lips and placed the largest of the wild strawberries on her waiting tongue.

Her eyes opened, and her lips closed. I watched as she fought the smile tugging at the edges of her lips.

“Oh,” she finally said.

I opened my palm, revealing the handful of ruby fruits I’d hastily gathered from the hillside. A shadow crossed her face.

“Are those poisonous?”

I slipped one between my own lips. “Very.”

“Ha. Ha,” she said, carefully enunciating the syllables so I’d miss none of the sarcasm.

“They’re wild strawberries,” I offered.

She leaned closer, frowning. “Those are strawberries? They’re so tiny.”

“Wild strawberries. About a quarter of the size of the other kind, with ten times the flavor.”

Delicately, she took one from my hand. Her fingers brushed my skin, sending another current of energy through my body. She pressed the fruit between her lips and, for just a moment, I had a fierce desire to be a strawberry. Her mouth closed. She looked almost meditative as she chewed the tiny berry.

“Wow,” she finally said. “They’re good. Why are they so different?”

The scowl had vanished; now, she was looking at me with an expression of open friendliness that made my chest ache. It reminded me of when we’d shared the Mage Fire, or when she’d spread the liniment over my chest. The expression burned me, but I didn’t want to look away.

“Wild things are usually sweeter,” I said, my voice dropping. “Don’t you think?”

Click here for Flame & Blade

Reader Question about Vethe

!!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

If you haven’t finished the Flame and Blade series, TURN AROUND AND SHOW YOURSELF THE DOOR!

This reader question involves massive spoilers for the last book in the F&B series. Finish the series first, then come back here.

You’ve been warned!

The question: I’ve always wondered what made Vethe’s cure work. I don’t think it was confirmed in the books, but I could be wrong. I’ve theorized that the summoned demon sympathized with Vethe because he sacrificed himself to save someone he loved and not for the power. Could I be correct? Or was it really just the alcohol?

The answer:

*Pours self cup of tea*

*Sits down on the front porch*

*Pats the bench next to me, inviting you to come on in*

You know, writing’s a funny thing. Some writers, like Tolkien, know absolutely everything about their world. Tolkien invented multiple languages for his world, including new alphabets. Have you seen the appendix at the end of The Return of the King? That dude has dwarven genealogy for days.

I am not that kind of writer.

I’m a pantser, or a discovery writer. For me, as Stephen King put it, writing is like driving at night in heavy fog. I can see what’s just ahead of me, and I have a vague sense of where I’m going, but that big plot twist is frequently just as surprising to me as it is to you.

This is true of bigger questions about my books too. I’m trying to be more deliberate with things like theme, but usually, I don’t really know what a book is about until it’s written (and, sometimes, it’s only years later that I’ll make the connection between, say, the fact that so many of my characters have scars and the huge scar I’ve had on my back since I was a kid).

So this question really made me think!

When I wrote the F&B books, I didn’t question Henrix’s explanation for Vethe’s mage fever cure. Henrix thought Vethe survived the demon blood transfer because Vethe was such a heavy drinker, just like Henrix used to be. Vethe thought that was a good enough explanation, and boom, it was on to the next adventure.

But I’ve been spending a week or so thinking this over, and here’s the thing. Henrix and Vethe have no idea why the cure worked, and they also tend to undervalue their own self-worth. It would never occur to either of them that the demons would have willingly helped to save their lives.

But I think they’re wrong.

Both of them sacrificed themselves to save someone they loved (for Henrix it was Hylene, for Vethe it was Lyria). They weren’t thinking about gaining power or fame, like the other assholes Henrix and Hylene tried to save. They weren’t thinking about themselves at all.

And that intention mattered. The demons share a collective consciousness, so they’re able to sense the intentions of the wildmages dying from mage fever. If the intentions were power, fame, and conquest, well, the demon blood wouldn’t want any part of that. But sacrifice, community, and love? That’s a language the demons can understand.

So, yes, you’re right!

Thanks so much for asking! It was fun to revisit this series and to think a little more about it.

Got a question for me? Click here to ask it!

Meet the Characters: Doshir

Writing Doshir was such an adventure.

Most of my male leads tend to be hard-drinking, sarcastic assholes who’d be the first to admit they’ve made a hot mess of their lives. (see: Vethe, Loki, Rowan)

Not Doshir.

This dragon shifter is perfectly content with his life, his antiquities shop, and his near-total social isolation, thank you very much. He’s not looking for adventure, and he’s certainly not looking for romance.

