A.J. Adams's Blog

Seeing the budget is out (Malaysia) and the election over (USA) let’s get back to important stuff: dark romance books

Hi everyone!

I hope you're all safe and well in these crazy times. With the lockdown and being shut in, I finally got my act together and learned to improve my video making. The thing is, when I got it figured out, I wasn't sure what to talk about!

So I asked on Facebook and CJ asked, how you get your ideas? 

Therefore, here we go! Here's how I went about creating Spirit and Coop and kicking off Ruthless Sinner, the 6th Zeta Cartel novel by AJ Adams.

Please do drop in and see me on FB. You can find me here.

Go straight here to see Ruthless Sinner by AJ Adams on Amazon.

I hope you're all well and safe in these difficult times. We've been in lockdown in Malaysia for 57 days now. Amazingly, I haven't killed my husband yet and he hasn't killed me.  We're watching ancient black and white films, and the cats are keeping us on our toes in terms of Tummy Rubs and Treats.
BUT I'm writing because it's ready! Ruthless Sinner, the latest Zeta cartel novel, will go live on Friday 29thMay 2020.
Ruthless Sinner will be on KU. If you want to buy it, you get the special low price of 99 cents. <3
Please do share with your friends! In 24 hours, I put it up to $1.99. The day it goes live, the price will be $2.99.
As always, I'm looking for help to get the word out. Could you please share the book link on your social media? 
I do hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I think Coop is my new favourite hero

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1976995876Dark Hunter differs from the other Zeta cartel novels.  In the other novels, Kyle, Arturo, Quique and Jorge are thoroughly human. They love their family and friends. They just happen to be career criminals. Rip, the dark hunter, is different.
When we first meet Rip we see him track and catch his prey. When he gets to his victim, we see he is so filled with pain from loss that he has overloaded. He is human, but he is not in control. He is insane from grief.
Then, as he starts his murder, evil consumes him. Rip calls it his monster. It rushes in and by the end of the first chapter the human part of Rip has been burnt out completely. The bit that is left looks human but there is nothing inside. Rip is basically an empty vessel for the monster, a beast that lives for the hunt.
That's why I started the book with the quote from Nietzsche, “Whoever fights with monsters should see to it that he does not become a monster in the process. And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.”
Rip stared into the abyss and it rose up and consumed him.
Most of my characters are pretty dark. After writing about Kyle the enforcer, Arturo the cartel boss, and Quique the hitman, I wanted to write a story about a hero who is all monster. A man with no humanity. So, Rip was born.
As for Morgan, she is blueblood Cartel. She grew up with violence, she knows exactly how it works and she can see its deep dark seductive power. But she made a moral decision and turned her back on it.
It takes incredible strength to do that. Morgan did it and she expected to be rewarded with a civilian life rich with ordinary blessings like a marriage, children, friendships – and a general absence of gore, blood and violence.
But she miscalculated. Because she is in a small town and everybody knows her history, she is not accepted. When we meet her, Morgan is essentially existing in limbo.
Now when the monster meets Morgan something very interesting happens. Rip does not become human because of Morgan's goodness. He is incapable of that. He simply sees her as a toy, an interesting thing to play with. And as a bit of camo so he can pretend to be human because the cartel don't like monsters.
Morgan is terrified of the monster until she sees that he has absolutely no intention of hurting her. She knows it's not a kindness in him, that it’s only because it would spoil his game. Morgan is not fooled into thinking the monster has any humanity.
Then Morgan does something very remarkable: she reaches into the abyss and tries to search for the human. She hopes to find the man Rip was once.
When Rip realises what she is doing, he tells her to stop because he knows there is just no human left. Morgan does not give up. She also starts telling Rip how to protect himself from the cartel. This is necessary because the monster has been living outside of human society for so long, that he has forgotten even the most basic social niceties.With Morgan teaching the monster how to survive amongst the very flawed humans that are the cartel, she hopes this will reawaken the human in him.  The thing is, Rip learns to mimic the cartel, but he remains a monster. The only person he really has feelings for is Morgan.
Morgan is a good person and she never really understands the truth. At the end of the novel, she thinks that she has brought Rip back into the fold.
So, Dark Hunter is a bittersweet romance.
Like I said, Dark Hunter is the least accessible of my stories. Rip is not lovable, but he has three things going for him. The first two are easy to see: Rip is very brave, and he has an excellent sense of humour - a nasty one because he is a monster. The final positive is that he is self aware, seeing he is a monster, and he also knows Morgan is a force for good. Most monsters destroy their antithesis, but Rip recognises she is his superior.
Morgan I'm afraid is also not very lovable. I feel that is my fault because I'm not very fond of moral people. I never did like Fanny Price; I always preferred Mary Crawford.
My Morgan doesn't preach or anything, she just quietly does what she knows is right. Maybe if I had her running around in circles and having agonies of thought and emo attacks, she would be more accessible. But Morgan is ex-cartel. She'd be damned if people saw her flinch!
She's also not beautiful. There is a strong push to having pretty heroines because romance is about escapism and a large number of readers crave to read about beauty. Also, sweet feminine heroines are currently popular because of the rise of fundamentalist Islam in Asia and the religious Right in the USA and Europe.
So, would it have killed me to make Morgan pretty and much more interested in clothes and feminine stuff? No, but this is where my writing ethos comes into play.
When you write, you have ask, "Okay, what do I want out of this? Do I want financial success? A piece of art? To help people with advice or maybe just to entertain?"
I write because my creative journey teaches me about myself and other people. Living with Rip helped me see into the darker parts of my character. It was the same with creating Morgan. She helped clarify a few ideas to me. 
It may seem a little odd to be writing about my dark pornographic pulp fiction novels in this way, as if they are True Literature, but I spent a year and a half writing this book. I wrote and rewrote and thought about it, sweated over it, and then I did it all over again.
When I re-read it last week, I could see all the flaws in it because well that's what authors do. We're like software engineers; there's always one more tweak to make, and that leads to a total overhaul of the product. Honestly, it's a disease.
Anyway, writing for myself means that sometimes I am developing characters and situations that do have broad appeal (Helpless sold super well as did The Bonus). Dark Hunter was not one of those times but that's okay.
I'm very glad I wrote it and I think that's what matters. At the end of your 120k words and months of sweat and tears, you ask yourself, “Was is it was a good experience?” and I have to say, “It was worth it.”
So, there you go. If you have comments, brickbats or whatever, I'm always interested in hearing from you





