Tag Archives: vampire

Finishing touches of A Taste To Die For

Leave a reply

There is something quite exciting about knowing something is finished. Today, all the final touches of the next Teddie McKay Novel are in place, ready for August 27th release. I’m so excited!

I’m not sure (because the past month has been a bit of a blur between this and several other projects) whether I have mentioned the title yet. If not, I can reveal that it will be called A Taste To Die For. That is not, in case you were wondering, some bad lesbian joke based around Teddie’s sexuality.

Until the book actually goes on sale in 7 days, I know I will be a bit of a wreck. It is an excited kind of wreck, but still a bit wobbly regardless. There is something quite terrifying about sending a novel out there for people to read. Even though everything so far has been positive, that doesn’t mean I will ever get complacent about people’s reviews and opinions. All I can do is put the best book I can out there, and hope that people enjoy it.

Despite the fear, it is a hugely rewarding experience too. My life revolves around writing and that goes beyond C K Martin and her books. Yet the Teddie McKay series and the Lazarus Hunter series are some of my favourite things. Why?

Because I can write them as I want.

I don’t have a publishing house or editor telling me how to make them more saleable on a mass market scale. I don’t have to make the characters thinner, fatter, straighter, gayer, more of this gender, less of that, or anything else. The characters are the people I am interested in and the stories are the ones I want to tell.

For example, since Twilight, vampires have been a hard sell in traditional publishing. Yet Indie publishing shows that there is still a significant market for them. The only thing the Lazarus Hunter series has in common with the significantly more popular one is the vampire theme. Therefore, I don’t feel like I should hide it away just because someone else did something similar once. That’s insane.

With Teddie, I wanted the book equivalent of cheesey cop shows. I love to watch them on TV but there are so few gay characters and not in a leading role. Most of the lesbians I know are cops. Just saying. So I wanted her to be identifiable. But the main point is that she’s a detective. A flawed but capable detective. She doesn’t solve the crime with her gay magic powers. She solves it the same way as anyone else would. Which should be the point, really, shouldn’t it?

Anyway, that turned into a post slightly different from the one I had intended. Which was *squee*. It’s done. Now, we wait.

If you haven’t yet read the first book in the series and the sequel sounds interesting to you, then you can buy The Crochet Killer on Amazon.

(Cover reveal on Monday!!)

Kindle Promo: Blood Inheritance

Leave a reply

Just a reminder folks that we’re moving into the last chance to grab Blood Inheritance while it is on promo.

For those of you who haven’t yet seen anything about this novel, it is the first in my supernatural urban fantasy series focusing on Elizabeth, the daughter of an authority of vampires and Monica, the unwilling head of a vampire family. The two women, who should by all accounts be sworn enemies, discover that actually they can trust each other more than some of the people who should be on their side.

Of course, there are fights, blood and sex, because you would expect nothing more from an urban fantasy novel. However, I’ve tried to stay away from implausible high heels and tight leather fighting outfits. I wanted likeable, relatable female protagonists, who don’t go to pieces over their love lives or lack thereof. Mostly, I wanted a book where women don’t automatically have to be bitches/unsupportive/crazy/fighting over the same man/woman etc etc just because there are two of them. Enough with that already.

The second book in the series is currently in the editing phase and is planned for publication in early 2016. The series is already going to be a long one and in terms of many of the plot points, we’re in for a slow burn. There is an undeniable chemistry between our two lead ladies, but where this will go and when remains to be seen (I know, of course, but you don’t get to). Even though I am currently heavily into the release of the second Teddie McKay book, life at author HQ is never just about a single project. I love these ladies and it is always fun writing about them.

So go grab it from Amazon while it’s on offer and let me know what you think. Amazon seems to have a tendency to lose customer ratings if it thinks you know me, so feel free to wear a fake moustache, look anonymous and leave a 5* review…

 

Finishing – It’s Always The Hard Part

Leave a reply

This is no ‘how to’ post. You won’t find any handy tips and tricks here. This is just me talking about how finishing is always the most important part of a novel, and that probably makes it the hardest.

As with writing, the same applies with life. The best things are the hardest won. The sense of satisfaction is the most rewarding. Yadda eider eider. Right now, the words ‘The End’ seem to be a moving target. Moving, apparently, further and further into the distance.

Writing is my hobby, my passion, my love. It is also my business. Therefore, it has schedules and deadlines and project plans, just like everything else. True, it may be rooted in creativity and dreams, but as anyone will tell you, it’s hard work that gets you over the line. There is no fantasy lottery win that will free me up to write in that luxury beach villa. Or the cabin on the lake. Insert your location of choice here, alongside whatever your dreams and goals are.

So, logic tells me it will be worth it. However, the child in me wants to stamp my feet and demand to know why my characters are refusing to play ball and be written according to the ideas I had originally. I knew what I needed to write to create the follow up to The Crochet Killer. While I know the new direction will all work out better in the end, it doesn’t stop things from being as frustrating as hell now!

So, when you’re reading this, I sincerely hope you’re having better luck than I am on finishing your dream project! If not, then we can carry on battling through it together!

Blood Inheritance

And if you want to read something I did manage to complete, then Blood Inheritance has been released on Amazon. Go grab yourself a copy and make me feel like this is all worthwhile!*

 

 

 

*shameless plug and plea. A writer’s first draft despair knows no bounds.

Blood Inheritance – Finally Published!

1 Reply

This is a very exciting day for me – Blood Inheritance is finally published! Pretend you can hear me squee.

Blood Inheritance C K Martin

The first ever book I published, Rebirth, was more a way to prove to myself that I could do it. The Crochet Killer was fun to write and I enjoy the characters, but it wasn’t like publishing this book. This book has been like sending my baby out into the big wide world. It’s exciting, but it’s also terrifying. I want it to do well, but I also want to hug it close to my chest and never let it go.

