It's coming soon, but first, here is the cover. This is a contemporary m/m romance written by myself and good friend and colleague, Cate Ashwood. The cover art was done for us by Bree Archer. The book is being published by Dreamspinner Press.

Blurb: They say that time heals all wounds, but losing Parley, his one true love, left Zach with a hole in his heart that no one else can fill. After forty-eight blissful hours alone together as teens in an abandoned house, Parley disappeared. Parley is what he is, and the pray-away-the-gay camp his parents ship him to won’t change that. However, finding the balance between accepting his true nature and not losing his family means tough sacrifices.

Sixteen years later, Zach is thunderstruck when Parley stands on the front doorstep of his house—the house that had been their refuge, which Zach restored. But Parley isn’t alone, and Zach wonders if he’s found Parley only to lose him a second time. If they can overcome the terrors of the past and the situation of the present, maybe they can build a new relationship just as Zach rebuilt the house—brick by brick.

Cover:




Isn't it lovely? We're very lucky. :D

I can has cover? I can! Anne Cain has done it again, with an absolutely stunning cover for the sixth book in the Archangels series, The Bone Cup. I absolutely love it, it's such a beautiful piece. Thank you so much, Anne! <3

I hope you all had a very happy Christmas and new year. Welcome to 2014! Here's hoping that this is a much better—happier, safer, healthier—year for everyone. I have finished moving house, although I still have one box left to unpack, and I'm still living on very limited internet, which makes me a very sad person. I'm hoping the internet issue will be resolved in a good way very soon, but for now, I'm in a holding position and waiting and hoping.

Over the end of December and now into January, I have been working on edits of books in "The Archangel Chronicles." Second editions with substantial edits in terms of tightening up the narrative, new scenes and dialogue and overall cleaning up the story have been released of the first three books, No Quarter; No Surrender, No Retreat and No Shadows Fall, and are now available for purchase. This is all leading up to the second trilogy in the series, which will be released through 2014.

The first book of the second trilogy is The Wind-Up Forest. This is book four of the series and the blurb reads: Archangel Gabriel is hoping for a quiet period in his life to enjoy his relationship with Archangel Michael, but someone has other ideas. New dangers arise when the Holy Grail is stolen. Gabriel, Michael, and the rest of the Brotherhood of Archangels and their allies must somehow thwart the twisted desires of the thief.

Their search for the Grail takes them all over the world, calling on old friends like Uriel and Raziel and forging powerful new alliances. Though they face a fresh set of perils in pursuit of the thief, the enduring comfort Gabriel needs so much, that of his beloved Michael, never abandons him.

Book five is The Crystal Lake, and book six is The Bone Cup. I've ventured into Arthurian Legend with this trilogy, as that's a whole set of mythology that I've always adored and been fascinated by. There are a lot of ties to angels within those legends, too, which is great when one is writing about angels!

What is most interesting, I think, are the new characters. This trilogy picks up where the first left off, placing it around the year 2085. The Venatores, the elite force of shifters that are trained and led by Michael feature more prominently, and so do some of the residents of Hell and Purgatory. The new characters were a lot of fun for me to write and develop. I'm currently working on the third trilogy, and many of these new characters are in the third trilogy, too. Of course the angels and Archangels are all there, too—it wouldn't be "The Archangel Chronicles" without them!

So who's new? Well, here's a short list.

