In Which I Write A Short Story

Wow, December kind of flew by. I mean is Christmas really over already? Sadly, this happens to me every year.

Every year I promise myself that THIS is the year that I will start buying Christmas presents early, have them wrapped, and decorate the house in a timely manner. And every year what I do instead is rush, rush, rush.

However, this year I do have at least a small excuse for my distracted state.

I've been writing.

Specifically, a short story.

What is this short story, you may ask? Erm, following the notion that there is at least someone other that me reading this blog. :P

Well, it's called EMBER, and it's a prequel to FIRELIGHT.

A couple months ago, my lovely editor asked me if I'd be interested in doing a short story involving the lives of Miranda and Archer, FIRELIGHT's main characters.

Of course I would! I love my characters. Why wouldn't I want to spend more time with them?

Only, I had one concern. See, I worried that readers might except a love story, as I do write romance. And this story is not a love story. It's the beginning of one, or rather, the prelude to one.

So then, what is EMBER?

This is the story of what happened to my intrepid heroes between the time they first meet in the prologue of FIRELIGHT up to the time they reconnect in chapter one. For you see, Archer goes off to find a cure and Miranda is left to her own devices with a father that is now destitute and plenty desperate.

Obviously Archer does not find a cure; he finds it in FIRELIGHT. But what does he find? And why does he come back to Miranda when he knows he really ought to stay far away from her?

As for Miranda, there is another man in her life. Two men, actually. One is a bad influence and the other thinks she is the perfect, beautiful foil for his grand schemes. Oh how very wrong he is. So how then does she end up marrying Archer in FIRELIGHT?

Well, you'll have to read EMBER to find now, now won't you? :)

Le Cover:


AND the cover copy:

After a fire consumes the Ellis family fortune, the beautiful and resourceful Miranda finds herself faced with an impossible dilemma: enter a life of petty crime or watch her family succumb to poverty. But once her fiancée learns of her descent into danger--and of the strange, new powers she’s discovered --saving her family may come at the high price of her heart.

When Lord Benjamin Archer's one chance for redemption is destroyed by corrupt London antiquarian Hector Ellis, he vows to take what Ellis values most—his daughter Miranda. Forced to hide his face behind masks, Archer travels the world hoping to escape the curse that plagues him before returning to claim his prize.

But once Archer returns home to London, will it be revenge he seeks? Or will the flame-haired beauty ignite new, undeniable desires?

Ember is slated to come out alongside FIRELIGHT in February of 2012, which is...ack! in less than 60 days! I'll be putting up links to order as soon as they are available! ETA: And the link is up! YAY! :)

Go HERE to see EMBER