Claire Cray's Blog - Posts Tagged "merrick"
Merrick & William, thoughts on the sequel
What turned into Merrick actually started out as a kind of evil little piece of erotica. I wanted to do something with an older master-of-a-trade and a young apprentice, and I wanted it to be sort of medieval and atmospheric with lots of sly, spooky details -- cast iron, stone hearths, smokes and shadows. I was thinking the master had to be an alchemist or an apothecary, and sexually potent in some elusive, maybe even alarmingly inexplicable way.
I should have known right away it wasn't going to be a >10k erotica piece. I was way too into it from the start (and I've never felt totally comfortable with the erotic quickies, anyway -- I'm not good at it).
The story surprised me a lot as it went along. I had intended to build a complex atmosphere around fairly conventional characters, with Merrick as the cranky-alpha-with-a-soft-side, and William as the young, world-weary street rat who finds himself in a HURRICANE OF DESIRE.
That all fell apart promptly when I realized Merrick and William were two calm, respectful gentlemen, with an intellectual chemistry between them that struck me as so sensual and special that I found myself really wrapped up in every interaction they had.
And I had to force myself to take a break before starting the sequel! Things are getting underway now -- lots of fun and challenges (for me) in store. Theo is still lurking around, waiting to make sure Merrick turns William into a vampire. Merrick is still horrified by the whole thing, but he can't stay on his high horse forever. It seems to me the time for Merrick to sacrifice himself for William's humanity is long gone -- W. and Theo scored a real checkmate, and his instincts have surely won at least a narrow majority over his morals at this point -- so I don't know how long he intends to delay the inevitable, or what he thinks will be gained by it. I have a feeling Merrick's stubborn side could get a little irritating, despite the fact that he's 100% justified in wishing he could just leave William alone.
But William's experience is really the important thing here. If Merrick is a moralist (and Theo is a hedonist), William is a pragmatist. He uses his head, and he adapts to make the best of his circumstances. I can picture William sitting in the corner of a coffee house, idly dipping his fingertip into his drink as he mulls over the pros and cons of being a vampire. In the end, of course, he will accept the inevitable. Will he be cool with it, though? I don't know that he will. His mother would absolutely disapprove, for one thing! But beyond that, he really stands to lose a lot. William enjoys his friends, his work, and his sunny days. And he likes people! Will love be enough to hold him steady when he realizes how many lives he's going to take in order to save Merrick's? I doubt it! Clearly, William's not going into this without reservations, but he's going to feel a lot of pressure to hide them from Merrick.
Here's where Theo might have a much bigger part to play. I'm sure he has more than a few tricks up his sleeve, but it remains to be seen whether he has the political finesse to coax this little opera to its resolution. Or maybe he'll just get bored of the whole thing, stab William in the jugular, and toss him at Merrick's head. "THINK FAST!" Hahaha.
So that's where my thoughts are -- I've got some pages tossed around, and I can't to see things start rolling.
Again, thank you so much for your attention, and especially those of you who took the time to write reviews. I'm so grateful to you for giving this new publisher a chance and making Merrick a success. Wish us luck!
I should have known right away it wasn't going to be a >10k erotica piece. I was way too into it from the start (and I've never felt totally comfortable with the erotic quickies, anyway -- I'm not good at it).
The story surprised me a lot as it went along. I had intended to build a complex atmosphere around fairly conventional characters, with Merrick as the cranky-alpha-with-a-soft-side, and William as the young, world-weary street rat who finds himself in a HURRICANE OF DESIRE.
That all fell apart promptly when I realized Merrick and William were two calm, respectful gentlemen, with an intellectual chemistry between them that struck me as so sensual and special that I found myself really wrapped up in every interaction they had.
And I had to force myself to take a break before starting the sequel! Things are getting underway now -- lots of fun and challenges (for me) in store. Theo is still lurking around, waiting to make sure Merrick turns William into a vampire. Merrick is still horrified by the whole thing, but he can't stay on his high horse forever. It seems to me the time for Merrick to sacrifice himself for William's humanity is long gone -- W. and Theo scored a real checkmate, and his instincts have surely won at least a narrow majority over his morals at this point -- so I don't know how long he intends to delay the inevitable, or what he thinks will be gained by it. I have a feeling Merrick's stubborn side could get a little irritating, despite the fact that he's 100% justified in wishing he could just leave William alone.
