Ramblings of an Australian Writer

Rachel Lacey and Mia Sosa have teamed up with over 30 romance authors to offer you a special giveaway, in light of the recent natural disasters that have affected parts of the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean Islands. To enter, just email us at [email protected] showing proof of a donation (please remove sensitive information) to disaster relief efforts, and you will receive 1 or more free ebooks - chosen at random - from a list of books from participating authors. Some people will even receive an entire series! Please help us spread the word by sharing this giveaway on social media using the hashtag #romancecares.

Our hearts and thoughts are with everyone who's been affected. <3

Entry Details:

1. Please email [email protected] by Friday, October 13 showing proof of a donation to disaster relief dated between August 1 and October 13, 2017.

2. In your email, please indicate your preference of Kindle or Nook copies for your gifted ebooks.

3. If you've already read any of the books included in the giveaway, please let us know in your email, and we'll do our best to gift you a book or books you haven't read yet.

Our Awesome Participating Authors:

Jennifer Bernard - Setting Off Sparks
Marnee Blake - Altered
Asa Maria Bradley - Viking Warrior Rising
Laura Brown - Friend (With Benefits) Zone
Celeste Castro - Homecoming
Olivia Dade - Ready to Fall
Alexis Daria - Take the Lead
Jen Doyle - Calling It
Kate Forest - Interior Design and Other Emotions
Calista Fox - His Angel of Starlight Bend
Megan Frampton - the Dukes Behaving Badly series
Codi Gary - Crazy for You
Mia Hopkins - Cowboy Rising and Cowboy Karma
April Hunt - Hard Justice
Ryvr Jones - Shadow and Bones
L.J. LaBarthe - The Archangel Chronicles (complete 9 book set)
Rachel Lacey - Crash and Burn
Ruby Lang - Hard Knocks
Jessica Linden - Fight For Me
Tracey Livesay - the Shades of Love series and the In Love with a Tycoon series
J.L. Lora - Boss
Sarah MacLean - the Scandal and Scoundrel series
Kelly Maher - The Bridesmaid and the Hurricane
Tif Marcelo - North to You
Liz Maverick - The Transporter
Harper Miller - The Sweetest Taboo
Steph Nuss - the Love in the City series
Priscilla Oliveras - His Perfect Partner
Tamsen Parker - Rogue Desire and In Her Court
Annie Rains - Forbidden Kisses
Sara Rider - Going for the Goal
Lydia San Andres - A Summer for Scandal
Susan Scott Shelley - Making His Move
Sabrina Sol - Delicious Satisfaction
Mia Sosa - Acting on Impulse
Elisabeth Staab - Losing the Fight
Mia West - Marked by Fire
Tara Wyatt - Dirty Boxing

Archangel Chronicles Bundle Volume One

Dreamspinner Press has released the first three books of The Archangel Chronicles in one bundle, as a special collection. It's available now in eBook for $9.99! You can get it here.

Gabriel, Michael, and the Brotherhood of Archangels must try to deal with relationships while fulfilling duties of fighting demons and protecting humans in The Archangel Chronicles. Gabriel and Michael have been pining after each other for centuries, but an egomaniacal human trying to raise a hell army pushes their relationship to the backburner in No Quarter. Gabriel and Michael are finally reunited in No Surrender, No Retreat, but their happiness is threatened when someone begins kidnapping angels and selling them on the black market. In No Shadows Fall, newly bonded Gabriel and Michael and torn from their idyllic island retreat when Gabriel’s ancient enemy Semjaza escapes from his prison.

This is available only from Dreamspinner Press and I'm so excited to share this collection of the first three books with you all. I hope you guys all enjoy them!

We're near the end, dear friends, the end. The last book of The Archangel Chronicles will be out on the 2nd October, and to celebrate its release and the end of the series, I'm doing a series of posts here to commemorate that. So first up, a playlist. This is music I listened to while I was writing, music that I thought fit the characters or the scenes or the tone of things. It's an eccelctic variety, and I hope you enjoy some--if not all--of it.

