Z.A. Maxfield's Blog, page 39
October 18, 2010
And Now For Something Completely Different…
I can hardly credit that I had three titles come out in the last few months. WOW!
Jacob's Ladder - the third in my St. Nacho's series was an festival of quirky characters and a continuation on the theme or redemption. It was a tough one, finding the proper balance there because it dealt with partner abuse and a man in the closet because of religion! Trust me to take on the tough stuff!
Stirring Up Trouble - You are unlikely to meet a more lighthearted, simple, and romantic story. My heart really thrives on these, the modern Andy Hardy tale where it's possible to save the day through hard work, caring, and a little slap and tickle in the basement of an up-and-coming neighborhood eatery!
And finally, there was Vigil - The second of my Vampire stories that I'm starting to think of of as The Hours Series, after the Divine Office, the practice of prayer in the Catholic Church. Writing a second book in that series was ultimately very rewarding although since Notturno was well-loved by a number of my friends, I had to step carefully there!
Essentially, that's how I spent my summer vacation, only it took a while longer than that 
!
So, from now until November first I'm going to write something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!
I don't know what yet, but I have an idea for a young adult short story featuring someone who will bear a remarkable similarity to my daughter. (when she reads this wherever you live you'll be hearing her scream, "No Mommy, NO!)
And on November 1 I'll be – once again — participating in NaNoWriMo and this year I've even got an official hoodie sweatshirt for all those trips to coffee places so I can LOOK like I'm writing a novel while I'm hanging out there amongst the young, hip, and highly caffeinated. I'll be working on All Stirred Up, the sequel to Stirring Up Trouble.
So wish me luck! And look around on my Coming Soon page, I'm adding one more, a holiday novella featuring the characters from Crossing Borders in What Child Is This? A Crossing Borders Christmas Story.
October 9, 2010
October 8, 2010
Congratulations Winners!
For a change I used a random line generator to pick my contest winners, so I didn't have to cut up what seemed like a billion little pieces of paper and I didn't have to rely on my kids picking names out of a hat. I'm quite happy about that, by the way! I also like the way it let me shuffle the names as many times as I wanted, so I had my daughter tell me how many times to shuffle the names, (four) and picked the first name for the eBook Winner….
And The eBook Winner Is…
Tame Adams!
It was more difficult with my Print Book winner because I had to choose from those who answered the question "What is the name of the famous miniature portrait artist from book one, Notturno?"
The correct answer is Richard Cosway. There were three artists mentioned in that book, Gilbert (some of you guessed that) van Musscher, (some of you guessed that one too) but Richard Cosway was the artist who painted Donte's miniature (fictionally speaking.) He's actually a real artist, I doubt, however he painted any two hundred and fifty year old vampires…
Of course, we all know Donte has brown eyes… That's Arthur Wellesley depicted above.
And The Print Book Winner Is…
Helen Beattie!
Congratulations, and thanks so much for playing along with me as I waited for my book to come out. Best wishes to everyone who entered, and I look forward to doing this again soon with Matins! Because after Vigil, a new day dawns for Donte and Adin.
Very Last Chance!
Last Chance to Enter Vigil Contest!!!
If you've not already done so, please add your entry to the Vigil book contests as follows:
One: For a chance at an ebook copy of Vigil as soon as it comes out, send me a note at zamaxfield@yahoo.com and PLEASE put "VIGIL EBOOK CONTEST" in the subject line.
Second: For a chance at a signed print copy of Vigil, please send me the answer to this question: What is the name of the famous miniature portrait artist from book one, Notturno? Email your answer to this question to zamaxfield@yahoo.com and PLEASE put "VIGIL PRINT BOOK CONTEST" in the subject line.
Do not post your answer to the print book contest question as a reply, thanks.
It's possible that the release of the ebook Vigil is only HOURS away! I'll be taking entries up until MIDNIGHT Eastern Standard Time, today, Friday, October 8th (9:00 p.m. here in California.) After that, I'll announce the winners of both the ebook and the print book contest. (The print book will take longer to arrive, as it won't be coming out for some time after the ebook is released.)
Don't delay, there's still a small window of time to enter if you haven't!
Good luck!
~ZAM~
October 3, 2010
Mea Culpa
Oh, my word. Sometimes things don't go exactly as planned. One of those things has been the release of Vigil, which has been a long time coming — since it took me nearly forever to write — and a long time in process…
The release was planned for the end of summer, August or September and here it is October, and I can only say that I'm so sorry for the delay. It's in final proofing now, and I can only hope it's worth the wait.
Did I mention I find sequels difficult?
It's possibly the most daunting thing in my world, second only to funding four college educations in a space of five years, (I'll have four in college at once, thank you very much… What the hell was I THINKING?) I mean, I love books with sequels but I don't always love the sequel… So the pressure is on, we're down to the wire, it is coming, I PROMISE.
I'm going to be posting a snippet here and you'll be the first I let know when release day comes. In the meantime, let's have not one but TWO contests shall we?
One: For a chance at an ebook copy of Vigil as soon as it comes out, send me a note at zamaxfield@yahoo.com and PLEASE put "VIGIL EBOOK CONTEST" in the subject line.
Second: For a chance at a signed print copy of Vigil, please send me the answer to this question: What is the name of the famous miniature portrait artist from book one, Notturno? Email your answer to this question to zamaxfield@yahoo.com and PLEASE put "VIGIL PRINT BOOK CONTEST" in the subject line.
Do not post your answer to the print book contest question as a reply, thanks.
I'll be closing the contest the moment I'm informed that Vigil has been released in ebook format, (print format always takes a bit longer) I'll try to keep folks updated but get your emails and answers in ASAP!