But William's experience is really the important thing here. If Merrick is a moralist (and Theo is a hedonist), William is a pragmatist. He uses his head, and he adapts to make the best of his circumstances. I can picture William sitting in the corner of a coffee house, idly dipping his fingertip into his drink as he mulls over the pros and cons of being a vampire. In the end, of course, he will accept the inevitable. Will he be cool with it, though? I don't know that he will. His mother would absolutely disapprove, for one thing! But beyond that, he really stands to lose a lot. William enjoys his friends, his work, and his sunny days. And he likes people! Will love be enough to hold him steady when he realizes how many lives he's going to take in order to save Merrick's? I doubt it! Clearly, William's not going into this without reservations, but he's going to feel a lot of pressure to hide them from Merrick.
Here's where Theo might have a much bigger part to play. I'm sure he has more than a few tricks up his sleeve, but it remains to be seen whether he has the political finesse to coax this little opera to its resolution. Or maybe he'll just get bored of the whole thing, stab William in the jugular, and toss him at Merrick's head. "THINK FAST!" Hahaha.
So that's where my thoughts are -- I've got some pages tossed around, and I can't to see things start rolling.
Again, thank you so much for your attention, and especially those of you who took the time to write reviews. I'm so grateful to you for giving this new publisher a chance and making Merrick a success. Wish us luck!
Up, Down, Stop, Go
Lately I've received a few messages on Tumblr and email pressing for updates on the sequel to Merrick. I could not be more thrilled. Seriously. I wish I could make valentines for everyone who takes the time to express their interest.
Things are coming along. I really hope anyone out there who's keeping an eye out for the next book will tune in to this blog for updates, and be patient! My main goals for this sequel are: 70K+ words, a plot that holds its pace til the last word, and a final product outdoes the first book in character development and background depth. I'll be taking my time to make sure those goals are met, because I really want this book to blow your mind.
Confession: Merrick was written in a little over a month. It was a short story that decided to explode, and it really caught me by surprise. I just went into a frenzy -- put everything on hold, rushed home from work every day and shut myself in to write. Any spare time at my day job I spent re-tooling scenes on spare pieces of paper. It just poured out of me.
Unfortunately, this won't shock a lot of readers -- as a novel, it leaves some things to be desired. I'm not bummed about it, though. I'm super-happy to have these characters and this story to tell. But the sequel will be given all the time it deserves and needs.
I've been extremely unsatisfied with my writing for the past several weeks (hence the delays with Take Off). That's life, man, I know! Unfortunately there come times when I can't summon the vocabulary to describe a chicken burrito, and my punctuation looks like junk jewelry on a drunk kindergartner.
It's burnout. I know. It's hard to pace yourself when all you want to do is write.
In New York the clock is always ticking. Wake up, day job, gig here, break, gig there, home, write, pass out, wake up... To an extent this is invigorating. Some really thrive in it -- you know the NY bohemian lore. I'm not really of that order, although I draw what energy I can from it, pretending I'm in Madonna's Ray of Light video. But it can be a hardscrabble, sleepless life, and I often wake up in the middle of the night with the lamp on, having passed out in bed with my laptop on my stomach (hands on the keys, the last typed sentence trailing off into llllllllllllkjlk).
Woe is me! This is not my natural state. I'm a Romantic from the Northwest and I need time and space to muse, wind and trees and stories to soak up. I burn out quick here, trying to keep up the pace and volume of output I'm used to.
But anyway, I moved here. I live here. And all you can do is adapt! I'm adapting. I make do with less so I can have more time to write, and when in doubt, I know to retreat to the purest stories I have in me, the clearest moods and the deepest feelings.
I'm working on a long short story now. Two missing men cross paths in the wilderness: one is an inexperienced hiker who's gotten himself very lost; the other is an misanthropic young loner who abandoned society to live in the wild years before.
