Thursday, August 28, 2014

Maggie Shayne's WINGS IN THE NIGHT REBORN (Guest Post/Giveaway)

Please give a warm welcome to a shining star in the paranormal romance world and one of my first and favorite authors in the genre, Maggie Shane! 



My Favorite FANGIRL Moment

My very favorite Fangirl moment happened to me at a Romance Writers of America Convention a couple of years ago. I take my RWA conventions very seriously. I go to workshops, and not just the Published Authors Network (PAN) sessions either. 

I saw in the program that my writing idol, Karen Robards, was giving a session on Romantic Suspense, and I was so excited that I might finally get to meet her after all my years of reading everything she wrote and basically worshipping at her feet, that I arrived for the session early so I could get a front row seat. And I think I probably gawked at her like a Ninja Turtle gawks at a pizza for the entire hour. I hope I didn’t drool. But I might have.

As soon as the session ended, I hurried up to introduce myself to Karen. It went something like this.

Me, extending hand: “I’m Maggie Shayne, and I just had to tell you how much your work has meant to me.”

Karen: “I know who you are.”

Me: (After picking my jaw up from the floor.) “You do?”

Karen: “Of course I do. I read your books, and I love them. I have a whole shelf full of them.”

Me: (With tears now:) “bablabloo dadoodah klofgrsnickle.”  

There was more, of course. We had a lovely conversation and she offered to give me a quote for my upcoming suspense novel. I left that room on Cloud 9 and immediately called home to share the news. 

I’ve had many such fangirl moments in my career, But listing them all would sound like name dropping, so I’m going to resist the urge. Suffice to say, I’ve met, worked with, and become great friends with women who were (and still are) my writing goddesses. It’s one of the coolest things about this career. 

And I know they are all supporting me, holding their breath with me, and cheering for me now as I launch this scary new venture, releasing my very first independently published novel, TWILIGHT GUARDIANS on 9/1. After 22 years working for publishers, I’m on my own for the first time. Flying without a net. I’m not afraid to admit my knees are knocking a bit. But it’s a good kind of excitement. The very best kind. Next to falling in love. And great sex. And chocolate. Okay, it’s one of the very best kinds of excitement. (Isn’t it great we live in a world with so many?)




Twilight Guardians 
(Wings in the Night: Reborn #1)
by Maggie Shayne 
Kindle Edition, 400 pages
Expected publication: September 1st 2014 by Thunderfoot Publishing
ASINB00LXJGKLU
Goodreads | Amazon
"My inspiration has always been Maggie Shayne's Wings in the Night." #1 New York Times Bestselling Author, Christine Feehan 

They told 20-year-old Charlie O’Malley that they had a cure for the rare blood condition that would eventually kill her–an untested, experimental cure. All they wanted in return was for her to join their elite military team and train to kill the Undead.

She took the deal, not because she cared so much about extending her life, but because it would make her strong–stronger than ordinary humans. Strong enough to kill the vampire who’d pretended to love her, taken her blood, used her body, and murdered her mother.

Killion was the last of his kind, or so he thought. When he found Charlie, he felt the pull. She had the rare Belladonna Antigen all vampires had as humans. Vampires were compelled to protect those rare mortals they called The Chosen. But with Charlie, the bond was different, more powerful than anything he’s felt before, and impossible to resist, even though surrendering to it will probably get him killed.

Ancient vampire elders Rhiannon and Roland come out of exile, risking their lives to help their mortal friend Roxy reclaim her granddaughter. But before the tale ends, their lives will be forever changed.

Join Maggie Shayne as she returns to her most beloved series of all time with this new beginning…. 




WELCOME to the World of Wings in the Night! You may begin here…

I am the vampiress Rhiannon. I would like to tell you how I, and my stories, came to be.
In 1991, before “paranormal romance” even existed, my authoress, Maggie Shayne wrote a vampire romance short story she called Twilight Phantasies and submitted it to several fiction magazines. One responded favorably, saying they loved the tale, but had a policy of only buying from their subscribers. So if she would kindly send them the hefty subscription fee, they’d be happy to make her an offer. Maggie was not yet a published author, but she was also not an idiot. (Had she been, I would not have chosen her to tell these tales I’ve been whispering into her brain for the past twenty years.) So she decided to just keep working and the story grew into a novel. In 1992, she submitted it to Silhouette Books’ brand new line called Shadows, a line that was far ahead of its time. It was very well received, but the editor asked her to do some revising. An offer could not be made until she did, because she was so new. The revisions were mainly about cutting back heavily on a secondary character, my beloved Roland de Courtemanche, and keeping the focus on the book’s main couple, Eric Marquand and Tamara Dey. I had every intention of paying the editor a midnight visit for this insult, until she said, “Don’t cut Roland’s scenes. Save them for the sequel. He needs a book of his own.” It was in that moment that the Wings in the Night Series was born, even though the author didn’t realize it at the time.

When the revisions were complete, Silhouette bought the novel for a four thousand dollar advance. Sadly, Shadows was doomed before it began. As I said, ahead of its time. The paranormal romance craze was only a seedling, just beginning to germinate, and nowhere near the phenomenon it would later become. The Shadows cover art had a comic or graphic novel look about it. It did not scream “romance fiction.” No matter. It is my belief that the line’s chief reason for existence was to help give birth to my stories. Once Wings in the Night began, even the line’s eventual demise could not stop it.

My authoress was on fire as I pried open her channels and continued pouring stories into her mind. She didn’t know where they were coming from back then. But it was an effort. When she first began my story, I was drawn as the villainess of the piece, and some weak and pathetic mortal female was supposed to be Roland’s mate! I schooled myself to patience. My authoress was just learning, after all. She did not yet understand who I was.

Trust me when I tell you, she does now.