Buy Dark Hunter or read it on KU for free

I'm coming alive again! After the deaths and disasters of 2017 and 2018, I'm finally getting my groove back.

Twisted, Zeta Cartel novel #5, is out and the reviews are awesome!  THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'm so energised that I'm just finishing chapter 6 of the next story - more on that in a week or two.

Also, we have a new kitten!  Meet Tic Tac. She was picked up by our neighbour Kim, running around on a main road near us.

As you can see, Tic Tac is about 6 or 7 weeks old but she weighed just over 300 grams when Kim picked her up. Thankfully, a week later, she's doubled in weight and she's beginning to floof up.

Target welcomed her at first and is now a little grumpy because she pounces on his tail. Swooner thinks she's totally pawsome. Tic Tac looks up at both the big cats and purrs. She loves them like her brothers already.

So, that's the news. As for the rest: I plan to do some promo over the next few months for my older books. I'll take out some ads and make some teasers. Also, I'm looking for reviewers.

Would you help me?  
WhatA promo for The Degas Girl
WhenAugust 10th to 15th
WhereReviews on Amazon, Bookbub and GoodreadsPosts on blogsFacebook shares
The Degas GirlAJ AdamsSelf standing, dark romance, no cheating, HEA
“He wore jeans and a turquoise T-shirt. The colour made his eyes look blue instead of green. I wasn’t fooled by his looks and his gentle ways. This man had a will of iron, and by the way he looked at me, I could see he was just as determined to control me as Angelo. He just used his tongue instead of his fists.

I’d go along with it, because anything that kept me out of the hole meant I had a chance to escape. I’d pretend to be docile, and as soon as he fell asleep or took his eye off me, I’d make a run for it.

He looked me over, frowning slightly. Suddenly I wondered if he was changing his mind. Maybe he wasn’t going to let me eat. Maybe it was a game. Maybe he’d show me the food, and then tie me up and leave me to starve while he stuffed his face. I was trembling at the thought. “

###

Serenity Bishop is a work of art. Her skin a canvas, decorated with the scars of her evil captor’s twisted abuse. But her tormentor, Angelo, is about to lose control.

Zachary Schiavelli is an art thief and forger. His handsome face is merely the mask that hides a cold, calculating man whose own childhood of abuse has honed him into a remorseless killing machine.

Zachary is about to take an intense disliking to Angelo.

Sometimes you need to fight fire with fire.

In a violent tale of mob rule where violence begets violence, an unlikely alliance between two forces of nature is about to change the face of organized crime. When Serenity and Zachary collide, it’s an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, and everyone around them is about to get caught in the crossfire.