It's coming along nicely and really putting me in a better mood for the real task at hand, which is, of course, the sequel to Merrick. I shelved that one for awhile after many false starts, figuring it needed a little more time to settle. I was right.
I love Merrick as much as I imagine a writer can love a spontaneous first novel, but there are a couple of things about it I wish had gone better, such as the pacing and plot issues in the last quarter of the book. I fully believe that the source of these problems is the way I handled the change in setting when Merrick decided to move to the city.
Although it felt right and necessary at the time, I'm cringing now at the fact that the story ended with Merrick and William in Manhattan, and I wish I would have seen another way. This story is a Gothic Romance, and while the relationship between Merrick and William was more than strong enough to carry the story through the final pages, I regret letting the move to the city push aside so much of the atmosphere and romantic isolation. Basically, that cottage in the woods is a major element in this tale, and I regret that the story ended without it. I figured this out when I started sketching out early scenes for the sequel. There were my characters, but where was all my lovely gloom and mystery and alluring uncertainty? Where were the fog and trees (god, story of my life)?
Happily, I figured it out. Trust this much: the first order of business is to pull the sequel right back in the mood of Gothic Romance that's always been the heartbeat of the story. I am way excited.
There's so much more I'd like to tell you about other stories I've got going on, but I have to get to work!
Things are coming along. I really hope anyone out there who's keeping an eye out for the next book will tune in to this blog for updates, and be patient! My main goals for this sequel are: 70K+ words, a plot that holds its pace til the last word, and a final product outdoes the first book in character development and background depth. I'll be taking my time to make sure those goals are met, because I really want this book to blow your mind.
Confession: Merrick was written in a little over a month. It was a short story that decided to explode, and it really caught me by surprise. I just went into a frenzy -- put everything on hold, rushed home from work every day and shut myself in to write. Any spare time at my day job I spent re-tooling scenes on spare pieces of paper. It just poured out of me.
Unfortunately, this won't shock a lot of readers -- as a novel, it leaves some things to be desired. I'm not bummed about it, though. I'm super-happy to have these characters and this story to tell. But the sequel will be given all the time it deserves and needs.
I've been extremely unsatisfied with my writing for the past several weeks (hence the delays with Take Off). That's life, man, I know! Unfortunately there come times when I can't summon the vocabulary to describe a chicken burrito, and my punctuation looks like junk jewelry on a drunk kindergartner.
It's burnout. I know. It's hard to pace yourself when all you want to do is write.
In New York the clock is always ticking. Wake up, day job, gig here, break, gig there, home, write, pass out, wake up... To an extent this is invigorating. Some really thrive in it -- you know the NY bohemian lore. I'm not really of that order, although I draw what energy I can from it, pretending I'm in Madonna's Ray of Light video. But it can be a hardscrabble, sleepless life, and I often wake up in the middle of the night with the lamp on, having passed out in bed with my laptop on my stomach (hands on the keys, the last typed sentence trailing off into llllllllllllkjlk).
Woe is me! This is not my natural state. I'm a Romantic from the Northwest and I need time and space to muse, wind and trees and stories to soak up. I burn out quick here, trying to keep up the pace and volume of output I'm used to.
But anyway, I moved here. I live here. And all you can do is adapt! I'm adapting. I make do with less so I can have more time to write, and when in doubt, I know to retreat to the purest stories I have in me, the clearest moods and the deepest feelings.
I'm working on a long short story now. Two missing men cross paths in the wilderness: one is an inexperienced hiker who's gotten himself very lost; the other is an misanthropic young loner who abandoned society to live in the wild years before.
It's coming along nicely and really putting me in a better mood for the real task at hand, which is, of course, the sequel to Merrick. I shelved that one for awhile after many false starts, figuring it needed a little more time to settle. I was right.
I love Merrick as much as I imagine a writer can love a spontaneous first novel, but there are a couple of things about it I wish had gone better, such as the pacing and plot issues in the last quarter of the book. I fully believe that the source of these problems is the way I handled the change in setting when Merrick decided to move to the city.
