NEW RERELEASE: Demons are Forever

I would like to announce that Silver Empire has rereleased my novel, Demons are Forever.

I'm certain at this point there are least of few people who are going "I've never heard of this book. How is this a rerelease? I have to buy Demons are Forever right this minute."

While I am loathe to say "do NOT buy something," please hold on a second before buying Demons are Forever.

It used to have a different title.

But Murphy's Law of Vampires was a slightly too-long title.

And Demons are Forever as a title for book two works better with the title of the next novel, Live and Let Bite.

If you've never read it -- or need a refresher....

After saving Brooklyn from a nest of vampires, Amanda Colt and Marco Catalano are a little banged up. He's been given a job offer to deal with vampires in San Francisco, and it's a tempting offer - it would get him away from Amanda, his feelings for her, and get her away from the darkness inside him. When a death in the family compels Marco to move to the West Coast, they're both left to fend for themselves.

Then the creature known only as Mister Day leaves their world in tatters, and they must once more join forces against the darkness. Only Day is no vampire, but a creature beyond their experience. It will take the combined might of Marco, Amanda, and all of their allies just to slow it down. They have no weapons that can kill him. They have no way to imprison him. To even fight him is death.

But they have to try - or face the end of everything they love. 

The Love at First Bite Series
Honor at Stake (ASIN B07CS11F97) - 2017 Dragon Award nominee for Best Horror Novel!
Demons are Forever (ASIN B07D2DF4TM)
Live and Let Bite (Coming July 10th!) - 2017 Dragon Award nominee for Best Horror Novel!
Good to the Last Drop (Coming August 14th!)

So, if you want to look at the newly edited works, or if you've never seen it before, now's the time to jump on board.

This was fun and funny for me for several reasons, including the criticism that Honor at Stake didn't have a big enough threat as a primary villain .... which is funny, since the enemy in HAS needed a magical ninja operative, a 100 year old vampire, and a genius martial artist to subdue him, and that last one had an arm, a leg, and several ribs broken / cracked / shattered.

It was funny because I had already created the next creature for Demons are Forever, Mister Day.

Heh heh heh.

Enjoy.

And since we have two out of four as a Dragon Award nominated novel, I figure I should mention that the Dragons are coming. If you don't have your ballot filled out already (either IRL or in your head,) here's my list. It includes the lists of other people, so there are options.

Just remember to vote.

Love at First Bite will be DOA on Monday

Dang, this has been a busy week. Venus came out this week. A Pius Stand came backthis week. I almost forgot to mention what was going away next week.

Just a friendly reminder, but my Dragon Award nominated series Love at First Bite will be temporarily off the shelves as of this Monday, February 19th. Please remember, my friend and publisher Russell Newquist will be rereleasing them over the summer.

There are several good reasons to buy these books. First and foremost being that Silver Empire may not release them in paperback. I'm sure you're thinking "Duh, why would they? No one buys hard copies anymore."  Well, I do, and so do some of my readers. So if you care about such things, you should probably grab them why you can.

Not to mention that Silver Empire will be redoing the covers. So, as of Monday, these will all be collector's editions.

Finally ... well, the Dragon awards for 2018 are open for voting. If you've voted for the previous editions to make it to the Dragon awards, and want to read Good to the Last Drop before it becomes unavailable, this is your last shot.

Honor at Stake

This is the first one, the Dragon Award nominated work. It also took second place in Sad Puppies 4, for whatever that is worth. I figured I would do ... a lot of smartass routines around vampires, playing games with the lore, while staying as true to it as I could.

I suppose you could say I weaponized my degree in Catholic philosophy. Who knew that it could come in handy?

One is a blood thirsty monster. The other is a vampire.

College freshman Amanda Colt knows few people and wants to know fewer still. She enjoys fencing and prefers facing a challenge every once in a while. She is beautiful, smart, and possibly the most interesting person on campus...and most people stop after the first adjective.