So "Noah" is out. I haven't seen it yet, but I plan to. I'm interested particularly in how Darren Aronofsky handles this, as from everything I've read about it, this vision of the story is based on the Apocryphal books of the Bible, rather than what is in the Bible today. The book from the Apocrypha that is relevant is the Book of Enoch, which talks specifically about the nature of angels and those angels who were sent to Eden to watch and guide humanity--The Watchers, aka the Grigori--led by Semjaza, and how those angels developed a desire for human women and fathered children with them--the Nephilim.

Semjaza is in the film, played by Nick Nolte, which I find an intriguing choice, so I'm quite interested to see how he does in the role. In the Archangel Chronicles books, particularly No Shadows Fall, I've written Semjaza as being wholly self-absorbed and completely obsessed with his goals of running Earth and claiming Ishtahar back as his wife, along with his Nephilim sons, Hiwa and Ahijah. In No Shadows Fall, I've written Ishtahar as being unwilling to return to him and his sons not wanting to have anything to do with him.

The Watchers appear in "Noah" as beings of stone who guard Methuselah because he helped them. This is also from the Apocrypha. I chose not to devle too deeply into early Biblical theory for the Archangel Chronicles, because I didn't want to get bogged down in theology and theological debate at the expense of the story I wanted to tell. The romance between Gabriel and Michael is the primary story and the trials and challenges they face are the things that bind them closer together, and in turn, bring them closer to the rest of the Brotherhood of Archangels. The secondary romances, Uriel and Raziel, Ishtahar and Remiel, Lyudmila and Piotr, Kokabiel and Baraqiel, and, introduced in The Wind-up Forest, Liam and Baxter, Declan and Angelique, Lily and Danny, Minnie and Max, are just as important. They are in the story to illustrate that all love and romance is important and that the capacity for love that sentient beings possess is what distinguishes us.

"Noah" is therefore interesting to me as something featuring characters that I've written about and loved, hated and felt indifferent about; it's a film I want to see because of its relationship to the Apocrypha and because of the ongoing story about angels and humans and how the divine reacts and interacts with the mortal.


The Wind-up Forest
Blurb: Sequel to No Shadows Fall
Archangel Chronicles: Book Four

Archangel Gabriel is hoping for a quiet period in his life to enjoy his relationship with Archangel Michael, but someone has other ideas.

New dangers arise when the Holy Grail is stolen. Gabriel, Michael, and the rest of the Brotherhood of Archangels and their allies must somehow thwart the twisted desires of the thief.

Their search for the Grail takes them all over the world, calling on old friends like Uriel and Raziel, and forging powerful new alliances. Though they face a fresh set of perils in pursuit of the thief, the enduring comfort Gabriel needs so much, that of his beloved Michael, never abandons him.

Ebook | Paperback.

The Archangel Chronicles

Book One: No Quarter.
Book Two: No Surrender, No Retreat.
Book Three: No Shadows Fall.

About: Archangel Gabriel, Archangel of War and Sanctification, has developed feelings for Archangel Michael, chief of the Brotherhood of Archangels. Discovering these feelings are returned, Gabriel sets out to woo Michael, and the two fall deeper in love as their relationship blooms. But the path of love is never easy, even for an Archangel, and there are many dangers and tests to face and overcome. From Archdemons, Lucifer, and war to murderous angels, egomaniacs wanting to become supreme dictator of Earth and more, there is a new trial to overcome.

With their Brotherhood, the rest of angelkind and allies, including shifters, witches, shamen, and Michael's elite squad of shifters called the Venatores, and a small group of Archdemons, Michael and Gabriel face each new challenge head on, determined not to fall and not to lose each other and their love.

The Whole Series in Ebook and Paperback.


Link of the Now: Learn Chinese at the BBC. A great resource to learn Chinese online. It's not updated any more, but it's archived, so it's still a great place to start.

I hope you all had a very happy Christmas and new year. Welcome to 2014! Here's hoping that this is a much better—happier, safer, healthier—year for everyone. I have finished moving house, although I still have one box left to unpack, and I'm still living on very limited internet, which makes me a very sad person. I'm hoping the internet issue will be resolved in a good way very soon, but for now, I'm in a holding position and waiting and hoping.

