While I had to be passenger in the truck, while my husband did the driving, I brought along the very last book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, "Dead Ever After". I had been wanting to get this book, the moment I heard this was the last of the series. (Boo-hoo! )^; ) So, finally I bought it for something to do while we drove through boring states--states we have been through a couple dozen times in the past 28 years.
I'm more than half-way done with it, and I'm enjoying the story, as always. Never a boring read, something is always happening to Sookie. Arline, who once worked in the bar with Sookie and became a hater, is found dead in the dumpster at Merlots, and Sookie is charged with the murder--all be it a flimsy charge indeed. All her friends come out in support of her, and she is bailed out by her former boyfriend, Erik. Also, at least two people are trying to kill her. One nearly does, and she winds up with a bullet wound in the shoulder (or the arm, I can't remember now). I'm not finished with the book, so please don't ruin the ending by telling me about it.
I now have all 13 books in the Sookie Stackhous series. I'll probably read them all again, from the beginning some day. That's what I like about a series, if you are into the characters, and the story, you get lost in a series, if the author has done a good job. Harris has done a very good job.
Enough of that, now onto my series... ehem.
I remember starting out with my Sabrina Strong series. I had only planned on three books, in the very beginning. But then, after the second one, I knew I had more in me than three. However, I wondered how many books I'd be able to write. Each time I finished one, I didn't think I had another one in me--well, another one began forming in my head before long. Scenes between characters played out like little motion pictures and I had to sit and write them out before the whole thing was gone.
I'm currently on #8 book (Six Shades of Hell), and I'm working on some of the edits for the 5th one (Vampire Crescendo). Meanwhile the fourth book, Vampire Caprice, is now available as an eBook on both Amazon and Smashwords.
While Sookie Stackhouse was a bartender with telepathic abilities, Sabrina Strong (heroine in my books) is a touch clairvoyant. Eventually, Sabrina's abilities become more magical. She receives a mystical ring that can not only thwart vampire thrall, but she can pick up a vampire and slam him into the wall--without touching him/her. Something she would need down the road because, let's face it, the vampire world is a very dangerous place. She comes to understand that she is the sibyl, an ancient vampire huntress. And she has been given the Dagger of Delphi, which basically does the work for her.
Eventually, Sabrina also learns to travel ley lines. [Ley lines are lines linking the holy places and sites of antiquity--but more than that, they may also exist beyond the Earth, in outer space, and it's thought by some scientists that humans could tap them and travel to other worlds]. Sabrina does learn to tap leys and she does go into another world in Vampire Nocturne. Here she finds that vampires rule and the original Drakulya (the Impaler), rules as king. This is what I like to refer to as my Steampunk novel.
In a way, my writing is similar to Charlaine Harris'. It's on the same level, but I've incorporated a little more horror into my novels. And, Sabrina works for a vampire magnate, Bjorn Tremayne. But eventually marries a master rogue, Vasyl, (who has been with her since she was a child, but she didn't know it). Introduces himself eventually in first and second books--he is her dream vampire. Nevertheless, Sabrina finds it hard to resist Tremayne when he corners her a couple of times in the above book, Vampire Caprice. And I hope I don't give too much away, but when I worked on edits for that book, I realized there is a lot of heavy breathing going on with Sabrina enjoying a lot of male attentions. Not that the other books lack this, but as a heads-up, these are not your teenager's romance books.
If you've been hunting for a good read, and would like to check out my series, I've reduced the price on both the first and second ebooks to $0.99. I've decided to do this in honor of my 60th birthday, this month. So, these two books will be on sale up through August 31st.
Here are the links, if you wish to check them out:
Vampire Ascending Vampire's Trill
