Destiny Redeemed Book Tour Begins

While I write vampires and love them, I also write other paranormal series, including my Destined Ones series.  In fact, that series has the first character I ever truly fell in love with. Amon Kalins was the villain in the first book, Stolen Destiny, but in Destiny Redeemed, he comes back as the hero, albeit a bad boy hero. 

This week I'm showing my love for Destiny Redeemed with a book tour.  Each day I'll be at a different blog talking about the book, the characters, and the concept of my paranormal creations in the Destined Ones series, the Aeveren. 

The Aeveren are beings I created after having a dream one night (it's always dreams, isn't it?).  They live fifty lives through reincarnation, meaning that my characters can span centuries.  They are descended from humans, given the gift of reincarnation by the Archangel Raziel long ago.  He also gave them the gift of special powers, such as telepathy, the ability to manipulate time (a power Amon possesses), healing, and even mind control. Some Aeveren have impressive powers, while others only have simpler powers, such as heightened intuition. Finally, Raziel gave his people the gift of destined ones. But having a soul mate is complicated by reincarnation and one can go lifetimes without finding the one meant for them, knowing he or she exists but unable to finally connect until both are in the same lifetime. 

In Destiny Redeemed, two of the most powerful Aeveren are the hero and heroine. Amon is in his 47th lifetime and possesses the power to change time. He can move it up, stop it, reverse it...you get the idea. He's not a man to play with.  He's been a bad man for many lifetimes, but fate has given him something that may change him. Thea.  A healer for the Aeveren people, Thea is in her 45th lifetime.  As a healer, her power is a good one, unlike her destined one's.  Here's the blurb:

Sentenced to spend the rest of his three remaining lifetimes in Nil, Amon Kalins is freed with the help of his Sidhe servant, Gethen, but now he must accept his life is never to be his again as the Council won't rest until he's safely back imprisoned within Nil's cold walls. Broken and nearly dead from his time in prison, Amon is saved by an Aeveren healer named Althea Forester. As a healer, Thea has served her people for forty-five lifetimes, never having a destined one and always knowing each lifetime would ultimately end with her alone. But destiny hasn't forgotten her.

Drawn to the seductive Amon, Thea quickly becomes a pawn the Council uses to trap him. Taken prisoner by the sadistic leader of the rebel group, the Soren, Thea must survive the vicious world of the people hellbent on taking her destined one away forever, and Amon must risk everything dear to him to free her from those who would sacrifice her to claim the bigger prize and return him to Nil.

To find out more about Destiny Redeemed, visit its page on my blog and join me on the tour this week. Hope to see you there!

Destiny Redeemed Tour

March 26: Butterfly-O-Meter Books
March 27: Words In Sync
March 28: All Things Books
March 29:  Road To Hell Series
March 30: Salacious Reads

Aeveren

Someone asked me where I got the name Aeveren for my Destined Ones books.  The truth is I made it up.  I couldn't find a name to describe exactly what I wanted--to reflect that these people lived many lives through reincarnation--so I decided that I needed to make a new word that would work. 

I still have the envelope I used to experiment with ideas as I rode on my way to my son's Boy Scout camp.  All over it are written words that I tried, including Aevere and Aevera, in addition to Evere.  I didn't like any of those, so I continued to scribble as my friend drove and eventually, in the little space that was left at the bottom, came Aeveren. 

The name reflects both the reincarnation theme of the characters' lives and the idea of the destined one, one person fate has chosen for another.  It's been suggested that I trademark the name, but so far, I haven't done anything about that.  I'm not sure it's necessary.  How's it look?  Aeveren™

Maybe someday.  Right now, I'm more about writing romance and love scenes than claiming a name.  :)

Gabrielle

Destiny Renewed Update

Another Saturday of writing, but this time I had to do a little research since I decided to provide a flashback to one of my hero's earlier lifetimes.  I have a lot to choose from since Amon's in his 47th lifetime, but I didn't want to go with anything common.  I've already showcased him either in the first book, Stolen Destiny, or his story, Destiny Renewed, in the late Roman Empire and late 18th century England, and made references to his lifetimes as a Viking warrior, Aztec leader, and Greek in the first century B.C.  But this time I chose to give him a lifetime in 16th century Ottoman Empire Turkey. 

The flashback is just a love scene actually, but I decided to put him in the town of Edirne in western Turkey right around the time of the reign of Suleiman the Great (mid 1500s).  So that meant some research into the time period, the area, and the basic goings on around Turkey in those years. 

I knew the time I chose meant the area was still part of the Ottoman Empire, but I had to make sure I had my ideas in order before I went ahead and wrote anything.  I find this type of research for stories to be a bunch of fun.  I've had an interest in this part of the world for a while, and as much as I'd like to write an entire story based on that area, particularly during Ottoman times, for now I'll settle for a flashback with some steamy sex. 

Hope your Saturday was as much fun as mine!

