D.B. Reynolds.com

HELLOOOOOOOO!

Posted by dbreynolds on April 14, 2014

There’s such a pretty echo here in the cave. It’s weird because I just finished reading a book where two people went off to a secluded cave to have sex, which they did, but then there was an earthquake and they were trapped in the cave for days!! That won’t be happening to Vincent and Lana, though, because even though I’m in the cave, they’re in the sunny deserts of Mexico where it’s hot and (cough, cough) getting hotter by the minute.

This was a very productive week all around. Not much sleep, mind you, but very productive. Most importantly, of course, is that the story of Vincent and Lana is going along smoothly. Lots of writing getting done. The lack of sleep, however, was largely because I had talented people working on my house and for some reason they all want to arrive at 8:00 am. ::sigh:: They did lovely work, though, and now that it’s all finished, it was worth the lack of sleep.

There was good news on the audio book front this week. We’re awfully close to signing a narrator, and I’m really excited! I’ll let you know as soon as it’s a done deal, but it should be soon.

On the bookmark front, all of the pending requests have been mailed, so if you’re waiting, you’ll either receive it soon, or your request is so recent that it’s still in the P.O.Box. I’ll be clearing out the box tomorrow, so if that’s the case, I’ll pick it up then.

For those who might have missed last week’s announcement, I received the release schedule from my editor. UNFORGIVEN (novella #3) will release on 1 October, and VINCENT (book #8) will release on 1 November. The good news is you won’t have to wait long between the novella and the book, which is the long term goal. The bad news is that 1 October is far away. But I’ll be writing a Vignette or three to fill the void. Also, my new contract is for 2 books and 1 novella a year, which means more books with less time in between releases for the future, so … that’s good, right?

On the book front, there was NOT QUITE ENOUGH (Catherine Bybee) which is the trapped in a cave book. Despite the dire scenario, it was a fairly lighthearted romance. I also finished THE KING (J.R.Ward) which is why I needed to read a lighthearted romance! Great world she’s created, but (and this is NOT a criticism) it’s also fairly dark. I love Wrath, though. He’s always been my favorite Brother.

No movies what with all the workmen making my house pretty, but on the small screen there was GRIMM which just keeps getting better; the season finale of BITTEN, which was an okay episode, albeit not the best one of the season; HANNIBAL, which was its usual gruesome self; CRISIS, which is a very taut thriller; and yes, yes, yes! GAME OF THRONES!! SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!! That little twit is finally dead, dead, dead! But who did it? Hmmmmmm. The fool (who used to be a knight) knew to warn Sansa and get her away, though Tyrion was clearly just a patsy. It might have been Cersei. I wouldn’t put it past her to kill her own son in order to regain power. Especially since said son was clearly crazy and his heir is another of her own sons, right? But the previews of next week seemed to put the blame on the Tyrells (the twit’s new wife) so who knows? I read that the TV show departs from the books this season, so anything goes, I guess. Such a well done show, though.
But there’s stuff going on in the REAL WORLD too! There’s a total lunar eclipse this week that will be visible throughout most of the U.S. It’s happening overnight tonight (April 14/15.) You can check SKYWATCH at FARMER’s ALMANAC for details. I plan on being outside and looking up. Hopefully, we’ll have clear skies.

But until then, it’s back to the cave for yours truly. Warning … sex scene ahead. Yippeee!

Have a great week and I’ll see you back here next Sunday night.

xoxo
DBR

Categories: Cyn/Raphael e-Novellas, Recommended Books, Uncategorized, Vampire Vignettes, VINCENT Comments (1)

GOOD NEWS and bad news …

Posted by dbreynolds on April 7, 2014

Whoa, deep, deep in the cave this week, where Vincent and Lana are stirring up all sorts of trouble. Yay! On the other hand, I did check my email regularly, and one of those was from my editor who had news about my release schedule, and that’s where the good news and bad news comes in. First the bad news … UNFORGIVEN will be released on 1 October, VINCENT on 1 November. I know, that’s a long time. But ImaJinn/Belle has all sorts of cool release day/month events planned, so it will be fun. However, yeah, it’s looooong time. So, the good news is … to make up for the long wait, I’ll be writing a few Vignettes this Summer. As soon as I turn in VINCENT (1 July) I’ll start writing. ImaJinn/Belle also has a short blog tour (with cool prizes) planned to announce the re-release of the two current novellas, BETRAYED and HUNTED. That blog tour will be at the end of May/beginning of June, and I’ll be writing some of my short snippet of life stories for that, too. Also, you should know that after the UNFORGIVEN/VINCENT release, the books will be coming faster, because ImaJinn/Belle has contracted for TWO books and ONE novella every year. I’m going to be a very busy writer.

