In the Shadow World, nothing is as it seems.
Detective Sydney Marr is having a very bad day. Her boss is
on the warpath, she’s being treated for a werewolf bite, and her current case
has hit a dead end. When her friend Erika talks Syd into going with her to Club
Beam, she jumps at the chance, even if it means spending an evening without her
spell arsenal. A high-class vampire bar and fetish club, Club Beam is fantasy
made real.
Club owner and Dom Gideon Raines spies the red-haired beauty
and is transfixed. A fight against a skillful murderer brings war for fae and
vampire alike. Sometimes when you play with monsters, the monsters play back.
Release date: May 5, 2015
Pages: 106
Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Line: Beyond Fairy Tales, Shadow World Series
Genre: Paranormal Urban Fantasy, Fairy Tale, m/f
Inspiration and
motivation:
When I first contacted Decadent Publishing to inquire about
their fairy tale line I was assigned a story called “The Beam.” I looked it up
and found out it was about a wizard who is bested by a woman and he exacts his
revenge. Whenever I encounter a new project like this, I have to sit down and
think about what all the moving parts mean. In this case, how to turn a story
like this into a modern romance that readers would find appealing. Since I tend
to write urban fantasy slanted pieces, I immediately laser beamed in on the
wizard and witch part. I mean, how cool is that to have a ready-made story ripe
for the picking? I just had to add some modern twists. What would be more
modern than a witchy karaoke event and fairy tale fetish night?
The process of writing for me is an organic one. It begins
with a legal pad and a series of colorful sticky notes and a foam board. I
start thinking about the chapters and what needs to happen to make the story
move and there you go-plot points on sticky notes I can adjust as needed. It
works too. Sydney had lots of thoughts on where she wanted to go and believe
me, she is still in there talking. The second book in the Shadow World series
is already writing itself (think dragon shifters and a psychic) and I can see the
fireworks shaping up nicely.
Check out further adventures with Master Gideon and Sydney
in Sci Spanks 2015 now available on Amazon. You might just get invited for a
session behind the Red Door. Master Gideon has a paddle and he’s ready to play.
There will be more where that came from, you can count on that…
I hope you will enjoy the introduction to my Shadow World
series and return to Club Beam for many more adventures. I am happy to share
that the audio book is now in the works.
Buy links:
B&N: http://goo.gl/6eNqdL
Google: https://goo.gl/YHJzTh
Kobo: https://goo.gl/VTt0FZ
iTunes: https://goo.gl/HXXsTA
Amazon: http://goo.gl/gt5vRv
Excerpt:
“Once upon a time….” Erika sang and waggled her eyebrows.
“Come on, Sydney. Live a little. This club is smoking hot, and you’ll love it.”
Sydney grumbled under her breath and watched the club-goers
parade past, each dressed like a fairy-tale character. The Little Mermaid
trounced by in a see-through, diaphanous gown revealing too much in the way of
personal attributes. Sleeping Beauty sashayed down the sidewalk with a leash
around the neck of her Prince Charming. A woman in a way-too-short Red Riding
Hood outfit approached. Her arm was wrapped around a seductress dressed in wolf
ears, a tail, and a skimpy thong-style bikini. Red carried a basket full of
what looked like pink fuzzy handcuffs and a can of whipped cream, which she
swung into Syd.
“Hey!”
The red-cloaked vixen sent her a wink and traipsed on by,
joined by a near-pornographic version of the Red Queen from Alice in
Wonderland. Any shorter and the skirt would show her naughty bits. Or maybe
that was the plan.
Syd had just gotten off her day shift as a detective, and
the last thing she wanted to do was be around more people. Especially people
with more skin showing than on late-night cable shows. Her head hurt from the
lights and the pulse of the music, and her stupid witch costume was pinching
her toes. Erika’s scant fairy costume hugged all her curves, her breasts
bursting from the bodice. The skirt barely covered her backside, and the
strappy silver sandals showed off her silver-glitter nail polish.
The building loomed next to them. A giant warehouse-like
structure, it was large enough to house all manner of mischief, and Syd was
itching with the desire to get inside and find out just what was going on
behind its doors. The sidewalk was flagged by trees lit up with twinkly white
lights, adding an upscale ambiance to the area. What in the daylight looked
like an industrial area gone to the dogs had been transformed into an
attractive and well-attended venue.
She didn’t have the heart to tell Erika she’d been here once
already today for the case she was working on, but the entrance had been sealed
up tighter than a drum. Sydney’s recourse was to infiltrate Club Beam by night
as a patron. Her sergeant, Debra, would kill her if she realized Syd had even
considered going in without backup. So would her partner, James. Erika had
asked her to come so she wouldn’t be alone, and, despite herself, Syd couldn’t
resist. To catch a vampire, you had to go out at night, and Club Beam was the
hot spot. After last month’s fuckup, she had to do this and do it right, even if
it killed her. James was on medical leave, and it remained up to her to get
this guy before someone else got killed or turned furry.
I will not think about becoming one of the terminally furry.
It’s over. Move on. Take the pills the doctor gave you and freaking pray.
“Oh look. I think I see Snow White.” Erika stood on her
tiptoes and craned her head along the huge expanse of line they still had to
navigate to get inside.
Syd peered into the crowd and grimaced. Hairy legs. More
makeup than a Mac commercial. “Nope. That was a guy in drag.”
Erika narrowed her eyes. “God, Syd. You’re the world’s
biggest wet blanket ever.”
Sydney shifted her weight and moved another two steps toward
the door as the line inched forward. “I told you, I’ve had a hard day. We had a
homicide case come in, and I’ve been out beating the street. I want to go home
and bury my head under my pillow. But, no. Out of the kindness of my heart,
here I am standing in line at a vampire bar with a bunch of overgrown kids
playing dress-up in fairy-tale fetish wear.”
About the Author:
Erzabet Bishop is the author of Club Beam, Sigil Fire, Written on Skin, Tethered, Pomegranate, Temptation Resorts Jess and Marnie
interactive choose your own adventure romances and more. She is a contributing
author to The Big Book of Submission, Slave Girls, Hungry for
More and many other anthologies. She
is a winner of two 2015 Goldie Awards
for her work in anthologies and an active member of the Romance Writers of
America. She lives in Texas with her husband, furry children and is often
playing at local bookstores. Follow her posts on Twitter @erzabetbishop.
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Thanks for having me on your blog today!
ReplyDeleteXOXO
Erzabet