Hello again!

I thought I’d talk about more about my paranormal romance today and explain how I — such a lover of historical romance — ever wrote a paranormal romance.

Well, the first book I ever wrote was ONCE UPON A WEDDING NIGHT. I had started plenty of manuscripts, but this was the first one I finished. Naturally, I felt hugely satisfied with this accomplishment. I sat back and figured I just had to send it in and wait for the offers. Right? Okay, you can stop laughing. I mean, yes, I did sell it, but not right away. In fact, when I finished it, I only then learned how hard it was to sell a historical. This was about three years ago. I do think they were a harder sell three years ago. Things are perking up for historicals right now, in my opinion, but I digress.

With everyone telling me how hard it was to sell a historical, I decided my next book is going to be in a genre that’s “hot”. If you recall, three years ago was the chicklit boom. I toyed with writing one of those, but it just didn’t “feel” like a good fit for me. I considered writing a young adult - those seemed to be gaining in popularity, too. And then there was paranormal, which seemed to be gaining momentum. Vampires? I wondered. Nah, that didn’t really call to me. Besides, there seemed to be a ton of vampire books. I wanted to offer something different to editors/agents. Werewolves? I wondered. Maybe, but what do I know about werewolves (yes, I know they’re fictious). Still, I took to the internet and did a search on werewolves. And let me tell you, my friends, there are massive amounts of information out there on werewolves - not to mention people who seriously believe werewolves, like vampires, exist. That, above all else, blew my mind. Well, I came across a little tidbit on werewolves that birthed and idea for a book - a premise - almost instantly.

The information I uncovered went something like this: Werewolves are pack creatures, led by one alpha wolf. They are overcome by a bloodlust and feed every full moon, thus werewolves are damned souls. Interesting, I thought. The only chance to break the curse, and save someone from damnation, is for that “infected” individual to kill the alpha of the pack. Again, interesting. So, say a werewolf infects Jane Doe; she has 28 days NOT to find and kill the werewolf who infected her, but rather that werewolf’s pack leader — the “alpha”. Ah, this bred so many possibilities in my mind. C’mon! I can’t be the only one here. Aren’t the wheels in your head spinning over the potential?

So here I am, an avid historical romance reader/writer, and I’m burning up with a sudden idea for a paranormal romance that’s an ultra sexy contemporary/suspense/action-thriller all rolled into one. I wrote this book in two months. The story just swept me away. Here’s my pitch blurb:

When good girls go werewolf…
Mousy schoolteacher Claire Morgan can’t understand what is making her so unnaturally aggressive. From standing up to her bully father to intimidating misbehaving students to a sudden makeover and raging libido, she just isn’t herself. She refuses to believe Gideon March, the man stalking her and proclaiming to be an agent for NO DEAL (National Organization of Defense against Evolving and Ancient Lycanthropes), is anything but a nutcase - no matter that he sends her already overactive libido into hyper-drive. Surviving a fatal injury eventually convinces her she is a lycan, and Gideon isn’t a crackpot after all. Claire teams up with the sexy lycan hunter to try and break the curse, knowing if they fail he must kill her before she shifts on the next full moon. It is a race against the lunar clock to find the alpha wolf responsible for the curse and destroy it before her soul is damned for eternity and a chance for love lost forever.

Okay - confession time. Before I wrote this book, I had read maybe… three paranormals. I’m not a reader of the genre. Truthfully, I’m still not. I can’t say why that is. I’ve tried to read some paranormals by the hottest authors in the genre but I just don’t love them. I think that maybe this is why my book is different. For good or bad, I’m not influenced by all the other paranormals being published because I don’t read them. My hero is still very alpha-male, just like I write in my historicals, and my heroines are very much women in situations of distress. Historical or paranormal, that’s what I write. My tone is still much the same - high emotional intensity, bordering dark. I suspect those who enjoy my historicals won’t be disappointed by my paranormals - at least that’s my hope. All of you will just have to judge for yourselves in September when the first book of my paranormal series releases.

Now, I need a favor. You all read the above blurb on my paranormal. The title is to be decided this week. You guessed it. I need title suggestions. These are my ideas thus far:

Come Moonrise
Race The Moon
Chase The Moon
Shadow Moon
Before Moonrise
Hunger Moon

Clearly, I like the idea of moon in the title, but that’s not an absolute. I’m certain all of you can come up with something better. Titles aren’t my forte. Any suggestions would be appreciated. If your title is chosen, I promise a prize… a gift card,, an arc of the book, my next born child … ok, kidding there, but I’ll definitely reward the title genius with some kind of prize.

Best,
Sophie