C. Rae D'Arc's Blog, page 8

SNEAK PEEK of “Don’t Date the Haunted” SEQUEL

Now that “Don’t Date the Haunted” is officially released, I can share a sneak peek to the up-coming sequel! (insert “Heather squeal” here) Now, if you don’t know what I mean by a “Heather squeal,” go read my first book! It’s available in paperback and eBook on Amazon.

If you have read “Don’t Date the Haunted,” then THANK YOU! I’d super appreciate your review on Amazon and/or Goodreads! It could be as simple as “Book was good. Interesting world. Fun characters. Five stars.” Any five star rating would seriously make my day, and I will respond to it.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

As much as I wanted to include the first chapter of the sequel to the end of “Don’t Date the Haunted,” it’s still in the developmental editing stage. But since you were awesome enough to read (and review?) my first book, I wanted to thank you by sharing the brewing concepts of Book 2: coming late Spring of 2021.
Here’s an exclusive mock-up for the cover!

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Chapter One

“Once Upon a Time” may be a misconception as history often repeats itself.

– Thesis of Adventures

THEO

Once upon a time should have been perfect for a proposal. Despite all my careful planning, the safe lightness of our blue-green auras, and the love I felt for Pansy, the impending chaos of my homeland fought for focus.

I scolded myself for worrying about the future, and tried to appreciate the present. Miss Pansy Finster, from Horror, rested at my side as we lay on a red-checkered blanket beside a field of flowers: pansies. The calm flow of Heartbeat River serenaded us from behind as the sun sank behind clouds on the horizon, promising an hour before a typically magnificent Romance sunset. Two sets of Heartford University’s red cap and gowns lay folded atop certificates for Pansy’s Bachelors of Science and my Masters in Political Science.

Nineteen months had passed since the horrific masquerade. I still remembered the fear of drowning from the poltergeist of Pansy’s ex-fiancé, though blanked when the supernaturals revived my life. I just remembered our auras turning black as my ability forewarned our deaths.

As we lay beside an emptied picnic basket, our auras were light and safe. The meaning of my auras’ lengths was still unknown, though the shortness of Pansy’s allowed me to analyze her angular features beyond the blurring glow.

I combed my fingers through her raven black hair that now reached her shoulders. Her Horror skin was as dark and soft as clay. Her eyes were the shape and color of cocoa beans. She wore a simple yellow dress that matched her wardrobe of “comfortable and easy to run in.”

Yes, the moment would have been perfect if my morning had not been ruined by an unexpected delivery of death.

Pansy breathed in deeply and shifted closer. “Theo… what’s on your mind?”

“Hmm?” I blinked out of my dazed thoughts. Subconsciously, I had stopped stroking her hair to fiddle with the ring on my right hand. I clenched my fist to stop. “Just how plans never go according to plan.”

With her eyes closed, she smirked. “Always have a back up plan,” she quoted from her brother’s book about surviving Horror. When I remained silent, her brown eyes blinked open, and she prodded, “What plans went wrong?”

Just the most important step of our courtship. With a deep breath, I willed myself to start from the beginning. “I received news from Margen.”

“News?” she asked. “Did they say more about the Eimad lords immigrating to Vluz for extra jobs?”

“No,” I slurred, doubting the truthfulness of that recent message. It conflicted with the world news my professor announced last week that Margen showed the beginning stages of a revolution. Had my weekly updates from the lords been fabricated? If so, why, and what were they hiding?

Even more disturbing was the evidence that now burdened my finger. I rested my right hand over Pansy’s and her eyes landed on the hulking piece of metal and stone on my middle finger. The ring was massive, made of gold and fortudo gems. It was crafted from King Sayer’s mines, stronger than dragon scales and more reflective than mirrors. I had not seen its likeness for over six years, yet there was no mistaking the gray-blue tones.

“What’s that?” Pansy asked.

“This was my brother’s,” I explained. “Marquis Greggory Fromm, the Wind Master, of Margen. I received it this morning.”

