Edits for MR RED have landed in my inbox! Actually, they landed last Friday, but I was desperately trying to finish another project before starting on them, as this Other Project had become something of a bete noire over the past few weeks, and I wanted my head clear before starting anything else. And lo, that Other Project is now done and in the hands of a brave beta reader, so today feels like a good day to take a peek at MR RED.

I'm a tiny bit nervous, as this is a new genre for me (dark mafia romance), and it's important that I get it right and do the story justice. I'm slightly buoyed by the fact that my editor is one I've worked with before and really trust, and that she made it her Editor's Pick (yay!). So whilst I'm sure the process won't be too painful, I'm feeling a certain urgency about making MR RED as perfect as possible, especially because I really loved writing it and want to write a lot more like it!

So wish me luck as I head into the editing cave. See you on the other side...Hopefully...

Read on for an excerpt!

Ashten held tight to his beautiful mate’s hand as they traipsed around the land, pointing out sights, animals and tree’s she wanted to know about. She had a hundred questions and her enthusiasm was a joy to watch.

“This is all so beautiful Ashten! Let’s get higher, I want to see the view.”

Jacky broke off from his hand, the coldness as she left him rushing over him was amazingly powerful and he took off after her. She was running through the forest, her happy laughter echoing around him like the most beautiful music.

“I’m going to catch you.” He growled playfully and darted around the trees, pinching at her gorgeous bum and letting her continue to run.

Ashten growled and stomped, his heart pumping and adrenaline streaking through his blood as he ran in the sunshine with his mate.

They broke free of the forest and Jacky splashed into the low stream that flowed at the boundary to their property.

Shit. I didn’t realise we were this far out.

“Do polar bears like water?” She teased as she kicked her legs in the cold water, her delighted face one of true beauty.

He stood still and watched her stretch her arms out wide, turning her face towards the soft winter sun.
“We love it actually. This is the boundary to our land. It runs the south and eastern borders.” He pointed down towards the area where the river winded between two massive Alaskan cypress trees.

“Really? Who owns this side?” Jacky jumped out of the stream and began strolling towards the farm next to them.

Ashten’s heart began to pound as fear skittered along his spine.

“Jacky, come back. You’re not safe when you’re off our land.”

She turned and smiled at him, raising one eyebrow. “You gonna come and get me big guy?”

“Oh, you wanna play again do you?”

Which wasn’t a bad idea, he needed her back on their land as soon as possible, and if that meant carrying her back over the threshold, then so be it.

She squeaked and began running.

“I’m going to get you.”

He stepped into the stream and cold water soaked his shoes and the last foot of his pants. “You’ll pay for that my beautiful girl.”

He started running after her and something caught his attention. A noise, a whooshing. Someone running. That smell. Death.

“Jacky!”

Pain thumped through the back of Ashten’s head and a high pitched cry pierced his eardrums.

He hit the ground.

Another scream sounded and Ashten jumped up, his magic flowing faster than it ever had before. He reached out for the male vampire in front of him, his white paw gripping the vamp’s neck and squeezing hard.

“We…”

Ashten threw him to the ground and slammed his foot through the vampire’s head. He didn’t care. He’d deal with the fall out later.

Jacky.

He began running in the direction he’d last seen her running.

He circled around and around the trees, her sweet smell lingering, but there was nothing but air and grass.

He roared into the sky, his heart cracking in his chest.

He began to run, true fear trickling along his skin like ice water as he got closer to his brother.

*blows dust off the blog*

Okay, it's been a while since I posted anything other than guest blogs, and it's even been a while since I posted one of those now, so...somehow it's now August? I don't know what happened to July. I had big plans for July! And now it's gone and those plans remain unfulfilled. My main plan was to finish my current Naomi Clark project, but that has been a plan since roughly March, so you can see how well I'm doing there. Still, August is looking promising...She says, hopefully...

The main reason I've been quiet over here is that I've been focusing on Naomi Clark stuff. The other reason is that two weeks ago, we had to have Remic put to sleep as his cancer returned, and I really just couldn't deal with that and everything that normal real life requires at the same time. The day job has been manic with grant applications and audits to deal with, my stress and anxiety levels have been high, and I just needed to put aside everything that wasn't vital. Unfortunately, that included writing which is vital to me, but doesn't pay my bills. So for the past fortnight I've just concentrated on being sad and getting the day job under control.

Whilst I'm not "over" losing Rem yet, I do recognise that the longer I put off writing, the harder it will be to pick it up again. So I'm back at work on that Naomi Clark project and gunning to wrap it up this month. After that, I'll get cracking on Wild Blood MC 3, and I'm expecting edits for MR RED in August too, so there's plenty to keep me going. Staying busy is usually the best way to cope with grief for me, so that's what I'm aiming to do. Hopefully that will include more regular blogging!

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