Over the end of December and now into January, I have been working on edits of books in "The Archangel Chronicles." Second editions with substantial edits in terms of tightening up the narrative, new scenes and dialogue and overall cleaning up the story have been released of the first three books, No Quarter; No Surrender, No Retreat and No Shadows Fall, and are now available for purchase. This is all leading up to the second trilogy in the series, which will be released through 2014.

The first book of the second trilogy is The Wind-Up Forest. This is book four of the series and the blurb reads: Archangel Gabriel is hoping for a quiet period in his life to enjoy his relationship with Archangel Michael, but someone has other ideas. New dangers arise when the Holy Grail is stolen. Gabriel, Michael, and the rest of the Brotherhood of Archangels and their allies must somehow thwart the twisted desires of the thief.

Their search for the Grail takes them all over the world, calling on old friends like Uriel and Raziel and forging powerful new alliances. Though they face a fresh set of perils in pursuit of the thief, the enduring comfort Gabriel needs so much, that of his beloved Michael, never abandons him.

Book five is The Crystal Lake, and book six is The Bone Cup. I've ventured into Arthurian Legend with this trilogy, as that's a whole set of mythology that I've always adored and been fascinated by. There are a lot of ties to angels within those legends, too, which is great when one is writing about angels!

What is most interesting, I think, are the new characters. This trilogy picks up where the first left off, placing it around the year 2085. The Venatores, the elite force of shifters that are trained and led by Michael feature more prominently, and so do some of the residents of Hell and Purgatory. The new characters were a lot of fun for me to write and develop. I'm currently working on the third trilogy, and many of these new characters are in the third trilogy, too. Of course the angels and Archangels are all there, too—it wouldn't be "The Archangel Chronicles" without them!

So who's new? Well, here's a short list.

Primary New Characters.
Angelique: Alpha of a Venatores pack. Formerly US Air Force and is of Mexican descent, raised in Texas. Her shifter shape is a dark gray wolf.
Lily: Beta of Angelique’s pack, is an Englishwoman, formerly of the British Army. Her shifter is a grey wolf, and she is married to Danny, another member of the pack.
Baxter: Kappa of Angelique’s pack. Formerly a US Marine, suffering PTSD. His shifter shape is an Arctic white wolf.
Danny: Kappa of Angelique’s pack. Also a former US Marine, born and raised in Georgia. His shifter shape is a grey wolf, and he is married to Lily, another member of the pack.
Riley: Omega of Angelique’s pack and the pack medic. Formerly a US Marine medic. His shifter shape is a red rock wolf.
Declan Jones: Shifter and older brother of Liam. Raised in Puerto Rico, he and his brother were both taught the ways of magic, Hoodoo and Santeria by their guardians, a Hoodoo priestess named Selana and her husband, Jack. During the Seventy Years War, Declan in the US Army for some years.
Liam Jones: Necromancer and younger brother of Declan, raised in Puerto Rico, and educated in the same things as his brother by their guardians. He is one of the strongest necromancers alive in the world. Worked as a police officer before he and Declan set out together to work as demon trackers.
Minnie: An Australian witch. Formerly a thief, known as No-Hands Minnie.
Max/Mobius: Extremely talented hacker known for being able to dig up hidden information. His partner is Minnie, and he lives with her and their cat.
Lilith: The first wife of Adam, and prior to that, the consort of God Himself, Lilith is the first scorned woman and the first woman to say no to a man. After she left Adam, she wandered in the wilderness and mothered giants, the monsters of ancient mythology. Originally named Lilitu by the Akkadians, she met Lucifer in the desert and they spent a long time in conversation. Lilith is the oldest of the Four Sisters of Succubi. Agrat, Eisheth, and Naamah are her sisters. Her titles are: Consort of Lucifer, Eater of Infants, The First Adulteress, Consort of Yahweh, Mother of Giants.
Secondary New Characters.
Camael: An Angel of War under the command of Gabriel.
Asaf: Angel of Evening Hymns. Under the command of Gabriel.
Vel: Angel of Wednesday. Under the command of Gabriel.
Arkady: A Russian shifter. Has ulterior motives to what he says and is as slippery as a fish.
Olga: A Russian shifter.
Vasily: A Russian shifter.
Larissa: An Armenian shifter.
Horace: A member of the Order of Midnight, an extremely expensive group of assassins.
Anna: Venatores, Russian, lives in the building owned by Michael in Oregon. She is a wolf shifter, mother to two young children, and married to Robert.
Robert: Venatores, American, lives in the building owned by Michael in Oregon. He is a fox shifter, father to Anna’s children, and married to Anna.
Eisheth: Youngest of the Four Succubi Sisters, spent her time living among the stars, comforting those who fell to earth as they died.
Naamah: One of the Four Succubi Sisters, she used to live in the seas of the Earth, but moved to Purgatory during the Seventy Years War. Has two children, twins, whose father is unknown. Her twin children are named Arthur and Morgana, after the Arthurian legends.