“Your brother sent it to you?”  Pansy bit her lip, unsure what to say. She settled with, “It’s huge.”

I chuckled, “Yes, I was never meant to wear it.” Her eyebrows raised, prodding for an explanation. “See,” I said, “this ring signified Greggory as the eldest and heir to my father’s duchy. It can only be removed by the wearer or magically transferred to the next heir upon death.”

Pansy sat up and frowned. “So, that means—?”

“For this ring to appear on my finger, either my elder brother visited Romance, snuck into my apartment, then deliberately removed the ring from his hand to put it on mine, or,” I paused to swallow, “he is dead.”

She gasped, “Supernaturals! I’m so sorry, Theo. You were close, weren’t you?”

“Not as close as you and Oz. While you and I both idolize our older brothers, yours actually responded in kind. Greggory is…” I paused and struggled to think of my brother in the past tense. He was… everything I failed to be. “Greggory was a champion among swordsmen and master with his ability. He was the oldest and heir to the duchy with the power to change the very winds. He also had a stubborn attitude. We disagreed on multiple accounts regarding treatment of the lower classes and cursed beings. I figured the only way to gain influence and to support the people was through political knowledge.” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly to rein my emotions. “However, I am now Marquis of Margen. His duties have fallen to me, and I must return to Fantasy.”

Greggory was dead. I was marquis. Curses! As the second eldest, I elected to study poli-sci to serve as Greggory’s assistant and advisor, not to be the man himself. Margen titled me “The Trusted” because they thought my ability was useless, and I feared to strike my opponents even in the friendliest of combat. How could I lead a duchy of magical warriors?

Regardless of the lightness of my aura, my fingers trembled. Two hands of grief—denial and fear—gripped me by the throat.

Pansy’s brown eyes met my blue-green with inner turmoil and worry. “Two questions then: when do you go, and how soon will you be back?”

I placed a hand on her cheek and said the condemning words, “I must leave as soon as I am capable.  My Masters thesis on Adventures will be postponed.  Concerning my return… I may not.”

She leaned away from my touch. “So, you’re leaving? It’s that simple?”

No, it was hardly simple. The mere thought of saying goodbye to Pansy wrenched my core. Yet the thought of abandoning Margen to collapse—my kingdom and inheritance—likewise tore me apart. If I could protect Margen from my younger brothers, if only a small piece of it, I had to try.  Margen was the home of my heart, and Pansy was the keeper of it. How could I decide between the two?

I squeezed my eyes shut and whispered, “I dare not ask you to join me. I will protect Margen from my younger brothers by taking the title of marquis and future duke… or I may die in my attempt.”

“Not if I can help it.”

“Sorry?” My eyes snapped open.  Pansy set her jaw.

“Let me go with you,” she said. “I can’t stand aside and watch if you’re in trouble. Let’s see, how did you put it when you asked me to go to the ball with you? Oh! Will you let me be your side-kick?”  She grinned.

My heart groaned. Was this how she felt when I asked her to go to the masquerade, and she begged me to understand how perilous it was? “This is not the average Fairy Adventure. I know not what awaits me in Margen. This Adventure may be dangerous.”

Regardless of the worry in my eyes, she laughed. “Compared to Hauntings? Seriously, Theo, no matter what we’re up against, I’ve probably been through worse.”

I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it again, knowing she was likely right.

“Alright. You may accompany me under one condition,” I said, bolstering my courage for the audacity of the words about to leave my lips.

“Sure, what is it?” she asked.

“Marry me.”

Coming to You LIVE!

As a first-time author, this is beyond exciting for me. “DON’T DATE THE HAUNTED” is AVAILABLE for purchase on Amazon and reviews on Goodreads!

Follow the links to check it out!

Also, please note: for a LIMITED TIME ONLY it’s available for FREE to Kindle Unlimited readers!

