Night Moves–Coming Soon!!

Today’s Brew: Might as well face it, I’m addicted to Blueberry.

by Kristen

I don’t know if other authors feel like this, but I feel like once I enter final mode on a book, it feels like I’ll be working on the book FOREVER. Tiny little things that need attention. Big burps I didn’t expect to have to fix. Reading the book over and over until I can’t even look at it anymore. Feeling like it’s never going to be done.

I just finished this process for the follow up to Because the Night, Night Moves. This book was an easy second child for much of the writing and editing process. I should have known. No one’s second child is easy.

Until I thought it was done. I wound up going through a whole round of edits I didn’t think I’d be doing.  This time, I got the added joy of technical difficulties. We lost half a round of edits and my computer decided not to like it’s touch pad anymore. But all the extra work is definitely worth it. I want to make sure my characters are all putting their best foot forward for your enjoyment.

So let me tell you a little about Night Moves. I’m excited about this book. You’re going to meet a new main character, Melanie, and a new band, Soul Divider. Night Moves takes place pretty much at the same time as Because the Night. Soul Divider is part of the same clan as Immortal Dilemma. Because of that, you’ll get to see the Because the Night crew from a whole new perspective. Soul Divider is on tour for much of the book, but they settle in Vegas. I don’t want to tell you too much, of course, because I want you to read and enjoy for yourself.

Do you need to catch up on the series? Get Because the Night!
Want to participate in the cover reveal of Night Moves?  Click here!

But here’s a little sneak peak:

“What the hell is she doing here?” Drake Bonham’s words alarmed me, waking me up better than any cup of coffee could at four in the morning. I tried to hide my shock and act as nonchalant as possible.

Did I really want to explain what I was doing here? As much as I wanted a hole in the head.

I let Ryder take the lead.

“She’s coming with us.” Ryder didn’t look at Drake when he spoke, unaffected by the tone of his inquisition. His eyes lost in the shadow of the bill of his baseball cap, he continued playing with his phone. I stood nervously next to him as he perched on his suitcase. I wanted desperately to reach out to him for some sort of comfort. I didn’t, in fear that Drake would swat my hand like an old nun with a ruler.

“No. Maddox, you know the rules. You double bag it and forget about the chicks when you leave town.” In Drake’s eyes, I was less important than luggage. I wondered about all the girls who followed the band around, hoping for a second of Drake’s attention would feel listening to him right now, talking about me like I was some cheap souvenir.

Ryder sighed and shoved his phone in the pocket of his motorcycle jacket. “I’ve had enough of the rules. They’ve already cost me my kids and marriage. How much more do you expect me to give up for your band? She’s coming with us.”

“That’s right. My band. As your boss, I’m telling you we don’t need to be transporting groupies all over the country.”

“Don’t worry, she won’t cost you a cent. I’ll take care of her out of my per diem.”

“She’s not coming.”

“Either she comes with us, or I stay here with her.” The tension in the room was electric as Ryder and Drake glared at each other, almost willing each other into a full blown fist fight. The other members of the band hardly reacted, like this was a regular occurrence. Great.

Was I willing to destroy any more lives to enter some sort of parallel witness protection plan universe?

I was still recovering from the shock of learning that Drake regarded the other members of the band like bad children who couldn’t think for themselves. If it wasn’t for Ryder, Drake wouldn’t have ever written all of those songs, or had the success he had enjoyed.

No wonder I always liked Ryder better. I always thought Drake was a pompous ass. What had Erin seen in him?

Even a pretty face couldn’t excuse all that ugly.

I put my hand on Ryder’s shoulder. “Listen, I don’t want to cause any trouble. I can meet you there instead.” It might have been a good idea anyway. Otherwise, my car would be left in the parking lot and I’d have no way to get home from wherever they left me.

Like I could ever go home again.

“No. It’s no trouble at all. I want you to come with me.” He looked up at me but didn’t smile.

I could feel the steam rolling off of Drake as he crossed his arms in front of his chest from the corner of my eye. I didn’t dare make eye contact with him, lest he incinerate me with his glare. “It’s cool, I don’t want to cost you your job or anything.”

Drake scoffed, but we both ignored him.

“You won’t. If you’re going to hang around with me, baby, you need to get used to Drake’s outbursts.” Finally the corners of Ryder’s mouth turned upward. I nodded and smiled, sneaking a look at Drake. He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

An awkward silence spread over the lobby as we waited to board the bus. I tried to distract myself by looking at my phone. Friends back home were wondering how Jamie and I were faring during the storm, with some even asking if we needed anything. A friend with electricity and heat offered her house if the cold was too much to handle. All the kindness overwhelmed me. I could probably still feign being a power outage victim; it bought me some time before I had to start answering their questions.

How long would it take before someone started looking for us because we didn’t answer them? How long before Angela’s family started searching for her, if not already?

I attempted to focus, hard, on how excited I should be to be going on tour with my favorite band. But all I could see was Angela’s two little girls.

I focused my thoughts again. I’d never been on a tour bus before, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. We boarded a small kitchen area first, and rows of bunks eerily stacked like coffins, filled the middle.