Although it felt right and necessary at the time, I'm cringing now at the fact that the story ended with Merrick and William in Manhattan, and I wish I would have seen another way. This story is a Gothic Romance, and while the relationship between Merrick and William was more than strong enough to carry the story through the final pages, I regret letting the move to the city push aside so much of the atmosphere and romantic isolation. Basically, that cottage in the woods is a major element in this tale, and I regret that the story ended without it. I figured this out when I started sketching out early scenes for the sequel. There were my characters, but where was all my lovely gloom and mystery and alluring uncertainty? Where were the fog and trees (god, story of my life)?
Happily, I figured it out. Trust this much: the first order of business is to pull the sequel right back in the mood of Gothic Romance that's always been the heartbeat of the story. I am way excited.
There's so much more I'd like to tell you about other stories I've got going on, but I have to get to work!
Merrick update
Wow! I can't believe how many messages I've gotten in the last month asking about my plans for a Merrick sequel! Fall is upon us and the people want their books, right? Thankfully, no one has seemed too annoyed with me yet -- but I won't be able to complain if anyone calls me out on missing my own deadlines.
I signed on today to let you guys in on what exactly is going on with the sequel to Merrick, and I thank you in advance for caring to read this. Your interest means the world to me and keeps me at the grindstone.
First of all, I am sorry for announcing a tentative publication date that will absolutely not be met. Lesson learned. This year I began writing full-time (and then some) for an internet news company, and have had far less time and head-space to write than I enjoyed when I first started self-publishing last year. That has been my number one major challenge.
So it comes as it comes, and while I wish I could tell you Merrick will be out on ____, I can only promise that I am working hard on it and it will be finished when it should be finished. No sooner, and no later. Sorry, guys!
With that out of the way, here are some things I can tell you about the sequel to Merrick, without giving too much away.
I'll refer to the sequel by the working title, William, which may or may not be the final title.
William had several false starts. I felt pretty cornered trying to pick up where Merrick left off. Since early this year I have written many, many, many pages attempting to get a feel for the atmosphere post-Merrick, but it wasn't until early August that I got a good 50 pages of stuff that felt real.
Thankfully, William has been fully outlined. Now, I'll tell you right away, these characters are headstrong pains in the ass sometimes, and a couple in particular are not very mindful of my best-laid plans. That said, I am very excited about what has been plotted, there are some things I can tell you for sure.
1. William, Merrick, and Theo will play major roles. Additionally, a minor character from the first book will have a significant impact on the sequel.
2. William and Merrick get out of New York early on in the story, and there will be a significant amount of time spent on spooky New England roads.
3. Merrick's and Theo's roots and bios will be explored.
4. The generation/history gap between Merrick and William will play a part in the story. This is a factor in vampire stories that has always irked me terribly -- how the hell does a relationship function around a centuries-wide age gap? I've spent a whoooole lot of brainpower grappling with this one.
That leads me to the two major questions that I am dealing with in William.
1. How does an English dude born in poverty under Henry VIII relate to an optimistic American kid strutting along on the heels of the revolution? How can they navigate all the unavoidable differences in culture, beliefs and values?
2. How does a thoughtful, rational, goodhearted guy like William come to moral terms with a vampire's life of murder? Can he adapt to the concept of destroying an entire human life for one vampire meal?
Last of all, I am taking my time on William in hopes of improving on some big problems I have with the first book. To put it bluntly, I am not very happy with the pacing of Merrick. I let the story tell itself, which worked great for most of the book -- but I should have been more strict toward the end.
So that's my update! I hope it helps you forgive me for not having a sequel for you right this moment. I can't thank you enough for wanting to read it! Feel free to reach out to me anytime on Twitter, Tumblr, or here. I love hearing from readers.
xoxo
Claire
I signed on today to let you guys in on what exactly is going on with the sequel to Merrick, and I thank you in advance for caring to read this. Your interest means the world to me and keeps me at the grindstone.
