"By March, the worst of the winter would be over."

Neil Gaiman.

This quote is a lie, by the way. Here in Cambridge, we're experiencing Actual Snow and everyone is falling into a state of icy panic. We have fraught discussions over how many pairs of socks we should wear, whether the buses and trains will be running, and if our boss will let us go home early. We're not designed for snow. Especially in March.

And it is March! I've been conspicuous by absence round here, I guess. So let me catch you up on things in my favourite manner: by making a list.

1. THROWN TO THE WOLVES won an Evernight Reader's Choice award! It was voted Best Romance on the Go, so thank you very much, lovely readers. And IMPERIAL DEMON was runner-up for best lesbian romance, so thank you again! If you hop on over to Evernight's site, you can use the coupon code WINNER2017 to get 25% off any Readers' Choice winners and runner-uppers. I'm always slightly shocked to win any kind of accolade, and it wouldn't happen without people taking the time to vote for the books, of course, so thank you again! Kisses.

2. Nero and I had an AMAZING holiday in Japan and spent loads of time with @pocketrex, which was also AMAZING, and we met so many lovely cats and ate so much fantastic food, and saw so many incredible sights, and I loved it, and we're going back next summer. If you want a glimpse of our adventures, the best thing to do is find my pictures on Instagram.

3. I'm doing much better mental health-wise. I'm still having some black days here and there, but the constant, aching anxiety I was dealing with before Christmas is under control. There's still work to do, but I'm out of deep water.

4. I'm working on the next Blood Canticles book, Chaos Songs. I'm so happy to be back with Lola and Tris! My plan this year is to focus on Blood Canticles and the Luporum. The Luporum was always going to be a trilogy, and that hasn't changed. Blood Canticles, I think, has two more books after Chaos Songs. Work has started slowly, because I'm still trying to get back into the daily writing rhythm that my anxiety and depression busted, but I have so many ideas and plans for Chaos Songs that have been brewing since before I even finished IMPERIAL DEMONS, and I'm excited about sharing some snippets with you soon!

5. I always name the year after a mythical animal, dating back to the hallowed, ancient times of 2013. Normally I do a big post about it in January, but obviously it's not January anymore, so here's the quick and dirty version: 

2018 is the Year of the Kappa. Partly inspired by our visit to a Goblin Pond in Tokyo on New Year's Eve, partly because the kappa is a creature associated with water, which is the element associated with emotions, and that feels right as I battle against anxiety and depression, and partly because a kappa, to me, is a creature of balance. If he loses the water in the indent in his head, he loses his power. Balance is going to be a big theme for me this year as I work to keep various plates in the air: writing, perfume-making, home life, health, and work life. So even though the kappa has a reputation for trouble-making and, um, drowning people and eating their souls, I feel like he's the right symbol for me this year.

So I think that brings us up to speed. Hopefully I'll be blogging more frequently going forward, but you can always find me on Twitter and Facebook for more frequent nonsense. Happy March!

Evernight Readers' Choice Awards!

Listen up, folks! It's that one time of year I put aside my shame of self-promotion and ask you to get out and vote! On the condition that you only vote if you actually read one of my books and enjoyed it. Don't just vote because I told you to. I feel like that would undermine the process.

Anyway! It's time for the fifth annual Evernight Readers' Choice Awards! Get out there and show your favourite authors and books some love (and get yourself in the running for a prize!). Five of my books are eligible for awards this year, should you be so inclined:

THROWN TO THE WOLVES - best lesbian, best paranormal, and best Romance on The Go

IN COLD BLOOD - best paranormal, best suspense, and best lesbian

LICH QUEEN - best paranormal and best suspense

ON A DARK TIDE - Best paranormal, best contemporary, best suspense, and best lesbian

And IMPERIAL DEMONS - best paranormal, best contemporary, best suspense, best lesbian

And you can vote for any of these titles for best cover and book of the year, as well as voting for Blood Canticles as best series and me as author of the year! Phew. It's been a busy a year, I realise, when I line them all up like that.

I've been honoured and humbled to be a winner or runner-up in several categories over the past four years. I never expect it and I'm always thrilled, and I would be grateful for your votes again this year! 

September Accountability

We're heading into Autumn and I'm thinking about werewolves. My plan for after the current Amber Morgan project is done is to move onto the next Urban Wolf book. I've also got the start of the next Luporum book floating around in my head, and some whispers of a stand-alone werewolfy urban fantasy romance revenge thing that I'm not even touching because I cannot start any new projects this year even though I did already.

My aim is to finish the Amber Morgan book this month, and move onto Urban Wolf 6 in October. I am hoping for first round edits on IMPERIAL DEMONS this month as well, though, so we'll see.