I didn’t venture far from the cave this week, although I did spend some quality time in front of the small screen. MARVEL Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D was so, so good! So was the season finale of INTELLIGENCE (I hope that gets renewed!) And The Black List, too. I’m also really enjoying CRISIS, plus let’s not forget GAME OF THRONES which opened its new season last night. I’ve read the books and that’s one of the best adaptations I’ve ever seen. The only problem is waiting week to week, gah!

Books … I finished reading Wild Wolf (Jennifer Ashley) and gave it 5 stars on GoodReads, and now I’m reading The King (J.R.Ward) which will take a while because it’s a really, really long book!!

On the home front, I spent a few hours today installing bookcases. This being earthquake country, they have to be screwed to the wall. I’m not awfully good with a screwdriver, but as I told the DH, what I lack in skill, I make up for in determination. Also, my favorite 7 year old gave me a power screwdriver a couple of Christmases ago, and it’s now my favorite tool! And on the I’m-totally-dependent-on-technology-front, we had a brief power outage which resulted in a not-so-brief ATT outage, which meant that I lost my Internet/TV/Phone all in one fell swoop. The phone I can live without, especially since it started at 2:00 in the morning, but the Internet?? And my TV? No Netflix? How am I supposed to write without Buffy running in the background????? It was pathetic. I was embarrassingly happy when it all came back. lol

Okay, well, Buffy is running (back to Season 1 again) and it’s time for me to head back into the cave. The pace of Vincent’s story is picking up and I have to keep moving.

Have a great week!

xoxo
DBR

Categories: Books on Sale - Where?, Cyn/Raphael e-Novellas, Guest Blogging, Recommended Books, Vampire Vignettes, VINCENT Comments (2)

UNFORGIVEN (has been released into the wild)

Posted by dbreynolds on March 31, 2014

Well, not exactly the wild, but it has been sent off to my editor. It’s always like opening a vein when I send something off. I’ll let you know how it works out. From here on, it’s all Vincent all the time until it’s time to open that vein again.

Speaking of Vincent, my new bookmarks will arrive on my doorstep tomorrow, which means they’ll ship out this week to everyone who’s waiting. I can hardly wait to see my beautiful new Vincent and the gang. DBR_BKMK_2014_FT_1g

In other news, it’s been earthquake city around here … or more accurately earthquake SoCal. Nothing major, though, and rock and roll has always been my favorite music. (heh,heh) I also sent my cursed taxes off to the accountant. What a relief! Of course, that means I no longer have an excuse to put off the cursed elliptical. Replacing one curse with another. Hmmph.

On a positive note, however, I have a new TV series to distract me while I exercise. At the persistent urging of my niece Heather I gave SUITS a try and I’m hooked. Streaming live on Amazon Prime. In other TV news, I cheered, actually cheered out loud, on THE BLACK LIST, when Elizabeth found the plastic rhino or hippo or whatever and FINALLY figured out that Tom wasn’t what he seemed. At last!

I also did some reading this week, still trying to catch up on MY 2014 READING CHALLENGE. I finished the third book in Kristan Higgins Blue Heron series, WAITING ON YOU. I so loved this story. I gave it 5 stars on GoodReads. I read a few other titles too, including Feral Heat by Jennifer Ashley, and One of the Guys, also by Kristan Higgins. I’m still behind, but making some progress. I updated the titles on MY GOODREADS PAGE.

And finally on a personal sort of writerly note, the OWG is closing down today. That’s the Online Writing Group started by Kelley Armstrong on her website way back when. It was my home away from home for years, the first place I checked every day when I turned on my computer. I learned so much about writing and made so many friends … those friendships won’t end, but I will miss the place. The OWG has become a victim of its own success, with a truly remarkable record of published authors. But so many of us are published now, with deadlines and contracts that work against the format of a writing group, that while we all still dropped by for the social interaction, the writing and posting went pretty much by the wayside. I will always be grateful to Kelley Armstrong for creating such a wonderful forum for writers to learn and share, and to meet others who love the same things that I do. The OWG … gone, but never forgotten.