First of all, I am sorry for announcing a tentative publication date that will absolutely not be met. Lesson learned. This year I began writing full-time (and then some) for an internet news company, and have had far less time and head-space to write than I enjoyed when I first started self-publishing last year. That has been my number one major challenge.
So it comes as it comes, and while I wish I could tell you Merrick will be out on ____, I can only promise that I am working hard on it and it will be finished when it should be finished. No sooner, and no later. Sorry, guys!
With that out of the way, here are some things I can tell you about the sequel to Merrick, without giving too much away.
I'll refer to the sequel by the working title, William, which may or may not be the final title.
William had several false starts. I felt pretty cornered trying to pick up where Merrick left off. Since early this year I have written many, many, many pages attempting to get a feel for the atmosphere post-Merrick, but it wasn't until early August that I got a good 50 pages of stuff that felt real.
Thankfully, William has been fully outlined. Now, I'll tell you right away, these characters are headstrong pains in the ass sometimes, and a couple in particular are not very mindful of my best-laid plans. That said, I am very excited about what has been plotted, there are some things I can tell you for sure.
1. William, Merrick, and Theo will play major roles. Additionally, a minor character from the first book will have a significant impact on the sequel.
2. William and Merrick get out of New York early on in the story, and there will be a significant amount of time spent on spooky New England roads.
3. Merrick's and Theo's roots and bios will be explored.
4. The generation/history gap between Merrick and William will play a part in the story. This is a factor in vampire stories that has always irked me terribly -- how the hell does a relationship function around a centuries-wide age gap? I've spent a whoooole lot of brainpower grappling with this one.
That leads me to the two major questions that I am dealing with in William.
1. How does an English dude born in poverty under Henry VIII relate to an optimistic American kid strutting along on the heels of the revolution? How can they navigate all the unavoidable differences in culture, beliefs and values?
2. How does a thoughtful, rational, goodhearted guy like William come to moral terms with a vampire's life of murder? Can he adapt to the concept of destroying an entire human life for one vampire meal?
Last of all, I am taking my time on William in hopes of improving on some big problems I have with the first book. To put it bluntly, I am not very happy with the pacing of Merrick. I let the story tell itself, which worked great for most of the book -- but I should have been more strict toward the end.
So that's my update! I hope it helps you forgive me for not having a sequel for you right this moment. I can't thank you enough for wanting to read it! Feel free to reach out to me anytime on Twitter, Tumblr, or here. I love hearing from readers.
xoxo
Claire
"THE MERRICK SEQUEL"
After nearly two years of overthinking what I considered to be several major snags in the grand plot of MERRICK, I finally had a breakthrough.
The lesson I learned in the process was this: If you've written a couple of characters you really dig, whose minds and inner lives are solid and real to you, TRUST THEM WITH THE STORY.
(If you haven't read MERRICK, spoilers ahead!)
When we last left Merrick and William, they had left the magical herb-scented cottage in the woods upstate and were vacillating the days away back in New York City. William had teamed up with Merrick's old friend Theo to force Merrick to turn William into a vampire. But Merrick was still holding out, determined to delay the inevitable as long as possible.
Yes. That's where I ended the first book. Why did I do that? I have no idea. It left me in a terrible position to begin the next book. Absolutely terrible. Like, "out of gas in a backwoods strip mall" terrible.
But you knew that already. (What, me? Read all the reviews? I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about!)
I mean, we all know where the story needs to go. Merrick has to turn William into a vampire, because the only way out of it is to kill himself, and if he does that, Theo will just kill William.
I can't tell you how many times I've cursed myself for leaving myself with that mess of a conundrum to open the sequel with. I mean seriously.
While I plotted the entire sequel last year and am very happy with the narrative arc, there were a whole lot of knots and snags to get through right at the beginning.
-How does William play out his inevitable "Ahhh I'm gonna kill a bunch of people" angst?
-How does Merrick deal with said angst?
-How do we understand the urgency of Merrick's thirst for William, and that it's impossible for Merrick to hold out forever?
-How soon in the sequel would William turn into a vampire? Whether he's a vampire or a human would influence every conflict in the story.
