If you’re a fan of Blackthorn, you might be excited to know there’s now a brand new ‘email sign up’ tab above. Separate to regular blog notifications, this new sign up is purely for notifications of the release dates for my upcoming books in the series. So, if you want to be amongst the first to know when Blood Torn is on the way, just click on the link.
And don’t forget, if you like to be kept in the loop about everything that’s going on in the background, you can sign up to this blog by clicking on the link in the sidebar.
And on that note, the Kane vs Caleb post I promised you is coming next week! Team Kane or Team Caleb – whose side are you on? Avid fans won’t want to miss this one. 🙂
When I announced on Facebook yesterday that the Blackthorn book trailer has now reached over 1,000 views on You Tube, I had quite a few people comment that they hadn’t seen it before.
So for those who are new to Blackthorn, this was the awesome trailer created by Bookouture that helped launch the series last November. The focus at the end is on Blood Shadows (book 1), but the trailer itself incorporates lots of Blackthorn elements to give readers a taste of the world they are entering. The soundtrack is ‘Superhero’ by Tim McMorris.
It’s permanently featured here on my blog in the slider above (there’s all sorts lurking around this website, so always feel free to take a wander. It’s not unlike Blackthorn itself at times. ;-)), but I thought I’d repost it again in all it’s glory for anyone who missed it the first time around.
I do hope you enjoy it – for the first time or the second. And if you do, and you have a You Tube account, please ‘like’ it.
Yesterday, I had my first birthday as a published author.
Those who have been following me for a while might remember a post I wrote around this time last year. I included a picture of the electronic typewriter I’d had for my 13th birthday after resolutely announcing I was going to be an author one day. It’s strange to think that less than 12 months ago, my hopes were still a bundle of dreams.
Well, it’s taken 26 years (why rush?) to get there, but I’m finally wearing the official badge. And it’s no longer my electric typewriter I’m willingly glued to for hours on end… (can anyone spot Batty?)
(No, my books never leave my side when I’m writing. Yes, the pile of paperwork in the left hand corner are my Blood Torn notes.)
And I couldn’t have asked for a better lead-up to my birthday this year. After announcing last week that I’d reached the top 10 in Amazon’s Gothic Romance chart in Germany, I then reached the top 20 here in the UK.
On the weekend, I was thrilled with an awesome review for Blood Roses from Lindsey Clarke, which then got picked up by local online newspaper The South West Artists’ Daily.
As for the day itself, there came the arrival of some vamptastic custom-made biscuits courtesy of the lovely Tracey Rogers (they taste as good as they look, Tracey!).
And these were followed by a plateful of scrummy choc-chip Blackthorn birthday cupcakes organised by my wonderful husband. Even the icing is edible!
As well as spending the best part of the day on the North Devon coastline with my better half, I also managed to squeeze in some time with Henry Cavill – albeit it on the big screen. Being a sci-fi and fantasy geek, I was really excited to see the new Superman film.
For those who follow me on Pinterest, you’ll know I picked out Henry Cavill when I had to find some Kane lookalikes as guidance for my book cover designer. Having no idea who he was, but now having finally seen in him action, I know I chose well – he has the perfect Kane scowl if ever I’ve seen one!
I think it was finally confirmed when Superman and Lois were alone in the interrogation room (sound familiar?).
I leaned across to my husband and whispered, “Definitely works as Kane.”
My husband nodded, even though he’s only read the opening chapters of Blood Shadows. “I can see why.”
This was promptly followed by Lois asking Superman, “What’s the ‘S’ for?”
Hubbie instantly leaned back across and whispered, “Soul ripper.”
I stifled my giggles. Obviously. He might not have read the books yet, but clearly I talk about them more than I realise! Hmm, that’s become something of a habit lately.
This wasn’t a scheduled post, but I couldn’t resist sharing some exciting news.
I knew it was going to be fun going global instantly with Bookouture. Part of the reason I was so keen to be a part of the eBook revolution was to have immediate access to readers all around the world. There has been interest in the Blackthorn series from readers in so many countries now, it’s awesome. I’m even going to be interviewed on a blog in the Philippines soon!