Steampunk, Paranormal, Proper Cinderella

Is that enough genre mashups for you? Because it was for me!
“Brass Carriages and Glass Hearts” is book 4 of Nancy Campbell Allen’s “Steampunk Proper Romance” series. I wasn’t surprised that the series continued after a solid trilogy because there were always four comrades who served in the military together; Miles (book 1 with Lucy), Daniel (Lucy’s brother, book 2 with Isla), Sam (book 3 with Hazel), and now Oliver (their captain, book 4 with Emme). After reading book 4, I won’t be surprised if there’s a book 5, but we’ll get to that later.

First of all, this is book 4 in a steampunk paranormal, so it helps to read at least the first two books before jumping into this one. The chemistry between Emme and Oliver is evident in book 3, but it’s Emme’s cousin relationship with Isla that makes book 2 more important to understand. Then, of course, it’s helpful to read book 1 to understand the peculiar technology and paranormal rules of the world Mrs. Allen has created.

Still, if you really want to skip to book 4 because Cinderella’s your favorite, you can. Just be ready for a large learning curve.

Mostly because Emme’s main goal in life is to advocate for the rights of predatory shifters. Oliver’s goal, as a detective, is to keep the peace. So when Emme’s protests turn to riots, she finds herself thrown over Oliver’s shoulders and taken to jail. The interactions are always passionate between Emme and Oliver as enemies-turned into forced partners-turned into something more. (That’s not a spoiler, it’s implied on the back of the cover). Regardless, their chemistry is strong no matter what stage they’re in.

Also, take note: all the books in this series have been loosely based off the Disney versions of the fairy tales (which are loosely based on the Perrault versions). So, no one cuts off their toes, birds don’t pluck out any eyes, but there is literally a character named Gus-Gus. And he’s simply adorable.

More so in this story than the other three, the villains are truly villainous. They made me squirm, and I really wanted to see them go down. We learned earlier that Oliver’s brother is a notorious vampire, but he’s not the only problem in town. I wish I could say more, but they’re spoilers of the worst sort, unlike the vague theory I have in the next paragraph.

My prediction: there will be another book based on–HIGHLIGHT FOR SPOILER>> “The Little Mermaid.” I could be totally wrong, but Madeline’s story is left open, and I think there’s something to develop between her and Nigel Crowe.

Over all, I give it 4.3 stars. It’s not a quick read, but it’s fun and easy. I predicted most of the twists, but it’s a tie for my favorite in the series (tied with book 2) for its well-written characters.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

PS. This book will be released Oct. 6th. It’s original release date was the first week of August, but then COVID happened… and riots… and I expect they wanted to postpone its release when the very first page begins with a riot.

Behind the Scenes of “Don’t Date the Haunted,” Book Cover

I’m a visual person. I learn visually and write scenes better when I can visualize them in my head. Sometimes it helps that I’m a little bit of an artist. Nothing professional, but I’ve taken several art classes including graphite, pastels, watercolors, acrylics, clay sculpting, calligraphy, and photography.

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Believe it or not, being a bit of an artist has its drawbacks. #1 drawback: I’m super picky about my book covers. I usually create a mock version of a book cover before I finish writing a novel. Then I often change it between edits and drafts.

“Don’t Date the Haunted” went through a group of book covers. My first thoughts were to gear it around a Romantic Horror category. Using the classic Paint tool, Gimp 2.0, and free fonts online, I made a black cover with a solitary object in the middle: a pansy flower… because my main character’s name is Pansy. Then I made it glow blue-green because of how the secondary main character sees her.
Oh, also, for the first FOUR YEARS of working on “Don’t Date the Haunted,” it was titled “Haunted Romance.” It was a terribly vague filler title that stuck simply because I couldn’t think of anything better until I worked with Shaela.

[image error][image error][image error]

You’ll see the main thing that changed was the fonts and the style of blue-green glow.

Then, I showed this to Shaela Kay (a book cover designer of bluewaterbooks.com who’s awesome and also in my writing group)
She suggested that I change the focus to a woman’s mouth. I wasn’t a big fan of the idea, but I worked on it.

