Return of the Assassin
Blurb
All the King's Men - Book 5
3rd place winner - RWA Heart of the West contest
"If
you've been waiting for the next Black Dagger Brotherhood, this is it…"
-GraveTells Review
Assassin Gina
Carano doesn't have time for love. In fact, the last thing she wants is a mate.
But Gina can't stop thinking about Malek, the handsome AKM enforcer she met in
Chicago. And now she's beginning to fear Malek's memory is the reason for her
crippling panic attacks, which have assaulted her relentlessly since she left
him.
Malek has never
dealt with the centuries-old death of his first mate, but
now that he's formed a new mating link to Gina, he has no choice. Stuck between
the agony of mourning and the despair of being without Gina, his mind fractures
as he attempts to reconcile the two halves of himself.
When Gina
botches a hit on two vicious vampires in Miami, she reluctantly flees back to
Chicago, where Malek must choose between the past and the future before he
loses Gina forever.
Warning: This book contains
explicit sexual content, sensitive subject matter, references to
non-traditional/alternative lifestyles, and profanity.
Welcome to Dark Desires Book Blog! Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Donya Lynne the author of All The Kings Men Series, and Arms of Winter (stand alone M/M book) Her newest release Return of The Assassin is out at your favorite retailers!
Donya, you’ve been writing for a little over a year now.
Writing full time for a few months. How do you like it?
I love it. Love every second of
it. I'm working more hours per day than I did at my day job, but it doesn't
feel like work. They say if you do what you love, you'll never work another day
in your life, and I believe it. A 16-hour day doesn't feel like a 16-hour day
when I pack it in for the night.
Is there anything that you miss about the pre-published era?
Not really. I always felt like I
was wandering through life without purpose before. My life was pretty bleak and
I was in going-nowhere jobs and felt a general sense of unhappiness. Before
Rise of the Fallen was published, I had been unemployed for over a year-and-a-half,
as well, and I knew it was time for a change. In many ways, I feel as though my
life only just started with the release of Rise of the Fallen. Isn't that
funny? It took me until I was 42 years old for my life to start. Up until now,
I've simply been building the experiences and emotional baggage necessary to
make my stories the conflict-laden roller coaster rides that they are. Now I'm
very happy with my life. The happiest I've ever been, even though I work seven
days a week, and usually pull 10-16 hour days.
Are your characters happier now that you can devote more
time to their stories?
Yes. When the characters talk
now, I can listen. I no longer have to hastily jot down notes in my notebook
until I can get home from work.
What is one thing about being an author that you are OCD
about and why?
Edits. Usually, authors can't
edit themselves. You'll hear it said again and again that authors are too
attached to their work to effectively edit and rewrite…and to "kill their
darlings." I am the exact opposite. I have no problem killing a sentence,
paragraph, scene, or chapter if it doesn't propel the story or fit into the
rest of the plot. I will edit right up until the last day. I have a rewriting
and editing process that lasts for months through several re-reads of the
manuscript, but each pass brings the book closer to tight, and I've gotten to
the point that I crave this part of the writing process.
Is there a favorite author that you HAVE to read, when
you’re not writing, editing…etc?
It used to be J.R. Ward, but the
two authors I'm most fascinated with now are Gayle Forman and Alma Katsu.
They're writing is simple and yet complex, and very inspirational.
You have a few other stories waiting patiently in the wings,
is there anything you want to share with your fans?
Just to hold on tight, it's
about to get crazy. The Mark Strong Chronicles promise to be an erotically
charged, humorous, and touching contemporary romance that exploits how a casual
meeting can become the greatest moment in a person's life. Good Karma is the
first of four books I have planned for the series, and the first draft is
currently in rewrites.
As for All the King's Men, the
series is about to split into two. In Return of the Assassin, we met Trevor
Knight, who started a security agency similar to AKM in Miami with his ex-boyfriend Talon Justice.
Fittingly, the agency is called the Knights of Justice, which will be the
sister series name, as well. There won't be as many books in KOJU as in AKM,
but eventually the two series will join back into the Progeny Series, which
will extend for as long as there are stories to tell and readers who want to
read them. I'm very excited about Progeny, but I have about 8-10 more books to
write for AKM and KOJU before Progeny starts.
Other than that, I have several
stand-alone projects I'm working on, including some more m/m romance and
contemporary romance.
Is there anything the guys want to share about themselves or
their mates?
We could be here all day. The
guys adore their mates and dote on them no end. Micah is beside himself to see
Samantha get pregnant, and Sev and Ari are madly, passionately in love—still in
their honeymoon phase, but talking about options for kids of their own. Io is a
changed male now that he's mated Miriam. Who would have thought he would shun
his playboy ways and settle down, but Io is head over heels and ever-worried
over the growing baby inside Miriam's belly. Malek is over the moon for Gina
and loving every minute of exploring the Kama Sutra and Tantric sex with her.
And of course, Tristan is enjoying his house arrest a little too much, being
that he gets to spend his time with Josie, who's only four months away from her
due date. There's a little baby boom about to happen at AKM, hence the reason
for the Progeny Series.
When you’re not writing, what do you like to do?
You mean it's not all about
writing? LOL. When I'm not actually writing, I'm thinking about writing. Even
when I'm watching TV, my subconscious is working on my stories, and it's not
uncommon for me to have an epiphany during dinner. I had one last night. I was
eating and just broke out laughing. I told my hubby, "I just got the part
of Trace's story that will make fans cry."