Well, Vincent is waiting (impatiently) for me in the cave, so I’m off to spend some quality time with him. I’ll see you all next week!

xoxo
DBR

Categories: Cover Art, Cyn/Raphael e-Novellas, Freebies, Recommended Books, Uncategorized, VINCENT Comments (3)

AN UNSCHEDULED PEEK AT VINCENT

Posted by dbreynolds on March 24, 2014

A visual peek, not a written one. I was working on new bookmarks with Laron at Ninth Moon this week, and we decided that even though we don’t have an actual cover yet for VINCENT, we didn’t want to leave him off the bookmark. There are certain details about him that I already know, so, here’s my new bookmark, with Vincent’s body … complete with tattoo. Obviously, there will be more detail on the book cover itself, hopefully with a clearer look at the tattoo which features the Mayan sun god, but let’s face it, Vincent’s bookmark body ain’t too shabby. You can click on the picture below for the full-size image.

You can also check out the new bookmarks plus the all-new stickers on my BOOKMARKS PAGE, HERE.

In the meantime, I spent more time in the cave this week, both with VINCENT and CYN & RAPHAEL. I took a step back from VINCENT to do final revisions on UNFORGIVEN, which is the next Cyn & Raphael novella. That’s due to my editor at Belle on 1 April, so this is the final pass on that one. At least until I get it back from my editor. I always love writing about Cyn and Raphael. They were my first, and I love spending time with them.

Some of you may have heard about the earthquake that gave us all a rude awakening last Monday. Although in my case, I’d barely gotten to sleep after a long night in the cave. Cave’s aren’t a good place to be in a quake, so it was good that I was already in bed. We definitely felt it, though. The worst part about an earthquake, if you’ve been in a bad one—and I’ve been in three!—is waiting to see if it’s going to get worse or fade away. You never know until it stops. As such things go, however, this one wasn’t much. I was back to sleep 15 minutes later.

No movies this week, although I caught my usual series . . . THE BLACKLIST (I so hope Elizabeth finally discovers who Tom really is, or isn’t, this week! Why did he want to adopt a baby? Weird.) INTELLIGENCE (pleeeeeze renew this!) JUSTIFIED (has anyone else noticed that this season is a little meaner? I can barely watch the bits with Ava, she’s gotten so hard!) BITTEN (the story finally seems to be coming together.) SUPERNATURAL (uh, oh. Dean.) CASTLE (yes, he’s still ruggedly handsome) HANNIBAL (weird!) And now I’ve been sucked into this new series CRISIS, mostly because Scully’s (Gillian Anderson) in it, although she’s no longer in the FBI. It’s really good so far, though.

Books … I finished Kristen Ashley’s latest Colorado Mountain book, KALEIDOSCOPE. Not her best book (as others seem to agree) but still good. I loved Jacob Decker, but wasn’t sure what he saw in Emme, and the chapter structure was odd. But Ashley is always fun to read. Next up is Jennifer Ashley’s Feral Heat, which is a novella in her Shifters Unbound series. I’m still way behind on my challenge, so I need to do some serious reading.

Is that it for this week? Hmmmm, I think so.
Happy Spring to all of you, even though it doesn’t look much like Spring in lots of places.
See you all next week.
xoxo
DBR

Categories: Cyn/Raphael e-Novellas, Freebies, Recommended Books, Uncategorized, VINCENT Comments (0)

THE CAVE IS A WARM PLACE

Posted by dbreynolds on March 17, 2014

The Cave is dark and warm. I’m here with all of my favorite people, most of them vampires. We sleep all day and write all night. Or at least I do. My characters just sit around and kibbitz. We’re having fun, though, and we never have to change out of our comfy clothes.

Oh, and my Girl Scout cookies finally arrived! Yay! A friend was talking about putting Talenti gelato between two Thin Mints to form very special ice cream sandwiches! I can finally try that out. Did I mention that there’s ice cream and cookies in the cave?