A complete novel with no cliff-hangers.

A violent tale of mob rule and dark romance. Warning contains explicit scenes of dubious consent, graphic violence and sex. Adults only.

I can review on 10th August 2019! sign up here
I can't review, but will share the promo. Please hit this link and say, "Me!"

 And if you haven't read Twisted yet, you can find it here. It's on KU!


Twisted, $2.99 or free on KU    On Amazon USA  On Amazon UK  On Amazon Canada   On Amazon Australia   On Amazon India

Not in an Amazon country and dying to read my books? Email me and we can make arrangements. 

Again, thank you for all your support. I couldn't do this without you. 

Fuck with me and if you're lucky, I'll shoot you. If you're unlucky, I'll make you suffer first. Jamal Blake had pissed me off big-time and so I was determined to make him pay. He'd rented an apartment under an alias, thinking it would be a safe-house, but the pendejo had paid by bank transfer. If he'd paid cash, he might have lived. But he didn't and as I had eyes on his bank account, I knew straight away he was up to no good. After a few days of watching him, it was clear what his plans were. I let him run with it. Give a man enough rope, you know? By the time he was ready to rob me, I was two steps in front – and waiting for him. I heard him race up the stairs, chuckling all the way, thinking he'd outsmarted me. Entering the apartment, he threw down an attaché case, slammed the door shut and bolted it before realising he wasn't alone. "What the fuck?""Hello, Jamal." He posed against the door, running his hand through his hair in an attempt to appear cool. It would have been a fine effort if his knees hadn't been shaking. "Boss." It came out in a frightened squeak and he had to focus to get a manly baritone going. "What are you doing here?"I let him see the cricket bat in my hand. "I came for my coke."He sprang at me but I was faster. Being built like a barn didn't help him because I've been in more fights than Tyson Fury. When he pounced, I stepped aside lightly and whacked him in the gut. As he collapsed to his knees, I batted him down. For fun, I booted him in the ribs as well.In the movies, he'd be up and ready to go again. In real life, not being able to breathe means it's game over. He was on the floor, gasping and retching, giving me time to bash him again. It was a light blow to the back of the head, carefully calculated to knock him cold but not kill him. I didn't want him taking the easy way out.When he came to, I had him gagged and strapped to a kitchen chair. His eyes bulged as he saw me rip holes in the top and sides of a garbage bag. "I don't mind splatter," I told him, "but this is my favourite shirt and I have a meeting after this."He tried to break through the bonds but I'd used an entire roll of duct tape. That stuff is so awesome that it can hold a revving car in place - if the lamp post you tether it to is strong enough - so I just waited until he figured out it was no use.He took a good few minutes, Jamal was always a slow thinker, but he got to it, eventually. He sat there; the gag distorting his mouth into an O of surprise. With his shaven head and eyes wide open, he looked like an amazed emoji. I hefted the bat. "You stupid son of a bitch," I informed him. "Did you really think you could rip me off?"He shook his head, denying it with frantically rolling eyes."Don't lie to me. You were supposed to process the consignment, not steal it." I was mad because I'd trusted him. "I gave you a job, money and responsibility," I reminded him. "A life of respect, handed to you on a plate, and you fucked me over at first opportunity."He was jerking around, nodding hard. It wasn't agreement; Jamal was trying to buy his way out of trouble. Told you he was stupid."Yes, my coke is in your briefcase," I sighed. "Giving it back won't help." But I set it aside, just ensure it stayed out of the way. I didn't want revenge messing up my product. "You betrayed me, you disloyal hijo de puta and now you will make amends," I told Jamal. "Your death will show everyone what happens when you fuck with me."Jamal moaned and pissed himself. I guess he was remembering the stories of how my family deal with the people who cross us. Crucifixion, boiling, dismemberment; we're very versatile. For this one, I was taking a leaf from the classics."Do you remember how Al Capone dealt with Scalise, Anselmi and Giunta, the disloyal scum who tried to betray him?" I