Starting December 1st...

, by Unknown

A sneaky peek of "Dark Desire"

Hello fellow Junkies,

Since I haven't posted anything about me and my writing in a little while, I thought I'd share a little bit of my current project, Dark Desire, which is book 2 in the Dark Series. If you've read Dark Deceit already, you'll know who some of these characters are. If not, well then you're just going to have to remedy that. Click on the links below to go to the different platforms to buy Dark Deceit.

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Here's the blurb for Dark Deceit...

The time of the Aesir gods is over. Now they live amongst the humans in their bustling modern cities. Their brutal dominion over the gods and humans may have ended, but their actions have not been forgotten.

Korvain is feared like no other. His ruthlessness and cold heart are legendary, but when he is given the task of killing one of the most fabled goddesses of all time, he is left with an undeniable desire to make her his own. Failure in his task means only one thing: death. Will he follow his orders, or will he follow his heart?

Bryn’s whole world crumbled when she left Odin’s service to protect the other Valkyries. Now living with the humans, she is the only thing standing between them and total destruction. But her beliefs are about to be shaken to the core when she meets Korvain—a volatile, completely irresistible Mare who threatens to take away more than just her innocence…

And now for what you've been waiting for...here's the first few paragraphs of Dark Desire

*Please note that this is unedited work. There will be mistakes. This work is protected under the copyright act. Please respect my work by not copying, plagiarizing, or redistributing.

Chapter 1

One month later…

Taer didn’t want to open her eyes.

She knew what she would find if she did, and she wasn’t ready to experience that again. A deep gasp finally forced her eyes open. All she could see was red. It was everywhere; pooling on the floor beside her head. Tacky, warm blood covered her face and neck.

The desperate sound of gasping made bile creep up the back of her throat, burning the delicate skin. Swallowing it back, Taer rolled her eyes around, trying to make sense of the scene.

The gasping became louder then, and she recognized it for what it was…

Death.

Suffering.

Hopelessness…

Focusing her energy on her heavy limbs, Taer willed her fingers to move. She could feel the fine sheen of sweat lacing her forehead, but they remained motionless. The gurgling breaths continued to get louder—sharper. Taer let her eyes roll in their sockets in the hopes of catching a glimpse of whoever was responsible for the desperate sound.

The sound ripped through her, tearing her heart into shred with every beat that it took because she now knew who was making those fraught sounds.

Adrian.

It was Adrian making those noises. Taer wanted to scream out to her brother, but her tongue lay motionless in her mouth.

Adrian.

He was dying, and she was to blame.

“Adrian.” His name was barely a whispered croak from deep down in Taer’s throat, but she cringed away from the sound.

“Taer, wake up.”

Taer woke with a loud gasp, her breathing labored and straining through her lungs as she tried to draw in deep breaths through her mouth. Blinking rapidly, she looked around the darkened bedroom she’d woken up in for the first time a month ago—awoken on the day that her life had changed forever.

“Are you okay?” Eir asked. Still gasping, Taer focused on the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Valkyrie sitting beside her on the bed. Eir brought her hands to Taer’s chest, her palms beginning to glow slightly. With a relieved groan, Taer slumped back into the pillows, feeling the tightness in her chest beginning to loosen under Eir’s healing hands.

In what felt like forever, Taer’s breathing finally eased, but it also brought that fact that the dream were getting worse to the forefront of her mind.

“You were having another nightmare,” Eir offered up in explanation – repositioning her hands over Taer’s throat. The near constant pain that lingered at the site eased just as the pain in Taer’s chest had. Despite Eir doing her best to heal the muscular and arterial damage to her throat, Taer still suffered from pain. She didn’t know how much longer her body would need to heal the slash to her throat that she’d received from her former guild master, and in a way she never wanted it to go.

“Do you want to talk about it?” the Valkyrie asked, flexing her hands into fists a few times before placing them back in her lap. Taer sat up, letting the sheet fall from her body. Glancing down, she noticed that her tank top was soaked with sweat.

“No,” Taer replied sharply, trying to ignore the way Eir’s expression dropped. Taer knew what the Valkyrie was trying to get her to do, but she wasn’t ready for that yet. If she spoke about Adrian, she would break down and there was no way in Hel that she was going to cry over the death of her brother. “I’ll be fine,” she snarled when the other female continued to stare at her with concern.

Eir nodded and returned to her twin bed on the other side of the room. Eir was one of Bryn’s Valkyries, and also the Goddess of Healing. Taer had been sharing her room since Korvain had brought her to the Valkyries to be healed. And with her house now nothing but charcoal, there was nowhere else she could go. She had no home. No brother. Nothing…except for her desire for revenge.

Taer had her tank top over her head when Eir spoke. “I understand, you know.” Her words were barely audible, and in the cocoon of cotton surrounding Taer’s head, she couldn’t be absolutely sure that she’d heard her right.

Taer bit her tongue. She had to remember that Eir had lost someone, too. Her twin, Kristy, had been killed in front of her by the god, Loki. She must have been suffering just as much as she was, but Taer couldn’t find it in herself to give a fuck.

Pulling another tee over her head, Taer glanced over at the Valkyrie as she sat with her knees pulled up to her chest. Her loose blonde hair curtained the side of her face, making it difficult for Taer to see her face and gauge her emotions.

She knew she should have said something comforting, but Taer had nothing but rage and sadness in her. She didn’t even think it was possible to comfort someone else when she was still so messed up inside. Turning her back on the Valkyrie, Taer stripped the bottom sheet from the bed and went to get another.

