Lisa Olsen's Blog, page 11

I’m Back!

Hi guys! I’m happy to say the move is done (they’re taking away the last POD today) and I’m semi-settled into my new office. Sure, there are still boxes everywhere and I have to do laundry every three days, but the important thing is I’m back to writing on the next book.

So far I’m about 36,000 words into it, and all I can say is, Anja’s life is sort of spinning out of control right about now. Hopefully she’ll learn to swim before the sharks start to circle!

In semi-related news, I’m giving away free copies of Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down on Amazon for today and tomorrow. So, if you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, now you can pick it up for free. And if you enjoyed it, please tell a friend.

Off for a quick bite to eat and then it’s back to Anja and company. I think it’s just about time for Jakob to stick his nose into her business again.

Soon to come

- dream casting for The Company of Shadows

- an excerpt from Miss Me When the Sun Goes Down

- possibly a character interview… who would you guys like to hear from?

Going MIA for a while

Hey guys, I just wanted to give you a heads up that the website will be down for a week or so. Don’t worry, I haven’t

disappeared off the face of the Earth, I’ll just be incommunicado for a while. If all goes well, we’re moving next week, and

the internet won’t be on in our new place until June 11th. With the move, the new book has been put on hold for another week or so, I’d say. I hate the delay, but there’s just too much going on to try and fit in the writing too, and I don’t want to be

so distracted when I sit down and get to it.

I swear I’m not a tool!

From time to time I get emails from fans who use the “Contact Lisa” function of the website. In general, I try to respond to them as soon as I can, I love to hear from you guys!!! I realized a couple of weeks ago that the system wasn’t showing me the person’s email address to reply to, but the system’s address!!! So, I apologize for some of the emails I thought I was replying to that disappeared into the ether. I’ve saved the last few I’ve gotten, waiting for my hubby to fix the problem so I could reply directly. Well, the problem is fixed for future emails, but we have no way to retrieve the email address for the messages I’ve already received.

I thought I’d reply here to a few emails, so you know I’m not being a tool on purpose, I really just haven’t had the ability to get back to you.

Lisa W: Thanks for asking about the Fallen series, I’m glad you’re enjoying it! Yes, there are definitely at least one or two Mercy books waiting to be written I’ll be working on one later this year. Then there will be a series from her daughter’s POV. Then I might pick back up with Mercy again later, we’ll see how it goes. There are always stories to be told when you have immortal beings in the picture.

Lisa B: I’m sorry you don’t like cliffhangers, my Mercy books are verrrra cliffhangery, I’ll admit. Maybe you’d prefer one of the stand alone books like The Touch or Pretty Witches All in a Row?

Kristen S: Thanks for reaching out to me, I don’t mind friendly stalkers at all, lol. I don’t know that I’d call myself a “speed writer” per se, but I do try to stick to a pretty rigid schedule with my writing. If you write to me again, I’d be happy to share my experiences as an author and answer any questions you might have on my writing process.

Tommy B: I think it’s a fantastic idea to draft a map of the vampire factions for my Forged Bloodlines series! I’ll get my hubby working on it. We’ll definitely see more of the different reps once we get to the Gathering in Book 5.

Michelle L: I’m pretty sure my response to you was one of the ones that went into the ether. I’m sorry I couldn’t help you out, but I don’t really have any swag made up. I’m thinking of getting some products available in time for the holidays with CafePress, but nothing at the moment.

Again, the system seems to be working now, so if anyone wants to try contacting me I promise I’ll try to respond.

Hopefully the mailing list is working as it should be. So far I’m only sending out emails when I have a new release, but I’m putting together a plan to release some original content, serial style on a monthly basis. What do you guys think? Would you be interested in receiving a chapter of something only available via the mailing list? I’m thinking maybe some behind the scenes stuff for Rob’s past with Jakob, circa WWII.

In other news, I’ve got the outline all mapped out for Miss Me When the Sun Goes Down, it just wants a bit more filling out before I start on the writing. It’ll be a different animal writing this one since we’re moving the first week of June, and I’m splitting my time between book stuff and house stuff, so it won’t be completed as quickly. Hopefully it’ll be worth the wait though.