Here's the book cover. (YUM)
Once inside the taxi, Adin faced Donte. "Let me look at you at least. Are you well?"
The expression on Donte's face softened. "You are positively the silliest man. Of course I'm well."
"Did you get a lot of brooding done while I was gone?" Adin teased. "How's your chair, the one with the leather upholstery? Did you sit by the fire and doodle pictures of bats with little heart shaped eyes? I did."
"I am not in the mood to be mocked."
Adin framed Donte's face with his hands, running his thumbs over the bones of his cheeks and the arch of his brows. "Beloved, I mock you only as a last resort." He leaned in and whispered in Donte's ear, "Do you need me?"
Donte lowered his gaze. "I do. Always."
"Feed," Adin ordered. "I had Thai food for lunch before I met Harwiche. Let's see if you can tell me what I ate."
Donte looked at the driver. "We could wait—"
"I'm sure you can make him believe he dropped Italian nuns off at the Louvre. Now, come to me." Adin's voice roughened. "Maybe I need you , lover."
Donte allowed Adin to draw him in. In the end neither of them could fight the attraction they felt. Adin's heart quickened as Donte pressed his lips to the pulse in his neck and a terrible excitement stole over him when he felt Donte's teeth tease the skin there. Donte could tear his throat out with little more than the effort it would take Adin to place a chaste kiss on someone's nose, but maybe that was part of the thrill.
"I wish you didn't like this so much, caro," Donte murmured. "I worry that you'll be indiscriminate."
Adin slapped both his hands to Donte's face and held him away. "You don't mean that." Fury brought a high color to his cheeks. "I am no one's cheap eats ."
Donte's eyes searched him for any sign of duplicity and Adin wanted to scream. "Promise me? Santos—"
"Santos closed my wound without permission from me," Adin growled. "I will never willingly be with anyone else, in any way, Donte as long as you and I… I don't know what I have to do to prove myself to you…"
Donte struck, his teeth sliding into Adin's neck like ice picks, quick and sure. Adin felt the sudden surge of hot lightning throughout his body that began as searing pain, but brought him almost instantly to an equal ecstasy.
" Donte ." Donte had to know that feeding brought Adin a release that was both profoundly sexual and emotionally gratifying. "Don't you know how I feel? Don't you understand what it means to me to nourish you this way?"
Donte used his tongue to soothe away the pain and Adin breathed in deeply, committing to memory the ambiance of Paris as it mingled in his mind with Donte's own deeply masculine scent.
"Ah, lover ."
"Più amato." Donte nuzzled him as Adin's head swam. It wasn't unusual for him to get light-headed after Donte fed. He'd grown to count on curling up in Donte's arms afterwards and letting the lassitude take him even as Donte's body warmed and quickened with borrowed life.
After a while Donte broke the silence. "Are you sure you want to go to Santos's place?"
Adin opened his eyes. "Can you think of a logical reason why I shouldn't?"
Donte glared at him.
The familiar argument dragged Adin down far more than the loss of blood. "If he wanted me dead, I'd be dead."
"Who knows what he wants? What if he plans to kill you next week? He could kill you—"
"At any time. So can anything. Accept that or don't follow me next time, Donte. I'm human; I will die. Accustom yourself or walk away." Donte's hold tightened around him and Adin felt unreasonably constricted. He pushed away from Donte who glared at him, hurt and angry. Adin caught the door handle and opened it to step out but Donte held him in place, his jaw tense.
"If I thought you meant that for one second I would have no trouble killing you myself." He gave Adin a shove that sent him sprawling onto the pavement of the road in front of Santos's home and slammed the door, even as Adin heard him tell the driver to go. The cab sped away, its taillights winking back as it braked and surged into the Parisian traffic.
"Bastard." Adin got up and dusted himself off, then walked to the wrought iron gate of Santos's impressive property. While he waited for someone to answer the intercom he muttered, "Time for a new Cosmo poll. Ten ways to tell if you're boyfriend is The One…Question #1. Is he willing to throw you from a moving vehicle…?"
September 24, 2010
Vigil
September 9, 2010
Lost/Broken Links and Other News
Crazy day! I've only just discovered that the image links on my "Links" page have disappeared! If I hadn't been linking to an author whose book I recently read and enjoyed I would never have noticed. So, for now, my website "Links" Page and "Books" Page are under construction. Soon — All too soon, I have to add more books and every single slot on that page is full, at this point. I have no earthly idea how to put in more. Since I plan to write more — many, many more books, I'd better be...
August 5, 2010
Looking For A Title
I finally, finally cracked 70K on this DAMNED BOOK I'm working on. So close to the end I can feel it. Any day now. Time for party.
It's going to be longer than I thought, YAY! I can't tell you how much I prefer the way I can go into detail in a full length novel.
I need a better title than The Pharaoh's Wife/Concubine. Anyone want to come up with one? The blurb is on the "Coming Soon" page of my website, under the stupid title The Pharoah's Concubine. Since it has nothing to do with Pharaohs...
August 1, 2010
Because of the Brave
MLR Press has just announced that the anthology Because Of The Brave has been released in print. I'm very happy to see it available in it's new format! The cover art is slightly different. You can find out more about buying it HERE.
July 25, 2010
Jacob's Ladder Review
Whipped Cream Erotic Romance Reviews gave me four and a half cherries for Jacob's Ladder SN3, and I'm just delighted.
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Among other things, the reviewer Cactus said:
As a fan of the author, I'm happy to say Jacob's Ladder delivers and appeals on all levels. There is romance, conflict, hot sex, tension, and a delicious thread for the next novel. This series offers something comforting, sexy, and purely entertaining. You can't help but sink into the atmosphere and enjoy the ride with these...