[image error]

Wanting to keep the pansy flower and add the concept of humor, I came up with this mock cover. I wanted to portray Pansy as an African-Asian (a combination of some of the most beautiful people in my opinion), though edited the picture to give her a hint of a smile. Actually, I edited three separate pictures to make this one. The hand is from a different model, and the flower was originally a fruit.
This was still a mock cover. I knew I couldn’t use this exact picture because I didn’t own the rights to any of the three pictures I edited. Or the fonts.

[image error]“One to Watch,” by Kate Stayman-London

So, I contacted my friend, Shaela, again. This time as a professional. Within a week of deciding that I wanted to take the self-publishing route, I emailed her from her website (again, that’s bluewaterbooks.com) and asked for a quote for the trilogy. She has won awards for regency romance book covers, but had never done a “dark romantic comedy” before. She asked me what style I wanted, which lead me to research a bunch of covers for romantic comedies, dark romances, and dark comedies.
This was the research that helped me discover the need to retitle the book and change the tone of the cover. I specifically analyzed the covers for “The Damned,” by Renee Ahdieh, “Catherine House,” by Elisabeth Thomas, and “One to Watch,” by Kate Stayman-London.

[image error]

As much as I liked the dark romantic concept of a simple object in a black background, I liked the comical feel of the cartoon girl with an object behind her back. With this in mind, I found a clip-art silhouette and used Paint to alter it to my liking. A lot. The only part about the girl that remained the same was her left arm, face, legs and shoes. The problem with this picture was the size of the objects behind their backs. I wanted a larger focus on Pansy’s knife. Shaela commissioned a friend to make a new version of this, but I wasn’t terribly excited about it…

So, using the classic Paint tool, I made this:

[image error]I magnified my altered picture by 500% and fixed the pixellation by redrawing her outline.

Shaela then turned it into this beauty:

[image error]

I seriously could not stop smiling when I first saw her rendition. I loved it.
It needed a couple minor tweaks to better represent the land of Romance, but I LOVE it. I can’t wait to see what Blue Water Books comes up with for Books 2 and 3.

Behind the Scenes of “Don’t Date the Haunted” : Book Cover

I’m a visual person. I learn visually and write scenes better when I can visualize them in my head. Sometimes it helps that I’m a little bit of an artist. Nothing professional, but I’ve taken several art classes including graphite, pastels, watercolors, acrylics, clay sculpting, calligraphy, and photography.

[image error][image error][image error]

Believe it or not, being a bit of an artist has its drawbacks. #1 drawback: I’m super picky about my book covers. I usually create a mock version of a book cover before I finish writing a novel. Then I often change it between edits and drafts.

“Don’t Date the Haunted” went through a group of book covers. My first thoughts were to gear it around a Romantic Horror category. Using the classic Paint tool, Gimp 2.0, and free fonts online, I made a black cover with a solitary object in the middle: a pansy flower… because my main character’s name is Pansy. Then I made it glow blue-green because of how the secondary main character sees her.
Oh, also, for the first FOUR YEARS of working on “Don’t Date the Haunted,” it was titled “Haunted Romance.” It was a terribly vague filler title that stuck simply because I couldn’t think of anything better until I worked with Shaela.

[image error][image error][image error]

You’ll see the main thing that changed was the font and the style of blue-green glow.

Then, I showed this to Shaela Kay (a book cover designer of bluewaterbooks.com who’s awesome and also in my writing group)
She suggested that I change the focus to a woman’s mouth. I wasn’t a big fan of the idea, but I worked on it.

[image error]

Wanting to keep the pansy flower and add the concept of humor, I came up with this mock cover. I wanted to portray Pansy as an African-Asian (a combination of some of the most beautiful people in my opinion), though edited the picture to give her a hint of a smile. Actually, I edited three separate pictures to make this one. The hand is from a different model, and the flower was originally a fruit.
This was still a mock cover. I knew I couldn’t use this exact picture because I didn’t own the rights to any of the three pictures I edited. Or the fonts.

