Hello!
It’s exactly one year to the day that I published my first book, Tegan’s Blood.
To celebrate the occasion I’m giving away a signed paperback copy of my most recent novel, Painted Faces. All you have to do is comment or send your email address to lhcosway@gmail.com with the title “Painted Faces Giveaway”. I’ll pick the winner old school by writing down each entry on a scrap of paper, putting them in a bowl and selecting whichever one I grab first.
I like to think this adds an element of fun, for me anyway, lol. I’d also like to say congrats to Yasmin, Patricia and Perry who won paperback copies on the Goodreads giveaway. I’ll be posting those out as soon as I can.
Speaking of Painted Faces, it’s currently selling pretty feckin’ well on Amazon. Colour me surprised! The other day I saw it was at #189. I had a real, eh, what!? moment. The highest rank I’d ever gotten to before publishing Painted Faces was somewhere around the 1,000 mark, if I remember correctly, for Tegan’s Return, which was a while back. I’m not trying to act all humble but I seriously never expected this book to take off. IT.IS.MENTAL.
Moving on…
I’m currently a busy bee writing Tegan’s Magic. At the moment I’m thinking the publishing date will be March 7th, but that’s not set in stone. It could be earlier depending on how quickly I can get things done. I want to give myself enough time to properly prepare for the release. If I’ve learned anything about publishing it’s that the preparation is crucial. Anyhoo, to keep those of you Tegan fans tided over until the release, here’s another short snippet. It was practically impossible to find one that didn’t give away too many spoilers, so here you go (as yet to be edited btw) …
garden. It takes a moment for my sleepy eyes to adjust and when they
do I make out the familiar shapes of the vampires lugging jars into
the shed. The exact same jars as the one Rita used to catch the mist
she and Delilah found.
know what’s going on. I can hear the not so melifluous orchestra of
Finn and Ira’s snoring, so I know they’re both fast asleep in their
rooms.
to me. Vampire eyes are far more intense than those of a human, so
even when you’re not looking you can almost feel them on you, sliding
across your skin. I pull my cardigan tight around me and walk over to
them. Lucas, Dru and Will ignore me and resume stacking the jars in
the shed. I meet Ethan’s stare head on. He’s just standing there
watching me. I can still feel the heady lust for him, but it’s not as
strong as it had been since I’ve sweated so much of it out. It
doesn’t take as much energy to keep myself together now, thankfully.
chilly night air.
Ethan answers, his voice as cold as the air around us. “We found
nothing of Theodore, however we did find these things
everywhere. Delilah said that she and the witch only saw one today.
It seems that night is the time when they come out to…feed, if
that’s what you’d call it.”
contained within them move frantically, struggling against being
captured. “There are so many,” I whisper, unable to fathom a way
of getting rid of them all. Rita can’t even figure out how to kill
one.
half of what’s out there. Look at the news in the morning, I’m sure
there’ll be reports of fights and riots just like the other day. It’s
almost as though they’re multiplying. The human population is
fracturing. Things are only going to get worse.”
do?” My heart sinks as I think that this could be it for Tribane.
The mists could just keep growing and growing, infecting more and
more people until they all go so mad that they end up annihilating
one another.
the one who should be asking you that question,” says Ethan,
glancing away into the darkness.
supposed to mean?”
managed to burn half of Eliza’s face off with nothing but the palm of
your hand. You’re not all that I thought you were, there’s magic in
you.”
it’s like he’s fascinated too.
thinking Ethan had forgotten about my performance at Whitfield’s.
“That was…that was something I don’t quite understand yet.” I
go quiet for a moment, not sure how to explain things to him.
“Anything you see me do, anything magical that is, it comes out of
nowhere. I’m not like Rita, I’m not really doing any of it with a
conscious purpose. It just comes out of me like I’m possessed.”
I can sense your anxiety.” Ethan states, tilting his head.
lying. I’m anxious because you make me anxious. You’re a vampire and
not exactly my number one fan right now. Not to mention I’m standing
in the dark in my nightie with no method of defending myself if you
decide to let those fangs of yours get the better of you.”
joylessly. “You know how old I am, Tegan. Long gone are the days
when my fangs could get the
better of me as
you call it.”
not quite sure if he should. The next thing I know his eyes have
morphed from dark blue to crimson, his fangs are out and he’s
advancing on me. He hisses and crowds me up against the wall of the
house. Lucas, Dru and Will don’t even give him a second glance.
fight or flight response my magic comes to life. My hands whip out at
him, overflowing with burning sparks like a sink where somebody’s
left the tap running too long. He rears back out of range of the
sparks and his fangs retract. His eyes go back to normal and a slow
grin forms on his lips.
lying then. It seems you’ve got a nifty little defence mechanism
there. When you feel threatened your magic comes out to keep you
safe. Interesting.” He rubs at his chin ponderously.
shitting me? I feel like I’m about to have a heart attack because you
went all Count Dracula on me as a fucked up lie detector test? You
scared me half to death.”
see if you were telling the truth. And please spare me the Dracula
references, I find them at best tiring and at worst excruciatingly
irritating.”
Stupid lust potion. “I’m going back to bed.”
feel Ethan’s arms slip around my waist. He nuzzles his nose into the
side of my neck. “One day soon I won’t want you anymore, perhaps
then I’ll have the courage to walk away.”
question what he means I turn around and he’s gone.
That’s all for now!!
Congrats for Painted Faces, I've really enjoyed meeting Nicholas so I'm happy for you.
As for the extract…It's not fair to tease! Now I will have to wonder what will happen between Tegan and Ethan until march…
But I hope everything will work alright for the publishing process
A bientôt,
Lucie
While waiting for Tegan's Magic I've re-read Tegan's Blood and Tegan's Return and when Painted Faces came out I decided to give it a go! I'm so glad I did, what great characters Nicholas and Freda are. It left me feeling blissfully happy with a big smile on my face 🙂
Not sure I can contain my excitement now!!! I normally don't like to wish my time away but roll on the 7th of March:-)
Thanks for writing such great stories.
Rosemarie
On the latest "Whatcha reading?'" post at Smart Bitches http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/blog/whatcha-reading5 several commenters mentioned Painted Faces. It sounded intriguing so I bought it and I finished it about 5 minutes ago. Just loved it! It's a keeper. Thank you. I loved Nicholas and Fred so much.
Oh cool! Glad you liked it Judith <3
L.H, I'm so excited your Tegan's Magic is just a few days away."Thanks for the little taste"
I have read all your book they are amazing i get lost in them and can't put them down..I can't wait to see what you have done with Tegan and Ethan. I know you will have a awesome twist..
Patiently awaiting "NOT" LOL
Meme