Okay, so that probably sounds a bit melodramatic, but it’s the truth. I’m starting a whole new world that I’ll be living in for the next few months, and I’m still feeling as if I’m picking my way through a dark and unfamiliar forest. I started work on the novella that will introduce my new Aphrodisia series, tentatively called Dream Catchers. The novella, titled Dream Catcher, is so entirely different from anything I’ve done before, that it really feels odd to connect with an entirely new cast in a whole new setting.
For one thing, this first story has to take place almost twenty years before my actual series begins, because until you know the young MacArthur Dugan and what drives him, his more mature self won’t make a lot of sense. And, of course, what I told my editor I was going to write and what Mac’s telling me to write are totally different.
First of all, I have to introduce you to Mac. Right now he’s in his mid-twenties, a brilliant yet troubled college grad student who’s just been kicked out of school for cheating on an important exam. He knows he’s been set up, but he can’t prove it. His future sucks, because the charges against him mean he won’t qualify for a grant he needs to develop a new software program that can revolutionize computer graphics. This is in the mid 1990s–personal computers are finally becoming available, but laptops are still out on the horizon, and without access to the more powerful technology the school offers, Mac’s stuck. Oh, and did I say he’s also gorgeous? Mac’s not the usual geeky type–in fact, I’ve got a great visual for him, a photo I found of an Australian model who perfectly fits the image I have in my mind of MacArthur Dugan. Let me know what you think!
Anyway, Mac’s life is a mess, and then it gets really confusing when Zianne shows up–literally–in his bed. When he asks how she got there, she says he called her. He certainly doesn’t remember calling her, but she’s here, he’s horny, life sucks and damn, but she’s exactly as he has always imagined his ideal woman.
The sex is amazing, but in the morning Zianne is gone. Later, when Mac sits down to look through his notes, he finds additions to his calculations that totally change his program–for the better. And when Zianne returns to Mac’s bed that night, he’s totally confused and entirely swept up by this woman who confuses him, enthralls him…and might just be the one to save him.
What Mac doesn’t know yet, but will soon learn, is that Zianne is not human. She’s an alien creature of pure energy, drawn to Mac by the power of his sexual fantasies and his brilliant mind. Another thing Mac doesn’t know is that she needs Mac for far more than he can possibly imagine–her people are enslaved, and he’s the only one who can help them. And that, essentially, is the story line that Dream Catcher will introduce. What I need to figure out now is how Mac’s going to get out from under the accusations of cheating, because he needs that grant in order to develop the computer programs he’ll need to save Zianne’s people, known as Nyrians. Of course, all that won’t happen until the full length stories in the series begin. Mac’s still got some maturing to do, and the world will have to catch up to the point where Mac’s programs, combined with twenty-first century technology, will finally come together for a rip-roaring outer space rescue.
In the meantime, Wolf Tales 11 is out, and StarFire will be releasing in April. I’ll be attending the Romantic Times convention in Las Angeles, so if there’s a chance you’re going, please let me know. I’m trying not to think about the fact that Wolf Tales 12 will release in five more months, signalling the official end of the series, and there’s still no word on the proposal for the next generation. Things in publishing can move at a snail’s pace!
Anyway, I’ve had so many questions about the new series that I wanted to let you know what I know, which isn’t much at this point. The world of the Dream Catchers is still new and fresh and a little bit scary, but I’m the first to admit, I don’t do change well. I loved writing my Chanku world…this one is still confusing me.
What about you? When something new is out there, are you excited about meeting the challenge, or do you have to ease your way in? I’m curious–in some things I’m ready to take the leap, but starting a new book is like dating a new guy–you really don’t know how well you’ll click and you’re wondering all the time what he REALLY thinks of you! So, how’s it for you? Do you dive right in to new projects, or stick a toe in first to check the water? Leave a comment and you’ll have a chance to win a book. I’ve got some copies of Anitra McLeod’s Dark Harvest and Sinful Harvest, and my own books as well, and you guys all know how much I love to give stuff away. Thanks for stopping by!
DANE WINS RT BOOK REVIEWS AWARD! I received word from Carol at RT that DANE was chosen as Best Erotic Fantasy Romance of 2010! (And congrats to Kate Douglas who was honored with a career achievement award in erotic romance! Winners will be announced in the May issue and there will be an awards banquet at the RT conference, which is in Los Angeles this year April 6-10.
I’m putting together a basket for the May 13-15 for the Write On, Vancouver conference chaired by our own Aphrodisia author, Susan Lyons. I added gold Hershey’s kisses after I took this photo and after I ate some of them myself. Yum!