asked. He hadn't but the way he was eyeing my bat told me he was on the right page. "Capone was quick-tempered, and he had them going out fast." The chair was rocking again, convincing me Jamal was visualising his future just fine. "I'm very patient and so you'll have lots of time to consider your mistakes."Having laid it out for him, I swung the bat, bringing it down on his right wrist. All the little bones shattered in an audible crunch but his scream was muffled by the gag. "You shouldn't have tried to steal from me." I gave him a moment to pull himself together. "I don't like thieves." His forearm went with a second swing. Then I shattered his elbow, a long pause, and I followed through with a swing at his collarbone.Intense pain is interesting because it silences. Step on a man's toe and he'll roar; smash it to pieces and all you'll get is a squeak. Also, while a whacking load of it will paralyse you, it won't easily lead to unconsciousness, especially if you stay away from bashing them on the head. Even so, I was careful to give him time to recover and I removed the gag when he turned blue. "Deep breath," I told him. "We've a way to go."There are over two hundred bones in the human body and I aimed at breaking as many of Jamal's as possible. As I'm methodical, I worked up one side and then down the other. His knees, ankles and shins were tougher but I play golf, so I reversed the bat and practised my drive shot. The wood crushed bone and cartilage. Thanks to my fantastic swing we also had lots of splinters breaking through the skin. With his heart pumping away, the splatter reached as far as the walls. I was glad I had suited up.Because I paced myself, he was breathing great when I started on his ribs. That's when the odd splash became a constant spray. I'd whack, he'd cough. It got real messy, real quick.Twenty minutes later, he gave out an ominous rattle. I stopped, ready to give him a breather, but the weak bastard died on me. Looking around, there was gore galore, but the scene was still lacking that iconic touch. I wanted my message to send shivers of fear throughout the country, and this was too tame.I stepped back, took aim at his head, and got a terrific rain of brains. Inspired, I whacked twice more, and got an eyeball to pop out. It was perfect. Quentin Tarantino couldn't have done better. Rinsing the bat under the kitchen tap and packing it away with my makeshift poncho in a bag took seconds. Nobody was on the stairs, or in the hall, and I didn't attract any attention as I walked down the street. Thanks to a light rain, typical damn English weather, my hat, scarf and coat would obscure any CCTV.A bus took me across town in fine anonymous form, delivering me right to the fish processing plant on Wickham Wharf that we owned. The bag went into the dumpster in the alley at the back, certain to be obscured by the other gory refuse. Then, on the pretext of checking the boats were moored properly, the bat slipped into the river. After a chat with the foreman to see all was well, I strolled around the corner, dived into the underground and fifteen minutes afterward, I was at Zeta Towers. My office is a twenty-five storey building and as we designed it for our purposes, it’s more complex than an anthill. You can enter via four street level entrances, two skyway links and five carpark access ramps. Once you get inside, there are three elevator halls. As the cops couldn’t afford to set a dozen eyes on us 24/7 to monitor our comings and goings, I dropped off my coke in complete anonymity. As I told Jamal, I was wearing my favourite shirt because I had a meeting. I was humming as I picked up my ride because I'd treated myself to a Lexus just the week before. With Shakira's sultry voice keeping me company, and that awesome scent of new leather, the drive to Chelsea was a pleasure. On the way, I reflected on the man I was to meet, Jacek Kowalczyk, a Polish crime boss who ran a neat little empire in London. Unlike us Zetas, Kowalczyk enjoyed the limelight. There wasn't a week when he wasn't in the news, smiling as he wined and dined celebs at his house and on his yacht. He was so fond of seeing himself in the social pages that he hired a public relations firm to make sure his image stayed bright. It didn't sound a great idea to me, having people nosing about in your affairs is stupid if you're pushing product, but I was curious to see his home because it was rumoured to be a palace.