This post should probably be some savvy piece of marketing, but instead I’m going to just talk honestly. I have invested in these characters far more than any others I have ever created. Elizabeth, to a degree, will struggle with something that I have spent the past decade and a half trying to deal with. It might only be in that one way I can relate, but it is fairly significant.

Urban fantasy is always about hot chicks in leather kicking ass. Kicking ass and then becoming soft as a kitten because some broad shouldered hunk renders them senseless for some reason. That’s not something I can relate to. And my friends, many of whom kick ass on a daily basis (albeit of a non-supernatural nature), don’t behave that way either. They are strong and independent.

Besides, if there is to be romance – and I’m not saying that there will be – then I’m more of a fan of the slow burn. There is something delicious in the smouldering stages of a relationship, in that confusing attraction that defies what you have always believed in. And it can change you, but it shouldn’t define you. That is the difference I wanted to see in the urban fantasy books that I read and when I couldn’t find it, I decided to write it for myself.

So, please, head over to amazon and download yourself a free sample. Obviously, I’d prefer it if you just bought the book straight away, but I’m prepared to let you have a little taste for free.

Because if there is any other theme going on in Blood Inheritance, it’s that the first taste is what gets you hooked.

Introducing Garth

Leave a reply

As part of my series of character introductions for Blood Inheritance, it would be remiss of me to ignore Garth. He’s not one of the main characters, but he does hold a very special place in my heart: he was the first character who made their appearance in my head.

I began writing the book that would become Blood Inheritance at the start of a 48 hour train journey. I had just left Adelaide, Australia, and was heading over to Perth. It was going to be a long journey and I had purchased a new notebook knowing that if nothing else, I would have plenty of time to write. Even though it is no longer the opening scene in the book, the chapter when we first meet Garth is largely unchanged from that first handwritten account.

For much of my writing, I don’t focus on physical appearance unless it is fundamental to the plot. Other than a few key features, I love it when I read books where I can picture the characters myself, so that’s the way I tend to write. Sometimes, I don’t even have an image of my own characters clearly defined in my head when I’m putting them onto paper. Personal feelings and journeys are more important to me than giving someone’s cup size. But everything about Garth was there in my head; his clothing, his hair, the way he moved his body. It was so detailed, I ended up putting more into his description than probably anyone else.

He was so vivid to me straight away, that man-boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders. And although he falls into the category of supporting character, his own story arc is one of my favourites planned across the entire seven books.

So there needs to be a thank you to the man-boy on that train journey with me, who walked past and reminded me of an old friend from home, causing the two images to collide and spark that first ever scene from the book that was originally titled The Hunter. Without Garth, the entire book would have been entirely different.

You can pre-order Blood Inheritance now (or if you’re reading this at some time in the future, download a copy straight away!)

Character Introduction: Monica Carletto

Leave a reply

As a way of introducing Blood Inheritance I thought it would be fun to do a few character background pieces. There shouldn’t be any spoilers in here though, so you should be safe if you haven’t yet read the book.

Monica Carletto really deserves to be more than a secondary character. Without her, there would be no book, no tension, no story. Her role in the entire Lazarus Hunter series is central; her journey is inextricably bound with Elizabeth’s.

Throughout Blood Inheritance, she has plenty of scenes told from her point of view. I went with a third person multiple perspective for the series because I wanted characters who were rich enough to have a viewpoint that serves their own story, rather than just providing a counterpoint to the main character. Besides which, in the era of TV, I think people have become more comfortable with reading multiple points of view, as long as it doesn’t switch mid chapter.

In the ten years or so it has taken for me to shape this story into what I wanted it to be (then build up the necessary courage to share it with the world), Monica has changed very little. Her story arc was relatively clear to me from the start, perhaps even more so than Elizabeth’s. I wanted a woman who was strong-willed and capable, both in their professional and personal lives. With gender inequality still rife in even the most civilised nations, I wanted a woman who wouldn’t be out of place in the boardroom. But I also wanted her to be a ball-buster without being a bitch, and certainly without feeling like she needed to compromise on her femininity.

I’d love to give you more, but everything else would probably ruin a couple of surprises in the book!

Blood Inheritance

Character Introduction: Elizabeth Hastings

Leave a reply

As a way of introducing Blood Inheritance I thought it would be fun to do a few character background pieces. There shouldn’t be any spoilers in here though, so you should be safe if you haven’t yet read the book.

Elizabeth Hastings is technically the main character of The Lazarus Hunter series. I say technically because I’ve always felt Monica Carletto has been a main character in her own right. There will be more about her in later post.

I love Elizabeth as a main character. She is smart, funny and capable. More importantly, she has a whole history to live up to and still always insists on doing things her way. I always admire (in both fiction and real life) people who can take the cards life deals them, no matter how bad the hand, and use it to work in their favour. The ones who get back up, no matter how hard they’ve been knocked down. For me, Elizabeth is the very embodiment of that quality. She’s not Buffy, but I wanted someone who at least didn’t undo all the amazing things that Joss Whedon did for female empowerment when he put the fate of the world in the hands of a girl.

Non-spoilery character background:

She’s British (and as she’s the main character, that is why the spelling in the book is British English, rather than using Americanised spelling). Her age is never actually mentioned in Blood Inheritance, although an interesting age conversation actually happens in book four (yes, I am that far along in writing the series).

She has some interesting scars, but none where you can see them.

She once ran a marathon in 3:02:59, but practices sprints more these days. After all, no one has ever had to outrun a vampire for 26.2 miles…

Blood Inheritance is available on kindle now.

Blood Inheritance