I've got a book due…again

First off. GWENDOLYN CEASE IS IN THE HOUSE! Okay, not really IN the house but has joined our Wednesday Randomness blog. That makes eight amazing ladies (well, seven and me…I'm not sure they realize I'm still here…shhhh, be very quiet, I'm hunting rabbit.) Anyway, welcome, welcome, 'eh. Oh, and if you ever need a translation from Canadian into American, Gwen is my official translator, 'eh? Honorary hoser...

Sooooooo…how poetically convenient that the ladies just happen to PICK today's post about a work in progress (WIP). It's like they know…know I have a book due and they're mocking me.

I'm close. I'll admit…nearly there. But it's the story of my life. Always pushing that deadline. Though, honestly, without, I'd never finish a book. Seriously. I have my next vampire book—Blood of the Wolf—sitting nicely at 25K or there abouts. But can I finish it? Not yet. Can't seem to make it a priority when there's no looming deadline.

But I digress. It's supposed to be a look inside my WIP, not a bitch about schedules and always pushing that time envelope.

So, my next book release, and almost finished WIP, is a suspense MF book entitled Darkest Night. And thank you Bronwyn for the awesome title. It's actually her doing that this is my current work. I needed something to write—a break from zombies and sci-fi's—and she said I had to write a suspense book because she had the best title. And I have to say, I agree. How does she do it?

Anyway, Darkest Night revolves around the one day a year when those who live at the Arctic Circle experience a single day of solid night. December 21st. It's the start of the Arctic Winter for those north of the circle, but the one true time of twenty-fours hours of darkness for those small gathering of people living on the cusp. So of course, with a title like this, I can't pass up an opportunity to put my characters in the thick of the night. And it gives me a chance to actually place a book in Canada. 'Cause we have enough 'north' to spare.

McKinley Baker (yup, those are the names of two mountain ranges, lol) is a helicopter pilot (gee, not sure where I got her character from…hmmmm) conned into taking a doctor up to a remote arctic research centre when one of the resident guys is diagnosed with an unknown illness. Except, the guy she ends up ferrying isn't some hotshot CDC specialist, but long-time crush and current medic Beckett Foster. Seems the company wants to keep the investigation in-house until they can prove it's worth notifying the CDC over, and risk losing their funding. But wouldn't you know, this simple job is about to get a whole lot tougher.

Now, I could go on, but…damn, I don't want to spoil anything. So, let's just say, this pair gets into a hot situation—did you notice what I did there.…hot. And they're in the arctic in December. Damn, I'm funny—and will have to puzzle out the truth if they want to stay alive. Here's an unedited paragraph from early on…

Beckett let his head fall back against the seat rest. Now wasn’t the time for a full-blown crush. Though he had to admit, her change in status intrigued him. And it didn’t sound as if she’d found someone new. Maybe it was time to man up and actually ask the lady out. Hell, he was the one with the balls—and they weren’t doing him much good just sitting there turning blue. 

It's been a while since I wrote strictly suspense or action adventure. I mean, you could argue that all of the What Remains series and Dark Horizon series (I seem to have a penchant for using the word Dark in titles) have these elements in them…definitely lots of action…but I guess this is slightly different. More along the lines of Checkmate or Hard Target. I just hope folks like it.

And can I say, I've learned a lot about the Arctic! Wow. I've been somewhat north but yeah, it's a whole new breed up there. And I bow to the folks who call it home on a regular basis. It was also fun to dust off the old helicopter knowledge. True, I don't actively fly right now, but it's along the lines of a bicycle. I still remember the feeling, the movements. And most importantly, the terminology. I hate when folks get the names of the controls, wrong, lol. Keeping my fingers crossed the really big chopper scene goes over well.

One last note. The cover! I think it's pretty damn hot…but then I'm biased because I actually MADE IT! For those who don't know, I've been making cover art on the side for a bit now and decided to finally start taking it to a more serious level. And the awesome folks at Resplendence have allowed me to start designing some of their cover art—and DARKEST NIGHT is my first cover with them. I freaking love the northern lights.

So that's it. A new book, a new job…things are looking pretty good. Now hop on over to my gal pals and see what they're up to. Probably stuff far more exciting, those bitches awesome ladies! Just click below.

Bronwyn Green
Jessica Jarman
Jenny Trout
Gwendolyn Cease
Kellie St. James
Leigh Jones
Tess Grant