[image error]“One to Watch,” by Kate Stayman-London

So, I contacted my friend, Shaela, again. This time as a professional. Within a week of deciding that I wanted to take the self-publishing route, I emailed her from her website (again, that’s bluewaterbooks.com) and asked for a quote for the trilogy. She wasn’t sure she could create my cover (she has won awards for regency romance book covers, but had never done a “dark romantic comedy” before). She asked me what style I wanted, which lead me to research a bunch of covers for romantic comedies, dark romances, and dark comedies.
This was the research that helped me discover the need to retitle the book and change the tone of the cover. I specifically analyzed the covers for “The Damned,” by Renee Ahdieh, “Catherine House,” by Elisabeth Thomas, and… “One to Watch,” by Kate Stayman-London.

[image error]

As much as I liked the dark romantic concept of a simple object in a black background, I liked the comical feel of the cartoon girl with an object behind her back. With this in mind, I found a clip-art silhouette and used Paint to alter it to my liking. A lot. The only part about the girl that remained the same was her left arm, face, legs and shoes. The problem with this picture was the size of the objects behind their backs. I wanted a larger focus on Pansy’s knife. Shaela commissioned a friend to make a new version of this, but I wasn’t terribly excited about it…

So, using the classic Paint tool, I made this:

[image error]I magnified my altered picture by 500% and fixed the pixellation by redrawing her outline.

Shaela then turned it into this beauty:

[image error]

I seriously could not stop smiling when I first saw her rendition. I loved it.
It needed a couple minor tweaks to better represent the land of Romance, but I LOVE it. I can’t wait to see what Blue Water Books comes up with for Books 2 and 3.

First Sentence

The night is silent around me save for the gentle roar of the freeway and subtle buzz of my computer.

But that’s typical at 1:00 AM

First sentences can be key to catching a reader’s attention. Authors and editors worry and fret over them much more than the average reader even thinks to consider.

My first sentences generally aren’t too shabby. How do I know this? I get a lot of compliments from my writing group. I’ve started my unpublished short stories with

Battle drums steadily grew louder, closing the distance between dreams and war.

Planetarum

and

Like any other ill-fated Halloween outing, we had no idea what dangers were ahead.

The Final Night of October

I’ll publish those someday.

In the meantime, I’m super excited to reveal the first sentence of “Don’t Date the Haunted”! I had two (not just one) editors suggest that I use this sentence as my first.
Without further ado, here it is!

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Just in case the font or picture doesn’t show up well, here it is again:

Alone was a dangerous status in Horror Zone.

– Don’t Date the Haunted

Don’t Date the Haunted

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I can’t even begin to explain how excited I am to announce my first published book! “Don’t Date the Haunted” will be available on Amazon.com on October 2, 2020!

Pansy Finster isn’t the typical pre-med in Brimstone, Horror. She’s a survivor against werewolves and poltergeists, because she lives by her brother’s rules against Hauntings (avoid dolls, clowns, and masks) until she flees to Heartford, Romance, where a masquerade has her Regency roommate squealing… in excitement. 

Culture-shocked, Pansy struggles to make friends and to avoid any ill omens, such as repeated glances from Lord Fromm, of Fantasy.  With a title of “The Trusted,” and a seemingly useless magical ability, Lord Fromm could be the Romance Pansy never knew she needed, or her most deceitful Haunting yet.  To add to her anxiety, a detective from Mystery investigates the horrific death of her ex-fiancé.  He narrows on the last person who spoke to him, the same person who alerted the police of his demise, and the only person to receive his inheritance:  Pansy Finster.

If Pansy is to survive in Romance, she must train her new friends in the rules of Horror before a masquerade becomes a massacre.

It’s the first in a trilogy, but it can stand alone. I just had too much fun with the characters and world to leave it alone.

What The Forest?

I was given the opportunity to beta read “The Forest,” by Michaelbrent Collings (one of Amazon’s best sellers in horror).