-Is the Merrick/William relationship even interesting without the vampire/human conflict?
Fits of despair, guys. Fits. At one point I thought, "Great, so this book is basically, 'Hey, remember how irresistibly, undeniably romantic it was when I was teaching you how to heal sick people with flowers? I was thinking next semester I could teach you how to KILL PEOPLE IN COLD BLOOD.'" Oh, the despair.
But to bring this back around again, what really saved my ass was the strength of these characters, their chemistry and their rapport.
Awhile ago I decided to play around with an opening scene I'd never tried before: Merrick and William, sitting at a table, talking it out.
BOOM!
It's on. It's so on. And I'm so excited. That's all I'm going to tell you for now.
Wait, except for this: Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for reading Merrick, leaving your wonderfully thoughtful reviews all over the place, and expressing your interest in the sequel. It means the world to me that you enjoy this story, and your response has raised the bar for the sequel. Thank you from the bottom of my heart forever, and never hesitate to comment, message, tweet, Tumbl, and review to your heart's content.
xo
Claire
The lesson I learned in the process was this: If you've written a couple of characters you really dig, whose minds and inner lives are solid and real to you, TRUST THEM WITH THE STORY.
(If you haven't read MERRICK, spoilers ahead!)
When we last left Merrick and William, they had left the magical herb-scented cottage in the woods upstate and were vacillating the days away back in New York City. William had teamed up with Merrick's old friend Theo to force Merrick to turn William into a vampire. But Merrick was still holding out, determined to delay the inevitable as long as possible.
Yes. That's where I ended the first book. Why did I do that? I have no idea. It left me in a terrible position to begin the next book. Absolutely terrible. Like, "out of gas in a backwoods strip mall" terrible.
But you knew that already. (What, me? Read all the reviews? I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about!)
I mean, we all know where the story needs to go. Merrick has to turn William into a vampire, because the only way out of it is to kill himself, and if he does that, Theo will just kill William.
I can't tell you how many times I've cursed myself for leaving myself with that mess of a conundrum to open the sequel with. I mean seriously.
While I plotted the entire sequel last year and am very happy with the narrative arc, there were a whole lot of knots and snags to get through right at the beginning.
-How does William play out his inevitable "Ahhh I'm gonna kill a bunch of people" angst?
-How does Merrick deal with said angst?
-How do we understand the urgency of Merrick's thirst for William, and that it's impossible for Merrick to hold out forever?
-How soon in the sequel would William turn into a vampire? Whether he's a vampire or a human would influence every conflict in the story.
-Is the Merrick/William relationship even interesting without the vampire/human conflict?
Fits of despair, guys. Fits. At one point I thought, "Great, so this book is basically, 'Hey, remember how irresistibly, undeniably romantic it was when I was teaching you how to heal sick people with flowers? I was thinking next semester I could teach you how to KILL PEOPLE IN COLD BLOOD.'" Oh, the despair.
But to bring this back around again, what really saved my ass was the strength of these characters, their chemistry and their rapport.
Awhile ago I decided to play around with an opening scene I'd never tried before: Merrick and William, sitting at a table, talking it out.
BOOM!
It's on. It's so on. And I'm so excited. That's all I'm going to tell you for now.
Wait, except for this: Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for reading Merrick, leaving your wonderfully thoughtful reviews all over the place, and expressing your interest in the sequel. It means the world to me that you enjoy this story, and your response has raised the bar for the sequel. Thank you from the bottom of my heart forever, and never hesitate to comment, message, tweet, Tumbl, and review to your heart's content.
xo
Claire
'William' Book Cover Debut!
My wonderful designer has finished the cover for William, and it is perfectly in the spirit of the Merrick cover. Drumroll?
GORGEOUS!
It is the year 1800 and it looks like William Lacy will be young forever. The price is high: no more book-selling, no more rowdy nights at the tavern, no more New York City. From now on it’s a quiet life in the darkness…marked by acts once considered unspeakable.
And the reward? The reward is Silas Merrick.