Twilight Memories, my story, was published next, in 1994. You’ll have to pardon the blue eye shadow. It was the nineties, after all. I did finally get through to my authoress. In fact, I opened the lines of communication so widely, that I dictated the opening of the story. Those first four pages marked “Introduction” truly were my introduction to my authoress. I was speaking to her, telling her who and what I am, warning her that I am no one to be trifled with.

She merely wrote down what I said. And I’ve been dictating the stories of my people to her ever since.

One more novel, Twilight Illusions, featuring the magician Damien Namtar (formerly known as King Gilgamesh of Ancient Sumer) and his fledgling Shannon, was published under the Silhouette Shadows line. Damien is our link to our origins, a link that continues to unfurl all the way through Book 20 of the series. But I digress.

After this book was published, Silhouette Shadows closed down. My authoress received two messages. One from her publisher, telling her there would be no more Wings in the Night. The second was from me, telling her to begin the next book right away. She listened to me, and wrote Born in Twilight over the next eight weeks. Flat.

Shadows died. Silhouette was absorbed by Harlequin. Harlequin has been purchased by Rupert Murdoch. But Wings in the Night lived through it all, and still lives on.

My authoress has taken my advice and broken free of all of them. She will no longer allow fat, rich, mortal men to become fatter and richer from the fruits of her labor, but rather, will continue to share her gift and my voice directly with you. This also means my contact with you will be far less diluted. Less filtered. More like…a direct current.

Wings in the Night includes 15 novels, 4 novellas, and 1 “online read”
So far….

A brand new incarnation of the series begins this year with Wings in the NightReborn
. Book One, TWILIGHT GUARDIANS will be a September 1, 2014 release in both print and electronic formats, from Maggie’s own label, Thunderfoot. And for those of you who missed the first 20 books, this is a fresh start. You may begin here….

~Rhiannon




About The Author:

Maggie Shayne is best known as the New York Times bestselling author of more than 50 novels, nearly 30 novellas, a former soap writer, (The Guiding Light, As the World Turns,) a former advice columnist (Shayne on You,) and RITA Award winner. But what’s less known about her is that she’s been a practicing Witch for almost as long as she’s been a published author.

Known within the Craft of the Wise as LadyHawk the Mythmaker, Maggie studied in the Black Forest Circle Seminary for three years, earning her 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree elevations there. A licensed minister of Wicca, Maggie was later made a Craft Elder, and co-founded a new Wiccan tradition called RavenMyst Circle. Her coven, The Coven of the Redtail Hawk, turned out five new high priestesses, several of whom went on to form covens of their own, and making Maggie, according to the Old Ways, A Witch Queen.

Maggie has published westerns, category romances, romantic suspense, paranormal romances, urban fantasy, women's fiction, and just about everything in between. She's a winner of the RITA Award, the romance fiction industry's most prestigious prize, and has won countless others including several RT BOOK RREVIEWS "Reviewer's Choice" Awards, two RT Career Achievement Awards, the Daphne du Maurier Award, The Golden Leaf Award and numerous others.

Maggie's "Twilight" series of vampire novels, officially known as Wings in the Night, began in 1993 with TWILIGHT PHANTASIES from Silhouette Shadows. The series concluded with TWILIGHT FULFILLED in October 2011, but has come back to life now that she has gone indie.
http://maggieshayne.com/



GIVEAWAY:
Maggie is offering up a $100 Amazon Giftcard to a lucky grand-prize winner at the end of the tour, a Runner-Up prize of a new Kindle, PLUS an eCopy of Twilight Guardians for a random commenter at each Tour Stop.

Find the Rafflecopter for the Event here, follow the directions, take action, and mark as ‘Done’. 
To see the complete list of tour stops so you can read some great Q&A’s, Interviews, Guest Posts and more check out the full Wings in the Night Reborn Celebration Tour Schedule HERE.


16 comments:

  1. Good luck with your new adventure in publishing!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm very excited. Thanks so much!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am so excited! I have the older WitN books, and will have to re-read them in preparation for the new one!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good luck on this new journey Maggie :) there are only a couple days left before the release & I am beyond excited!! I would love to have some fan girl moments to share :) maybe someday!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your books are also some of my most favorite...looking forward to the new venture!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I can't ever wait for any of your books! I so look forward to them. <3

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good luck on your new journey! I love your books & your inspirational posts on Facebook <3

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wings in the Night was my introduction to paranormal, and I've never looked back. I am so glad Maggie has brought back the series. Can't wait to read about the new guys.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I first came across The Wings in the Night series when I got my kindle about 4 years ago...and quickly devoured each and every one..I am extremely excited about the revamped series...I have already preordered it...time is going to slow :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. This book sounds amazing and I can't wait to read it! :D

    Thanks for the guest post and giveaway!!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love your books and I can't wait to read this new one!

    ReplyDelete
  12. This tour has gotten me so pumped to read this!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Maggie, I've known you for your romantic suspense novels. But I've not read any of your vampire series, which is about to change. :-) Since it has been so popular, I figure I MUST start at the beginning, so I've purchased Wings in the Night Part 1. I've read many, many vampire novels, and then decided to take a break...but am now about to dive back in. :-) Thanks for your tour and post. jdh2690@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  14. Melinda! You were the lucky ebook winner for Twilight Guardians. Can you please email me your email address and eBook format preference to literaladdiction (at) gmail.com. Thanks and congrats!
    ~Chelle - Maggie's Virtual Assistant

    ReplyDelete

Due to time constraints we may not be able to personally respond to every comment made, but we do read and appreciate them all. 📚❤️🙂

✋ RBtWBC has a zero-tolerance policy for review harassment and author bashing. Such comments will be deleted at the the blog's discretion.