A.E. Jones's Blog, page 17

It’s Almost Showtime!

Monday Misha’s story releases and before then he wants to give you a sneak peek. Below is an excerpt from DEMONS WILL BE DEMONS, book one in The Realm Trilogy. Book one is all about Misha finding love. He’ll tell you that it’s about daggone time!

Without further adieu…

Chapter 1

Misha Sokolov was a demon on a mission.

It was finally time to take the plunge back into the dating game, but unlike the quirky TV show, he didn’t need a cheesy game show host or a trio of bachelorettes to make his choice. He had already found his one and only.

It shouldn’t matter that they came from different worlds, literally. Love should be able to conquer all—even interdimensional portal jumps.

He glanced over at his teammate Jean Luc, who drove the team van like they were in one of The Fast and the Furious movies. Tires squealed as they streaked down Mayfield Road to pick up their other teammate Kyle in Little Italy. With Jean Luc it didn’t matter if they were on their way to a case or simply out for a drive, speed was the vampire’s constant companion, along with his vampire lady-love, Talia.

“Is something wrong, my friend?” Jean Luc asked as he screeched to a stop in front of Kyle’s apartment building, the smell of burned rubber permeating the van.

Misha opened his mouth and then closed it again. How could he explain to Jean Luc…who had only to walk down the street with his long hair and French accent to attract hordes of females…that he, Misha, was nervous about a female? One female—his bachelorette—in particular.

Naya.

His stomach fluttered like a lovesick schoolgirl…or was it the two burritos he’d had for lunch? Either way, Naya was his dream woman. Hell, he’d never seen her human side and he still found her gorgeous. Maybe because her demon side was a purple version of Xena, Warrior Princess.

He thought she might be his soul mate, and in his heart of hearts he did believe that love could conquer all, but there was one small problem.

He couldn’t talk to her.

He became a bumbling, stumbling idiot whenever he was within a fifty-foot radius of her. Misha Sokolov, who, according to his babushka, was born with the gift of gab. And since his grandmother was over a thousand years old, she would know.

He could talk to females. Had he not already been married three times? True, his first marriage was arranged by his father, but the other two weren’t. They didn’t work out, but it wasn’t because he couldn’t talk to them. Natalia, wife number two, would say the opposite, actually. That he was way too fond of talking.

He shook his head. His love life, or gaping lack thereof, might be his mission, but was not the actual priority right now.

After they picked up Kyle, they were on their way to the demon immigration meeting to work out how to bring the next group of demons to earth from the demon realm.

And Naya would be there.

In approximately one month, the next realm demons would arrive. Even after the first group immigrated with few issues, dissenters in the supernatural community who did not want the realm demons to come to earth had become increasingly vocal. Which meant everything must go according to plan with the next group. Supernaturals, like humans, were not immune to having fear and ignorance cause them to do stupid things.

The back door of the van opened and Kyle hopped inside. Misha smiled at his petite teammate, who was decked out in her usual black jeans, T-shirt, and steel-toed black boots. The color of her hair was often a surprise, although recently she had been keeping it jet black. Today she had a festive streak of red down one side.

She pulled out a bag from behind her back, and he reached for it with glee.

“The bakery! What did you bring me today, little one?”

She handed him the bag. “Three apple strudels. I would’ve bought more, but there must’ve been a run on them before I got there.”

He opened it and caught a whiff of the cinnamon and sugar wafting up from the bag. Nirvana. “Thank you. This will tide me over until my midafternoon snack.” He took a bite of the pastry.

Kyle chuckled. “It’s already midafternoon, you know.” She gave Misha the once-over before her eyebrows rose slightly. “Don’t you look fancy. Is that a new shirt?”

He took a long time swallowing before answering her. “No,” he lied before stuffing the rest of the strudel into his mouth and chewing for several moments.

When Kyle opened her mouth to say something else, Misha asked, “Isn’t Joe joining us?” If he brought up Kyle’s FBI boyfriend, maybe he could distract her.

“Dalton’s in Chicago on a case. And don’t lie to me, demon. You dressed up for Naya.”

Before he could lie to her again, his ringing phone saved him. Dolly was calling from the office.

Misha clicked on the speaker. “Well hello, Dolly,” he sang in his bass voice.

“That wasn’t funny the first time you did it, Misha, and hasn’t been the thousand times since then.”