It’s a horror set in a forest, so you can bet there are chase scenes through the woods from monsters (of human, nature, and unnatural sort). There are also twists that boggle the mind. The big twist I saw coming was only a small part of the revelation. (One concept mentioned through the book is about people who are smart enough to know how dumb they are. Yeah, I was the dumb kind of smart where I thought I knew everything, but I actually knew very little).

This book is definitely the type that you want to read again. I’ve only read it once as I write this review, so I’m still mulling it around and around my head because… circles are a thing.

Funny enough, “The Forest” is a fairly clean horror. It has almost no sexuality; a teenage boy likes to look at his girl friend. That’s not graphic, that’s natural. There’s a make-out session with very little details, and the married couple only talks about their struggle with romance after the loss of their child.
There’s also very limited swearing. There are a few references for h*ll, but this book would be PG… if not for the gore and psychological scares.
Yeah, it’s a horror, so every chapter has something frightening about it, whether it’s one of the multiple gruesome deaths, almost death chases, or terror caused by the unknown.

I bounced back and forth between 4-5 stars because as much as the revelation tied up loose ends, there were still plot holes about the forest itself. But let’s face it; things get messy whenever you mess with time. Considering all the twists and different happenings all at the same time, it’s written well enough to earn 4.5 stars.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

This book will be available on Amazon on Aug. 18th.

PS. If you scare easily, I don’t recommend reading this while camping… or in the fog… or during a night-time lightning storm (which was my personal experience).

Stranger Still

I didn’t find out that “Stranger Still” was a sequel to “Strangers” until after finishing the book and reading the Author’s Note. Oops. All the same, I only noticed a large learning curve in the prologue as the story poetically introduces Legion (who used to be One).

Quick Plot Introduction: Danielle is a lawyer who strives to give criminals only the justice they need. She’s newly wed to Alex, and during their drive to their honeymoon, they’re kidnapped by Sheldon Steward (a happy torturer), and taken to Marcos (a meth-maker staging a revolution in the Russian mob). Legion follows as the Byronic Hero that he is. Anything from Legion’s perspective is in Present Tense, which would normally throw me off, (especially when the other four perspectives are in Past Tense), but the writing and story flowed well enough that I usually didn’t notice the change of tenses for a couple paragraphs.

The characters are what really make this book gleam (they would shine, but it’s a horror). They each have tormenting flaws and some righteous reasoning for their actions. By chapter five, I wanted a series about Legion (lucky me, there’s the first book), who Kronks it out with his shoulder angel and devil. I was surprised to find myself rooting for Legion and laughing with Sheldon despite their twisted characters.

There are some interesting themes about punishments for crimes/sins, though I suppose that’s only expected when you put a lawyer, mobster, torturer, and morals fanatic in a chamber. (That sounds like the beginning of a bad joke).
Speaking of bad jokes, I had to laugh in chapter twelve at the words “I’m so tired…” considering Michaelbrent Collings’ Facebook posts during Covid-19.

To anyone who enjoys reading horror, I definitely recommend this one. It’s creepy, comical, and intriguing.
It’s also relatively clean for a horror. There’s enough swearing to rate this PG-13, but not R (no F-bombs!). There are sexual references, groping, and rape threats, but no sex scenes. Since it’s horror, there is some blood or a disturbing scene in every chapter. The gore is mostly methodical torture, not slasher. *****4.8 Stars**** That might shift one or two tenths after I read “Strangers.”

Rating: 5 out of 5.

PS. I hope the next Legion book deals with Lucy. There’s definitely something creepy to develop there.
PPS. I’m an official beta reader for Michaelbrent Collings, so you can expect more reviews of books by him.

Royal Series

Like all of Traci Hunter Abramson’s books, I read this series out of order. I started with “Royal Heir” (book 4), then read books 1, 2, then 3.

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“Royal Target” (book 1) is set in a make-believe fairy-tale-ish country somewhere between Italy and France. CIA agent Janessa Rogers is asked to be Prince Garrett’s personal guard, but to protect her cover, she pretends to be his fiance (no way that can go wrong).