Diane Whiteside's October 2007 Newsletter

Hullo, friends!

It’s October – and the weather’s finally thinking about turning cooler, thank heavens. Down Under, you’re probably thrilled it’s turning warmer. Me, I’m tickled pink my air conditioning bill is dropping. We have some spectacular pumpkins and chrysanthemums lining up outside the grocery stores, ready to flaunt their best looks come Halloween. Of course, the Canadian geese have also started to gather together into gaggles, strutting and practicing their best formation flying. The signs of the times are upon us, my friends – and isn’t it fun?

New Releases

THE IRISH DEVIL and BOND OF BLOOD are being re-issued in mass-market on Tuesday, October 2nd. Hallelujah! The very first time I’ve ever had a book out in that most affordable of all prices – I can’t begin to say how thrilled I am.

To celebrate, I’ve included a very special excerpt from BOND OF BLOOD at the end of this newsletter. There are more excerpts from this, and THE IRISH DEVIL, at my website. I hope you enjoy them all.

Also, my monthly contest features both books. You can enter it by visiting the For Readers page at my website.

I’d like to thank, once again, all of you who buy either book during their first week – and help me impress both of my publishers’ number crunchers by bumping my books up the sales charts during this week. To thank you for your help, if you send me a copy of your receipt showing you bought it during that first week (October 2nd -8th) , I’ll send you a personalized, gilded bookplate saying you’re a member of my “First Week Club.” (A packing slip from an online bookstore showing the book’s shipping date counts as proof, too.)

More specifics about the First Week Club are at the end of this newsletter, after the excerpt. Again, this is my way of thank you for all you’ve done for me!

Live and In Person

Hey, did you know that I can occasionally emerge into the light of day and shake hands? Well, yes, sometimes I do, especially when it gives me a chance to shake hands with fans.

I’ll be at the New Jersey Romance Writers 2007 Literacy Book Faire on Saturday, October 6th from 4 to 5:30 at the Sheraton at Woodbridge Place, in Iselin, New Jersey.

You can find out more here or at my website.

I’ll also be spending an entire weekend, from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon, October 19th – 21st at the Kingsport Times-News’ Women’s Expo. It will be held at the Marriott Meadowview Conference Center in Kingsport, Tennessee.

You can find out more here or at my website.

“Caught by the Tides” in BEYOND THE DARK

If you thought life was going to quiet down for me after October – well, think again! In December, I’m going to dancing like the world’s biggest fan girl because I’m in an anthology with Emma Holly, Angela Knight, and Lora Leigh! (Okay, I’ll admit it: I listed the names in that order because it’s alphabetical. Nobody can get mad at me and I don’t have to figure out who I like better. Whew.)

What should I tell you about BEYOND THE DARK other than I was an hour late to work the day after getting my copy? Well, this is what our publisher says.

What can you feel in the dark? How far are you willing to go beyond it?

Angela Knight does it…in the psychic realm of a woman attuned to the touch of strangers – and the powerful temptations of a seductive and mysterious protector.

Emma Holly does it…in the fantastic Demon World where a powerful Queen rules – until she commits the sin of falling in love with the handsome son of her worst enemy.

Lora Leigh does it…in the domain of a strange Breed, part man, part wolf, on the hunt for the woman he craves – and needs – to fulfill a hunger clawing at him from within.

Diane Whiteside does it…in an alternate universe of Regency magic where two lovers are threatened by a vicious mage and swept up in a turbulent war off the Cornish cliffs.

I’ll introduce you to Owen and Emma – Caught by the Tides’ hero and heroine – in next month’s excerpt.

BOND OF FIRE

BOND OF FIRE, the Texas vampires trilogy volume 2, will be published on January 2nd. It’s Jean-Marie St. Just and Hélène d’Agelet’s story. A brief teaser and two excerpts are available on my website now.

Ten – yes, 10! – weekly excerpts from BOND OF FIRE will begin on Sunday, October 28th in my newsletter. Each excerpt will be posted the following Friday to my website. The last one will arrive just before BOND OF FIRE is published.