But maybe he’ll share just one bottle of frost wine with the woman who shows up on his doorstep and starts asking questions about dragons…

The complete Deceptions & Dragons series is coming out this summer, but you don’t need to wait to meet Doshir! His series is finished, so feel free to binge-read this epic story about a cinnamon roll dragon and the woman sent to kill him…

Click here for Deceptions & Dragons

Coming This Summer!

This steamy, complete trilogy about a dragon hunter searching for her quarry and the handsome, bookish dragon she accidentally seduces is impossible to put down!

Have a few reading boxes you’d like to check..?

Fantasy Romance Snarky, sarcastic humor Bad-ass woman warrior Nerdy cinnamon bun dragon Antiquities shop Secret missions with secret identities Flirting for information “I never do this… but I’ll make an exception for you…” Wine dates Bad choices Dragons playing with fire ”Tonight I can be dangerous.”

The complete Deceptions and Dragons series is coming out this summer as a box set!

Stay tuned for more updates…

Click here to join Meredith Hart’s newsletter for more updates!

A Terrible Plan

So, I had this idea.

Actually, it was someone else’s idea (check it out here) based on a writing prompt: What if the oceans were replaced by forests, and the deeper you went in the forest, the bigger and stranger the plants and animals got?

Cool, huh? I added deep-sea vents to this idea, but instead of hot water, they leak pure magic into the Deep Forest. And then I needed a person in this Deep Forest. Someone who had to run away, so they went to the most dangerous place imaginable.

Ever since I finished Heart’s Escape, I’ve wanted to go back to the Towers of the Silver City. It’s a creepy place. It’s certainly a place someone would want to run away from.

There was just one problem. (Actually, there were several, but let’s start with one.) There is no Deep Forest in the Deceptions and Dragons series or the Fallen Hearts series, and I want to keep writing in this world.

I solved this by setting my Deep Forest story on another continent – thanks for the idea, Wings of Fire! And I started writing.

30,000-ish words later, I started to reconsider.

I love the Deep Forest. I love Aveus, the man running from the Towers, and Inira, the woman hunting him. But, I realized about halfway through the book, if I want to connect the Deep Forest to the worlds of Deceptions and Dragons and Fallen Hearts, I shouldn’t open that series on a totally new continent.

No problem. I had another idea.

I’ve been kicking around the idea of a second-chance romance for ages – the tension between two former lovers, the conflict that drove them apart, the decisions they would have to make or undo to finally be together again. Ugh, so good!

So, I wrote a second-chance romance set at the Towers of the Silver City. It’s got romance. It’s got adventure. It’s got characters confronting the things they always accepted to be true and deciding what to do when they realize the institutions they’ve served aren’t at all what they pretend to be.

Silver City mood board from my Pinterest page

But. Is a story set fully within the Towers really the best introduction to a new series?

No. No, it’s not.

At least, that’s what I decided, and it’s too late to debate it. (My husband has tried, trust me.)

So, now I’m writing the official Book One: Monster of the Dagger Mountains. It will be the first book in my new series: Killers of the Towers.

This is a villain romance filled with morally gray characters, traumatic backstories, magic that comes at a terrible cost, I don’t deserve you, and how do you live with the things you’ve done to survive?

Dagger Mountains mood board from my Pinterest page

Monster of the Dagger Mountains, the official book number one, will come out this fall, probably in October. It will be quickly followed by Monster of the Silver City, the second-chance romance between Syrus and Veloria, which is already written, and then by Monster of the Deep Forest, which is about 30% finished.

Basically…I started with book three, jumped to book two, finished it, and am now writing book one.

Yes. This is insane.

But hey, I’m a pantser. These things just kind of… happen?

And eventually, some fine day, I’ll have an entire series of snarky, steamy, romantasy adventures for you! Until then, I’ll post updates, sneak peeks, and mood boards right here for you to enjoy.

(Side note: If you hate waiting and you don’t mind reading books out of order, drop me a line at meredith_hart@sammacleod.net. I’ll offer Monster of the Silver City to my ARC Team soon, and I can add you to that list.)

Click here to join Meredith Hart’s newsletter for more updates!

A Knife & A Win

Sneak a peek at one of my favorite scenes in Heart’s Rescue

There’s a sound a knife makes when it slides from its sheath.

It’s a cold sort of sound, like the hiss of ice sliding off the roof. The sound is almost a relief because I’ve been lying here for hours, pretending to be asleep, just waiting for it.

The voids only know where she even got the knife. I certainly didn’t offer one to her, and I doubt Phaedron would have been stupid enough to arm her, even though he seemed quite taken by her nice chest and wide eyes and pretty, pretty mouth.