I'm trying to clear a few extra things out of my life this month to free up more time for writing, as well as squeezing a few new things in. I'm supposed to be doing daily physio for my knackered shoulder, which...doesn't always happen. I'm also supposed to be going to the gym and working on a routine to build the strength in both my arms up, which...hasn't happened at all, because as a hardcore introvert, the idea of going to the gym just horrifies me. But I suppose I should figure something out before I'm next due at the doctor and have to explain to him why I've been slacking off on all this stuff.

So we're approaching the change of the seasons, and I'm trying to make some simple life changes. I'm also letting go (or at least putting on hiatus) some writing and non-writing creative projects that have been causing me some anxiety to varying degrees this year. I'm not trying to be vague, I'm just not sure there's anything interesting to say about them, except that letting them go/putting them on hiatus is ultimately going to make me happier and more productive for the rest of the year.

So! That's September. Stay tuned for news on IMPERIAL DEMONS as and when I get it!

August Accountability

Well, it appears another month has gone by! July just seemed to go by impossibly fast, but looking back, a lot happened. I polished up and submitted Imperial Demons, edited LICH QUEEN and had it released, and just yesterday I completed the last round of edits for ON A DARK TIDE. Around that, I wrote and edited a 12k story and submitted it to an anthology, and got the first 4k of my new Amber Morgan project written.

So actually, yeah, that's probably why the month flew by.

So! What's the plan for August? Well, ON A DARK TIDE will be out on August 24th. I'm hoping to be able to share news about Imperial Demons with you soon. In the meantime, I'm going to be focusing on that Amber Morgan book and brainstorming Urban Wolf 6.

I've been thinking about this book a lot recently. You'll see from the Work In Progress thingy over there somewhere ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
that I have about 8k written of it, but I wrote that a few years ago now, and I'm not sure it's the story I want to tell next in this series anymore. I think some of the bare bones of the plot can remain, but the big juicy meaty bits need to change. So I need to figure that out before I start work on it again, but either way, Urban Wolf 6 is definitely next on the to-do list. WOLF STRAP was my first professionally published story, and even though it's been a while since I wrote a full-length Ayla and Shannon novel, their world and lives are still important to me. I always planned to give them five full-length novels at a bare minimum. At the moment we're on three short stories, two novels, and one spin-off in the shape of IN COLD BLOOD, so even though Urban Wolf 6 will technically be book six in the Urban Wolf World, it'll still only be Ayla and Shannon's third novel. There's a lot of their world left to explore.

Anyway! That's for the autumn. August is all about Amber. I will of course be checking in here with news about Imperial Demons and ON A DARK TIDE and probably other stuff as well, so stay tuned!

Five Facts About In Cold Blood

Well, lots of people seemed to enjoy my Five Things I Hate About Cube post, so why not make it a thing?

Yes! IN COLD BLOOD is finally unleashed and you can grab your copy from Evernight directly, or from Amazon US, Amazon UK, and probably wherever else good ebooks are sold. And you can read an excerpt here to get you in the mood! And, just for something a little bit fun and different, here are five things you probably don't know about IN COLD BLOOD.

1. Phoebe suffers from Siodmak's Syndrome, which means she can't shapeshift. I first mentioned Siodmak's way back in SILVER KISS as a bit of a throwaway thing, so you may know the term if you've followed the Urban Wolf series. What you probably don't know is that I named it after Robert Siodmak, director of such glorious films as Cobra Woman.

Glorious.

2. I started writing IN COLD BLOOD a few years back, then abandoned it, then picked it up again last year. Phoebe didn't exist in the original version, but Aisling did...and she's existed with me for nearly a decade. Long before I even dreamed up the very first Urban Wolf story, I wanted to write a story about a werewolf who chooses to live mostly as a wolf, and I wanted to call her Aisling. My original idea for her involved a post-apocalyptic world where nuclear winter ruled and werewolves had been hunted nearly to extinction. I still think it's a good idea...but I prefer Aisling where she is now. She's a perfect foil for Phoebe!

3. Phoebe suffers from anxiety. I do too, although not as badly as I did when I was younger. Writing a character with anxiety challenged me and pushed me, and nearly made me give up on the book. Turns out writing about anxiety makes me anxious, and I was terrified everyone would hate Phoebe and the book and me and ugh. I'm glad I'm pushed through, and whilst it's never been my intention to write "an issues" story, I'm glad I stuck with Phoebe the way she is. I love that she works to manage her anxiety, and it reminded me that it can be done. A good lesson to re-learn every now and then.

