Tomorrow marks four years since Blackthorn was launched.
Blood Shadows was officially released on 27 th November Since then Blackthorn has sold in six figures, reached readers in several countries and obtained numerous number ones in both the Gothic and the PNR charts on Amazon as well as having reached the Top 50 on Amazon. Blood Shadows was even optioned by Hollywood movie giants Relativity Media! Oh, and look out for details of a giveaway at the end! After an evening out with my new colleagues, I managed to get lost on my way home.
With no one at home to expect me and with hardly being the era of mobile phones, I had no option but to try and navigate my way alone through the empty city streets. So, during that time, I did what every self-respecting scared-out-of-their-wits author does and made up stories to keep calm and distract myself — and Blackthorn was born. From then on Blackthorn became a labour of love. I never intended it to be published, instead it was one of many simultaneous projects I had underway. Once I had the concept behind Blackthorn, I wrote short stories to get to know the world.
The stories were set in various districts across the locale, from Blackthorn to Summerton. Once the idea behind the overarching plot — the downfall of this oppressive society — took hold, the key contenders were already clear. Kane and Caitlin, Caleb and Leila, and Jessie and Eden all evolved from those short stories into what Blackthorn is today.
The only exceptions were Jask and Phia. For one thing, only lycans have fangs whereas vampires have an extra set of feeding incisors instead. This was further enforced by the introduction of Christian ideologies, with vampires in particular not only deemed as a risk to our physical self but our spiritual self too. After all, one of the greatest freedoms of being a writer of fantasy is the ability to be selective about which aspects of mythology to apply. But what had begun during a time when PNR was rarely found on the shelves was then faced with a market overwhelmed with vampiric heroes and fantastical urban underworlds, let alone well-established names globally dominating the genre.
Not only were my books too long, the preference seemed to be for standalones especially from debut novelists unable to prove they could sustain a complex series. All in all, Blackthorn looked like it would be too high a risk to pursue. So without even attempting to submit anywhere, I tucked Blackthorn away in my bottom drawer as I focused on a different genre. It was only when my dad passed away in that I returned to Blackthorn, determined to pursue my dream of getting it published one day. To try and up my chances, I pulled out all of the overarching plot threads to the series and started turning Blackthorn into stand-alones.
The biggest clincher for signing with my current publisher was when they read Blood Shadows and Blood Roses and suggested that maybe Blackthorn could extend beyond three books. More than that, they asked if maybe I saw potential for an overarching plot to tie all the books together. Those who supported Blackthorn from the beginning will know that the covers of Blood Shadows and Blood Roses once looked very different.
They were designed by Henry Steadman and had a much more traditional Gothic feel.
They also incorporated red, white and black. According to folklore, these are the three colours associated with the Blackthorn plant. Up until the point I was offered a publishing contract, there were only six books in the series seven if I split the finale into two.
However, my editor at the time as well as author Michele Hauf who was my mentor during the writing competition through which I was discovered both felt Jask Tao deserved a story of his own. In fact, for the first four Blackthorn books I was still holding down a teaching job. If you love something enough, I guess you hold on for as long as it takes. Blackthorn was launched four years ago this month. I can barely believe it. If you were supporting me this time last year, you might remember we had a big anniversary giveaway to mark the occasion. The reality is really starting to sink in — and not only for me by the sounds of it!
I know some of you have been supporting my series from the outset. Some joined Blackthorn as recently as a couple of weeks ago. Either way, I know the prospect of the end being in sight is creating mixed feelings. We still have one more big adventure to come and what I hope will be a fun year ahead once the countdown officially begins. This was just a quick post for now. A big thank you to Melanie who emailed me to ask if I would repost this list again to help refresh her memory. Not only do we have pics of our heroes and heroines included, the list below is now interactive too!
You can search for a name as well as being able to search by species. Hopefully that will cut down your time scrolling through.
The penultimate book is nearly with us, everyone! Less than two weeks to go! Look out for a giveaway coming this Friday. He was deemed the underdog from the outset, but Team Blackthorn was relentless. And he claimed the title with over 4, votes!! Congratulations to Kane Malloy from Lindsay J. He beat former Alpha Showdown champion Barrons. And then won a second fierce battle against Kate Daniels. Thank you so much to everyone who came out to vote and show your support for Kane. Winning aside, events like these are all about having fun and finding fantastic new books to read in the PNR and UF genres — whether well-known global names such as the New York Times Bestsellers that Kane was up against, or relative newbies like Blackthorn and me.