Then my publisher got in touch today to let me know that bothBlood Shadows and Blood Roses have hit the top 10 bestsellers for Gothic Romance in Germany’s Amazon chart! Blood Roses is at number 9! Blood Shadows is at number 2!! Look, look… 🙂
This is great news following Blood Roses hitting the top 20 in Amazon UK’s Gothic Romance’s bestseller chart on its release – with both Blood Roses and Blood Shadows still remaining in the top 100. Blood Shadows is in the top 100 in the US Amazon Gothic Romance bestsellers charts too.
Unfortunately none of the wonderful ratings and reviews you left for the books have shown up in Germany. But thank you to everybody who continues to rate and leave reviews for my books – especially on Amazon. It really does make a difference.
With the amazing Lorella Belli Literary Agency now representing the translation rights on the first three books of the series, let’s hope that, one day, even more readers will be able to access Blackthorn.
It’s only been a week but it feels like ages since I’ve written a blog post. It’s probably because a lot has happened over the past few days.
Last weekend started off in the best way possible when a unexpected gift turned up on my doorstep. After all the fun I had creating Blackthorn mechanise, my lovely husband decided it was about time I had a Blackthorn iPhone cover for REAL… 🙂
Then the Dehain brothers post, generated by the fabulous GraveTells team, went live. If you haven’t checked it out yet, it’s a must for fans of the series. And I’m SO grateful for everyone who made it as much fun as it was – not only by taking part with questions, but also visiting and commenting.
On Thursday, I was a guest on The Minxes of Romance talking about why I write dark heroes.
And on Friday it was my turn to put someone else in the hot seat when I gave fellow Bookouture author, Nancy Barone, a serious grilling over on The Hot Pink Typewriter about her new release, The Husband Diet.
Some terrific reviews for Blood Roses have also continued to appear over the past few days. I was particularly thrilled with a five star review from RomFan Reviews on Saturday and, yesterday, from the lovely Fiona Chapman.
Whilst the days have been ticking by, I’ve been furiously scribbling away in the background. As of today, my wonderful editor is busily working her way through the first half of Blood Torn. More about that soon!
And, as well as those Blood Torn updates, I’ve a few other posts planned over the next few weeks. Amongst other things, I’ll be sharing more insight into creating the series and, as they’re proving rather popular, I’m guessing you might enjoy a Kane vs Caleb post in particular. I’m also planning a bit of fun with a Blackthorn quiz for die-hard fans, and thought you might like a peek into the writing cave (or the turret, as I call it) where it all happens. But if there’s anything you’d love to see here, do let me know!
When the awesome GraveTells asked if they could do something a little special by way of interviewing Caleb and Jake from Blood Roses, I was thrilled to bits to hear what they had in mind.
The fabulously imaginative GraveTells team decided a straightforward interview wasn’t quite enough. What they wanted was to venture into Blackthorn itself in their very own story. But it didn’t stop there. Not only did they want exclusive access to the club for a rare interview with the Dehain brothers – they wanted to conduct it in Caleb’s library!
Jake was very accommodating but, needless to say, it took a bit of persuasion to get Caleb involved. Considering I hold his future in my hands though, I managed to talk him around. 😉
So here it is, the first ever interview with Caleb and Jake Dehain – GraveTells style. They don’t conduct many of these style interviews, so I was really flattered to be asked. What makes it even more special is that they put out a call for questions and you didn’t let me down. They couldn’t use them all, but thank you EVERYONE who participated. Check the end of the post to see if you get a mention!
Tonight is the season finale of The Vampire Diaries here in the UK. I love this show and have never missed an episode. Over the past couple of months, watching it has been even more fun because I’ve had a group of wonderful Twitter pals to share it with – all simultaneously ‘online’ as we write our own (sometimes incoherent) running commentary. So, before I’m mourning into my hanky tonight, here’s a quick season recap…
Super-sweet Elena didn’t just develop an attitude problem – she turned bad. The relief. We were itching for Klaus and Caroline to kiss. Didn’t happen. But will it?? Stefan needed to finally get over Elena and get it together with Rebekah. Again, didn’t happen. But it might! All The Originals (well, nearly) were back full force. We lost Jeremy. We may even have lost Bonnie (nooo!). Alaric (yay – Damon’s drinking buddy!) and Lexi were back, albeit briefly. We’ve had compelling and spells; an ancient cure for vampirism; siring and love triangles; angst, double-dealing and betrayal and, at one point, we even thought we’d tuned into an episode of Lost (if you saw it, you’ll know what I mean).
