Cynthia Carole

The fourth Cedarville Novella is on its way tomorrow - but here's a quick "taste"!

Excerpt:

Isabel drew closer. She was surprised at how good he smelled, like soap and toothpaste. Does he brush his fangs? She nearly laughed at the nervous thought, but the hilarity died away instantly. He was a predator—one that blended in with its prey. Of course he would smell good, and look good, and even be attractive. That he was. His pale face glowed smooth and clean and his eyes held green sparks from her summoned light.

He guided her to turn around, so her back was to him and her feet up on the car seat. The stupid dress she wore scrunched up around her, and her toes ached with cold. What she really wanted right that moment were some socks. What a strange thought. No. What she really wanted was Deanna back. She should be married by now, and I should be dancing at her reception. This thought was too painful. Now was not the time to start crying.

She had to think and think quickly. Trusting Henri was out—not on his bare word. How could she trust him? Her views on vampires had come to her from Deanna’s story of finding her grandmother slaughtered. So what she needed was a way to bind him at the same time he was binding her.

Vampires are not the only ones who can use blood. It was dark magic though, and if not truly black, definitely on the edge. She wondered if she could remember the words right, and how her magic would interfere with his. Vampire magic was alien to her, not even on her spectrum. But what choice did she have? She had to try something, or she would be caught as his sheep and slave.

Henri’s strong hands drew her back, just like a lover, until she rested in his arms gazing up at him. His left arm cradled her and the right moved to catch her hands. His skin was cool but not cold. He rested his palm lightly over her wrists.

She chewed her lip nervously. Though his constraint was a gentle as a feather resting on her skin, a shudder of fear rippled through her. Her head almost rested on his shoulder. The delicate smell of his clothes—laundry soap and cotton—filled her nose and beneath that he had his own smell, something that somehow reminded her of summer and freshly cut hay. A roll in the hay perhaps?

Her body felt tingly and warm in a way she would never have expected. Was this his magic? Why was her pulse speeding up? Was she actually attracted to him? No. She couldn’t be. Not an animated corpse. Maybe it had just been too long since she had lain in a man’s arms, or maybe this was his vampire magic. She hoped he would just assume she was terrified.

Time to begin her spell. 

I've finished the first draft of "Vampire's Mistress" and am dancing around the room. This is not the last Cedarville novella, I'm sure, but it certainly pulled together all the other stories and caps off the first four as a set.  

The next few weeks I'll polish and get it ready to send off to Purple Sword.   Thanks to all you have given me the encouragement to keep writing.  

More news soon!

Thanks to all of you who have left comments or sent notes to my email.  I really appreciate it,  and it's your encouragement that keeps me going.  Things have been rough for the last few months, but I'm back on track.  The next Cedarville novella is about halfway done, though editing the first draft awaits me when I finish these last few chapters.  

Writing is such an interesting activity.  Don't let anyone tell you that's its all inspiration and following your muses--some of it is just plain work.  For those of us who do it, it's a work of love.  

An answer to a question I received - the way to start a novel is to write the first draft.  Sit down and make yourself write, whether what comes out is brilliant or not.  It's like exercising, you just do it at first for a set amount of time each day. Now a lot of professional and famous writers work chapter by chapter - they write it and edit and edit and edit until each chapter is finished by itself.  Some though write straight through until they have a complete first draft, then they take on the editing. I do a bit of both.  I'm not sure if there is a RIGHT way, it really depends on your own muse and how it works.  For novellas in particular, I like to write them straight through the first time, only editing now and then as I go.  I do that because by the time I get to the end, I may realize that I need to cut out a scene or add a different plot twist (or remove one) and I don't want to cut out entire sections that I've spent weeks perfecting. 

After a first draft, I like to go back and do the second one.  That's when plot changes get put in.  I think of this as the foundation work.  I'm smoothing the concrete, making sure the house is straight.  After that, I usually take the second draft to my writing group.  I put it out there for comments, nitpicks, critiques and sometimes a good,  old fashioned bashing.  Then using or ignoring those comments, I edit the third draft.  After that draft, there will be more comments, but now I'm down to working on individual words and actual grammar.  At last, the manuscript is ready to go the publisher.  

My editor takes the draft apart one more time.  Whatever changes she or he wants, I give them without complaint.  I know my editors and trust them -- which really is the only kind of working relationship to have!

The editing process usually involves two drafts before the final, but mostly grammar, spelling, and repetitive word changes.  I try very hard to give my editors little to do.  Unfortunately they always find something!

So I hope I didn't bore you, but I did have a question about my process. 

I will have more news soon!

Summer is a crazy time with three kids at home.  Between summer camps, heat waves, and inexplicably, a drawn out ear infection in my toddler--I just haven't had much time to write. 

But it's time to get to work on the next Cedarville novella!  This one will involve Henri, the vampire who can't seem to decide on his hair color and... oh, maybe I'll keep the heroine under wraps for a bit.  

It will also involve Deanna and Creed's wedding.  I'm writing up the outline over the next day or so and then will get cracking.

I've just sent off my latest novella "Lord of the Dead".  I hope my publisher likes it.  This one is back to my fantasy roots and it set in a medieval type land protected by magic.   Can a necromancer and the son of a traitor fall in love with a beautiful knight of the realm?  What do you think?  With skeletons, ghosts, and a half-rotting wolf running around this isn't the average fantasy, but I did throw in some sword fighting.  In my story though, it's the heroine who holds the sword and the hero is the caller of the dead.  I hope readers will enjoy their action-packed love story.