“What can I do for you?” Misha asked, ignoring her scold.

“We’ve got a call.”

“We’re on the way to the demon immigration meeting. Can it wait?”

“It’s the twins.”

Misha sighed. The twins. Dolly didn’t need to bother with any further explanation.

If Misha hadn’t automated the Bureau of Supernatural Relations filing system a couple of years ago, and they still kept paper files, the twins’ folder would be several inches thick, even though they had only been wreaking havoc for a little over a year now.

If Misha had to place bets on who would finally expose supernaturals to humans, he would put his money on those two little demons, Matthew and Luke Roberts.

***

So, there you go. A little snippet of Misha’s story. What do you think??

 

 

When my Characters Decide to Branch out to Video! (aka Book Trailer Teaser!)

One week until DEMONS WILL BE DEMONS releases! I can’t tell you how excited Misha is that his story will finally be told. This week, I’ll post a couple times to share some more about the book (with Misha’s help, of course).

Today, Misha asked me for a book trailer. Since Misha is a TV and movie junkie, that really shouldn’t surprise you. He has been telling everyone that he is now a movie star. A bit of an exaggeration, but Misha will be Misha…

Check out the trailer below or click HERE. It’s thirty seconds…come on…you know you want to. Misha would really appreciate it!

Come Along on my “Framily” Vacation

People often talk about taking family vacations. Well, I’m going to talk instead about a FRIEND vacation. I just got back from a long holiday weekend at a lake house with dear friends that I made back in college. Eleven women, getting together to celebrate, well, us.

When we get together each year, we are transported back to our college years, but we also recognize the women we have now become. Pretty powerful stuff. We share our experiences over the and laugh until our stomachs hurt.

In reality, I guess you could say we are a family of our own making – so maybe this is a family vacation as well!

There is a power in creating a family. Much like the characters in my books, who often find that family isn’t necessarily what we’re born into. For Misha, he has the wonder of both. His BSR teammates Kyle, Jean Luc, Jason, Talia, and even Sabrina are as important as his actual Shamat family and clan.

So spending time with my friends/family –  or what I’m going to call my “framily” is important and rejuvenating. You’ll be able to celebrate with Misha and his framily in two short weeks! Stay tuned…

When a Writer Dreams of Being a Director

Hello my friends! I’m excited to let you know that DEMONS ARE FOREVER, book three in the Realm trilogy is now available for preorder! Yahoo! You can click HERE for more information.

In the meantime, to celebrate all three brothers up for preorder, I have created a little video…yes, this writer has dreams of being a director. And since Hollywood hasn’t called me yet, I’ll keep making these videos to celebrate my books.

Check it out below, or click HERE to watch 60 seconds of fun!

 

When Your Characters Won’t Wait For Their Happy Ending

In one month Misha’s book will release! He is so excited about his story going out into the world. Maybe it’s because he’s seen his teammates Kyle and Jean Luc find their true loves and he’s wanting to find his. And trust me when I say Misha can be impatient.

In the meantime, since it took a while for me to write his story, he was busy looking for love on his own. How did he do it? Online dating of course! So with Misha’s permission, I am sharing his dating profile. See what you think…

Name: Misha Sokalov

Age: 265

Species: Shamat Demon

Where do you live: Cleveland, OH

Languages: English & Russian

Children: None

Divorced: Yes (times 3)

Occupation: Supernatural Detective

Hobbies: Puzzles, matchmaking, eating, computers

Favorite Movies/TV Shows: TV – Anything from the 60’s through the 80’s, and anything goes for movies, from romantic comedies to action flicks. And of course Sci-Fi!

Are you close to your family: They make it hard not to be!

What do you want in that special someone: someone willing to have fun, but also looking for a long-term relationship. And they have to be able to put up with my family (see question above).

Are you willing to relocate: My job and family are in the Cleveland area, so I would like to stay in Northeast Ohio

What would your family say about you: that I can be a bit clueless, (which I don’t agree with) but I have a big heart that is looking for it’s special someone to fill it(which I do agree with).

And the profiles goes on…

Misha didn’t get too many hits on this. I told him it might be because his responses about his overbearing family scared suitors away! But no worries, thanks to me he will soon have his lady love in his arms!

And you will soon have the story in your hands!