4. My goal with every entry in the Urban Wolf series, whatever the length, is to open the world up a little bit more. SILVER KISS gives us a good, solid starting point with werewolves. BLOOD HUNT introduces vampires. PHANTOM FEARS teases the idea of ghosts, and COLD NIGHT MOON gives us fae creatures (or one, at any rate). With IN COLD BLOOD, my idea was that, well, someone had to be noticing all these weird and wonderful creepy beasties. And someone would be keeping notes...This will tie directly into the plot of the next Urban Wolf book, which will take us back to Ayla and Shannon. The circle of life, etc.

5. And finally (just to get us up to five), IN COLD BLOOD is the first of a planned trilogy about Phoebe, Aisling, and the Luporum. I already have book 2 mostly planned out (in my head, anyway), but my aim is write that Ayla and Shannon book first. So if you enjoy IN COLD BLOOD, rest assured that there'll be more from my socially awkward werewolves in love - and the Urban Wolf series in general! - in the future :) Happy reading!

IN COLD BLOOD - cover reveal!

Okay, I did share the cover on Facebook and Twitter last night, but you've got to have an ~official~ cover reveal, right?

Ta-da!

How beautiful is this? I feel like every new cover is my favourite cover, but this is definitely my favourite cover. I love the colours and the wolf, and the blood spatter on the title. Perfection!

IN COLD BLOOD is out on Thursday 2nd February, and is the first in my Luporum mini-series. This is a spin-off from the Urban Wolf series, but you can read IN COLD BLOOD without having read any of those books. Here's the blurb to whet your appetite!

Phoebe Fairley wanted to be a librarian. Somehow, she’s become a vampire hunter. Women are dying across the country and the police are baffled. Phoebe’s just supposed to be gathering information on the deaths, but as the body count mounts, she can’t help but break the rules and get involved. She knows what the killer is – and catching and containing it is vital. If she can persuade the police to believe her, and keep her secretive bosses happy, she stands a chance of capturing a very real, very deadly vampire. Not bad for a werewolf who can’t shapeshift. 

Aisling is happy living as a feral wolf. She’s got no time for human affairs, until a mysterious creature attacks her and leaves her in human hands. Now, if she wants her life back, she’ll have to join Phoebe’s hunt. There are just a couple of snags. One, she hates humans. And two, she’s falling hard for Phoebe. With a monster to catch and her own past to protect, will Aisling trust her head or her heart?

Wednesday Snippet - there could still be a murder...

Happy Hump Day! I spent this past weekend working on the first round edits for IN COLD BLOOD, and it turns out I'm just as anxious editing it as I was writing it. Basically I won't be happy until it's published and I can't actually do anything with it anymore. But as is often the case when editing, I keep finding bits that make me smile for various reasons, and that is always a good sign, I reckon.

So in that spirit, my Wednesday Snipping this week is a bit that made me smile. Enjoy!

Socially Awkward Werewolves In Love

I am thrilled (and somewhat relieved) to announce that IN COLD BLOOD has been accepted for publication by Evernight. Huzzahs!

I say relieved, because regular readers will know I really had my doubts about this story, about how well it worked, about whether it was worth the time I was spending on it, and a ton of other things. My protagonists, Phoebe and Aisling, are a bundle of messes, with anxiety and anti-social behaviour driving them both, and I wasn't sure whether anyone would want to read about these ladies.

But I'm glad I pushed on and finished it, and I'm forever grateful to Ally at Word Vagabond for taking time out of her absolutely crazy schedule to beta-read for me and give me the feedback that finally gave me the courage to submit. I'm also grateful to the acquiring editor at Evernight for her feedback, which helped me re-shape the ending of IN COLD BLOOD and finally get Phoebe and Aisling's story told.

So huzzahs! My Socially Awkward Werewolves in Love are coming! We have a projected release date of February 2017, but as usual, I'll share more details once I have them. In the meantime, here's the unedited blurb to whet your appetites:

Phoebe Fairley wanted to be a librarian. Somehow, she’s become a vampire hunter. Women are dying across the country and the police are baffled. Phoebe’s just supposed to be gathering information on the deaths, but as the body count mounts, she can’t help but break the rules and get involved. She knows what the killer is – and catching and containing it is vital. If she can persuade the police to believe her, and keep her secretive bosses happy, she stands a chance of capturing a very real, very deadly vampire. Not bad for a werewolf who can’t shapeshift.

Aisling is happy living as a feral wolf. She’s got no time for human affairs, until a mysterious creature attacks her and leaves her in human hands. Now, if she wants her life back, she’ll have to join Phoebe’s hunt. There are just a couple of snags. One, she hates humans. And two, she’s falling hard for Phoebe. With a monster to catch and her own past to protect, will Aisling trust her head or her heart?

 

The Luporum novels are set in the same world as the Urban Wolf series, but centre on a different set of characters. You do not need to have read the Urban Wolf books to follow The Luporum, but it certainly can't hurt!