Gabrielle

Another Great Weekend

As I sit here late Saturday night, I'm finished with my writing for the weekend.  My goal was 24 pages, and I wrote about 30, so I feel very good.  Someone asked me the other day how I can write so much in a sitting.  I explained that I really don't have the opportunity to write each day because of work and life and everything else that requires my time, so I save up ideas (jotting them down in the margins of my notebooks) all week and then write on the weekend.  So while it seems like 30+ is a lot, for a week, I'm not writing as much as I'd like.  That's less than 5 pages a day for a 7 day week, but it's what I can do for now.  I'd prefer to write every day, but this semester is just a dog this year. 

I'm beginning Chapter 21 on Destiny Renewed and still am hovering on Chapter 14 of Broken Destiny.  Things are moving along nicely with Stolen Destiny going toward publication in June.  This week I got to complete information about what I see for the cover, which I have to admit, was so thrilling I was silly with happiness for a few days.  (I'm such a newbie!)  Just the thought that soon I'll be published is still sinking in. 

I've set a goal of the end of March to be finished with Destiny Renewed, which would put me at the end of April to get it typed (remember, I hand write everything first, so I have the second leg of the journey once I finish writing the book), edited, and out to my beta readers.  I hope to submit that book right around the time the first one is published.  (Fingers crossed!)

As for Broken Destiny, I'm aiming for a May 1 date to complete that, but that might be a bit ambitious. Still, that's my goal.  That would put me at the beginning of June with it typed, edited, and out to my beta readers.  A late summer submit would be success for this one. 

And for the last book, which is actually the first one I wrote in this series but put aside when Stolen Destiny invaded my mind one day in the shower, I'm looking forward to resurrecting it and moving ahead with that one after the previous two are edited to within an inch of their lives and submitted.  I don't have a name for this one yet, but it will be the last one in the Destined Ones Series, barring some major change that isn't on the horizon quite yet. 

Whew!  I think I need a beer and some R & R before the week begins again.  Here's to a wonderful week for us all!

The Destined Ones Series

After I submitted Stolen Destiny to the publisher in the hopes of getting a contract, I added a few pages more to the first chapter to refocus the story on the main male character/hero, Varek, instead of Callia, who is the main female character.  I realized that all along I had been thinking this was Varek's story, but it didn't begin with him, so I figured it need to be changed a bit to show that.  Now the reader immediately meets him after the prologue and hopefully finds an attachment formed with him. 

In other news, the publisher has asked me the name of the series and I've chosen the title as Destined Ones.  So the first book will be Stolen Destiny: A Destined Ones Series Novel or something like that.  I've decided that the series will have four books, unless someone wants me to do more, which in that case, I'll definitely consider it.  I enjoy writing about Aeveren, so it wouldn't involve arm twisting to get me to write more.  But as it is, I have the first one finished and submitted, the second one about 60% completed, the third one about 40% completed, and the fourth one 70% completed.  I know that this seems to be an odd listing, but the last book is the first one I began writing and now have returned to with the knife of an editor in hand. 

And I've started creating a book trailer for Stolen Destiny.  I can't tell you how much fun that's been.  I've never considered myself very creative in that area, but I've had a blast with finding pictures and music that work with the story.  I can't wait to post it! 

I hope you're having as wonderful a February as I am, and if you're in one of the areas of the United States where it's been snowy, icy, and cold, remember that spring is only 5 weeks away!

Good Vibrations

I've been querying for a little over a month now while my critique partners have finished reading Stolen Destiny, and I've been getting really good feedback.  I think what I'm happiest about is that the readers who have spent time with my book are really liking it. 

I always knew that the idea of a race of people called Aeveren could appeal to readers, particularly paranormal romance readers, because while they're different in that they live 50 lives through reincarnation, often have powers above what humans possess, and have destined ones-mates they're drawn to across time and distance-they're characters that readers can relate to.  Paranormal romance fans love the idea of different, and Aeveren are definitely different than humans, but at the same time, they feel all the emotions and go through all the experiences human beings do. 

Stolen Destiny is mainly a romance about Varek and Callia, but as one of my readers keeps reminding me, it's also very much about the villain, Amon.  Varek is tall, dark, and strong and was easy to write because he's so wonderful a character.  He's a bad boy who has a sexy, soft spot to him.  I think some would say it doesn't matter if any of my characters convey appeal for the story to work because the love interests in my books are Aeveren, who have destined ones they're drawn to.  I never felt that as I was writing Varek's character because even though he and Callia are destined for one another, I always wanted the attraction to be far more than biological.  That may be what draws them to one another, but the heat comes from real attraction between two people.

Callia originally began quite sweetly, but very quickly I decided that she needed to be strong and have some romantic experience.  I'm not a fan of writing virgins, so while she's never had a destined one, unlike the men in the story, she certainly has had lifetimes of experience.  Beautiful and sexy, she's a great match for Varek.

Amon is simply the easiest character I've ever written.  As tall and masculine as Varek, he's fair with blond hair and leaner.  But it isn't in his physical being that Amon is appealing but in the way he exudes power.  The challenge was to make sure scenes with Varek and Amon didn't become testosterone contests, so I had to be very conscious of how I structured their scenes together.  More than once I'd write an entire scene and then go back and decide that this one had to be silent or that one had to facially show more than he was to allow each male to come through without overwhelming one another.  While Amon is certainly more powerful because he's been given extraordinary abilities neither Varek nor Callia possess (and 99% of their fellow Aeveren don't either), I didn't want him to be the focus of the book.  However, he gets his own story in one of the sequels, Destiny Renewed. 

