Sela Carsen's Blog

Yes! ACE’S ODDS, the first book in my new series, is unleashed!

This was one of those projects that took a while to come together, but when it did, whew! Zoom! It actually ended up as two stories because by the time I finished the first one, I realized there had been another one simmering under the surface, so… bonus story!

This all started because I had to write a freebie for the September Feed Your EReader newsletter (subscribe here). Because I’m me, I was fussing about it on Facebook. One of the stories I was contemplating developing was going to be too big for the newsletter. It was basically a space opera. Well, Maggie Lynch’s ears perked up and she invited me to play in the brand new Obsidian Rim world that she and Jessa Slade had developed.

You know me. I don’t say “no” to opportunities where I get to work with authors I’ve been reading and admiring for years, so… off I went!

I recently watched a short video about astronaut Ronald McNair, who perished aboard the Challenger mission. My favorite quote was from his brother, who said that whereas he watched the then-new Star Trek series as science fiction, Ronald saw it as science possibility.

I love that. I love how people can take ideas from their imaginations and make them real. Let’s face it, those flip phones we think are so old-fashioned now? That’s a Star Trek communicator. You can’t convince me it’s not. And we’re past that now.

While I sincerely hope we don’t implode our galaxy several thousand years from now (I’m not holding my breath), I love that the idea behind the world is that we stubborn, hard-headed, inventive humans find a way to survive out on the edges. And not just live there, but find love, too.

So welcome to my section of the Obsidian Rim. Take a gamble with your heart!

Yes! ACE’S ODDS, the first book in my new series, is unleashed!

This was one of those projects that took a while to come together, but when it did, whew! Zoom! It actually ended up as two stories because by the time I finished the first one, I realized there had been another one simmering under the surface, so… bonus story!

This all started because I had to write a freebie for the September Feed Your EReader newsletter (subscribe here). Because I’m me, I was fussing about it on Facebook. One of the stories I was contemplating developing was going to be too big for the newsletter. It was basically a space opera. Well, Maggie Lynch’s ears perked up and she invited me to play in the brand new Obsidian Rim world that she and Jessa Slade had developed.

You know me. I don’t say “no” to opportunities where I get to work with authors I’ve been reading and admiring for years, so… off I went!

I recently watched a short video about astronaut Ronald McNair, who perished aboard the Challenger mission. My favorite quote was from his brother, who said that whereas he watched the then-new Star Trek series as science fiction, Ronald saw it as science possibility.

I love that. I love how people can take ideas from their imaginations and make them real. Let’s face it, those flip phones we think are so old-fashioned now? That’s a Star Trek communicator. You can’t convince me it’s not. And we’re past that now.

While I sincerely hope we don’t implode our galaxy several thousand years from now (I’m not holding my breath), I love that the idea behind the world is that we stubborn, hard-headed, inventive humans find a way to survive out on the edges. And not just live there, but find love, too.

So welcome to my section of the Obsidian Rim. Take a gamble with your heart!

Interested in finding more romances with characters who have some life experience, like Niall and Dagny? Check out this sale featuring dozens of seasoned romances, all for 99c right now.

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Are you a fan of audiobooks? Magic's Crown is now available to download.

Sign in to Audible Here and start listening NOW!

Every year, I tell myself, “This is the year I’m going to be a better blogger!”

Yeah, right.

I’m not even going to try to fool myself this year.

About the best I can do is tell you that I AM writing.

I am not writing sweet, though. Yes, I *will* write a sweet PNR this year, the first Volshev novella for those of you who enjoyed my Nocturne Falls Universe stories.

But right now, I’m writing something that’s a lot closer to the stories that trip off my fingers, which tend to be … earthier. There’s fighting, there’s sex, and my hero has dropped the f-bomb more than a dozen times in the first fifteen pages.

It’s been a weird couple of years. In 2017, I put out 3 novellas and a short story. I was a machine!

2018 didn’t work out that way. The story I had intended to publish in the spring didn’t come out until November. And when it did, it was a completely different story. The monstrous thing I finished in March was an abomination. It was, by all measures, bad. I refused to let it off my hard drive. It was unworthy.

Honestly, that shook me. It took the rest of the summer to re-gird my loins and try again. Magic’s Crown was the story that emerged from those ashes, and it was far more the story that I had intended to write.