The Company of Shadows is available on Amazon!

My new book is out! The Company of Shadows is now available for sale on Amazon! It should be up at Barnes and Noble in a day or so, their process is a little slower. It’s out as an e-book for $3.99 but you don’t have to have a Kindle or Nook to read it, they have free downloadable apps so you can read it on your PC, or even your phone. It’ll be available in print as well in a few weeks through Amazon.

This one started out as a stand alone book, but it’s turned out to be the first in a new series. The next one will be coming later this year. It’s about a demon hunter and his too-curious-for-her-own-good neighbor. It’s got sexy demons, magic, a brooding hero with a dark secret, intrigue, body switching, mythology, tattoos, cheese whiz, you name it. Here’s the sitch:

Cady Garrett can’t help but be shaken when next door neighbor, Ethan, shows up in the nick of time to save her from a ruthless killer, spouting mumbo jumbo. Even more disturbed when the killer slits his own throat to escape Ethan after a vicious struggle. Curiously, Ethan insists on leaving before the dead killer returns, even though he can barely stand on his feet. Nursing him back to health, Cady is drawn into a world of half truths and mysteries, where shadows hide more than the seedy underbelly of San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. She has become the obsession of a darker power, and no one, not even Ethan, can keep her safe from his twisted desires.

I’m already working on the next in my Forged Bloodlines vampire series, Miss Me When the Sun Goes Down, but it’ll be slower going since we just sold our house, and I’ll be knee deep in packing and coordinating stuff for the next couple of months.

Stay tuned for some dream casting, and a sneak peek of what Anja will be up to next!

A Taste of The Company of Shadows

Edits are going well for The Company of Shadows, and I hope to have it ready for publication in the next week or so. Here’s a little excerpt between Cady, her neighbor (whose name she doesn’t know yet, but she thinks is a cop) and a seductive demon (currently inhabiting the body of a gallery owner named Claudio), who has just forced her into a darkened parking lot.

It was exactly what they warned you about. You leave a club alone or with a good looking guy and they find your body raped and mutilated in a dumpster the next morning. Wide eyed, she whimpered as he dragged her away, her feet flailing, unable to gain any purchase on the ground until he pressed her against the side of a car in a cramped parking lot. Cady squinched her eyes shut, concentrating on evening out her breathing to stop the burning in her lungs from lack of air.

“Shhh, it doesn’t have to be this way,” he crooned at her ear. “Open your eyes and look at me.” That only doubled her resolve to keep her eyes tightly shut. Somehow she knew it would be worse if she gave him that satisfaction. “You’re being childish.” Claudio lost some of his amusement, frustration creeping in.

Tough titty, her mind screamed at him with juvenile glee as she dug her fingernails into the side of his wrist as hard as she could.

“You will obey me!” Something sharp jabbed her in the stomach and her eyes popped open of their own volition. Instantly his face swam before her, blocking out all else. “There now, relax. I don’t want to hurt you.”

The tension drained away, even as a secret corner of her mind wailed in protest, preferring to hold onto the terror to this easy capitulation. “You don’t?” she breathed as his hand let up on her mouth.

“No.” His fingers stroked the side of her cheek tenderly. “I only want to know you.”

That didn’t sound so bad. It actually sounded pretty good, and Cady’s head dipped in a slow nod. Something nagged at her sub-conscious though. “Why?”

“Why?” he repeated, his head tilting to one side.

“Yes, why do you want to know me?”

A low chuckle rumbled through him and she felt it everywhere his body pressed against hers. “Can’t you guess?” His fingers brushed down the side of her neck, tracing the line of her collar bone and continued down over the swell of her breast.

Naked desire shot through her like a bolt of electricity, but Cady fought it, clinging to the mistrust of her response. “I don’t want to.”

