So it's been a long road getting this horror novel published. But alas, Bloodlust has finally been unleashed! As of this past weekend, the ebook went on sale with the trade paperback to follow by midweek. Originally I had plans to release this last fall (by Halloween) but a major hurricane named Ian decided to pound much of Southwest and Central Florida. My parents home in North Fort Myers (where I grew up) suffered serious roof damage, including some minor flooding in the living room, and numerous trees and foliage on their property destroyed. As a result during my mid October week off from work (when I'd planned to get Bloodlust ready to be released), my brother and I, along with three buddies from Tampa, drove down with chainsaws and other tools to clean up the damaged and fallen yard debris. We spent the day filling up the cul-de-sac with a veritable mountain of Ian-destroyed tree limbs, tree trunks, and whatnot. Fortunately, it was a cool, overcast early fall day and not the usual 100% humidity and blazing hot. Thankfully my parents got very lucky considering many homes we saw driving in had complete and total damage inside (and out), with street after street of houses with piles of water damaged furniture lining the curb amidst tons of ripped out drywall. And most if not all had roof damage since Cat 5 Ian did its worst. Several months later, my folks are finally getting their roof replaced. Here's a photo of the debris pile in the cul-de-sac.
Anyway, I'd decided to postpone releasing Bloodlust, the final Roseblood novel, until after the busy holidays (working in retail, this was a wisely sane decision). And because I'm just as busy for a month or two after Christmas, it made more sense to push Bloodlust to a more realistic March release date. And of course when you're an indie published horror author working with an editor and cover artist/book designer, schedules have to align since they're busy folks and have other clients too. So, here we are...at last!
Bloodlust, as the title header above states, is my 3rd and final Roseblood novel. While not nearly as popular or bestselling as my other horror novels, these books (and Rose Valentine herself) are near and dear to me. As I'd written in the Afterword to Roseblood, the character of Rose Valentine appeared in my first ever published horror story called "Roseblood." Many years later I'd wanted to explore that character more and wrote a new story. My exceptional editor at Hook Of A Book, Erin Al-Mehairi, read it and told me there's much more of a story to be told, even one for a novel, and as always and with most things, she was absolutely correct. If it wasn't for her deft suggestion, this trilogy simply wouldn't exist. That's why Bloodlust is dedicated to her. Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my cover artist, Rebecca, at atrtinkcovers.com, who also happens to do the interior design for all my books. She's fantastic and I'd highly recommend her as well.
These horror novels have been such a blast to write, as well as some of my most challenging. After the first novella, I wanted to really explore the character in more depth, especially with the third one. I didn't just want to rehash the same type of thing from the previous books, but show some growth, and put Rose in a situation she'd not yet encountered. I believe I did that, not to mention putting her through one helluva emotional wringer. Sorry, Rose...forgive me!
For those interested, my books can be found
here and
here. Also, I do have digital review copies for horror book reviewers and bloggers, so feel free to hit me up via social media!
And for those of you who've read and reviewed my books over the years, my deepest and sincere thanks. It's much appreciated!