“This is home.” Ryder stopped at the top bunk off to the right side. He graciously took my bag and slung it up on the bed. “The lounge area is in back, and the bathroom is right here.” He pointed to a door at the entrance to the living area. “You know the rules of the bus, right?”

“No. What rules?” What I thought would be a party bus was turning into a boarding school on wheels.

Ryder chuckled and blushed. “I can’t believe I’m saying this to a lady. Serious business, if you know what I mean, goes in a bag and gets thrown out the window.”

I burst out laughing. “Why on earth would you do that?”

“You don’t want to be traveling on a rolling cow patty.”

“Oh my God.” I pictured myself throwing a bag of crap out of the window onto the side of the road. “That’s so gross. Funny, but gross.”

“That’s kind of what life is like on the road.” Adam, the drummer, piped in as he put his stuff in the bunk below us. “Funny, but gross.”

“I wouldn’t expect much else from five guys living on a bus.” I smiled at him. He winked at me and headed back toward the lounge.

Speaking of Drake, where was he? “There are only four bunks and there are five of you.” I did a head count while looking at Ryder. “Where does Drake sleep?”

“He has his own bus.”

“What? Are you kidding? He’s too good to travel with you guys?” And he was concerned about me costing too much money? Little did he know I could more than pay my own way. And the bastard had his own bus.

“Something like that.” Ryder shrugged.

Drake was obviously a sore subject. I needed to stop pouring salt on the wound. Time to switch gears. “So what happens on this bus?”

“Oh you know, a little of this, a little of that.” Ryder smiled, leaning against the bunks, making his black T shirt ride up a little on his stomach, and exposing the line of hair that started at his belly button disappeared into his jeans. I forced myself to tear my eyes away.

“Do the mice play while the cat is away?” I traced my finger along his jawbone.

“They do.” He grabbed my hand, putting my finger into his mouth to suck on it. He had some crazy sharp teeth. I thought I had imagined it while we were in bed together, but now it felt like he practically had fangs. I’d never noticed that before. And believe me, I’d spent a lot of time looking at Ryder Maddox in my life.

“Even if it’s against the rules?” I could barely manage the words as Ryder’s lips made their way down my arm, his eyes never leaving mine.

“Especially if it’s against the rules.” He pulled me in close, nuzzling my neck.

“Jesus, if you two are going to fuck, at least come to the common area so we can enjoy the show!” A thick Scottish accent jeered from the couch. Thomas, the bassist who replaced Chaz, had already cracked into a beer and had a game controller in his lap. “I’d rather watch you, lovie, than fight these bloody dragons for the thousandth time.”

“She’s not that kind of girl, Tommy.” Ryder pulled away, looking annoyed.

“They’re all that kind of girl, mate.”

Ryder rolled his eyes and smiled at me, shaking his head. “That’s why your credit card is maxed out on porn. You need to treat a girl like a lady to get them to stick around.” He turned back at me and pulled my face towards his. “I’m ready for a private viewing.”

Nothing is less sexy than having to climb a ladder into a bunk bed. Well, maybe slightly less sexy is having to crawl across said bunk on my hands and knees, ass high in the air. There wasn’t much room between the mattress and ceiling. I couldn’t sit up completely and I stretched out best I could, giving Ryder enough room to join me in the bunk. His body filled the space, making me claustrophobic. Behind the privacy curtain, the small space was pitch dark, almost airless.

I closed my eyes to regain my bearings, concentrating on Ryder’s hands making their way down my body, under my shirt. I hadn’t bothered with a bra in the early morning hour. I let my mind wander a bit, away from this tiny space as his fingers softly tickled my stomach, and caressed my breasts. The soft movements combined with the whir of the bus lulled me to sleep.

Book Love and Lipgloss

Today’s Brew:  Hot chocolate with buttershots in it. Oh yeah.

by Kristen

As I might have mentioned a time or two on this blog, Because The Night comes out in November. That means a few things.  Hurking, first and foremost.  A lot of that.  I should be really skinny by release day.  It also means blog tours.  Which means more hurking for me, but for you it means giveaways!

Karrie hard at work

I couldn’t just do what everyone else does for giveaways.  I needed to do something fun and cool and…me.  My agent suggested doing something makeup related.  How does it get more me than that?  It just so happens that a friend and colleague of mine has her own makeup line.  Meet Karrie Welch of Fortunate Face Minerals.

Meet…Immortal Dilemma, Fire Dancer, and Soul Divider

Karrie formulates all her own colors for all of her natural products.  I approached her with my idea to formulate lip glosses based on the bands in the Night Songs series, and she thought it was a great idea.  This Monday, I went to her laboratory to mix the perfect colors for Immortal Dilemma (blood red), Fire Dancer (a warm orangey red) and Soul Divider (a sheer plum with dark pink shimmer).  ‘Who the hell is Soul Divider?’, I hear my street team roar.  You’ll mean them in Night Moves, the second book in the series.

Before the lip glosses were born, they were just minerals in jars.