After making up her bed, she settled back onto the mattress, letting the pillow cushion her head. Taer was afraid to close her eyes, afraid to dream of her brother again. Although she hadn’t actually seen his death, Korvain had told her that he had died while lying across her chest. Sometimes, she could feel his blood soaking her skin.

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, by Unknown

Interview with Contemporary Romance Author Brandi Kennedy

Hello Fellow Junkies,

Today, I've got a post about my very good friend and fellow author, Brandi Kennedy. She is the author of the contemporary romance books "The Kinsley Series" and also the fantasy series called "The Selkie Trilogy."

Brandi often writes about topics that are not often touched on in such detail in other books, ranging from domestic abuse through to depression and anxiety. I recently managed to sit down with this truly wonderful woman and got to ask her some questions about her writing and what inspires her.

What inspires you to write every day?

Honestly, I really don’t write every day – but when I do write, it’s just the love of writing that gets my fingers flying over the keys. Inspiration comes from just about anywhere; I can’t believe how often one little thought seems to work itself into a full-on novel idea. I actually have a notebook where I keep those. But really, this is like any other career that any other person does ... I’m hoping someday to be successful enough to live full-time on what I make from my writing.

Deep down in the heart of why I’m doing this though, it’s just the love of the craft. Writing is like art for me, it’s like painting but with words, with poetic prose and with vivid imagery. It’s more personal for me than oils, than clay, than any other medium (except maybe music) because words are so incredibly powerful. I’m thankful every day to have this type of expressive gift.

If you could choose a male lead from your books to jump from the pages, who would it be and why?

Aiden, from Fighting For Freedom. He’s strong, he’s patient, he’s sexy. He’s got that long-lost-love appeal. And he’s there for Christine, feeling protective of her, wanting to save her but willing to let her save herself. He’s drawn from some of the best men I’ve ever known.

Then again, so is Drew Kingsley from Fat Chance, and we already know he likes a girl with curves. They all have their good points though; Mac from Prescription For Love is so incredibly understanding and so sweet, Malik from Selkie is such a charmer and he has that hero thing going for him, from when he saved Annie from drowning. And then there’s Xander, and he’s sexy as hell in Wrestling Harmony.

You have the Kingsley Series. How many books in total will there be?

I can’t say for sure, but there are plans for at least six, possibly seven. Fat Chance was Cass and Drew’s story, Prescription For Love was Cameron and Mac’s story. Wrestling Harmony gives us Harmony’s romance with Xander Harrison, who was named by the fans on my Facebook page. Michael and Evan are still waiting for their stories to be told, still waiting to find love of their own. And then of course, there’s the obvious, the love story between Adam and Eva Kingsley, the two who started it all. There may be a few other stories or spin-off novellas though; I’m not really sure yet.

The original version of Selkie wasn’t well-received. Why do you think that was?

Oh, the ending, for sure. Annie was a real character, with real pain and real experiences that we can all relate to. But the end of To Love A Selkie was very hard for today’s readers to accept because it was terribly tragic. Most reviews on it were very angry and very bitter about the original ending, even if the reader liked the story.

You’ve since re-written Selkie and made it into two parts. Did you feel that previous critics will be silenced by this new, two-part book?

So far, the extended version of the story has been much more well-received, and I’m looking forward to writing Selkie II sometime in the early part of next year.

How long is the process of writing for you? Do you review and edit as you go? How many beta readers do you have? How long from finishing the book before hitting the ‘publish’ button?

I think the length of time depends on the characters and where they take the story. I don’t really read as I go, but I do take notes along the way (since all of my books have follow-up books coming) that I can use later. I send each chapter out (to several readers) as I’m in the writing process; they send feedback, help catch plot holes, things like that. I work their notes and suggestions in as I’m writing, if I can.

Then there are beta readers that read through the book once it is complete. Those notes are added as I’m doing a final read-through, and then it’s off to Amazon. The time from the end of the book to the actual live publication varies, depending on how much time my betas are able to devote to reading, how many beta readers there are, and how many errors need to be fixed. I try to keep them coming pretty quickly though.

Are you still blown away when you get messages from fans about your books?

Yes, I am. Every review touches me, and every personal message touches me. Those people? The ones that reach out to tell me that I’ve touched them? They are why I keep writing.

How much of your real-life experiences go into your book’s plots and characters? Can you give us an example?

Sure, they’re all examples. And to tell the truth, sometimes I don’t even realize how real life my characters are until after I’ve written them. Case in point: when I wrote Rick (Fat Chance’s “villain”) he was just a jerky guy who liked to shoot off at the mouth. Throughout the story, we get to know him a bit better and realize he’s lashing out at Cass out of wounded pride.

It didn’t even click for me how real he was when I was writing him, but he is a direct character from my personal past. He’s real, though I didn’t notice as first. There are lots of characters that I write on purpose though: Cass’s struggle with her weight and her self confidence are drawn directly from my personal experiences, and a lot of the things she was saying to herself came either from my personal thoughts in the past or from conversations that I’ve had with other plus-sized women in my life.

Cameron’s experience with rape was a tribute to several people that I know who have personal experiences with rape. Sometimes it’s more personal but less intense; for instance, the girl running the bookstore in Selkie looks a lot like my oldest daughter.

Lester, the serial groom from Prescription For Love is modeled after someone I know who will date anyone but can’t commit. Drew from Fat Chance, his middle name is Ryan, the same as my children’s dad. Eva, the matriarch of the Kingsley family? That’s my grandmother’s first name. And Harmony’s middle name is Jane, a little surprise I’ve worked in for my mother, who shares the same middle name.

In Fighting For Freedom, Christine is taken almost directly from things that I have seen or experienced during my lifetime. There are countless examples in each book.

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If you'd like to know more about Brandi Kennedy and her books, you can find her here...

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