I've been working hard with Lynn and Erika from Dreamspinner Press, and while the editing has been intense, it's been really good and I've really enjoyed the whole process. I came to a conclusion that I'd been rolling around in my head during the edits, and I'd like to share that with you all now. The best way to view the series as a whole is in sets of three, or seasons. So the first trilogy has the theme of coming together and being united; the second trilogy has the theme of the Holy Grail; and the third trilogy (which I'm working on) has the theme of isolationism and prejudice and fighting against those. The underlying theme of all sets of three is the Seventy Years War and its aftermath. So each set of three is slightly different in point-of-view and narrative structure, with different elements of magic and romance added into the story as well.

So where to get 'em? Link time! And don't you guys love the gorgeous covers Anne Cain did for me? I'm so thrilled with them, they're beautiful.
No Quarter: eBook | Paperback.
No Surrender, No Retreat: eBook | Paperback.
No Shadows Fall: eBook | Paperback.
The Wind-Up Forest: Watch the coming soon page for this and The Crystal Lake and The Bone Cup.

For this blog hop, the For the Love of Mythology hop, I've been pondering what to write about. It's true I love history—rather a lot, to be honest! Mythology has been a close partner to that, going hand-in-hand with history as it does.

I grew up with Greek and Roman myths, but mythology didn't really take off for me until my teens, when I became fascinated by the myths and legends of King Arthur. The Matter of Britain as it's called, hooked me in and held on for good. It wasn't just the story of King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Excalibur and the Round Table, but all the side stories, the romances written by Chrétien de Troyes, particularly Tristan and Isolde. All of this began when I saw the movie Excalibur, starring a very young Helen Mirren and Liam Neeson, directed by John Boorman and including lots of very shiny, very out of period armor and an awesome sword as Excalibur. It came out in 1981, but it wasn't until a few years that I saw it. I fell in love with the film and the story it told, and began to read every book I could find in the library about King Arthur and his knights.


Knights of the Round Table, 15th century.

Along the way, I also discovered Ladyhawke and The Princess Bride, which introduced more and more magic to my youthful mind. I read all the fantasy I could find that fit that mold, particularly the books by David Eddings, Anne McCaffrey, Diana Wynn Jones and Barbara Hambly, to name a few. I started to collect dragons and I still have some of those dragons from my teenage years. I read less about King Arthur and his knights and companions, and more general fantasy, and collected more and more dragons. I have a small collection of Pocket Dragons, which I collected for several years until my thirties.

I had always had an interest in Ancient Egypt but it wasn't until my late teens and early twenties that I really found myself connecting with the deities of the period, particularly Set, Isis, Bastet, Sekhmet and Anubis. The story of the Boat of a Million Years remains one of my favourites from Egyptian mythology.


Statues for sale at the Pyramids of Giza.

In this story, Ra charged Set to guard the Boat of a Million Years. This was the Mandjet or morning boat, and was one of two boats that took Ra on his journey through the sky and the Underworld. He asked Set to guard the Boat because Set had defeated the evil serpent Apophis and proven his strength and cunning as a warrior and a god. The other gods grumbled at the choice, but Ra remained firm, determined that Set would guard the Boat because he was the strongest and the best suited to do so.