So these aren’t just little pots of goo.  No sirree, Bob. These are tubes that you click up similar to a Stila lip gloss.  On the bottom of the tubes, they will have little stickers with the appropriate band name. Like lip gloss you buy in stores, kids. This is a real thing. I couldn’t be more excited, not only that my book is coming out, but as a makeup artist to have products I helped create it surreal. They are highly pigmented and have all natural ingredients like jojoba oil and orange oil.  Julie of course had to try it out as soon as she got there.  Her review:  “It felt good and tasted good.  It was light but had substance.”  So what I’m saying is, this is the good stuff.

Then they get all ground together in a magic bullet looking contraption

Right now, I’m planning on using these as promotional items.  If there is interest, I can make them available for sale.  (They would be $10 each, and whatever shipping costs).

And lip glosses were born!

Check out the Fortunate Face website for more information on Karrie’s products!

Meet Melanie: Introducing Night Moves

Today’s Brew: Absinthe or something equally poser goth. It’s Marilyn Manson night.

by Kristen

I’ve been working on the second book in the Night Songs Collection, Night Moves.  We meet another muse, Melanie, and eventually, another band, Soul Divider.  Here’s Chapter One, an afternoon that will change her life forever.

 

The governor ordered everyone off the roads by four in the afternoon.  It didn’t surprise me in the least that my office waited until the last possible minute to let us leave.  The powers that be considered our work too important to be interrupted by little things like natural disasters.  Hardy New Englanders shouldn’t freak out over a foot or two of snow, the bosses chided us when we complained about the dangerous conditions awaiting us.  Of course, they had hotel suites waiting for them within walking distance.  I did not. My commute was miserable in perfect weather.

Snow piled up on the roads, covering icy slush.  It wasn’t so much to have to watch for these invisible landmines, but to also have to avoid the bumper car derby taking place all the way down Route Three.

Travel aside, I was actually psyched about this Blizzard.  Its Friday afternoon timing was perfect.  I looked forward to getting home before dark and cuddling up under blankets with my boyfriend, Jamie.  I was always so stressed out and exhausted from work we never got to have any fun anymore.  It was getting to both of us.

Jamie had been striking a big red line through every day on the calendar in our kitchen.  I asked him what he was counting down to.  He told me it was a count of the days since we’d had sex.  It made me want to die inside. When we first got together, we needed both hands to count how many times we were together a day. What happened to us?

The month was drawing to a close, and those red lines taunted me like twenty two middle fingers sticking up at me as I made my coffee every morning at four forty five.   This weekend, we were going to break that streak.  By a landslide.

“Babe?”  I peeled off my wet winter layers as I entered the dim apartment.  We’d already lost power. The fire alarm screeched in the hallway.  I’d expected Jamie to greet me at the door like a hungry dog.  He’d never know how to entertain himself without all his electrical toys.

“Jame?”  Maybe he was napping.  He practically scheduled naps into his day. Jamie worked from home doing web design. If it wasn’t for the on and off trickle of money he dragged in, I’d think it was just a fancy way of saying he spent his day screwing around on the internet.  For once, his nap didn’t annoy me. It gave me an opportunity to wake him up with a nice surprise.

I heard murmurs and soft laughter as I rounded the corner.  Weird.  The apartment walls were thin. Maybe it came from downstairs. The kids that lived downstairs must have been bouncing off the walls, trapped in the house with no electrical enterainment. The voices grew louder as I rounded the corner to the bedroom.

“What the fuck is this?” I exclaimed as I entered our bedroom.  Jamie’s naked body jumped up slightly over the bed, surprised by the sound of my voice.  He couldn’t go too far, since a very important part of him was inside Angela, our crazy white trash bitch of a downstairs neighbor.

I didn’t say another word.  My whole body shook as adrenaline took over.  Jamie’s ass was frozen in mid air, his arms holding him up over that skank’s body.  Her surgically altered breasts jutted out ridiculously from the tangle of sheets.  The least she could have done was save up for a decent boob job. Although, our tax dollars had probably paid for them, so I guess if these were normal circumstances, I could have seen the humor in her botched implants.

My brain ceased to function rationally.  I marched over to my bed and grabbed a handful of Jamie’s overgrown snowboarder hair. With strength I didn’t know I had, I slammed his head down against Angela’s. Over and over again.  Blood splattered against my beloved Pier One upholstered headboard.  I didn’t stop until I saw Angela’s brain oozing out on my pillow, down her chest, and into her exaggerated cleavage.

I dropped Jamie’s limp head into the mess.  Even broken and bleeding, he somehow looked peaceful. I backed away from the bed in horror.  A scream stuck in my throat, threatening to choke me.

I didn’t mean to do this. I didn’t want him to be dead.  I covered my mouth with my hand.  This was my fault.  Sure, he was in bed with that nasty slut, but why couldn’t I have just given him a little bit of attention before it came to this?

God, I hated my job.

As I began to come back to this planet, a different kind of shock washed over me.  I had two dead people naked in my bed.  And a state issued order to stay in the apartment with them.