The woman is quiet for a long time after the knife comes out. I keep my breathing slow and even, just like I’m the sort of idiot who’d fall fast asleep next to a complete stranger from the Kingdom of the Summer. It’s snowing outside, and the delicate patter of flakes against the heavy canvas of the shelter makes a nice cover for whatever it is Arryn’s doing.

What is she doing? I want to crack an eye open, but I can’t risk it. The fire’s probably nothing but embers and memories at this point; still, if she notices me watching, then the game’s up. I’d never get this kind of a chance again. Sadly, most people only underestimate me once.

When the attack finally comes, it’s not half bad. Arryn goes from her side of the shelter to mine in a heartbeat, and then her blade’s cold and hard against the skin of my neck, and the heat of her thighs stretches across my ribcage

“The crown,” Arryn growls.

I knew it. 

Slowly, I blink open my eyes. Arryn’s straddling my chest, her wild, dark hair framing her face. Her blade presses into my skin so hard that I’m going to cut myself if I try to swallow. Her eyes are pure murder.

“Oh, hey, lady,” I say. “What’s wrong? Couldn’t sleep?”

“The crown,” she growls again, louder this time, as if maybe my hearing was the problem.

I grin up at that murderous expression. 

“No crowns here. I’m as low-born as they come, Lady Arryn.”

She makes a sound deep in her throat. My magic curls under me, ready to burst from the ground if I need it. But I’m not going to need it. I think.

“There’s a crown in your pantry,” she continues, ignoring me. “Where did you get it?”

She hesitates. The knife is cold against my neck, like she’s been keeping it in the snow.

“Where’s the man who wore it?” she asks.

My grin feels like it’s hardening on my face, becoming something made of stone. 

“Crown?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

She doesn’t speak. Her nostrils flare as she breathes. My magic rises silently in the dark edges of the shelter, pooling in the shadows.

“You know, it’s funny,” I say, “I can’t remember anything with a voids-damned knife pressed to my neck.”

Something ripples across her face, and the pressure eases off my neck for just a heartbeat. That’s my moment, my chance to press my advantage, to wrap my magic around her and yank her off.

I don’t take it. She draws in another breath, shakier this time, and then the knife is back, its flat edge pressed just below my jaw. I wait. I can almost see the wheels spinning behind her big, dark eyes. Her body is warm against my chest, and she’s leaning down so far that the folds of the cloak she’s wearing brush my neck. And if I continue that line of thinking, things are about to get real awkward.

“So,” I ask, trying not to focus on the way she’s got her knees wrapped around my ribs. “What’s your plan here, lady? You going to kill me or not?”

Her eyes spark fire, and for a moment she looks like she’s honestly considering it. I try to shrug in a way that’s not going to disturb the blade resting against my jugular.

“Because, if you do kill me,” I continue, “you should know, you’re not going to be able to find your way out of here.”

Also, if you kill me, Phaedron will hunt you down and rip you apart very, very slowly, I think but do not say. Arryn shakes her head slightly. The motion makes the knife relax, another little slip I don’t press to my advantage. 

“I can read a map,” she says, her voice heavy with derision. “I could find my way out.”

“Really?” I say as if I’ve never heard of a woman who can read a map. “That’s cute. I’ll let you try.”

She scowls down at me. 

“Answer my question, Rowan.”

“Take your fucking knife off of my fucking neck. Lady.”

Silence draws out between us, as cold and heavy as the snow. Firelight paints Arryn’s face in crimson and gold. She must have added more wood to the fire as I pretended to sleep. That’s more thoughtful than I would have expected out of a high-born lady from the Worlds Above.

Arryn huffs a sigh, and I know defeat when I hear it. She rocks back, taking the knife away from my throat but keeping her knees planted on either side of my ribs. Voids damn it, I thought her chest would be less distracting now that she’s layered in the spare clothes we gave her, but it’s almost worse to see the way my old blue sweater hugs her curves.

“Is he still alive?” she asks. “The man who wore that crown?”

I glance to the side and finally see her weapon. It’s one of our knives, of course. One of Phaedron’s kitchen knives. Sneaky little—

Her fingers tighten around the hilt of our kitchen knife, and I turn my full attention back to the woman straddling my chest. Dozens of answers skirt my consciousness in varying degrees of sarcastic snark. Never heard of him. Killed him myself. Crown, what crown?

In the end, I settle on the truth. It seems easiest.

“I don’t know,” I say.

Click here for Heart’s Rescue!