When a Drink Isn’t JUST a Drink

Last week my brother came to town, and we went out to dinner. When the waiter came to take our order, my brother said that I wanted a shot of tequila and then another shot should come every ten minutes after that. (If you haven’t figured it out yet, my brother is a bit of a comedian).

When the waiter came back to the table, he passed out the drinks and then set a shot glass with a lime in front of me, smiled, and told me he would be back in 9 minutes.

My brother and I gaped at him for a moment until the waiter said, “Just kidding. That’s water.”

And then we laughed, and laughed again. And even though my brother had gotten “one-upped”, he proclaimed the waiter was awesome!

So I got to enjoy a drink without really enjoying a drink!

I think that can also be said about the power of fiction. It allows us to experience other times, locations, people, and even worlds that we wouldn’t normally get to experience. And good fiction means that we enjoy these stories even when we aren’t really living in them

Lovin’ Summer

If you have ever seen the musical Grease, there is a great song called Summer Lovin’ where we get to find out how Danny and Sandy first met. I’m going to take the liberty of switching the title around a bit to discuss this week’s topic – Lovin’ Summer.

Where I live, we’re in the midst of summer and I love it. There is something so freeing about summer. Maybe it’s because I live in the north where I’m trapped inside in the winter months, or maybe it just has to do with the fact that the sun doesn’t set at 4pm, making me want to crawl under the covers by five.

Freedom from heavy clothes and shoes. Wiggling my toes in my flip flops. There is something amazing about it for sure. But summer also makes me want to free myself of responsibilities.

But that is not going to happen. Why? you ask… because when summer is done and fall is here, my demon trilogy will release. So even though I’m sporting flip flops right now, I’m still getting my books written, edited and ready for you. In my stories, Misha and his crazy family are enjoying a Cleveland Summer. I may be channeling my seasonal love through them, but that’s fine.

It will just keep summer around a little longer!

 

Writing is NOT Solitary

You might have noticed that last week I missed posting my blog. I had just returned from RWA’s national conference and by the time I realized I missed my blog last Monday, I decided it was Fate’s way of telling me to take a blog vacation for a week. So I did.

But I didn’t want to forget to share my conference experience with you. For me, the national conference gives me the ability to regroup, both mentally and emotionally as a writer. I attend sessions and find out what is happening in the world of publishing. But even more importantly, I catch up with my writer friends. Many of whom I only see at conference. Sure, I may email or talk to them since they are located all over, but there is something special about spending actual time together.

When I am with a group of writers, my sense or rightness (or “writeness”) returns. I gather with people who understand my language and have stories that won’t stay silent in their brains. Powerful friends to have.

So I got to spend time with my peeps to gear up for another year of writing and publishing. Batteries have officially been recharged.

The Realm Cover Reveal!

As promised, my friends! Here are the covers and titles of my new spin-off Mind Sweeper Series. This series is all about Misha and his outrageous family. So much going on today!

First, is the series blurb (individual blurbs will be coming as well in the future – don’t worry). Second are the covers, and third is a question you need to answer…

Preorder Demons Will Be Demons Today   Amazon   ibooks    Kobo    B&N 

 THE REALM BLURB:

Misha is one frustrated demon.

Aleksei is one busy demon.

Sergei is one lost demon.

Three very different brothers…looking for the same thing – love.

 

Click to view slideshow.

Here’s your VERY IMPORTANT question:

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Preorder Demons Will Be Demons Today   Amazon   ibooks    Kobo    B&N  

Anticipation

Years ago (actually decades ago) I can remember several commercials showing ketchup pouring oh so slowly out of the bottle as Carly Simon sang Anticipation. And that song has been playing repeatedly in my head today.

Maybe it’s because I am so excited that next Monday is COVER REVEAL day. And here is a little secret for you. I can’t wait to show you the covers to my new trilogy coming this fall. I am so excited about it, that I will be giving you a cover reveal for the entire Realm Series. Which means you will see not one, not two, but THREE covers next week.

Yay! There will also be a Realm cover reveal video and a teaser too. Icing on that awesome cake, right?

I have found over the years that for me the excitement of gift giving is not when I receive something, but when I get to watch my friends and family unwrap something from me. And this same emotion carries over in my writing to my readers. So next week, you get to see the covers for the first time. Misha, Aleksei, and Sergei can’t wait to meet you!