“Your body tells another story. Listen closely…” His hand snaked around her waist to catch hold of her hair, tugging gently, effectively tipping her head back. Before she could protest, his lips covered hers, taking and giving in the same breath. And then she didn’t want to protest anymore. She didn’t want anything but to give him everything he sought and more.

His fingers probed under her top, splaying over bare skin and Cady arched under his touch, no longer caring where they were. The tug on her hair grew sharper and she moaned against his mouth, pleasure mingling with pain until she realized he’d stopped. Stopped kissing, stopped touching, stopped everything. She opened her eyes, only to see him frozen in a rictus of pain. The handle of a dagger protruded from his back, low, near the kidneys. Cady stared at it stupidly, not understanding where it had materialized from.

Claudio made no move to pull it out, he made no moves at all, scarcely breathing. “Help… me…” escaped from his lips, mutated by lack of movement. Without pause, she grabbed hold of the hilt, surprised at how easily it slid from his flesh.

“No, don’t!”

Head snapping up, she caught sight of her neighbor, approaching at a dead run. She stared at him in shock, not comprehending why he could have possibly thrown a dagger at another man. And then it hit her like a cold slap in the face as Claudio’s influence slid away and her free will returned. In that same instant, he spun her around, using her as a human shield, one hand fisted tightly in her hair and the other at her throat. The cop slowed, approaching warily.

“Let her go,” he demanded, hands coming up slowly.

“I could end her now. That would be more blood on your hands.”

“My hands are clean, yours are the ones stained with souls,” her neighbor scowled, and Cady licked her lips, finding her voice.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Shh,” Claudio purred in her ear. “It will be over soon.”

But Cady found no comfort in his words, the spell broken. She gripped the dagger loosely, her hand slippery with his blood. Should she do something? Did the guy have another weapon? Why didn’t the cop draw his gun?

“Don’t take another step,” Claudio growled. “I would hate to mark this tender flesh.” Cady felt a sting at her neck as his middle finger scraped across her collarbone, drawing blood despite his words.

Heedless of the warning, the cop continued his advance, producing another blade. “I’ll go through her if that’s what it takes to stop you. You know I will.”

“How prettily he defends you,” Claudio chuckled. “You may kill this body, but you can’t stop me. Haven’t you learned that by now?”

“This is crazy…” The world began to spin and Cady sucked in a greedy breath, realizing she’d been frozen in place with fear for far too long. It started to look like she was dead no matter what happened, whatever feud between the men too all encompassing to care about a little thing such as her safety. All at once she remembered she had the knife in her hand, and Cady plunged it into Claudio’s thigh. At the same instant she let all of her weight crumple to the floor, as if her legs wouldn’t hold her any longer, and slid from his grasp. Expecting pursuit, she was stunned to find him completely frozen again.

Not so was her neighbor, who closed the distance faster than she thought possible. Cady expected him to kneel at her side to see if she was okay, or to call for back up or even handcuff Claudio. He did none of those things. The black blade of his second dagger flashed once and Cady watched in horror as he impaled Claudio’s hand through his own. The blade pinned them both to the car, palms pressed together, their blood mingling to run down the hood.

“Oh my God…” Her lips moved, but no sound came out as she stared at them in a shocked stupor.

The blonde grunted against the pain, but kept them steadfastly pinned together as he began to chant. “Immundus spiritus, audite et scire timor.”

“What are you doing?” Cady’s scalp ached from the pulls to her hair, and the scratch on her collarbone oozed blood, but other than that she’d manage to escape relatively unscathed.

He ignored her, continuing to chant. “Hostis humani generis, vitae raptor, tu malorum radix vitiorum seductor hominum…”

Whatever he was doing, Cady saw real terror in Claudio’s eyes. They beckoned to her and she quickly looked away, not wanting to get caught up in his spell again. A flash of movement caught her eye as she trained her gaze down; Claudio’s fingers scrabbled at the hilt of the dagger buried in his thigh. “His other hand is still free,” she called out in warning, but her neighbor gave no sign that he even heard her, continuing to speak in the strange language that reminded her of being in church. “The knife,” she managed to squeak only seconds before Claudio pulled it free with a lurch, immediately plunging it into the cop’s unprotected side.