And then there’s Damon – oh sweet, messed-up, badly-behaved but ever-so-entertaining with that cheeky grin and, er, other attributes – Damon. Some episodes we just stopped caring how complex the plot got as long as we tallied up enough Damon screen time. It’s all about the priorities. 😉
The Vampire Diaries isn’t the only vampire series I’ve been addicted to over the years. I was into Moonlight, Blood Ties and True Blood once upon a time. Unfortunately I gave up on True Blood after about three seasons when it got way too bizarre and disturbing for me (I’m something of a sensitive soul, believe it or not). Those that stood the test of time though, along with TVD, were Ultraviolet, Angel and Being Human (all hail, Toby Whitehouse!).
Ultraviolet was the first vampire series I was hugely into. Then came Angel. I was into Buffy in a big way so when the spin-off series came out I was hooked. I wore my Angel t-shirt to death and even bought the special collectors boxset when the series ended. Then along came Being Human (UK version – couldn’t get into the US remake) about a vampire, a ghost and a werewolf who all share a house. A simple concept maybe, but the execution is far superior to anything I’ve ever seen. As far as script writing goes – perfect. Characterisation is off the charts. Sexy vampires? Have you seen Aidan Turner as Mitchell??? Seriously, I’ve never been the same. It died off for me a little after the main cast went, but it’s still worth some merit.
Then there are the vampire movies….
The vampire books…
The awesome live shows (think I’ve seen this one about seven times)…
And you know you’re obsessed, really obsessed, when you can’t even serve up a summer drink without a little bit of vampire incorporated.
Yep, you know you’re true vampire fan when you keep a coffin of fangs in your freezer.
It’s time for the final Blood Roses Bite! I hope you’ve really enjoyed the showcase since the launch of Blood Roses. Can you believe it was 3 weeks ago today? Since then, the second instalment into Blackthorn has gained more than thirty 5-star and fifteen 4-star reviews on Goodreads alone. That’s a terrific backbone to the book. Thank you to every single person who has rated it, let alone everyone who has left such detailed and awesome reviews. You’re a massive part of encouraging others to try the series for themselves, so I appreciate your support HUGELY.
So, what better way to end the Bites than with a quote straight from one of those reviews? This one comes from Janice, a fantastic reviewer at The Demon Librarian. Thanks so much for your amazing review, Janice (and, of course, Lynsey!) – the highest of high fives to you! Here’s just a snippet of that review in Blood Roses Bite #17…
Thank you too to everyone who has shared, retweeted and pinned the Bites. One Bite in particular reached nearly 1500 people. That’s all down to you.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone! And stay close for more Blackthorn news next week.
I couldn’t resist quoting another review of Blood Roses to support a Bite. This one comes from the truly lovely Tracey Rogers…thank you SO much for rating and reviewing, Tracey.
“If you’re thinking that Caleb sounds cruel and ruthless then you’re absolutely right. He is. There are many reasons to hate him. He’s a manipulative, potent and wicked vamp. Dangerous yet delicious and a true anti-hero. But equally there are reasons to love him. With a heart breaking past and an explosive attraction to Leila you just have to take him into your heart. Could Leila be the one to save him?”
As you know, I read all my reviews. To go with today’s Bite, I have to say this quote from Fiona at I Heart Books is just perfect:
“The story quickly becomes something far more when they discover that fate didn’t bring them together. They were, in fact, destined to find each other. Their lives have always been inextricably linked, and finding themselves in the situation they have ended up in was not just a random coincidence. Other forces are at work behind the scenes, forcing them both to accept the inevitable.
But can that future be changed? Can they find another way? Or will destiny play the cruelest trick on them both, forcing them to follow their predetermined destiny, regardless of their feelings?”
Thanks, Fiona – hope you didn’t mind me quoting you!