So far, 2011 has been a wonderful year for my writing.  Readers are interested in my characters and the story of Stolen Destiny, and the sequels are coming along really well.  I hope to have Destiny Renewed finished before summer and the next book finished later this year.  In addition, I decided that the series will end with four books, so that will leave one more that I'm still firming up plans for in my head.  Finally, I've been mapping out some plans for a new book that may end up as straight fiction instead of romance.  That one is still in the earliest stage, but I'm eager to begin jotting down some real ideas to get that one going.

Researching The Hero's Past

I write paranormal romance, so usually that means I'm limited only by my imagination, but my characters all have pasts that span many years, so for those parts of my stories, usually found in flashbacks, I have to do research.  Sometimes I choose to either place my characters in time periods I know quite well (I am a history instructor, so my areas of specialty are easy choices for me) or I choose to place them in eras that are less historically important but geographically important.  I try to stay away from major events, such as wars, because I find they can become time drains and make the story go off the rails quite quickly.

Today I spent some good time researching late 18th century England for my lead male character in the book I'm currently writing. I had to decide where in England to place him and what to make him (duke, earl, etc. or landed gentry).  I chose landed gentry because I didn't want to get too heavily involved in the titles and everything else that comes along with peerage.  My knowledge of English history is fair, but I have to admit I'm a bit lacking in the details of the late 1700s in England.  In addition, I can usually say that my knowledge of any time period's culture is only fair, other than in my specialties, because I'm overall a political/military historian. 

So off to the books and internet I went, and I had a great time doing it!  The chapter flowed beautifully with the knowledge I gained, and I'm so pleased with my progress today.  I'll finish the chapter tomorrow, and then it's back to the present for my hero and me. 

Gabrielle

The Sequels

Before Stolen Destiny, my first novel I plan to publish, I wrote a few other stories and one complete book.  That one is sitting patiently waiting for me to return, but that might just be the book that is supposed to just be and nothing else.  When I began that book, I didn't have any plans other than to write down what had come to me one night.  And that's exactly what I did.  The story just flowed out of me, and I enjoyed completing that book a great deal. 

But then one morning as I was taking a shower an idea for a sort of beauty and the beast type story came to me, and I quickly raced out of the bathroom, soaking wet and dripping all over the place, to jot down some ideas that had been dancing around in my head as I washed my hair.  (I know.  It's a bit weird, but this is the way things come to me, even concerning my day job.) 

From those jottings came the book Stolen Destiny.  It didn't end up as a beauty and the beast variation, but that's how it started.  And that book flowed even better than the first had.  I would get home as quickly as possible from work to get back to it because I'd have ideas popping around in my brain all day while I was supposed to be teaching freshmen history.  I could barely keep up with the ideas!

As I was finishing the book, I knew I wanted to write a sequel that would focus on one of the characters who didn't get a HEA.  He was so wonderful to write because he was the villain that I couldn't just let him fade away into the sunset, so I planned on getting back to him later.  First, I had another sequel idea that I wanted to get to.

But anyone who knows me can tell you that I rarely am able to just do one thing at a time and before I knew it, I had ideas for both sequels.  So now, almost three months later, sequel two is about half way completed, and sequel three is about 2/5 completed.  And each day the ideas keep coming so I race home to write, just as I did with Stolen Destiny.

Paranormal Romance

There are many types of romance, but paranormal has become very popular recently.  I know I love a good vampire story, but I've also been enjoying stories about angels too. And a good shapeshifter is always welcome. 

I chose to create a new race of beings because I had an idea but didn't see how it fit with any established being.  However, this has made some people think my stories, Stolen Destiny and the two others I'm writing-Broken Destiny and Destiny Renewed-are fantasy or science fiction.  They definitely are not! 

Paranormal romance is focused on the romance and has elements of the fantastic included.  Fantasy is focused on what could happen in this world or any other world, while science fiction is focused on what can happen based on the available science and its applications.

There is no science in my books, but there is a lot of romance.  There are elements of the fantastic in some of my characters, particularly since one possesses the power to manipulate time and others have the powers of telepathy and teleportation.  But those powers are never the focus of the story.  They are simply part of the characterization.  In addition, my characters live numerous lives through reincarnation.  This allows me to create a history for each character that is limited only by where I want to take them.  So one lived a life in the Roman Empire and 18th century England, while another lived in 19th century revolutionary Mexico. While these experiences are shown only through their memories, it allows me to create layered heroes and heroines (along with villains!) who are so very interesting.

What's at the heart of my stories is the relationship between two people, who while they aren't human, are very similar to human beings.  They live their lives, searching for happiness, and dealing with the issues that all people deal with. Well, not just like the rest of us since this is romantic fiction. ;)

I find for now the paranormal sub genre of romance is where I like to write.  I enjoy being able to place my characters in situations that allow the use of the supernatural because while they are extraordinary, they are still very easy for readers to relate to.