He sank to his knees with a groan of pain, the black dagger still trapping both their hands against the car. No longer frozen, Claudio tried to free his own hand, but the cop somehow found the strength to fight him. Their hands worked free of the car, still pinned together, and the blonde man’s lips moved, resuming his chanting.

With a cry of anguish, Claudio reversed his struggle, clasping the other man’s hand and pulling instead of pushing. It sent the tip of the dagger against his own unprotected neck. The blade cut through sinew and tendon, and the dark man didn’t stop until it sliced through the thick artery at his own throat.

Cady watched in horror as Claudio’s blood spurted in a great arc, landing at her feet by his own design. “I didn’t choose this,” he rasped, his voice thick and burbly as he settled his shadowy gaze upon her. “Remember that.”

Cover Art for The Company of Shadows

Here is the cover for my newest release, The Company of Shadows. I think it came out pretty sweet, thanks to my husband James for working on it for me! Here is the book’s blurb:

Cady Garrett can’t help but be shaken when next door neighbor Ethan shows up in the nick of time to save her from a would be killer with a rusty knife, spouting mumbo jumbo. Even more disturbed when the killer slits his own throat to escape Ethan after a vicious struggle. Curiously, Ethan insists on leaving before the dead killer returns, even though he can barely stand on his feet. Nursing him back to health, Cady is drawn into a world of half truths and mysteries, where shadows hide more than the seedy underbelly of San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. She has become the obsession of a darker power, and no one, not even Ethan can keep her safe from his twisted desires.

Hope to have this one out in the next couple of weeks once the edits are complete.

Find Me When the Sun Goes Down is out in Print!

Just have time for a quick update. It took a while to work through the last phase of the proof reading process, but Find Me When the Sun Goes Down is finally out in print, and it’s so pretty! It’s available hereon Amazon.

The Company of Shadows is in the editing stages now, so it won’t be long until that one’s ready to go. I’ll have some cover art up in the next few days and hopefully a proper blurb.

Next up… Book 4 of the Forged Bloodlines series, Miss Me When the Sun Goes Down.

She’s Alive!

Hey guys, sorry I’ve been radio silent for a while. I’m hip deep into writing The Company of Shadows — have just passed the 52K mark — and it’s been a challenge to hit my writing quota every day with everything going on. We’re in the final stages of getting our house ready to go on the market, and there always seems to be one more chore to add to the list. Robot brain or no, it’s hard to find the time to get those words in when your arms are sore from painting all day!

But hopefully by the time we actually get the sucker listed I’ll be done or almost done with the first draft, and I won’t feel as much pressure to crank the words out when I’ve got to keep the house in pristine shape or be ready to bail out at the drop of a hat to show it. It’s a scary prospect to move, not knowing if we’ll be able to find a new house as awesome as this one, but at the same time, we’ve lived here for about 8 years now, and I’m looking forward to moving back to Washington.

I’ve had a lot of opportunities to give interviews lately, which is an odd experience for me. I always find it awkward to talk about my books, I always feel like I can never do them justice and my brief synopsis comes out disjointed and doesn’t make much sense. The idea of being interviewed for a radio podcast scared the bejeezus out of me, but Tidal was so kind and courteous, that I loosened right up once we got going. Here’s a link to the interview where you can hear me ramble on about my books and my writing process.

If the player doesn’t appear, here is a link to the interview: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/tidalmiller/2013/03/21/pagan-propensities-guest-lisa-olsen-1

BTW, thanks to everyone who picked up a copy of Find Me When the Sun Goes Down this month. It sat in the top twenty of Hot New Releases in Horror on Amazon for the entire debut month, peaking at #6! That’s my strongest launch so far, and I can’t wait to get back to the series for Miss Me in a couple of months.

Spring Has Sprung!

Okay, so maybe I’m a little premature in welcoming the Spring, but we had a sunny day last Saturday and I’m definitely ready for warmer temperatures! In looking at the last time I posted about the Spring, it’s fun to see where my headspace was at last year and what books I was working on. Last Spring saw my first month of real book sales and it’s awesome to find myself a full time writer now a year later!