Another productive week, lots of adventures with Vincent and Lana, plus I checked a major item off my to-do list, which gives me even more time to spend with them. And I watched a movie this week, HOMEFRONT with Jason Statham, one of my favorite action heroes! Other than the fairly unbelievable idea that a former undercover DEA agent would keep his old credentials in a cardboard file box in the unsecured storage area under his front porch, which has latticework walls and is pretty much accessible to everyone … it’s a fun and exciting movie with Statham as a dad defending his little girl against murderous drug dealers. James Franco is great as a small time meth dealer who wants to go big, and Kate Bosworth is almost unidentifiable as his redneck addict of a sister.

On the small screen, the networks did it to me AGAIN! A newly discovered and favorite show THE GLADES was cancelled, but they didn’t bother to wrap up the series, or even leave it in a reasonable way. I worked in the industry, so I know why this happens. By the time these decisions are made, the season is already completely shot and the actors are doing other things. But it’s SO frustrating for the viewers. Apparently, though, there’s not a decision yet on INTELLIGENCE (Josh Holloway,) so I hold out hope.

I also went back to my 2014 Book Challenge with Patricia Briggs’s Night Broken, the latest Mercy Thompson (now Mercy Thompson Hauptman) book, which was really good. We get to meet Adam’s ex, Christy, a world-class manipulator of pretty much everyone except Mercy, and a very few of the wolves. She also HATES Mercy and does everything she can to try and supplant her in Adam’s affections. As if. Good book. And now I’m reading the latest Kristen Ashley book in her Colorado Mountain series, Kaleidoscope. I’ve also updated my GoodReads Challenge page (at last!) and I’m 14 books behind schedule. Yikes.

Okay, it’s time to get back to cave with Vincent and Lana. See you all here next week.

xoxo
DBR

Categories: Recommended Books, Uncategorized, VINCENT

STILL IN THE CAVE BUT THERE’S LIGHT ON THE WALL!

Posted by dbreynolds on March 10, 2014

Not much light yet, just enough to make shadow puppets, but that’s definitely progress. Although, right about now, Vincent and Lana could do with a little less light . . . a comment that will make no sense to you until you (ahem) read the book … in the fall!
LUCAS, on the other hand, is available right now with his new cover in both PRINT and NOOK from BN.com and so far in Kindle only from AMAZON. They’ll have to exhaust their current inventory of print copies before ordering more, which will be with the new cover. Shouldn’t take long. But if you want him in print format right away, you can always go with BN.com.

With LUCAS’s re-release, that’s all of the back list with their new covers. I’m going to be ordering some bookmarks with all the pretty new pictures. I’ll let you know when those are available. It’s on my to-do list. My ever-expanding to-do list. But I have a new method of tackling the list. Every day I do at least one thing off the list, big or little, it doesn’t matter, as long as I do one thing. If I do more than one, that’s even better. And it’s working. I deal with real life and the to-do list during the day, and write all night. Hmmmm. Something’s missing … oh, yeah . . . sleep. ::sigh::

I can’t complain about spending nights with Vincent, though. All the ladies love Vincent, but I’m the one he ends his nights with, I’m the one who puts him to bed. (heh, heh)

Books . . . I spent my reading time this week with my friend (and talented writer) Michelle Muto’s newest manuscript! I love being able to read great stories without having to wait. And you’re going to love Michelle’s latest. The current release date is January 2015, but that might be revised for an earlier release (we hope.) And speaking of great writers, my friend Steve McHugh has an interview/chat/giveaway over at Bitten By Books this week, with prizes that include an Amazon gift card and copies of his terrific books from the Hellequin Chronicles series.

No movies, because I’m living in the cave. Some small screen news, though. Bad news. They keep canceling shows that I like! I read that Intelligence with Josh Holloway was cancelled, but then today I read that CBS hadn’t decided yet, so who knows? The Black List was, of course, renewed. It has James Spader! How can you not renew that? Almost Human with Karl Urban has terrific ratings, so they damn well better renew that one! I love that show! I’m also watching BITTEN (based on Kelley Armstrong’s terrific books) which is getting better after a slow start. And is anybody but me watching HELIX? When I read that story about scientists discovering a virus in the ice in Antarctica, that’s all I could think about! Do you know how many horror movies are based on things emerging from the ice!

