Meet the "Queen of Shadow" by Suz deMello (@suzdemello #futuristic #romance)

http://a.co/192YziO

One of the most common and disliked questions readers ask writers is "Where do you get your ideas?" Quite honestly, we don't always know. Sometimes it's obvious--the germ of a story I wrote for Harlequin/Silhouette under a different pen name, His Baby, Her Heart, came from a magazine article about in vitro fertilization I read in a medical office waiting room.

But most of the time, the line from idea to story is not so clear.

I wrote Queen of Shadow when I was living in Thailand. I was attempting to recover from a particularly traumatic time in my life. My father had died in 2002 after a two-year-long bout with cancer. My best friend and her husband killed themselves in 2005 in an incomprehensible double suicide. My eldest brother had died in 2006 after a year-long fight with, again, cancer. I now understand that I had experienced a nervous breakdown without knowing it, desperately flailing about to keep my life together as everything fell apart. But under the stress, my marriage had failed, also.

Some believe that "wherever you go, there you are," meaning that running away doesn't solve problems. But for me, it does. Physical distance often results in emotional distance, and leaving helps me gain objectivity, perspective and detachment.

After spending a couple of months in Europe, I traveled to Thailand and made a nice life for myself in Chiang Mai. As I settled into the structured serenity I created, I found myself able to write again after a prolonged absence--all the trauma had created a writer's block about the size of Gibraltar.

I had seen a science fiction movie about ten years before that had posited a planet strictly divided into bands of light and darkness. It wasn't very good, but the concept had stuck with me, and I decided to write my own take on what such a planet would be like.

Thus was born Queen of Shadow, a full-length, 55K+ word novel. Here's the blurb:

Looking for the next GoT? Here you are.

My little studio apartment in Chiang Mai,
where I wrote Queen of Shadow

A brave queen struggles to control divided kingdoms on a terraformed planet thirty thousand years in the future.

Janus is a planet which lacks both tilt and spin, and its Shadowlands are the pewter band of dusk dividing the violently hot Lightside of the planet from its Darkside, imprisoned by eternal night. Because of the peculiar conformation of the planet, birthrates are low and indiscriminate mating encouraged.

Audryn, Queen of Shadow has reached that time in her life when she must choose a king to rule with her or fail to bear an heir, casting not only her realm but all of Janus into chaos. Despite her duty, she is reluctant to share power, even a bit distrustful. Janus’ nobles vie for Audryn’s hand. Although she enjoys trysting with all her suitors, none seize her heart.

Then Storne, the warrior Prince of Darkness, arrives to claim her as his bride. Will his masterful ways allure or repel the willful Queen?

And a sexy little snippet (NSFW) to brighten your day:

Although I believed I could trust Storne, I couldn’t stop the nervous flutters in my belly. I occasionally allowed myself to be dominated by Rall and Parron as a change from the norm, and because their loyalty was absolute. Each would give his life for me.

But Storne wanted the throne, wanted his blood and bone to rule even after our deaths, or so I surmised. He did not hesitate to kill in order to win; what stopped him from taking me against my will?

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/743053

And my will was strong. After learning that someone that we had trusted had plotted to kill my family—and had succeeded—had seemingly strengthened my unwillingness to hastily make the choice that must be made.

My worries must have showed, for he asked, “What’s wrong, Audryn?” 

He slid his fingers out of my pussy and laid his hand on my belly. His gray eyes were steady, his gaze fixed on my face.

I breathed deeply. “I want you, but—" 

“I won’t take advantage of the situation.”

I sighed. “I hope you are not insulted.”

His brows raised. “Your decision is momentous and final. I can afford to wait.” His voice oozed confidence.

“You are sure you are the best candidate.”

“Yes.” He leaned closer and purred against my ear, “I’m bigger, stronger, tougher and I don’t look like your great-grandpa."

I giggled.

He chuckled, a deep, sexy growl of a sound and bit my lobe. His fingers again busied themselves inside my pussy.

Like what you read? Find all ebook formats here:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/743053

Writing my 100th book

I was asked about the most exciting thing that had happened in my writing career and answered that it was the sale of my first book. That first sale proves that everything I thought about my ability to write was correct. I wrote a book and a publisher bought it. The icing on the cake is when readers buy it too. The second book sale confirms that the writer can write. It wasn’t just a one-time thing, or an acquiring editor with too many gaps in their schedule so they bought any old thing. Someone actually liked my books.

In fact, I sold three books in very quick succession. I began writing because I had nothing to read. I wrote a book and sent it off to a publisher, but while I was waiting to hear back from them, I still had nothing to read, so I wrote a second book and sent it to a different publisher. And again with a third. I read anything. All genres, all kinds of books, the back of the shampoo bottle in the shower…. So that’s why I wrote different genres, and sent them to several different publishers, publishers that specialize in a particular genre.

Anyway, all three books were accepted with a few weeks of each other and suddenly I was an author, with contracts to sign, artwork to choose, edits to do.

Time passed. I kept reading, kept writing, and before I realized it, I had a passel of published books and needed spreadsheets to keep all the paperwork in order, to keep track of my characters, to make sure I didn’t repeat any important places, names, ideas.

Some of my books had been on two-year contracts, which were renewed, one of my books, had been made into an audio book, and several of my books were turned into print volumes. My spreadsheet was getting complicated so I sat down to work out exactly how many books I’d written, and which ones were in multiple formats. Which was when I discovered I had more than one hundred individual books, and I wasn’t exactly sure which was my one hundredth book.

An author’s one hundredth book is supposed to be a big thing. Lots of authors hold giveaways, prizes, and parties. Mine passed unnoticed. Of course, I tend to write short. I don’t have many books over 40,000 words. I have a bunch of books 30-35k in length but my preferred writing length is 20-25,000 words. So having 100 books is not nearly as big a deal as for writers who prefer writing 75,000 for each book. But still, it’s kind of embarrassing not to be certain which book is my lucky 100.

I think it’s Book 2 of the Possessive Passion series, “Possess Me”.

Shiloah, a New Thimphu native, is envious of her friend Chevaunne's newfound happiness with her men and wants that kind of love for herself. She has enjoyed working with the luscious Stan and Goa on The Grandparents' Garden. But now the project is finished, so how will she see them again?

All four books in the series can be read as stand-alone stories, but to get a feel for the world and the people it’s better to read them in order. Book 1 is “Shared Possession”.

Chevaunne is abducted by three brothers who take her to a new world where brothers share one wife, who is their treasured possession. Jim, Sam, and Paul have waited years to find the perfect woman, and when they see Chevaunne, they know immediately she is the one for them.

Buy link for the series:
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=possessive+passion+series+berengaria+brown

It's also available in print: https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1619260239/bookstrand-20

Oh, and if you were wondering, I have recently finished writing book 149, and I will have party when I’ve written book 150.
Berengaria

Berengaria Brown’s links:
Blog: http://berengariasblog.blogspot.com/
Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/berengaria-brown
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Berengaria-Brown/e/B00541R3YQ/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/berengaria.brown?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BerengariaBrown