After this, I'm back to vampires and things that go bump in the night.  

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer.  I have to say that having three little children at home all day has made finding time for writing hard. Still, I love having them at home with me and when we finally see the sun here in the Pacific Northwest, we bask in its glory. 

My third paranormal romance-adventure is available.  

Here's an excerpt:

The door opened with a whoosh of cold air. The dark parking lot showed for a moment, and then a slim, redhead slipped into the bar. She kept her head down, her shoulders rounded, and she stayed next to the wall. Chris couldn’t help but admire the glow of the fire in her hair, but hadn’t he seen that color before? A jolt rocketed up his spine, chasing away the last of the alcohol buzz he had worked so hard to attain.

She raised her big green eyes, her pale face tight and nervous. God, she’s still beautiful. He clenched his empty glass so tightly it shattered.

The bartender cursed and tried to grab Chris’s hand, but he moved away too quickly.

He barely noticed how the blood welled and ran down his fingers like warm rain. His heart thumped in his chest. Was this it? Was Jerry at last going to come to him, after all these years?  The girl stopped in her tracks, her eyes down on the floor. His nose burned with her scent—wolf and fear. She trembled. He saw shudders run over her shoulders. Animal scent filled his nose, awakening his own wolf. The beast within came up just under his skin, making him twitch and the world shift into a sort of hyper focus. The human smells around him burned his nose. Alcohol. Sweat. Spray-disinfectant. But only in front of him did he smell werewolf.

He raised his eyes to the door, braced and ready. Muscles bulged beneath his back, and his fingers curled into claws.

“He’s not with me,” she said in a low voice. “I’m alone.”

Was she lying? He needed to get closer to know for sure. Leslie trembled as he approached. Her air of submission calmed his racing heart. She was the omega—always had been—the lowest member of the pack. His wolf eagerly came forward, remembering her smell and the feel of her beneath him. Raw memories popped into his head; her hips bucking his, her lips on his mouth, her taste, her cry of pleasure. It had been four years, and other women had come and gone since then—but still she remained the woman who came to him in his dreams, her red hair undone, and her body moving with each stroke.

“Chris! Let me look at your hand,” the bartender said, coming around the bar. Chris wanted to growl at the man, but he swallowed the rumbling down.

“I’m fine. Sorry about the glass.” He took hold of Leslie’s arm—she was warm. God, she was good to touch, and he hauled her out the door. This was no place for werewolf business.

“Chris,” he called after him. “You shouldn’t drive! And your hand—”

“I’m not driving. She’s going to. She’s an old… friend.” I guess that’s the word. Friend. Enemy. Betrayer. Lover. So many words for such a small wolf. 

To read more - go to purple sword.com 

The Omega has finished edits! Yah!  The release date is May 5th, and I'm really hoping that the fans of the Alpha will enjoy Deanna's brother as much as they seemed to like Deanna and Creed.  I'll post an exerpt on the release day . 

So what's next?  I'm on the second draft of another fantasy-romance, this one with some explicit, fan-yourself scenes.  I'll cross my fingers and hope my editors like it.  A traitor's son and a beautiful knight... yep, it works for me.  I love these characters and hope my readers will love them too.

I hope to write the first draft of the next Cedarville novella in either May or June.  I think it's time that Henri the vampire finds his true love...oh, and his changing hair color is at last explained.   I have to write out a loose outline first though. 

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Spring.

I've submitted the third Cedarville novella to my editor at Purple Sword.  The story turned out to be very fast paced and filled with both action and romance.  I'll post an excerpt once I get the go ahead from the publisher.   

I haven't written in here for a while because Christmas is just crazy nowadays.  Three kids!  Boy, am I beat.  I imagine many of you out there feel the same way.  Still, the joy of the season makes it all worth while.  Now January is over as well and things are settling down here... well, except for our strange warm weather is making my garden fill up with weeds. That's another story, though.

I have finished the second draft of "The Omega"  - the third installment in the Cedarville series.  Now I'm just going to take a few weeks to clean it up, catch those repetitive words, and oh, try to find all my missing commas. (here comma comma comma, here comma comma comma).  

Hopefully it will be sent off to Purple Sword before the end of the month.

Best wishes to all and Happy New Year (belated!)

I'm participating in the national november write off this year (it's a race to 50K words in one month) and so far things are going well.  I have 12K down and it's only the 7th.   The secret for me is to just pound out the 1700 words a day (about one chapter) no matter what mood I'm in or what I feel like writing.  I sit down early in the morning and just let the character take me through the next scene, when I'm done, I'm done.  

Writing everyday is a great exercise - though I normally work every day, the difference here is I'm not editing as I go along. Usually I write a chapter, edit it for a few days and then post it in one of my review forums.  Then edit some more and clean up the goofs.  (As many as are caught, anyway...my editor always finds more!)

But for "Nano" I just write and write.  

I think the story gets a tremendous push of momentum this way.  Or maybe that's just the story I'm working on, which is a race against death sort of thing.  Boy, I'm really enjoying it though.  

Don't have a title yet, but this one will be the third installment for the Cedarville Novellas.