Okay, back to the cave with yours truly. That hour of lost time this morning did a number on me, I was sluggish all day. But now, of course, I’m wide awake!! And Vincent is calling.

Have a great week. Get some sleep.
xoxo
DBR

Categories: Books on Sale - Where?, LUCAS, Recommended Books, VINCENT

IN THE CAVE

Posted by dbreynolds on March 3, 2014

Not much going on here, because I’m deep in my writer’s cave working on Vincent and Lana’s story. Yes, that’s definitely her name … Lana. That’s easy enough to pronounce, right? Vincent for blog crop Is this Vincent? Could be.

I’m working through the night every night, typing away on my laptop while Buffy and the gang roll in the background, although I have discovered a new series to distract me when I work the elliptical. The Glades. Four seasons, three of which are on Netflix, and I’ve found Season 4 on-line. Fun, interesting, and a cute cop in Matt Passmore. Oscars Tonight was the Oscars. I live in L.A., and I worked in Hollywood for years, so the Oscars are something we never miss. I didn’t have a favorite for Best Picture, so I didn’t care either way. I was glad Cate Blanchett won. She was brilliant in Blue Jasmine. It was one of the most depressing movies I’ve ever seen, but she was brilliant. I’m not a fan of Matthew McConaughey, but I was very happy Jared Leto won. And it’s always heartwarming when a new young talent wins, like Lupita Nyong’o. And she has a beautiful fashion sense! I thought the best speech of the night was Director Alfonso Cuaron for “Gravity.” But that might be because VINCENT takes place in Mexico and my characters are speaking a lot of Spanish. Fortunately, I have good friends who are willing to help me with the translations, because my high school Spanish isn’t quite up to the task!

It was raining here in L.A. the past few days. That’s good weather for writing, especially when it pours more in three days than we’ve seen in months. I happen to like the rain. I like the sound of it, I like the cool temps, I like the fresh, clean scent after the rain. The DH is pretty much the opposite. He’s a sun worshiper, so he’s happy to stay home with me with the drapes closed so he can’t see the gray skies.

As for books, I’m mostly doing beta reads for my very talented friends and critique partners. I get to see the books before anyone else. It’s pretty cool.

And now it’s back to the top of my to-do list, which is “write a book!”

See you all next week. Stay warm, stay dry ’til then.

xoxo
DBR

Categories: Just checking in with misc. stuff, VINCENT

LUCAS REVISITED

Posted by dbreynolds on February 24, 2014

Lucas Hi Res Final Corrected Is this LUCAS or what? So sexy! He’s being re-released on all the platforms very soon, maybe even this week, with this beautiful new cover.

As much as I love Lucas, though, most of my time this week was spent with Vincent and BHW. Yes, she’s still BHW for everyone but me. For me, she has a name, and I’m pretty sure it’s going to stick, but I’m holding it close for a little while longer. I spent some time on the phone this week with my editor, too, and Belle has some great plans for both UNFORGIVEN and VINCENT. It’s going to be exciting!

I’ve also been doing some reading, mostly in the hour before I go to sleep after writing all night. So, I really need to update my 2014 Book Challenge. I’m making my way down my To-Do List and it’s definitely there, along with writing a book, which I have to say is absolutely at the very top of the list. Speaking of my To-Do List, however, I was working on some stuff and whacked myself in the mouth, so I now have a swollen lip with a dark bruise. My Darling Husband (oh so helpfully) suggested I grow a mustache to cover it up. This from the guy who can grow a mustache overnight just by thinking about it. Like I’d even want that. Or like he’d want it for me. He likes my pale, hairless skin. LOL

Speaking of reading, however, my friend and critique partner, Steve McHugh released the latest book in his Hellequin Chronicles this past week. If you love urban fantasy with a touch of mythology and lots of action, you’ll definitely want to pick up this book . . . and the whole series, too.

I’ve got nothing to report on the small screen this week, because the Olympics wreaked havoc with the TV schedule. And no movies, either, because the DH (when he wasn’t making fun of my swollen lip) wasn’t too hot to see the LEGO movie.

And that means it’s back to VINCENT for me, driving through the Mexican desert. Vincent that is, not me.