Primary New Characters.
Angelique: Alpha of a Venatores pack. Formerly US Air Force and is of Mexican descent, raised in Texas. Her shifter shape is a dark gray wolf.
Lily: Beta of Angelique’s pack, is an Englishwoman, formerly of the British Army. Her shifter is a grey wolf, and she is married to Danny, another member of the pack.
Baxter: Kappa of Angelique’s pack. Formerly a US Marine, suffering PTSD. His shifter shape is an Arctic white wolf.
Danny: Kappa of Angelique’s pack. Also a former US Marine, born and raised in Georgia. His shifter shape is a grey wolf, and he is married to Lily, another member of the pack.
Riley: Omega of Angelique’s pack and the pack medic. Formerly a US Marine medic. His shifter shape is a red rock wolf.
Declan Jones: Shifter and older brother of Liam. Raised in Puerto Rico, he and his brother were both taught the ways of magic, Hoodoo and Santeria by their guardians, a Hoodoo priestess named Selana and her husband, Jack. During the Seventy Years War, Declan in the US Army for some years.
Liam Jones: Necromancer and younger brother of Declan, raised in Puerto Rico, and educated in the same things as his brother by their guardians. He is one of the strongest necromancers alive in the world. Worked as a police officer before he and Declan set out together to work as demon trackers.
Minnie: An Australian witch. Formerly a thief, known as No-Hands Minnie.
Max/Mobius: Extremely talented hacker known for being able to dig up hidden information. His partner is Minnie, and he lives with her and their cat.
Lilith: The first wife of Adam, and prior to that, the consort of God Himself, Lilith is the first scorned woman and the first woman to say no to a man. After she left Adam, she wandered in the wilderness and mothered giants, the monsters of ancient mythology. Originally named Lilitu by the Akkadians, she met Lucifer in the desert and they spent a long time in conversation. Lilith is the oldest of the Four Sisters of Succubi. Agrat, Eisheth, and Naamah are her sisters. Her titles are: Consort of Lucifer, Eater of Infants, The First Adulteress, Consort of Yahweh, Mother of Giants.
Secondary New Characters.
Camael: An Angel of War under the command of Gabriel.
Asaf: Angel of Evening Hymns. Under the command of Gabriel.
Vel: Angel of Wednesday. Under the command of Gabriel.
Arkady: A Russian shifter. Has ulterior motives to what he says and is as slippery as a fish.
Olga: A Russian shifter.
Vasily: A Russian shifter.
Larissa: An Armenian shifter.
Horace: A member of the Order of Midnight, an extremely expensive group of assassins.
Anna: Venatores, Russian, lives in the building owned by Michael in Oregon. She is a wolf shifter, mother to two young children, and married to Robert.
Robert: Venatores, American, lives in the building owned by Michael in Oregon. He is a fox shifter, father to Anna’s children, and married to Anna.
Eisheth: Youngest of the Four Succubi Sisters, spent her time living among the stars, comforting those who fell to earth as they died.
Naamah: One of the Four Succubi Sisters, she used to live in the seas of the Earth, but moved to Purgatory during the Seventy Years War. Has two children, twins, whose father is unknown. Her twin children are named Arthur and Morgana, after the Arthurian legends.

I've been working hard with Lynn and Erika from Dreamspinner Press, and while the editing has been intense, it's been really good and I've really enjoyed the whole process. I came to a conclusion that I'd been rolling around in my head during the edits, and I'd like to share that with you all now. The best way to view the series as a whole is in sets of three, or seasons. So the first trilogy has the theme of coming together and being united; the second trilogy has the theme of the Holy Grail; and the third trilogy (which I'm working on) has the theme of isolationism and prejudice and fighting against those. The underlying theme of all sets of three is the Seventy Years War and its aftermath. So each set of three is slightly different in point-of-view and narrative structure, with different elements of magic and romance added into the story as well.

So where to get 'em? Link time! And don't you guys love the gorgeous covers Anne Cain did for me? I'm so thrilled with them, they're beautiful.
No Quarter: eBook | Paperback.
No Surrender, No Retreat: eBook | Paperback.
No Shadows Fall: eBook | Paperback.
The Wind-Up Forest: Watch the coming soon page for this and The Crystal Lake and The Bone Cup.

The cool change FINALLY came through last night, so it's actually pleasant today. Yay!

Release day! Yay! "The Body on The Beach" and its companion novellas and anthology, "Under the Southern Cross" are out today! You can grab your copies here:



The Body on The Beach by L. J. LaBarthe.
Coming Home by Robyn Walker.
Jasper and the Dead by RJ Astruc.
Whitewater by Meredith Shayne.
The Red Heart by Isabelle Rowan.
Under the Southern Cross paperback anthology of all the titles listed above.