While unraveling the secrets of the dark and alluring man who’s taken over his life, William has seen mysteries revealed and desires laid bare. But there are greater depths and darker waters yet as he learns to face the choice he’s made for love.
Look for William around Halloween! Meanwhile, reread Merrick. And also, curse whoever just stole my laptop in New Orleans while I was between backups. And also-also, learn from my mistakes and NEVER BE BETWEEN BACKUPS.
GORGEOUS!
It is the year 1800 and it looks like William Lacy will be young forever. The price is high: no more book-selling, no more rowdy nights at the tavern, no more New York City. From now on it’s a quiet life in the darkness…marked by acts once considered unspeakable.
And the reward? The reward is Silas Merrick.
While unraveling the secrets of the dark and alluring man who’s taken over his life, William has seen mysteries revealed and desires laid bare. But there are greater depths and darker waters yet as he learns to face the choice he’s made for love.
Look for William around Halloween! Meanwhile, reread Merrick. And also, curse whoever just stole my laptop in New Orleans while I was between backups. And also-also, learn from my mistakes and NEVER BE BETWEEN BACKUPS.
William - A little taste
Merrick closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to mine. His hands framed my face, then slowly moved down to my neck. I watched his face as his fingers undid the knot of my cravat. His eyes were lowered to the task, his soft lips faintly pursed, and a thick lock of ebony hair had fallen over his brow. When I reached up to brush it aside, his fingers paused at my throat and he turned his head to sweep his lips against my wrist. Then he hooked a loop of my untied cravat and pulled, slowly, dragging the strip of linen from my collar, teasing the sensitive skin of my throat.
"How I missed you," I said without quite meaning to, and tilted my head up to kiss the edge of his jaw. I felt his soft sigh against my ear, and another loop of my cravat sliding free.
"My thirst for you has driven me to the brink of madness."
"I've dreamt of your bite."
Merrick pressed his lips to the corner of my mouth, and I kissed him tenderly. No matter what, my last moments as a human would be well spent. I felt the last inch of my cravat finally fall from my neck, felt him tuck it into my pocket. His fingers slipped beneath my collar, turning it back to bare his target. I could hear my own pulse pounding there like a drum; his coppery gold eyes were fastened to it.
So close. It was so close. I wound my arms about his shoulders as he lowered his head, moaned as he opened his mouth against my fluttering vein and pressed his teeth into my skin. The first nip made me gasp. His glass-sharp teeth broke the skin, but sank no further; he dragged his tongue over the little wound, making me shiver and lean against him.
Merrick groaned softly, a low and needful sound that turned my knees to butter. Cradling my head with one hand, he wound his other arm about my waist to hold me securely. And then, once more, I felt the edge of his teeth.
"Ah," I gasped as I felt them begin to penetrate my skin. "Merrick!"
Merrick is now FREE on Smashwords!
Hey lovelies! To celebrate the release of William, I've made Merrick available for free!
Amazon has yet to match the free price, but so far it's all good elsewhere:
Smashwords (download format of your choice)
Nook
Kobo
Get on in there and foist it upon all your friends! With all those fragrant herbs, candles, steamy bath scenes and boners, it's the perfect cozy story for January.
Amazon has yet to match the free price, but so far it's all good elsewhere:
Smashwords (download format of your choice)
Nook
Kobo
Get on in there and foist it upon all your friends! With all those fragrant herbs, candles, steamy bath scenes and boners, it's the perfect cozy story for January.
'William' on sale now! (Kindle Countdown Deal)
Hey y'all! Y'all? I must be having that kind of day. I had very strange dreams. That's my excuse.
Anyway:
I'm running a Kindle Countdown Deal on William! Get it today and tomorrow for only $0.99!
For 99 cents!
For NINETY-NINE CENTS!
I never liked writing that price out. Anyway, get yourself some dreamy early American vampire romance, dudes!
Anyway:
I'm running a Kindle Countdown Deal on William! Get it today and tomorrow for only $0.99!
For 99 cents!
For NINETY-NINE CENTS!
I never liked writing that price out. Anyway, get yourself some dreamy early American vampire romance, dudes!
