Category Archives: Jana Blogs

Rainbow Snippets

Running late again. My brother and SiL were in town for the Bob Evans Farm fest. Last year it was a bust because it was so hot. This year it was 45 degrees. I was pretty happy with that.

I’ll be continuing with Blood Red Roulette. You met Arrigo last time. Now you can meet Luc.

“What were you doing in the back alley with some guy?” Da balled up his fists.

Luc stared, clueless. “What are you talking about? I was only outside twice. Once to throw the garbage out and once to pass a mop.”

“Stanton said you were behind the bar with someone, c’est sa couillon,” his brother, Henri, said, closing the space between him and Luc.

Luc tensed. Nothing he said would matter. He understood his kin too well. They weren’t in a listening mood. “That drunk? I wasn’t out back.”

“Trying to make your own money sucking off the patrons in the alley?” Da growled.

“No!” Luc’s arms crossed in front of him, reflex from years of taking beatings. Doing something like that had never crossed his mind.

Blurb Arrigo Giancarlo’s friends think he’s a rich young man with the unusual job of paranormal investigator, working with his psychic assistant in Las Vegas. In truth he’s a two-thousand-year-old vampire and member of the Chiaroscuro, a group of Supernaturals dedicated to keeping humanity safe from the more dangerous of their kind. He’s also openly bisexual… but alone.

When he spots Luc St. John in a bar, Arrigo is intrigued. What begins as an effort to repay the kindness shown to him in the past quickly turns into much deeper feelings for the suffering and displaced Cajun. For Luc’s part, he feels too poor, too uneducated, and too bound to his hateful family to ever be worthy of elegant and cultured Arrigo.

An old enemy, Eleni, blames Arrigo for murdering her true love. On the anniversary of that death, she’s back to take revenge. As Arrigo’s closest friends fall victim to savage attacks, he fears nothing will keep Luc safe. Should he break both their hearts and let Luc go, or is it too late? If Luc’s already in Eleni’s sights, Arrigo knows that like most things in Vegas, the odds are against him.

You can pre-order the paperback here (currently on sale)

the ebook here

It releases November 13th!

If you’d like to play along, Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook community where we post up 6 sentences of one of our LGBT stories every Saturday. It’s been fun and you can find it here. Be sure to check out all the offers! It’s been a great supportive group!

Rainbow Snippets

I’m running late. I was at an anime con and I’m behind on commenting, sorry, thanks to ongoing issues with my internet provider.

I’ll be continuing with Blood Red Roulette. You met Arrigo last time. Now you can meet Luc.

The air conditioner barely functioned, rattling loud enough to be heard both over the country music throbbing out of the jukebox and the noise of the patrons. Too bad the air conditioner put out more noise than cool air. At least the desert didn’t drip with humidity, not like the bayou Luc came from. The hurricane stole everything. Every day Luc wished he had used that disaster to get out of his personal hell.

As he pulled beers for the bar crowd not interested in small talk with him, Luc awaited the next brawl like the one earlier tonight, while thinking over why he hadn’t taken off on his da and brother in Houston after they had miraculously escaped Katrina together. Fear clamped him to his family tighter than a gator’s bite. His da had pulled him and his brother out of school when they were kids. What could he do on his own? Dumb as a stump, Luc knew it was easier to stay in his rut, slinging beer for his da, barely scratching out a life.

Blurb Arrigo Giancarlo’s friends think he’s a rich young man with the unusual job of paranormal investigator, working with his psychic assistant in Las Vegas. In truth he’s a two-thousand-year-old vampire and member of the Chiaroscuro, a group of Supernaturals dedicated to keeping humanity safe from the more dangerous of their kind. He’s also openly bisexual… but alone.

When he spots Luc St. John in a bar, Arrigo is intrigued. What begins as an effort to repay the kindness shown to him in the past quickly turns into much deeper feelings for the suffering and displaced Cajun. For Luc’s part, he feels too poor, too uneducated, and too bound to his hateful family to ever be worthy of elegant and cultured Arrigo.

An old enemy, Eleni, blames Arrigo for murdering her true love. On the anniversary of that death, she’s back to take revenge. As Arrigo’s closest friends fall victim to savage attacks, he fears nothing will keep Luc safe. Should he break both their hearts and let Luc go, or is it too late? If Luc’s already in Eleni’s sights, Arrigo knows that like most things in Vegas, the odds are against him.

You can pre-order the paperback here (currently on sale)

the ebook here

It releases November 13th!

If you’d like to play along, Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook community where we post up 6 sentences of one of our LGBT stories every Saturday. It’s been fun and you can find it here. Be sure to check out all the offers! It’s been a great supportive group!

blood-red-roulette

Rainbow Snippet

I’m glad the post is early as tomorrow is the big Steampunk Spectacle and this year we’re rifting off George Melies works. It should be a blast but I’ll be gone all day.

