Welcome to our first

Dame News Day!

A Short Collection of Dame Tidbits and Happenings

If you like this post and would like to see us do a monthly or quarterly update, please let us know in the comments.  Oh, and if you have ideas for things you’d like us to include in the news, we’d love to hear that too!

RECENTLY FINISHED

Keri Arthur: I’ve just finished the copy edits on DARKNESS DEVOURS, the 3rd Dark Angels book.
Jenna Black: I’ve just finished writing the first draft of REPLICA, my next YA novel.
Rinda Elliott:  I’ve just finished writing the proposal for new project.
Jackie Kessler: I’ve recently finished writing the Sekrit Project, which I can’t say any more about. But I hope I can soon!
Karen Mahoney: I’ve just finished the first draft of THE STONE DEMON (3rd and final book of THE IRON WITCH trilogy).
Devon Monk: I just finished revisions on TIN SWIFT, book two in my steampunk series, and the really, really, oh-so-rough draft of MAGIC FOR A PRICE.
Lilith Saintcrow: I just recently finished writing a zombie-killing cowboy trunk novel.
Rachel Vincent: I’ve just finished page proofs on BEFORE I WAKE, the sixth Soul Screamers novel.

ON THE DESK NOW

Toni Andrews: I’m currently writing a long-awaited book to follow up on the Mercy Hollings series.

Keri Arthur: I’m currently reworking an old project called WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE. It’s a little different from my usual stuff–more humorous, and features elves, trolls, ogres, dwarves and sirens.
Rinda Elliott:  I’m currently writing CATALYST, the 3rd novella in The Kithran Regenesis series for Samhain.
Jackie Kessler: I’m currently writing BREATH, which is due March 31. (Gulp.)
Karen Mahoney: I have 3 weeks left to revise FALLING TO ASH (first book in my YA vampire thriller about Moth).
Devon Monk: I’m currently polishing the draft of the ninth Allie Beckstrom book: MAGIC FOR A PRICE.
Lilith Saintcrow: I’m currently writing the second Bannon & Clare book, THE RED PLAGUE AFFAIR.
Rachel Vincent: I’m currently writing OATH BOUND, the third and final book in the Unbound trilogy.

UP NEXT

Keri Arthur: DARKNESS DEVOURS, the 3rd Dark Angels book, comes out in July.

Jenna Black: My book DEADLY DESCENDANT is out in less than 3 months (April 24)
Rinda Elliott:  My novella, REPLICANT, is out in March-hopefully. (See snippet of REPLICANT below)
Jackie Kessler: My book LOSS is out in 7 weeks, and I’m not at all terrified. I’m also lying. (See snippet of LOSS below) I’m doing a LOSS blog tour in March. Will be giving away LOSS cover posters!
Karen Mahoney: THE WOOD QUEEN (Iron Witch book 2) is released… this month! It sort of snuck up on me. 2nd Feb in the UK and 8th Februay in the US. Look out for giveaways around the interwebs – keep an eye on my personal blog for links to those. I’ll be doing a biggie at The Book Smugglers very soon.
Devon Monk: MAGIC WITHOUT MERCY, book 8 in the Allie Beckstrom series, comes out April 3rd.
Lilith Saintcrow: THE BANDIT KING, the sequel to THE HEDGEWITCH QUEEN comes out June 1st.
Rachel Vincent: SHADOW BOUND is four months from release, and I’ll be posting a sizable excerpt this month!

READING

Keri Arthur: I’m currently listening to the audio book of Matthew Reilly’s SCARECROW AND THE ARMY OF THIEVES (and loving every mad minute of it)

Jenna Black: I’m reading # 3 of my 8 RITA books (i.e., books I am judging for RWA’s RITA contest); I’d tell you the title, but then I’d have to kill you.

Rinda Elliott: I am reading PRINCE OF AIR AND DARKNESS by Jenna Black.

Jackie Kessler: I’m reading an ARC of Heather Brewer’s SOULBOUND, the first book in the Legacy of Tril. Fabulous!

Karen Mahoney: I have just started reading VANISHED by Kat Richardson. It’s the 4th in her Greywalker series (I’m two or three books behind) and I’m loving it already – in this one Harper Blaine goes to London!

Devon Monk: I’m reading an annotated collection of fairytales by Hans Christian Anderson, some Grimm tales, and also THE WHITE ROAD by Lynn Flewelling.

Lilith Saintcrow: I’m reading a lot about Victorian London and Jack the Ripper, as well as about bubonic plague and epidemics.

Rachel Vincent: I just finished reading: CATCHING FIRE and MOCKING JAY by Suzanne Collins.

WATCHING

Keri Arthur: I just ordered the second season of JUSTIFIED from Amazon US and SHERLOCK season 2 from Amazon UK and I’m anxiously waiting the arrival of both!
Jenna Black: I’m watching JUSTIFIED and DEADWOOD, because I’m on a Timonthy Olyphant kick.

Rinda Elliott:  I’m watching LOST GIRL, SHAMELESS, and HOUSE OF LIES.

Jackie Kessler:  I recently watched the UK version of BEING HUMAN. John Mitchell makes Angelus look like a pansy.

Karen Mahoney: I’m currently watching THE VAMPIRE DIARIES; it’s the third series and I am still really enjoying it. There was no episode last week, though. Boo! I’m also looking forward to the return of THE WALKING DEAD.

Devon Monk: I’ve caught up on all the HAVEN episodes (love!) and am watching DOWNTON ABBEY, BEING HUMAN (UK), and ARCHER.