"Creatures of Light and Dark" by Roger Zelazny is one of the best reimaginings of Egyptian mythology I have ever read. I highly recommend it to anyone who has a love of ancient Egypt and science fiction-fantasy.

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As part of the Hop, I will give one lucky reader a pdf of one of the three books in The Archangel Chronicles--winner chooses which one they'd like! It's full of mythological goodness--shifters, angels, demons, magic users and more!

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Here are the other blog posts! And here is the great big raffle contest!

For this blog hop, I decided to write about how the main characters in "The Archangel Chronicles" would celebrate Christmas. Most of them are angels, so what could angels possibly do for Christmas that didn't involve going to church? Well, my angels are a quirky lot, so there's quite a few things they would do.

Each year, two Archangels decide what the rest of them will do to celebrate the season. In 2011, it was Raphael and Samael, and in 2010, it was Uriel and Raziel. That was a year that will never be spoken of again, although Uriel still thinks a giant, out of control flaming barbeque is a great idea.

2012 is Michael and Gabriel's year to decide what to do.

Christmas eve is when the plans of the two Archangels get underway. Michael takes Samael, Remiel, Haniel, Raphael and Tzadkiel with him, Israfel, Agrat, Ishtahar, Sophiel and Brieus joining them. Michael's plans for the day are to buy toys – as many toys as they can in the shopping hours of the day, and then wrap them and deliver them to orphanages and needy children charities.

Gabriel, on the other hand, takes Uriel, Raziel, Metatron, Shateiel and the boys and goes on a different sort of shopping spree. They hit the stores to buy all kinds of gifts to put in care packages to send to soldiers and their staff on active duty in the various active war zones around the world. Once they've bought everything and boxed it up – with only a little bickering between Raziel and Uriel – they take the boxes to groups that arrange distribution for care packages to the military.

In the evening, the two groups meet up again at a chapel, usually choosing a small, out of the way parish, and take part in the services as members of the congregation. Israfel sings, and the voice of the Angel of Music added to those of the choir reduce many to tears. After the services, they go their separate ways for a private celebration, planning to meet up in the morning at Tzadkiel's apartment.

Christmas morning, they meet for a quick breakfast at Tzadkiel's. After eating, the group goes to visit an orphanage, the one Michael chooses being in South Africa. After a morning helping with food, gifts, singing carols and telling stories, the angels depart, and follow Gabriel to their afternoon's venue, a veteran's hospice, to visit with the wounded and permanent patients there.

In the evening, they retire once again to Tzadkiel's apartment and have Christmas dinner together. With the exception of Michael, they all drink too much, sing too loudly, eat until they are near to bursting, and laugh and joke. For one night, the Brotherhood of Archangels and their nearest and dearest are able to set aside their worries and cares, and celebrate together. And isn't that what Christmas should be about? Coming together with our loved ones to celebrate and be happy, and try not to focus on the worries and cares of regular life.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays.

As part of the Hop, I am giving away two pdf copies of my current release, No Shadows Fall. Leave a comment to go in the draw to win!

No Shadows Fall. Newly bonded Archangels Michael and Gabriel are torn from their idyllic island retreat by the singing of hymns heralding stunning news: Gabriel’s ancient foe, Semjaza, has escaped from his prison in the stars and now seeks revenge and utter conquest. With the wisdom of Archangel Raziel to guide them and help coming from the most unlikely of quarters, Gabriel and Michael join with the Brotherhood of Archangels to hunt Semjaza down and finish him once and for all. Because Semjaza's return to Earth doesn't threaten just Gabriel and his loved ones—it threatens the whole of humanity. But even more danger lurks in the shadows, threatening the Brotherhood from within. If Gabriel and Semjaza finally face each other in single combat, will Gabriel survive the contest, or will Michael lose his one true love? Sequel to No Surrender, No Retreat: Book Three of The Archangel Chronicles.

Since "No Quarter," book one of The Archangel Chronicles was given away as a freebie for one hour today as part of Dreamspinner Press's TweetAway extravaganza, here is the information about the latest installment of the series, "No Shadows Fall."

