ApollyCon, Into The Fire, migraine musings and more

First, thanks to everyone who came out to see me at ApollyCon two weeks ago! I had a great time, first of course because it gave me a chance to talk YOU, readers, and second, because they had cardboard cutouts. I admit to being a total geek for cutouts, and here is me posing with one of them (I WISH this pic was real! ;))

Speaking of fun indie cons, last week, JUSTINE magazine did a fabulous write-up on the upcoming Nola StoryCon, which is hosted by me, Melissa Marr, Kelley Armstrong, Ilona Andrews and Jennifer L. Armentrout. The full JUSTINE article is here. As a reminder, we still have tickets available for the Crescent City Brunch, although the Nola VIP tickets are now almost sold out. To get your tickets, go here.

After a migraine sidelined me from working Wednesday, I Tweeted this on Thursday: “My headache clearly isn't aware of all the pages I need to write. Stay back, headache, and migraine, don't even THINK about it.” It was as if this Tweet was read by the King of Migraine-landia, who replied, “Your challenge has been accepted!” Cue another two-plus days of migraines. So, note to self: don’t ever dare migraines not to show up again. They will take that dare, and then you will be sorry.

In good news, prior to migraines sidelining me for most of this week, I’ve been having fun writing Into The Fire, the fourth and final Night Prince novel.  Events at the end of Bound By Flames forced Vlad and Leila to explore the hidden world of magic, where things that are impossible for vampires are possible for sorcerers. This opens up all kinds of neat things to throw at Vlad and Leila that I wasn’t able to do before because of prior worldbuilding rules, and I admit to being an Evil Author who loves to put my characters through the wringer. If that wasn’t enough, Ian is Vlad and Leila’s guide into this mystical underworld, and Ian can’t help being Ian (Slut! Smartass! Scofflaw!) no matter the circumstances. I’ve giggled more than a few times while writing scenes with Vlad and Ian, who mix like oil and water.

And because I am BFF’s with author Ilona Andrews and it cracked both of us up, the first sentence of Into The Fire is currently “Magic sucks.” Readers of Ilona’s fabulous Kate Daniels series will get the joke, but for those of you who haven’t tried Ilona’s books yet (they’re excellent, try them!) every Kate Daniels novel has the word “magic” in the title just like all of my Night Huntress novels had the word “grave” in the title. So, Leila’s internal monologue diss at magic made both Ilona and I snicker.

Speaking of BFF’s who write excellent novels, Melissa Marr has a new faery novel out called Seven Black Diamonds. Marr’s Wicked Lovely was my introduction to both faery novels and the YA market, and I couldn’t be more thrilled that she wrote another take on faery lore with Seven Black Diamonds. Here is the description:

Melissa Marr returns to faery in a dramatic story of the precarious space between two worlds—and the people who must thrive there. The combination of ethereal fae powers, tumultuous romance, and a bloodthirsty faery queen will have longtime fans and new readers alike at the edge of their seats.

Lilywhite Abernathy is a criminal—she's half human, half fae, and since the time before she was born her very blood has been illegal. A war has been raging between humans and faeries, and the Queen of Blood and Rage, ruler of the fae courts, wants to avenge the tragic death of her heir due to the actions of reckless humans.

Lily's father has always shielded her from the truth, but when she's sent to the prestigious St. Columba's school, she's delivered straight into the arms of a fae Sleeper cell—the Black Diamonds. The Diamonds are planted in the human world as the sons and daughters of the most influential families, and tasked with destroying it from within. Against her will, Lilywhite's been chosen to join them . . . and even the romantic attention of the fae rock singer Creed Morrison isn't enough to keep Lily from wanting to run back to the familiar world she knows.

And since my opinion could reasonably be called biased, here's what others are saying about Seven Black Diamonds: “Fans of Marr’s Wicked Lovely books will appreciate her melding of ancient faerie lore with complex contemporary characters.” (Publishers Weekly)

“Once again, Marr has built an urban fantasy world that readers will find irresistible.” (School Library Journal)

“Marr’s trademark use of suspense and romance will make this irresistible for her legions of fans.” (Booklist)

Order:  Seven Black Diamonds.

That's it from me for now. Hope all of you have a great weekend!