I would like to go to movies
more, though. I enjoy a daytime matinee during the work week. I love having the
theater all to myself, more or less. And I read a lot, too. As I write this,
I'm also waiting on my new elliptical trainer that I bought for my birthday
(and to celebrate the release of Return of the Assassin) to arrive. I used to
work out every day. Hardcore kind of workouts. But since I injured my back
several years ago, I haven't been able to. So I finally broke down and bought
an elliptical, which is a lot easier on the back and joints than most gym
equipment. So, I'll add exercise to my list of things I do when I'm not
writing, as well. J
If there was one bit of wisdom that you felt compelled to
pass on to other aspiring writers what would it be?
Have an exceptionally thick skin
and don't take negative reviews personally. In fact, don't even read your
reviews. I rarely read mine, but I find when I do, the negative comments can
still negatively affect my psyche, even when they're part of a good review. It's
not that I get down, but if I'm having a bad day or just feeling a little
emotional, such comments can pull the creeper voice into my head that whispers,
"You aren't good enough." I'm pretty good about moving past it now
that I'm comfortable with my process, and there's a stronger voice in my head
that drowns out the negative one, but for an aspiring writer who hasn't yet
gotten comfortable with his or her writing process and/or hasn't yet
established an audience, those negative reviews can be huge mountains that can
kill their career before it even starts. New writers have to remember that they
will always have critics. There will always be readers who hate—and I mean,
HATE—their work. I've been threatened in reviews. I've been lied about in
reviews. I've been accused of things I never did in reviews and been the
subject of a large-scale Goodreads attack that forced me to go shadow for a
couple of months (I didn't even write on my blog for months, because my blog
posts were being bastardized and misquoted to attack me). But I can't let those
hooks catch me and drag me in, because if I do, two things will happen: 1) If I
retaliate or go on the defensive, I will suffer in more ways than I can count;
and 2) I will take my energy and focus away from the 95% of readers who love my
work. I owe it to the 95% to focus on them, not on the 5% who don't. Aspiring
authors need to take a similar approach, and if they find themselves the victim
of attack, they need to simply delete anything that's being used against them
and go away for a while until the riff-raff move on. If you provide no ammo,
they have nothing to talk about.
What is the most frustrating thing or things about being an
author?
Not having enough time to write
everything I want to write. I joke all that time that I need four more of me so
I can get all my stories written faster.
Have you had any rabid fan moments yet?
A couple. I've had a couple of
fans who went fangirl when I posted "Happy Birthday," on their
Facebook wall. That was funny. And I've had a couple of fans get excited when I
posted on their Facebook posts. I'm just a person, too, and I’m on Facebook a
lot more than any other social media site, and when I see something I like, I
post. So, you never know where I'll show up next. J I will say this: I'm
realizing that even though it was never my intent, I am developing a celebrity
persona. To me, I'm still the same person I was five years ago…the person who
got fired for being "different," the person who likes hot tea and
opening my window to listen to it rain while I write, and the person who thinks
the movie, The Thing, is the coolest horror movie ever made, bar none. But as
readers react with these cute fangirl moments, I have to be aware—as does
anyone with a celebrity persona, no matter how small—that others see me
differently than I do. With that comes tremendous responsibility, like it or
not. So, perhaps this is another piece of advice for aspiring authors: Be aware
of your influence, and make sure you don't abuse it or use it for harm…and that
you protect your image by not doing or saying anything publicly that will get
you into hot water and put egg on your face. Sometimes that can be very hard to
do, but you have to if you want to protect your image. Have one trusted friend
you can bitch to when need-be, and then smile for the world.
Thank you so much for allowing me to interview you D.L. I'm sure your fans are anxious for you to finish writing Trace and Cordray's story, I know I can't wait to read it myself!
Thank you to all the fans that stopped by my Blog today as well, you can follow Donya on Fb, her blog, and her website for interesting little teasers that she loves to drop on us!
Donya Lynne Bio
Donya Lynne is the
author of the award winning All the King's Men Series. Making her home in a
wooded suburb north of Indianapolis with her husband, Donya has lived in
Indiana most of her life and knew at a young age that she was destined to be a
writer. She started writing poetry in grade school and won her first short
story contest in fourth grade. In junior high, she began writing romantic
stories for her friends, and by her sophomore year, they had dubbed her Most Likely to Become a Romance Novelist.
In 2012, she made that dream come true by publishing her first two novels and
two novellas. She has several more stories planned for the AKM Series, as well
as two sister series that are in development.
Buy Links
Blog Tour Giveaways
1. I will be giving
away a free ebook of Return of the Assassin on each blog. Bloggers are free
to run this contest however they like, but if Rafflecopter is used, please
include any or all of the following elements for contest entry:
A.
Tweet: " #NewRelease #RWAFinalist RETURN OF
THE ASSASSIN #RaveReviews #SexyVampires #AKM @DonyaLynne http://amzn.to/1aozesD "
2. Two Grand Prizes will be given away at the
end of the tour, drawing to be held on Christmas Day (Merry Christmas!). A
rafflecopter code is included below for each blogger to include in their post.
The first name drawn will have their choice of the following two prizes, and
the second name drawn will receive the other. The two prizes are valued at $210
each and include:
Grand Prize #1:
Coach bag and a $50 Amazon gift card
Grand Prize #2:
The newest version of the Kindle Paper White, leather cover (winner's choice of
color), and an AKM blanket
Again Thank You so much for stopping by, and Best of Luck to all that entered the giveaway!