In Closing

Yes, I’m blogging away, mostly about book news. Well, there’s been a lot going on! Please stop by and drop me a line if you get a chance. I’d love to hear suggestions about what you’d like me to chat about. I do plan to talk about other things, promise!

May you and yours have an absolutely marvelous October, full of love and joy and glorious books!

Diane Whiteside

Excerpt from Bond of Blood

by Diane Whiteside

© 2006

Bob proudly introduced Grania as the new vet to the first arrival. From then on, the open house was a whirlwind of people and conversations as dozens of guests and staff toured the center or strolled the paths outside, under the guidance of trained educators. A very placid merlin or a burrowing owl, and their favorite educators, taught enthralled children about raptors in the library.

Most of the guests were former, or current, volunteers at the center. Others were local animal wardens or cops who’d brought patients, plus scientists from nearby colleges and universities eager to talk shop at the world-renowned raptor center. A handful of guests were local leaders strutting with pride over the center’s success. All were eager to talk to the latest addition to the staff, while hordes of children asked endless questions in between mouthfuls of soda and cake. All in all, it was very similar to receptions for donors at the group homes Grania had grown up in, except for the intense interest in her personally.

Twilight was softening the hills’ outline when she finally had a chance to take a deep breath and finish her watery lemonade. The children were gone, while a few adults chatted with some of the most experienced rehabilitators in the kitchen.

Satisfied that everything was in order, Grania returned to the library to refill her glass. Rounding a corner too quickly, she ran into a man stirring his lemonade to dissolve the sugar. Liquid erupted but he deftly managed not to spill on anything.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she apologized. “Did I spill any on you?”

“No, ma’am,” he drawled, blue eyes alert under hair as bright as any carrot. “Everything’s fine with me. But you sure look like you could use some more lemonade.” He smoothly plucked the glass out of her hand and filled it.

“Thank you. I’m Grania O’Malley, the new vet here.”

“Caleb Jones, geologist working for the Santiago Trust.”

They chatted for a few minutes about their degrees, their specialties, and their observations of the local ecosystem. He had some interesting theories on how the underlying geology affected the local plants and thus, the animal life, and hoped to do some research to support his ideas.

He pointed out a rock formation on the hill, his denim jacket stretching across his shoulder and outlining a shoulder rig with two guns. Why on earth was he armed?

Grania topped off her lemonade again to give herself some time to think. He wouldn’t need guns to rob this place, even if there was anything easily stolen. Maybe a policeman, given how his eyes constantly surveyed the room. But why would a geologist become a cop?

When Grania looked up to continue the conversation, her breath stopped at the reflection in the window. Dear God in heaven, Bob was talking to the big man from her dreams at the other end of the library.

Impossible. How the hell could he be here, in the flesh?

Their eyes met in the reflection on the window pane, hers wide with surprise, his eyes turning hungry.

Grania flushed, her gold cross’s chain chafing her throat. Her sensible cotton bra suddenly seemed coarse and tight. Her gut clenched and she coughed, trying to get some air into her lungs.

“You okay, ma’am?” Caleb questioned. “Would you like a cup of water?”

“No, thank you. I’m fine.” Or I will be, as soon as I stop looking at that man. She saw Linda speak softly to Bob, who excused himself and stepped away. The stranger glanced around the nearly empty space and strolled over to the coffee urn. Two other men followed him, both wearing denim jackets identical to Caleb’s. One had almost a familial likeness to the stranger, with similar hawk-like features in an ageless, tanned face.

If Grania’d had a breathing problem before, it was ten times worse now.

The stranger was taller than she’d imagined, two meters, making him six feet six in comparison to her five feet ten. Thick black hair, that reached his collar, with a heavy wave in it. Dark, dark eyes – not black, maybe chocolate brown, and very old eyes in that young face. Olive skin. His hawk nose was a little crooked from an old break. A deep, almost brutal scar cut across his forehead. White shirt and dark jeans outlined the magnificent muscles of a very strong, fit man.

Lucchese boots, alligator skin no less, and well broken in. Damn, he must be stinking rich.