See you all next week, same time, same place.

xoxo
DBR

Categories: Cover Art, LUCAS, Recommended Books, Uncategorized, VINCENT

ANOTHER FLY-BY POSTING

Posted by dbreynolds on February 17, 2014

Once again, I’m deep into a new book—this time, Vincent’s story—so I’m just doing a fly-by post. Especially since the BIG post happened on last Friday, Valentine’s Day. In case you missed it, I went a little crazy this year. First up was a brand new VAMPIRE VIGNETTE just for the holiday.
But then I added a story about lingerie … from the lingerie’s POV. Strange but true. You can check it out at my friend Gareth’s site FALCATA TIMES.

I want to thank all of my readers who wrote and posted how much they loved the Vignette and the lingerie too, and all of you who wished me a Happy Valentine’s Day. I have the best readers in the world!

And now for a few updates … I posted this on Facebook, but I’ll post it here, too. For those of you who use Kobo … ADEN is finally available, and it only took them two months! Now, if only they’d catch up on the earlier re-released titles, not to mention the novellas. HERE’S THE LINK to ADEN for you, since Kobo’s search engine leaves a hella lot to be desired.

As for naming Vincent’s love interest … BHW (Bounty Hunter Woman) has a tentative name, but I’m holding it close until I’m sure. I’ll write a few more chapters and make sure it flows. Speaking of flowing, however, the chapters are definitely flowing, and I’m a terrible, fickle person, because my new object of lust is Vincent. Think tall, dark and Latino … black hair that’s always too long, chocolate brown eyes, long, lean … what’s not to lust over? BHW is pretending she doesn’t notice. As if. On the other hand, it drives Vincent NUTS! So, you go, girl!

Let’s see … small screen was limited this week because of the Olympics, but there were a few bright spots. BITTEN (based on Kelley Armstrong’s terrific series) is finally finding its rhythm. I’m beginning to wish it was a movie, so I wouldn’t have to wait a week in between! And both ALMOST HUMAN and INTELLIGENCE had new episodes, both very good. JUSTIFIED, too, with Jonathan from Buffy (Danny Strong) as a predatory prison guard. I also caught up on ARROW, although I was disappointed to learn that Season 2 is still going on. I thought for sure the series was in Season 3 and I’d have a whole season to binge watch. Bummer. It’s good for the cursed elliptical.

The DH and I watched RUSH, the racing movie with Chris Hemsworth. I think I liked it more than the DH, but then I grew up in L.A.’s car culture, so fast driving has a natural appeal. Both to watch and to do. And Chris Hemsworth isn’t exactly hard on the eyes, either. Bad DB, Bad!

Other than that, I’m back to letting Buffy roll on the TV while I write, and I STILL cry at all the same places. In fact, I know the series so well that I TURN THE VOLUME UP on those scenes, so that I can watch them and cry! Clearly a lost cause.

Oh, and I almost forgot, now that I’ve finished with the galley proofs on the re-releases, I’m reading again and will soon have several books to add to my 2014 Book Challenge. Nothing spectacular yet, but a few enjoyable reads. A couple of my favorite authors have books out this week, though, so I expect that assessment to change!

And now it’s back to Vincent for me. Have a wonderful week, and to all of my U.S. readers, enjoy your Presidents’ Day Holiday Weekend!

xoxo
DBR

Categories: ADEN, Books on Sale - Where?, Guest Blogging, Holiday Greetings, Vampire Vignettes, VINCENT

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! 2014

Posted by dbreynolds on February 14, 2014

Valentines 2014 As promised, I’ve been busy this Valentine’s Day. I guess writing about Aden and Sidonie, and Cyn and Raphael, and Vincent and BHW all in the same six months makes me feel the love.

So, here we go. First up is my interpretation of what expensive lingerie would think … if it had a brain. That can be found over at my friend Gareth’s blog FALCATA TIMES. I think it says something about my twisted mind that I chose to write about sentient underwear.

And then as promised, a brand new VAMPIRE VIGNETTE just for VALENTINE’S DAY 2014.

Enjoy!

And Happy Valentine’s Day!

xoxo
DBR

Categories: Guest Blogging, LUCAS, Uncategorized, Vampire Vignettes