"No Shadows Fall" was released late October and picks up directly from where "No Surrender, No Retreat" left off. To get all the books in the series, click here.



No Shadows Fall.

Blurb:

Newly bonded Archangels Michael and Gabriel are torn from their idyllic island retreat by the singing of hymns heralding stunning news: Gabriel’s ancient foe, Semjaza, has escaped from his prison in the stars and now seeks revenge and utter conquest.

With the wisdom of Archangel Raziel to guide them and help coming from the most unlikely of quarters, Gabriel and Michael join with the Brotherhood of Archangels to hunt Semjaza down and finish him once and for all. Because Semjaza's return to Earth doesn't threaten just Gabriel and his loved ones—it threatens the whole of humanity.

But even more danger lurks in the shadows, threatening the Brotherhood from within. If Gabriel and Semjaza finally face each other in single combat, will Gabriel survive the contest, or will Michael lose his one true love?

Sequel to No Surrender, No Retreat: Book Three of The Archangel Chronicles.

( Excerpt )

Get it: Ebook and Paperback or at Amazon here or ARe here.

It's Round Four of voting on covers for the 2012 Rainbow Awards. I am humbled and thrilled that the cover for No Quarter is still in the race.

So if you'd like to help out and vote, and I'd love it if you did, please go here and cast your ballot.

* If you don't have a Live Journal, don't fret - you can log in using your Facebook or Twitter and vote accordingly. :D

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In writing and publishing news, book three, No Shadows Fall has a release date of the 29th October. And to celebrate all October releases, Dreamspinner Press is having what is, I think, the most awesome giveaways - the tweetaway! If you don't have a twitter but still want to participate and bag yourself free books, bookmark the DSP twitter, right here.

Less Than Three Press has closed submissions for the Rockstar Anthology Collection, in which I have a story called >Capsicum Head. It's about an Aussie punk rock band in the 80s and their highs and lows on tour to the town of Port Pirie and the city of Melbourne. LT3 does have two open calls which, if I may say, look pretty awesome, and I'm planning to have something for the vampire call. If you're reading this..." Message In A Bottle call and Vampire call info.

I am currently at 65K words on City of Jade, the novel sequel to my short story, City of Gold. I am actually amazed at myself right now, I seem to be averaging 5K words a day and this story is practically writing itself. When I picked it up again, I had 30K words down, and now I'm powering along like a writing machine. With a very sore wrist. Ow. I'm really enjoying writing this, I get a lot of joy out of looking at blogs and photos and scholarly and academic research about where this book takes place, which is the Silk Road from Constantinople to Chang'an and then to Li'nan. (Istanbul - Xi'an - Hangzhou). It's set in 1141-42, and is the story of Gallienus of Constantinople and Misahuen of Gyeongju and their trip to find a new home in the Song Dynasty's capital, Li'nan. I would love to follow their journey as a tourist. It's on my bucket list.

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I have gone on a herb growing kick, and my little herb garden in pots is going great guns. My mint is, I'm convinced, related to triffids. If I'm attacked by sentient mint, you all know what happened. Avenge me and honour my memory, friends.

Ahem. Anyhoo, I have mint, parsley, rosemary, lavender, chilli and thyme. (My landlady gave me the thyme. How awesome is that?) I plan to get some perenial corriander (cilatro to my US friends) and some basil, and that should tide me over for the time being. Until I spy something else I must try my hand at growing. Fresh herbs, though, omg. SO GOOD. So very, very good.

Semjaza snorted at that. "Indeed not -- humans are to serve us, not the other way round. Continue."

"Of course, Sire," Azazel paused to gather his thoughts. "Remiel also has a house in the land called America," he said cautiously, "Ishtahar, your wife, spends a lot of her time working with damaged humans that are protected by Agrat bat Mahlat."

Semjaza smiled a small, fond smile, "My beloved was ever attentive to the needs of the less fortunate . . . my sons, Azazel, tell me of my sons."


From "No Shadows Fall", book three of The Archangel Chronicles.