Medusa's Heart Countdown Page is Live

I can’t remember the first time I read the story of Medusa. I think my first exposure to her may have been in the movies, the 1981 Harry Hamlin version of Clash of the Titans. She was depicted as an unsympathetic monster, so we felt no pity when he lopped off her head and used it to defeat the Kraken.

My love of romance is so much a part of me it drives a great deal of who I am or choose to be in this life. It certainly drives my writing, because I couldn’t imagine ever creating a story that didn’t revolve around a love story. Hence, mythology, legends and fairy tales that don’t end right really bug me. The Daughters of Arianne series, which started with A Mermaid’s Kiss, was initially driven by a lifelong dissatisfaction with the way The Little Mermaid fairy tale ended. I read the version where the prince chose another and the Little Mermaid ended up turning to stone out in the bay in front of his castle, where she gazed upon her unrequited love forever. Oh, and after she selflessly chose not to take his life to save her own. Really?

Anyhow, when I did finally stumble upon or seek out more information about Medusa, her story immediately resonated with me, just as the Little Mermaid’s had. A young priestess in the temple of Athena, raped by Poseidon, and then cursed by Athena for attracting the attentions of Poseidon. After which she went into isolation, was treated as a monster and eventually killed. That’s the nutshell version. I’ve left out a lot of detail and multiple accounts of the story in the interest of brevity, but also because I wanted to specifically highlight what elements of the tale that have stuck with me and inspired my current effort.

Over the years, I've thought about her story enough that I knew I wanted to give her a book where she could get a happy ending. Finally, that time has come. Medusa's Heart is a standalone full length novel that will be released October 31 (unless I do something to screw up that timeline).

We’re doing something new this time around, keeping a Countdown Page where I’ll offer periodic updates, inspirational pictures and other fun stuff to generate excitement about this title. I’m also offering a fabulous giveaway that will be awarded on release day. That Countdown Page is NOW live. Want to see what the prizes are? Click here to find this same post on the Countdown page, only with prize info AND a snippet teaser from the book at the end! Just drop down to the end so you don't have to read through this part twice - unless you want to do so, lol.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

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ADDITIONAL NOTES: Soul Rest and Night's Templar both won Golden Flogger awards at the BDSM Writers' Con in NYC last week. Woohoo! Thank you, judges! Click here to see all the winners and add to your TBR pile for great BDSM reads...I love so many of these authors!