I’m going to start snippeting from my upcoming release Blood Red Roulette, my vampires in Vegas (blurb, cover and pre-order links at the end)

Snippet –He’d first stumbled across Delilah’s when he’d staked out the area on his true job: an enforcer for the Chiaroscuro, an organization of supernaturals who kept ill-mannered and dangerously violent supernaturals under control. A vampire himself, Arrigo had tracked a renegade vampire to The Alibi, a biker bar a block away from Delilah’s. About the only thing worth noting in The Alibi had been a cute blond bartender. As for the renegade vampire, the idiot proved to be a fledgling so full of himself, it hadn’t been much of a fight. Arrigo barely broke a sweat killing him. Arrigo had been with the Chiaroscuro for so many centuries, fledglings posed little threat to him.

blood-red-roulette

Blurb Arrigo Giancarlo’s friends think he’s a rich young man with the unusual job of paranormal investigator, working with his psychic assistant in Las Vegas. In truth he’s a two-thousand-year-old vampire and member of the Chiaroscuro, a group of Supernaturals dedicated to keeping humanity safe from the more dangerous of their kind. He’s also openly bisexual… but alone.

When he spots Luc St. John in a bar, Arrigo is intrigued. What begins as an effort to repay the kindness shown to him in the past quickly turns into much deeper feelings for the suffering and displaced Cajun. For Luc’s part, he feels too poor, too uneducated, and too bound to his hateful family to ever be worthy of elegant and cultured Arrigo.

An old enemy, Eleni, blames Arrigo for murdering her true love. On the anniversary of that death, she’s back to take revenge. As Arrigo’s closest friends fall victim to savage attacks, he fears nothing will keep Luc safe. Should he break both their hearts and let Luc go, or is it too late? If Luc’s already in Eleni’s sights, Arrigo knows that like most things in Vegas, the odds are against him.

You can pre-order the paperback here (currently on sale)

the ebook here

It releases November 13th!

If you’d like to play along, Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook community where we post up 6 sentences of one of our LGBT stories every Saturday. It’s been fun and you can find it here. Be sure to check out all the offers! It’s been a great supportive group!

Sunday Small Talk

Uber small this week because I have no notes ready for class this week nor is the solarpunk story done. I want both done by tonight. Also had to get the galley proofs in for my holiday contemporary story Purrfect Holiday which are back in.

Life was on hold writing wise this week anyhow as I concentrated on making the world not spin (inner ear infection)

So here are those links I wanted to share. Happy writing.

From around the web – tweet on the joy of handwriting by Neil Gaiman (just because it captures how I feel)

Why You Can’t Afford to Run Out of Ideas

Trust In The Process

How to Write a Galley Letter (And Get Book Reviews)

Jewel words, crux and flavor words, and everything in between

How to Use Deus Ex Machina Like Stephen King

Why a Good Cover Sells More Books The problem with this is hiring a good cover artist could cost more than you’re going to make (hopefully not but…)

How to Use the Three-Act Structure to Actually Finish Writing Your Novel

The Writer: Episode #1

Six Tips on Writing from John Steinbeck

Things I Wish I Had Known Before Self-Publishing My Book

My Five Favorite Books On Writing

A Writing Career Is A Series Of Cliff-Mitigation Exercises


Ian McEwan’s Advice for Aspiring Writers

How to Promote Your Book

31 Podcasts For Every Type Of Book Lover

What Type Of Book Editing Do You Need? And When?

And from my friend

Six Pieces of Misunderstood Storytelling Advice

Why English Needs Singular They

The Chunky Method ~ By Allie Pleiter

5 Unconventional Book Launch Ideas from Professional Marketers

What Puts the “Super” in Supervillain?

How to Write a Synopsis Agents Will Notice

eBook Pricing Strategies to Sell More Books and Maximize Author Earnings

SECONDARY CHARACTERS: The Good, The Bad & The Quirky

Rainbow Snippets

I’m worn out and sick between troubles at the university and an inner ear infection that’s been plaguing me all week.

This will be the last snippet from These Haunted Hills for a while because I want to start snippeting from some upcoming releases. Brendan and Josh are now done listening to the evidence they captured.

I should probably write this up.” Brendan popped the recorder out of his laptop.

Josh took that as an indication to go. “Do you need quiet? I might sit on your porch for a little while after two glasses of wine. I don’t like driving when I know I’m over the limit even if I don’t feel buzzed.”

“You don’t have to go,” Brendan said, looking almost surprised he said it. “Feel free to turn on the TV. It won’t bother me.”

If you’d like to play along, Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook community where we post up 6 sentences of one of our LGBT stories every Saturday. It’s been fun and you can find it here. Be sure to check out all the offers! It’s been a great supportive group!