*~*~*

"Rocking Hard" volume two will be out soon, and contains my story, "Capsicum Head." This is a novella length story about punk rock in Australia in the 80s, the band, Capsicum Head are the focus. I had a lot of fun writing this story, and I do hope that people who sign up for serial enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

And isn't that cover awesome? I really love it. "Capsicum Head" goes into serial in late August, so you have a while yet.

"Rocking Hard" volume 1 is already running, you can sign up for that one here. (It's half way down the page.) At the bottom of that page are the details of volume 2, which begins serialisation in April.


*~*~*

I have also been contracted for my vampire story, "Ice," which will be serialised on its own with Less Than Three Press. I'm very excited to be working with LT3 again, and look forward to seeing "Ice" available on site. I'll keep you up to date on that one.

Last but not least, a blog hop, to celebrate Less Than Three's fourth anniversary.

Anne Cain has done it again and created a truly gorgeous cover for me. This is the third book in the Archangel Chronicles and is called No Shadows Fall. It's out on the 29th of this month, ebook is here and the paperback is here.




Blurb:

Newly bonded Archangels Michael and Gabriel are torn from their idyllic island retreat by the singing of hymns heralding stunning news: Gabriel’s ancient foe, Semjaza, has escaped from his prison in the stars and now seeks revenge and utter conquest.

With the wisdom of Archangel Raziel to guide them and help coming from the most unlikely of quarters, Gabriel and Michael join with the Brotherhood of Archangels to hunt Semjaza down and finish him once and for all. Because Semjaza's return to Earth doesn't threaten just Gabriel and his loved ones—it threatens the whole of humanity.

But even more danger lurks in the shadows, threatening the Brotherhood from within. If Gabriel and Semjaza finally face each other in single combat, will Gabriel survive the contest, or will Michael lose his one true love?

It feels like forever since I've posted anything. That's due to the fact I've been very sick. I'm starting to recover, slowly, but I still find myself getting worn out very easily and still feel a bit "flat," for want of a better word. Ten days after my night in the emergency room in hospital, I *still* have a large blood bruise on my left arm from where they took blood. Apparently, I now bruise easily. At least the bruises from the tattoo have faded - though that took about two weeks!

Anyhoodle, No Surrender, No Retreat has been out for about a month now. It's a book I'm really happy with, and I adore the cover that Anne Cain did for me. Book three, No Shadows Fall, will be out before the end of the year.

I've been taking a break from writing Archangels - when I've not been sick - to write other things. I've finished a long novella for a sekrit project for one, and I have a plan, which is more or less set in stone, barring more illness and I hope there's no more of that because I am SO over being sick. September and October will be spent writing the last third of Deliverance, which is an AU contemporary m/m, and doing some more on the sequel to City of Gold, which is City of Jade. I don't imagine Jade will be finished by the end of October, because there is so much I need to research as I go, and that takes time. But I'm determined to make more progress, even if it's only one more chapter. Then in November, as part of NanoWriMo, I'll write book four of the Archangels, which I actually have a title for! It's The Wind-Up Forest and the plot veers away from fallen angels and demons and megolomaniac people. Which is all I'll say for now!

I'm looking forward to my 40th, which is September 23rd. Myself and three close friends and my mum are doing a day trip up to the Barossa Valley. Wines, cheeses, fresh produce and Maggie Beers' chocolate and salted caramel icecream are my plans for that day. Also a visit to the giant rocking horse, the whispering wall and Tanunda, which is an awesome town in the Barossa Valley. I'll take lots of photos!

Finally, for anyone who's interested in participating or bookmarking in their calender to read along, I'll be participating in the Romance Reviews GBLT Madness Blog Hop. I'll be talking about No Surrender, No Retreat.

Hope you guys are all doing better than I have been the last several weeks. I'm so glad it's Spring on Saturday.

Oh, and if you're interested in following/friending me over on Facebook, you can find me right here.

I have so many feelings, you guys. Indeed, I have ALL THE FEELINGS. They can best be summed up as:

asd;fqpuiy;lkhadfuypupyger *keyboardsmash* I LOVE THIS COVER OMG.

Ahem. So here it is. The beautiful cover for "No Quarter," art by Anne Cain.




Isn't it beautiful? So much love.