The tall stranger didn’t walk like ordinary men: No, he glided across the floor, as elegant and powerful as a Utah mountain lion she’d once studied for hours. Predator and dangerous, insisted her instincts, but her feet didn’t move. Her knees were too weak to carry her away, especially when heat spiraled down her spine and into her core. She knew, with the inarguable clarity of shock, that she was hot and bothered and wet between her legs.

“Caleb?” a deep rumble questioned. He exuded competence and the quiet aura of danger, a man who didn’t give a damn what the world thought of him because he could remake it to suit himself.

Hell and damnation, she only came up to the man’s shoulders. She wouldn’t even have the usual confidence builder of looking him in the eyes.

“Don Rafael, may I introduce you to Grania O’Malley, the center’s new vet?” Caleb offered.

Grania held out her hand helplessly. The only phrase that ran through her head was, “Want a ride, cowboy?” Somehow she managed not to say it, by saying nothing at all.

“Grania, this is Don Rafael Perez, the Santiago Trust’s administrator,” Caleb finished.

“Your servant, señorita.” Don Rafael bent and kissed her hand, his lips warm and intimate against her skin. Did he linger a bit longer than necessary? No, that was impossible.

“Señor Perez,” Grania stammered. Dammit, now she even sounded like an adolescent girl.

“San Leandro is honored to have a doctor of your skill join us. If there is anything I, or the Santiago Trust, can do for you, you have only to ask.”

“Thank you for the offer. I’ll remember that,” she managed, startled at his generosity. He’d just pledged the Santiago Trust to help her?

Oh hell, she’d been making small talk with donors since she was five years old. Why couldn’t she say something interesting now, when it mattered?

“Please excuse us, doctora, but Caleb and I must return to the ranch. Buenas noches.” Don Rafael bowed politely, lifting his hand in a brief salute.

Grania nodded formally, cursing her inability to get past clichés. She drifted to the front window so she could catch a last glimpse of him.

Two identical, big, new Mercedes sedans waited for him, not pickups or SUVs; classy and expensive, to match those well-worn, Lucchese alligator boots he was wearing.

Three men, all with the thick chests denoting Kevlar vests hidden under their cowboy shirts, were lounging beside the cars. As deceptively innocent as a pride of lions by a water hole – and as ready to spring into action. They looked as if they could stop an armed attack in a matter of seconds, without turning a hair.

They came to attention when Caleb left the center and quickly pulled one big sedan up to the entrance. Rafael got into the back seat, Caleb took the wheel, while the previous driver – a particularly deadly looking fellow – moved to the other car. And as the two cars turned down the long driveway to the highway, both vehicles displayed the slightly too solid handling of armored vehicles.

Grania barely refrained from pressing her nose to the glass when the two sedans pulled out onto the highway. She told herself firmly to walk away while she still could. He might look like the man of her dreams but how many people had she ever been able to trust?

Bob called her from the lobby. “The open house is over now, Grania. Did you still want to come for barbecue with us?”

She plastered a smile on her face. “Yes, of course. Just give me a minute to grab my purse.”

It’d be good to join the others for barbecue and shop talk, do some bonding with the raptor center’s team. And if she hadn’t calmed down enough to sleep after that, maybe she’d do a little birding tonight before turning in.

And with any luck at all, she wouldn’t dream of Don Rafael.

And Bringing Up the Rear – A Few Details about My First Week Club

Both The Irish Devil and Bond of Blood will be released on exactly the same day – Tuesday, October 2nd. Just send in a copy of your receipt(s) showing you bought either (or both) books during their first week and I’ll be very glad to say thank you by sending you a personalized, gilded bookplate saying you’re a member of my “First Week Club.” If you send in a receipt for both books, I’ll happily send you two bookplates.

Very important: the receipt’s date must fall between October 2nd and October 8th, 2007.

Please mail the receipt copy to my publicist, Binnie Syril Braunstein, at 7504 Labyrinth Road, Baltimore, Maryland 21208-4517, USA. Please also include a name and address (especially city, state and zip/postal code) where your personalized bookplate can be sent.

Also, please include your email addy, just in case Binnie has a question about your address.