There was a split-second silence. "Uhm, was that real?" Anette asked doubtfully."It was indeed." I put down my tequila with decision. "Look, it's been great to meet you but I have some business to attend to.""Dios, Jorge!" James was on his feet, his face paper-white. "Don't," he said urgently.Lencho and Paco were up too. "Cuidado!" Lencho."Don't lose your temper!" Paco, begging.I took in their worried faces. "You heard him." To my surprise, my voice was perfectly calm. "He wants a fight; he's getting it." It was out. We were at war.




 
Pre-order at 99C, regular price $2.99 
Preorder from Amazon USA
Preorder from Amazon UK
Preorder from Amazon Canada 
Preorder from Amazon Australia 
Preorder from Amazon India
Again, thank you for all your support. I couldn't do this without you.
 

Twisted is finally finished!  I'm sorry it took so long but I do hope you'll like it.

Twisted is dark, one of the darkest books I've written. Those of you who know me, will understand that the last 18 months have been a bit difficult, and so it's come out in my writing.

In short, be prepared for sex and violence!

Publishing date 11th July 2019. Super cheap pre-order at 99C, regular price $3.99

I'm looking for help with getting the word out. Please tell a friend?

And if you're a reviewer, and interested in an ARC, tell me.


Twisted
By AJ Adams
Zeta Cartel novel #5
120,000 words
Can be read as a standalone

Publishing date 11th July 2019. Super cheap pre-order at 99C, regular price $3.99

Persia York has the face of an angel and a reputation that’s pure gutter but she will do anything for her family. Forced into debt-slavery to save her brother, things aren’t what they seem. No matter how hard she works, Persia can’t free herself. Worse, she publicly disses Jorge Santos, the leader of the Zeta cartel, and is catapulted into a turf war. Abducted and a helpless captive of the deadly drug lord, Persia decides she’s had enough. It’s time to fight back.

Dangerous, devious Jorge Santos doesn’t take shit from anyone. When a meeting with a rival turns ugly, Jorge goes to war. Determined on destruction, his first step is to abduct his enemy’s most prized possession, the beautiful but mouthy Persia York. But Jorge soon learns his victim is not as easy to break as he thought and to his shock, he falls for his adversary’s woman. As the war heats up, the cartel boss is forced to make decisions that may cost him his life – and his love.

A ruthless man on a quest to win no matter what it takes.
A woman intent on holding her own, even if it destroys her.

Twisted is a compelling tale of vengeance, murder, cartel violence and finding love in the darkest of times.

Warning: This bad boy dark romance contains explicit scenes of dubious consent and graphic violence.

Preorder from Amazon USA

Preorder from Amazon UK

Preorder from Amazon Canada 

Preorder from Amazon Australia 

Preorder from Amazon India

Again, thank you for all your support. I couldn't do this without you.

Twisted is finally finished!  I'm sorry it took so long but I do hope you'll like it.

Twisted is dark, one of the darkest books I've written. Those of you who know me, will understand that the last 18 months have been a bit difficult, and so it's come out in my writing.

In short, be prepared for sex and violence!

Publishing date 11th July 2019. Super cheap pre-order at 99C, regular price $3.99

I'm looking for help with getting the word out. Please tell a friend?

And if you're a reviewer, and interested in an ARC, tell me.


Twisted
By AJ Adams
Zeta Cartel novel #5
120,000 words
Can be read as a standalone

Publishing date 11th July 2019. Super cheap pre-order at 99C, regular price $3.99

Persia York has the face of an angel and a reputation that’s pure gutter but she will do anything for her family. Forced into debt-slavery to save her brother, things aren’t what they seem. No matter how hard she works, Persia can’t free herself. Worse, she publicly disses Jorge Santos, the leader of the Zeta cartel, and is catapulted into a turf war. Abducted and a helpless captive of the deadly drug lord, Persia decides she’s had enough. It’s time to fight back.

Dangerous, devious Jorge Santos doesn’t take shit from anyone. When a meeting with a rival turns ugly, Jorge goes to war. Determined on destruction, his first step is to abduct his enemy’s most prized possession, the beautiful but mouthy Persia York. But Jorge soon learns his victim is not as easy to break as he thought and to his shock, he falls for his adversary’s woman. As the war heats up, the cartel boss is forced to make decisions that may cost him his life – and his love.

A ruthless man on a quest to win no matter what it takes.
A woman intent on holding her own, even if it destroys her.

Twisted is a compelling tale of vengeance, murder, cartel violence and finding love in the darkest of times.

Warning: This bad boy dark romance contains explicit scenes of dubious consent and graphic violence.

Preorder from Amazon USA

Preorder from Amazon UK

Preorder from Amazon Canada 

Preorder from Amazon Australia 

Preorder from Amazon India

Again, thank you for all your support. I couldn't do this without you.

Me, burbling about the challenge of creating dark heroes who are relatable. It covers Kyle, Arturo, Quique and Rip from the Zeta Cartel series, and I hint at Jorge’s story, my work in progress.
Note: does not contain spoilers.


 Share what you love about your dark heroes? What makes you forgive and root for them?
AJ Adams on Amazon USAAJ Adams on Amazon UKFREE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED! The Los Zetas Cartel series 

I've started BookTubing. Please let me know what you think. And subscribe (click on the face icon on the top left of the video) so you don't miss any posts!


Romance, violence, murder, and mayhem, all twisted together in off-beat, action packed stories featuring the Zeta Cartel in Mexico and the Camorra in Italy.  While characters play cameos in various titles, all stories are complete and self-standing.

AJ Adams on Amazon USAAJ Adams on Amazon UKFREE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED!
The Los Zetas Cartel series 
The Prydain series
Other AJ Adams novels The Los Zetas Book Bundle