The first THE DEMON IN ME review

You know, months and months go by with nobody saying much about your book as it approaches its publication date. I typically finish a book a full year (or more) before it hits the stands. And it’s always a big question if anyone’s actually going to like it.

My first official review for THE DEMON IN ME is in from Romantic Times! And I’m thrilled!!

THE DEMON IN ME
by Michelle Rowen

RT Rating: ½
Category: PARANORMAL ROMANCE
Publisher: BERKLEY SENSATION
Published: May 2010
Type: Paranormal Fiction

The Living in Eden series starter is funny, sexy and completely entertaining. Rowen writes charming, believable and seriously funny heroines and then weaves a dark tale of intrigue around them. Watching Eden resolve her internal conflicts while struggling to stay alive and manage her attraction to the demon that possesses her is just magic. Can’t wait for more! It promises to be a fantastic series.

Summary: On her first day as a “psychic consultant” for the local police, Eden sees a serial killer gunned down in front of her. She watches as black smoke slinks from his mouth and slams into her. Moments later she begins to hear a voice inside her, a demon named Darrak. After a failed exorcism, Eden promises this seemingly “nice” demon she’ll help him remove a curse put on him 300 years ago, if he’ll help her manage her romantic life with the sexy detective, Ben. As they struggle to find a way to release the curse, Eden must learn to live with the sexy demon inside her.

Darrak is torn between wanting to keep his promise and help Eden with Ben, and wanting her for himself. Her psychic energy makes him strong enough that he can take human form during the day, and it’s not only made him feel indebted to her but it’s also made him more human, less evil demon. (BERKLEY SENSATION, May, 352 pp., $7.99)   —Annette Elton

In which I talk a little about NIGHTSHADE

SIGNING:

If you’re in the Mississauga, Ontario area, come see me at Chapters Square One tomorrow between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. I’ll be signing copies of the first Demon Princess book, REIGN OR SHINE.

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Soooo…. long time no blog post. Yeah, I know. I’ve been keeping a low profile. If you don’t count Twitter or Facebook, that is.

So what’s up, buttercup?

Other than feeling sick about the news re: Jesse James (another cheating jerk) and my fave actress Sandra Bullock…. ugh. I just can’t believe it. I think it’s the first Hollywood marriage I’m actually mad about! I just love the “story” of the bad boy who changes his ways for the love of a good woman. But I guess that type of romance is just a fictional fantasy. That’s why I write books! Because my heroes would never cheat on my heroines. Even the ones who can live forever. Leave me to my dream world. I’m happy here.

March has been one mega busy month for me, writing-wise. I’ve finished two proposals. I’ve brainstormed a novella. And I’m currently diving into the second draft of NIGHTSHADE #2.

Since I’m deep into this world right now, let me give you a little more info about these books — which are a teensy bit of a departure for me.

First of all… I have THE DEMON IN ME coming out in 45 days. This will be followed by SOMETHING WICKED in October. These books follow the same (demon) hero and (psychic) heroine in their paranormal journey together. They’re inline with my previous books in that they’re fun and funny, so if you liked my Immortality Bites series, you’ll love these books. There’s mystery, action, supernatural angst, and romance galore. The Living in Eden books are written in third person — the first one all from the heroine’s POV. The second one is evenly split between hero and heroine and a bit of POV from a secondary character. I love getting the chance to show more of the world than just what the heroine sees and I LOVE WRITING THIS SERIES SO MUCH. Good times!

But that’s not what I’m working on RIGHT NOW.

I have a darker side, you see. A few shades darker, anyway. I got to explore this side when I wrote COUNTDOWN (as Michelle Maddox). There’s still some wit in there — I don’t think I could write without any humor at all even if I tried (and I have) — but the storyline lends itself to increased danger and edginess. This is the kind of book I’m drawn to reading. I actually don’t read that much really light stuff anymore.

ANYHOOOO… so I did the proposal for NIGHTSHADE once upon a time when I wondered how I’d handle the darker side of vampires. Vamps are the baddies in this book, the threat. They don’t go out for drinks with you. You are the drink. Etcetera. My heroine doesn’t kick ass per se like some urban fantasy chicks, but she is able to kill vampires because her blood is poisonous (and irresistible) to them.

I got the original spark of the idea from watching/reading Twilight, believe it or not. I thought: so Edward is irresistibly drawn to Bella’s blood. He desperately wants to bite her and it takes all of his strength to resist. He resists because if he bites her he’ll kill her.

So I thought — how about if he bites her, her blood kills HIM instead of her. That’s a pretty good incentive for keeping your fangs to yourself. So that’s the concept behind NIGHTSHADE. Whee. And I put my heroine, Jillian (first person POV), in direct and constant contact with Declan, who is a dhampyr — half vamp, half human. Therefore he is also drawn to her blood despite the fact he needs to protect her from the real baddies. Good times.

Since it was a two-book contract, I structured things as a two-book arc and I’m currently polishing the second book. This is definitely darker, more urban fantasy, than anything I’ve previously done (aside from COUNTDOWN, of course). There’s salty language, violence, sex, and I really loved writing these books because I could torture my characters mercilessly. I had no idea what a sadist I was (yes, I did).

I just reread NIGHTSHADE the other day to get back into the world and was surprised at how much of a romance it is. I had thought it leaned more urban fantasy. And it does. But it straddles that romance/urban fantasy line very nicely, I think.

The books will be published by Berkley and will take place over a mere three week period following Jill and Declan’s adventures. This is how they’re going to pan out:

1.0 – NIGHTSHADE: February 2011

1.5 – NOVELLA (title to come) in the Lora Leigh Anthology: April 2011

2.0 – NIGHTSHADE #2 (new title to come): July 2011

And contrary to what I’ve said in the past, I will be writing these books as MICHELLE ROWEN, not under another pen name. I think my regular readers can handle my dark side, don’t you??

And I already have a couple of fabulous quotes for NIGHTSHADE:

“Rowen’s characteristic wit, infused with a dark edge. A great read!” — Kelley Armstrong, New York Times Bestselling Author

“Rowen takes us on a high-octane thrill ride to a fresh, new, dark and sexy world. NIGHTSHADE is an amazing roller-coaster of a read.” –Eve Silver, National Bestselling Author

Can’t wait till we get closer to the pub dates — so near and yet so far!

However, 2010 is the “Year of the Demon” for me. Two paranormals and one YA with that subject matter and I couldn’t be more excited. I equally love demons and vamps (and angels, and witches, and werewolves. Well, maybe not werewolves).

So that’s my update and that’s where I am mentally and creatively right now. Happy reading! (and I’ll try to blog more, I promise).