Lilith Saintcrow: I haven’t had a chance to watch a movie in a very long time, but when I get one, I plan on watching COWBOYS & ALIENS.

LIFE AND OTHER DELIGHTS

Toni Andrews: I am teaching an online class in deep Point of View.
Jenna Black: I’m learning a new Argentine Tango routine for my dance studio’s spring showcase and just finished knitting a pair of wildly colorful striped socks for my husband.
Rinda Elliott: Unfortunately, a lot of my attention lately has been aimed toward recovering from a health issue. But I expect I’ll be at full speed ahead soon!
Jackie Kessler:  I’m competing in two tae kwon do tournaments, because I’m training to be a superhero. (Superheroes, apparently, need ice packs. A lot.)
Karen Mahoney: To seal my total geekiness, I just signed up to attend the London Super Comic Con at the end of February – Stan Lee is the guest of honour! Excelsior!
Devon Monk: I’m three weeks into the Couch to 5K running program (or the sweating and swearing program, as I call it), and am finishing off a few knitted gifts I had hoped to have done *months* ago.
Lilith Saintcrow: I’m still running and climbing, and doing a bunch of housecleaning and purging. Spring is right around the corner, plus we’ve had some changes in our household recently, so it’s a good time to get things spruced up.

SNIPPETS

REPLICANT

by Dani Worth*

I wondered if they’d clued in to who I was now. It’s not like I’d kept my life as a Tracker hidden and specializing in hunting down Replicants had given me a reputation I’d earned righteously. Replicants were an alien species that could change form as long as they had the race’s DNA and the form was humanoid.

Taking a couple of steps away, I focused on the foot-tall black and yellow painted squares of the side paths. They held sensors that beeped when hover dollies got too close. I breathed in the fake air and remembered that this wasn’t a homecoming for me, this was a takedown.

“Damn, Jarana, it’s good to see you. And it’s nice of you to raise the temperature of this supply station with that outfit of yours.” Egan winked.

A frown pulled Lux’s dark eyebrows together. “She looks like the Sadistic Mistress of the Clan Ladybug.”

*aka: Rinda Elliott

 LOSS

by Jackie Morse Kessler

…At the edge of the park, he sees a white horse. Not a merry-go-round horse, either, but a real live horse, about a million feet tall and so white that it’s like staring at the sun…

Billy blinked and the memory vanished, but the horse remained. Not his horse, no—that horse, the nightmare horse, the one that came with the Ice-Cream Man, was a blinding white, and the one dappled in moonlight outside his house was, if anything, leached of color. It made Billy think of the plant hanging in the kitchen: amid the lush emerald leaves were scattered bits of pale green, the color leaning toward off-white. The horse was the color of those dying leaves.

“Come on,” Death said, approaching the monstrous horse.

Billy’s feet refused to work. He opened his mouth to shout, but his voice died somewhere along the way. He watched Death pull himself atop the horse in an easy motion, watched him adjust the saddle bag that absolutely hadn’t been there a moment ago—for that matter, the saddle hadn’t been there a moment ago—but all Billy could do was stare, horrified, at the pale horse.

“Plenty of room,” Death said cheerfully.

Billy’s voice had betrayed him, but he could still turn his head. He did so, slowly, emphatically if silently saying, No, nuh uh, absolutely not.

The horse grinned at him. He knew that was crazy, because horses don’t grin, but he would have sworn on his life that the thing was actually grinning at him.

“Is there a problem?” asked Death.

Oh yeah. There was a gigantic horse with glowing red eyes and looking like it had maybe drowned standing right there in front of his house. There was a problem, all right.

“It’s my steed,” Death said fondly, giving the creature a pat on its thick neck. “It won’t harm you.”

Billy shook his head once more, and managed to take a step back. The door was flush against his back.

Now Death was gazing at him like he had the word LOSER written on his forehead. In a soft, cold voice, Death said, “What frightens thee, William Ballard?”

Billy thought once more of the Ice-Cream Man’s giant horse, screamingly white and yet somehow dirty, just like the Ice-Cream Man himself, and he heard the Ice-Cream Man tell him that he’s got something to show Billy…

No!

Shuddering, he looked away. No, he wasn’t thinking about the man in white. He wasn’t. That was a nightmare and nothing more.

“Even nightmares have elements of truth,” Death murmured.

Billy shivered again, and this time his voice didn’t fail him as he faced the Pale Rider. “I’m not riding a horse.”

It was a pivotal moment: Billy Ballard, the most bullied kid in school, had chosen to stand his ground. It wasn’t because he thought he could win. He’d reached his breaking point. Death could kill him, and that didn’t matter. There was no way that Billy was getting on that horse. Period.

Silence echoed as Death stared at him, considered him. Judged him. At last, the Pale Rider grinned. “No worries,” he said. “We’ll go the pop culture route instead.”

The horse snorted.

“Don’t be grumpy,” Death chided.

The pale steed snorted again, and then it wasn’t a horse at all but a yellow car, its engine already running. It looked like the love child of a Volkswagen Beetle and a Delorean. Death, in the driver’s seat, leaned his blond head out the window and said, “Well?”

Billy, stunned, said, “Your horse is a Transformer.”

“Technically, a transmogrifier. But hey, whatever floats your boat. Get in.”

Billy got in, pausing only to take in the name on the vanity plate. As he fastened his seat belt—which was purely habitual, because really, was he going to die when Death was driving?—he asked, “Um. What’s ‘Mortis Prime’?”

Death smiled, sighed, and said, “Dude, you’ve got to read the classics.” And with that, he hit the gas.

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