Tempt Me With Darkness - Shayla Black

Yesterday, the first book in my new Doomsday Brethren series released, titled TEMPT ME WITH DARKNESS. Set in modern London, to the back drop of all things magical and out there, the books are a tightly connected series of recurring characters. Each book is about a different couple, but the threads of the plot continue from book to book. I’m thrilled about this series…and nervous too. It’s a change for me, right?

Yes and no. These days, I’m often asked why I’ve switched from writing steamy and/or erotic contemporary romance to writing an urban fantasy romance series. The short answer is that I didn’t switch; I came back to it. Let me explain…

The Doomsday Brethren series has been brewing in my head for about a decade. In 1996, I started the first book, then put it aside when I realized I just didn’t have the skill yet to write it. A few years later, after I was published, I took it out once more, and again realized I wasn’t ready. I dusted it off again about two years ago, reworked a bunch of it—and sold the first three in the series. This is near and dear to my heart, and I’m really hoping that readers enjoy it.

Currently, I’m under contract for 2 more Doomsday Brethren books. SEDUCE ME IN SHADOW and POSSESS ME AT MIDNIGHT come out back to back beginning October 2009. I’m writing them as we speak! In my head, I have at least 7 books in this epic to tell, so I’m hoping that readers want to come along for the ride.

These are books of my heart—and believe me, I’m pouring soul in there as well. They are steamy, but not erotic. They ARE, I think, lots of fun.

To read the first chapter, click here. Leave a comment here, and we’ll randomly select a winner to receive a free copy of TEMPT ME WITH DARKNESS for 1 lucky winner, to be drawn tomorrow.

I hope you’re interested in launching with me on this new magical series!

Shayla

*****Shayla picked DINA as her winner!!! Congratulations to Dina and thanks to everyone else who commented! Dina, please contact Lee or Shayla via email with your snail mail address so the prize can wing its way to you soon!*****

Where do you get your ideas? - Shayla Black

This is a question I'm often asked...and frequently dread. It's a little like asking where I get the air I breathe. Ideas sort of run amok in my head. After over a decade of marriage, my husband can just look at me and tell when something new has struck me. But where they come from... Overactive imagination? Probably.

I get a lot of ideas, believe it or not, in the car. Probably because when I'm driving, I'm often alone. I'm almost always blasting music. Okay, there's something. I get a lot of ideas from music. It's the way my brain works. Some songs trigger storylines for me, which is why I frequently find songs that correspond to my current or upcoming work and use them to inspire me through a plot. Most people are visual. I'm wired different. Shocking, I know.

Books are easier for me when I have a "soundtrack." Wicked Ties and my current release, Decadent, both have theme songs from Depeche Mode, oddly enough. Jack in Wicked Ties was represented to me by the song Enjoy the Silence. Can't say why. It's not really the lyrics, just a vibe. Something about that song just felt like Jack. Decadent seemed to be spelled out in some ways by the song Precious. Upcoming books in the series, however, have totally different songs and artists, so I'm not just a Depeche Mode freak. I promise. Logan's song is by Three Days Grace, while Hunter's is by Hinder. Luc...I'm not saying a word. :-)

A lot of writers go through different processes to arrive at their plots and characters. Me? I'm all about getting the right vibe in some music. Then whatever is in my sub-conscious will work its way out. Can I write a book without music? Sure. I'm doing it currently with my first paranormal romance, Tempt Me With Darkness (Pocket, September 2008). I don't have a song that represents Marrok or Olivia or the overall plot. It's harder, I confess. Not impossible, thankfully. I'm almost finished.

Some ideas are like ghosts--they just haunt you. The idea for this paranormal is one I conceived of about a dozen years ago. I couldn't figure out the ending. And I couldn't figure it out, and I couldn't figure it out. I worked on it so many times, only to put it away, knowing the time wasn't right. Now music did help me solve the problem. There may have been a bottle of wine involved, too. LOL. So even though I didn't find theme music for the book, per se, I did find my imagination in music. Which is exactly where I love it to be.

If you're writing, find the process that works for YOU. There's no greater joy as a writer than FINALLY knowing that you have the right elements for the story in place and the book fitting together like the pieces of a perfect puzzle.

Read more about Shayla Black books at:
http://www.shaylablack.com/ or
http://www.doomsdaybrethren.com/