Team Blackthorn, you are beyond incredible! I was absolutely blown away by the support that came in for him during the 48 hours that the semi-finals were open.
She is a shadow reader. Blood Shadows was even optioned by Hollywood movie giants Relativity Media! Her latest assignment is tracking the elusive vampire Kane, a man who has consistently slipped through VCU fingers and whose list of crimes would make even the most nefarious of villains blush. Klanten die dit item hebben gekocht, kochten ook. Secondary characters were dummies. Helped trick Leila into entering Blackthorn to save Jake. After seven books this is no mean feat but without giving anything away the writer has managed to do this brilliantly through her characters Eden and Jesse in Blood Bound.
I put calls out here, on my Facebook page and all my other social media and, wow, did you step up to the mark! In the end we got through with OVER votes!!! And now Kane needs you one more time. He was deemed the underdog from the outset, but Team Blackthorn fought hard and relentlessly through three rounds to get our Kane Malloy to the final. Can he go all the way? I hope you find loads of great new books to read. The more, the merrier! What is it about Blackthorn that keeps you coming back for more? Only two entries per person please — one here and one on my Facebook page is the max. All entries will be assigned a number and the two winners will be selected using a random number generator.
The winners will be announced on this post as well as on the related Facebook post on Saturday 25 th March. Winners will need to check if they have won and contact me to claim their prizes by midnight Wednesday 29 th March for your books to be ordered. We can sort out the finer details then. As with all my giveaways, prizes will be posted anywhere. Proof of postage will be retained but prizes lost once out of my hands cannot be replaced. And as with all giveaways, I will refrain from responding to comments. If you have any queries though, feel free to email or message me.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone! The winner will need to claim their prize within 14 days of their name being announced.
The prize can be posted anywhere. Proof of postage will be retained but prizes lost in transit cannot be replaced. As with all giveaways, I will avoid responding to entries. Good luck — and have a brilliant week! Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support. Led in the assassination attempt against the Dehains. Youngest of the three McKay sisters, Leila being the eldest and Sophia the middle sister. Caitlin Parish works for the vampire control unit-VCU.
She is a shadow reader. She could not wait to lay her hands on Kane. She just wanted to get him and read his memories. He has done many horrible things and he needs to be felled. Kane Malloy knows that she wants to capture him as he has been observing her for many years. He knows very well that he is wanted by the VCU and he is determined to evade them. However, Caitlin Parish does not know that Kane Malloy also has plans for her. What will happen when Kane and Caitlyn ultimately come met? Will she be able to bring in and shadow read Kane or will she pay attention to his threats that she will die if she does read him?
What does he want from her and why will she become obsessed with him? The two are very good together.
They will leave you on the edge of your seat fanning about their next the action. Kane is not only sexy but also very powerful. The pressure between the two is very thick and it will make you not to put the book down. If you enjoy reading PNR then this book is great for you. The book is fast paced and it is also filled with diverse species.
Angels, Vampires, shape shifters, witches as well as demons.
The book has plenty of action and lots of suspense, tension as well as steam. Blood Roses is the 2nd book in the Blackthorn Series. Just inquire from Leila who is the leading woman in the book. From the beginning of the book you will feel for Leila. Raised in the safety and security of Summerton, Leila has never been in the vampire-infested streets of Blackthorn and she does not want to go there. Entering Blackthorn is the easiest part but getting out of it is very tricky.
Caleb has hunted down serryns for many years because he hates them very much. Although she is put through the wringer in the book, she somehow manages to prevail. She faced Caleb, nudged holes in his armor, and disregarded all his adverse expectations. On his part, Caleb is a very bad boy. In any other novel, he would be lined up as the anti-hero and you would boo and hiss him off the page.
He is very cold, intolerant, and also very cruel. Although he is a very devoted brother, a smart businessman as well as very faithful to his people, you would never regard him as good. Although Jake comes at first as a very useless playboy, he will eventually prove you wrong! Both he and Alisha had scenes scripted from their POV. The tale would not have worked very well without both of them and you will surely enjoy reading their scenes. Just as in the first book, the tale unfolds over a very short period but you will not feel deceived in any way.
Each and Every moment between the two seethes with intensity as well as emotions. It is potent stuff, and you will get hooked to it as you continue reading.