In addition, I’d been struggling all year with the direction I wanted for my career. Did I want to write sweet? Y’all love sweet! Sweet readers are a wonderful audience!

But after 5 stories and the awful doubt that had swamped me while writing Magic’s Crown, I needed a break.

So I’ll be writing on both sides of the sweet/steamy fence. Right now, ’tis the season for, as I said, somewhat earthier stories. But I can tell already that the seed of the sweet Volshev story is growing.

I’m not sure exactly how my year will play out, but I’m looking forward to the variety. I hope you’ll enjoy what comes!

 Check it out! A new NFU book!!

Looking for a hot, military, Latino hero who’s sweet on the outside, but furry underneath? How about a magical veterinarian who’s a teeny, tiny badass with the looks of a fairy princess and the temper of a mountain troll?

This is the story for you!

A wolf with three legs is still a wolf.

Javier Acosta Campos is a wounded warrior and wolf shifter who trains therapy dogs for other veterans with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries. He’s just moved to Nocturne Falls to start a training program at a very quirky animal shelter, and he’s fallen stupid in love with the local veterinarian.

Medina Theron keeps telling herself she shouldn’t be thinking about men. Since her fiancé moved on to blonder pastures, she’s stayed busy as one of the only veterinarians in town who specializes in the treatment of magical creatures. But now that the new trainer at the animal rescue seems to always be around at just the right moment, he’s on her mind a lot.

When the remnants of the family she didn’t know she had drag her into a web of trouble, Medina and her new familiar need help. Thankfully, there’s a three-legged shifter on duty, and Javi means to keep her safe. Even from himself.

   

 I’m in a newly released anthology!

Years ago (seriously, lo, these many ages, back when I wrote for Samhain Publishing), I wrote a Very Very Short Story called “Cold Kiss,” then promptly forgot about it.  It was out of my wheelhouse. Lots of action, of course, but it was a contemporary story. Not my usual paranormal or even sci-fi romance. But the muse goes where the muse goes, y’know?

Anyway, when #cockygate exploded (a battle for trademark on the word “cocky”), I got involved the best way I know how. I contributed something to the anthology, which is raising money to help defray legal costs for authors caught up in the conflict, as well as for the RWA Perseverance fund.

I rewrote the story to feature the eponymous Cocker Spaniel (named Kooky) and retitled it COLD COCKED. And now you can read it for yourself in THE COCKY COCKERS anthology!

Mae Davis is on the run, hoping she lives to see the dawn. To Colm McIvers, she’s just another assignment until the lady and her cocky little cocker spaniel show him that a new attitude for the new year might be a welcome change.

What do you get when you cross cocky heroes and heroines with Cocker Spaniels? Why, Cocky Cockers, of course.

All twenty-seven stories in this anthology feature a Cocker Spaniel and a happily-ever-after (or happy-for-now) ending. How they get there? Well, that’s all the fun!

Warning: The stories in this anthology run the gamut from G to NC-17 ratings and include examples of nearly every subgenre–including contemporary, historical, paranormal, and steampunk–as well as m/f, m/m, and f/f pairings.

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DLHHBNC/

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-cocky-cockers/id1402838763?mt=11

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-cocky-cockers-1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40496284-the-cocky-cockers

Last week, I mentioned that the book wasn’t going as well as I’d hoped. Actually, when I wrote that last post, I hadn’t looked at it for about three days.

Ten days later, I have finally opened the file and printed it out, but I haven’t yet brought myself to start reading it.

Sometimes, a story needs a timeout. Partly because maybe sitting in a corner will convince it to behave better in the future, but partly because sometimes writers need a little time away from the misbehaving manuscript ourselves.

Today, I’m diving back in to see what’s salvageable and what’s not. I sincerely hope it learned its lesson and fixed itself while I wasn’t looking.

Every time I’m behind on something, I put myself in a penalty box. Unfortunately, my version of the penalty box includes shutting off communication, like blogging, which I had promised to do better at this year.

Anyway, I’ve hit a snag. I was supposed to release a book this spring and … yeah. Not gonna happen. It took me months to finish the rough draft and there was no way I could rush it out the door in the state it was in, so, unfortunately, I have to push the release date back to June.

I’m sorry. Really, really sorry.

On the plus side, I think y’all are really going to enjoy the book you get this summer!

And I promise to try and do better about communicating, even when things aren’t going as perfectly as I’d like.

See y’all next Monday!