I’ve been thrilled with the response to the release of my latest book, Find Me When the Sun Goes Down! Right now it’s sitting at #16 on the list of Hot New Releases for Horror this month, but it has fluctuated as low as #6 (definitely my strongest release ever). I can’t tell you how gratifying it is to see people reading this series, as Anja and company have a special place in my heart. I hope to have the print edition ready to go in the next couple of weeks.

I just started on my next book today, The Company of Shadows, and so far it’s going really well. I’m trying something new, adding the perspective of the bad guy this time, which will hopefully give a better insight into his motivations and vulnerabilities. It’s about a girl (Cady — rhymes with lady) who gets sucked into the fight between a demon hunter and the demon he’s pursuing in their crappy part of town. The demon hunter is very closed off, removed from a lot of human contact, but he *wants* normal things, and Cady provides the perfect distraction when they’re thrown together. The demons in this world are the type to possess human bodies, so think less of the grotesque scaly type demons and more the sexy predator hiding among the human population type demons. Cady’s a smart girl trapped in a dead end life until she gets caught up in her next door neighbor’s supernatural drama. I haven’t decided how steamy this one will get, with sensual demons and the sexy guy next door it has a lot of potential, including the potential for an entire series. We’ll see what the characters get up to.

If all goes as planned, I hope to have this one written in about a month, then another month to edit. After that, it’s back to Anja in Miss Me When the Sun Goes Down.

Dreamcasting – Find Me When the Sun Goes Down

I haven’t done a dreamcasting post in a while since I’ve been working on sequels. But I ALWAYS cast these suckers in my head when I’m in the process of writing, so I thought I’d share my picks for how I see the characters in my head. I’ll include Bishop, Rob and Anja as a refresher, but you can see the rest of the cast from my last dreamcasting post here.

Anja Evans: Teresa Palmer – So I hadn’t cast a female lead as a blonde before, but since it went with the Viking ancestry link for this series, I decided to try something new. I like Teresa Palmer because she can play innocence well, but you get the feeling like she could seriously kick a little ass once she comes into her own. (see her with a shotgun in Warm Bodies)

Bishop: Chris Evans – Before I even nailed down this character I had Chris Evans in mind, as he looks in the movie Push, which is a little rough around the edges, but definitely formidable. He’s got that ability to play tough, but with a vulnerability that makes him relatable. Plus, he’s so damn pretty to look at.

Rob: Jason Statham – Rob is a character I borrowed from my True Blood fanfic, and I pictured him as Handsome Rob from The Italian Job at the time and the name just stuck.

Fisher: Ewan MacGregor – One of my favorite Scots. I could listen to him all day long.

Maggie: Analeigh Tipton – She has that long, graceful neck and tragic eyes, but there’s a playful side in there just dying to be set free.

Ellie: Lauren Coe – This one is kind of obscure, I saw her in a Hallmark movie and she was funny and smart. I thought she’d be a fun contrast to Anja’s look before you leap style.

Simon Corley: Alan Rickman – I can totally picture him as a very old and powerful vampire, annoyed with these upstart Americans. Can’t you just hear him biting out the dialogue with barely suppressed scorn?

Jasper: Dominic West – Because he plays an asshole so well!

Felix Hannover: Jeffrey Donovan – I don’t know what it is about this actor, but I’ve always pictured him as a 40′s style gangster. He was the first image that popped into my head when thinking about the Warden of the West.

Carter: Devon Sawa – I love this guy. I first saw him in Idle Hands as a teen and I almost didn’t recognize him when he turned up on Nikita as Owen. He brings such a relatable character to the part of a stone cold killer. That lightness mixed with capability really appealed to me for this hunter.

Again, I have someone in mind for every little part down to Anja’s nameless victim in an alley, but I won’t list them all here, it would take up too much space. What about you guys? Do you see any of these characters as completely different in your mind’s eye?