Then she finds Marco Catalano in her fencing class. He is tall, attractive, and very intense. With a mind like a computer and manners of a medieval knight, he scares most people. Except Amanda. They both have secrets, for they are both monsters.

As they draw closer, they must find the line between how much they can trust each other, and how much they can care for each other. Each carries a secret that can destroy the other. They must come to grips with their personal drama soon, because a darkness is rising. Bodies are turning up all over New York, and an army of vampires is closing in on all sides.

They have only one hope ... each other.

THIS BOOK WILL BE RETURNING SOMETIME IN MAY. PERFECT SUMMER READING.

Murphy's Law of Vampires

It was amusing when I saw that one of the biggest criticisms of book one was that the vampires were too easy to dispatch in the final battle. I thought that given the artillery I brought down on them was fairly sufficient.

But I also laughed my ass off for one very good reason: Mister Day.

I won't say I'm particularly proud of this villain. Finding a way to kill him was the biggest problem, especially considering his various and sundry powers and abilities.

.... But I managed.

After saving Brooklyn from a nest of vampires, Amanda Colt and Marco Catalano are a little banged up. He's been given a job offer to deal with vampires in San Francisco, and it's a tempting offer – it would get him away from Amanda, his feelings for her, and get her away from the darkness inside him. When a death in the family compels Marco to move to the West Coast, they're both left to fend for themselves.

But when a creature known only as “Mister Day” leaves their world in tatters, they must once more join forces against the darkness. Only "Day" is no vampire, but a creature beyond their experience. It will take the combined might of Marco, Amanda, and all of their allies just to slow it down. They have no weapons that can kill him. They have no ways to imprison him. To even fight him is death.

But they have to try, or face the end of everything they love.

Only slightly melodramatic. Largely, I think this underplayed the threat.

THIS BOOK WILL BE RETURNING SOMETIME IN JUNE 2018.

Live and Let Bite

I had to use the title. I really did. I didn't have much choice in the matter. I love me some puns ... if you didn't realize that from the Pius trilogy.

This is the other book in the series nominated for best horror. I'll say again, I'm not entirely certain that I see how these are "horror" novels, though there are several reviews that make me thing I scare the bejeezus out of more than a few.

Then again, I did show much concept of minions...

I also had an off page, vaguely implied lesbian rape sequence...

Okay, maybe there were one or two vaguely scary things here and there.

Merlin "Merle" Kraft has been fighting the darkness for months. He left San Francisco in the capable hands of Marco Catalano and his anti-vampire team to defend them against vampires. With special operators at his command, Kraft has been killing every vampire he can find in the Middle East. After clearing out a nest in Tora Bora, he is finally brought back to New York, and the investigation that led him to vampires in the first place.

Marco is starting to spiral. He knows it. His team knows it. Everyone around him can see that he's just a bomb waiting to explode. The only woman who can bring him back from the brink is also the woman who lit his fuse.

Ever since "Mister Day" tried to murder Marco, Amanda Colt has been hunting down every lead to find the ones ultimately behind the attempt. After months of investigation, she learns that something in the dark is colder than the dark. It is a vampire assassin that Amanda has faced once before .... and last time, Amanda lost. This assassin is stronger than anything they've face before, and it isn't alone.

With Marco ready to self-destruct, and the armies of Hell ready to descend, the three of them must come together and stop a thousand-year-old assassin that has never been stopped, and has never failed to kill her target.

THIS BOOK WILL BE RETURNING SOMETIME IN JULY 2018.

Good to the Last Drop

In all honesty, I suppose I could just ask every reader on this page to go forth and vote for this book in best horror, or even fantasy, but ... eh. Not really. I'd much rather people read it, like it, and vote for it.

I'm figuring that this year or next year is going to be my last shot at even getting nominated for the Dragons. There were over 8,000 people who voted in last year's Dragon Awards. If all of them vote to nominate this year? I may have all the nominations I'm going to get

But I'm going to keep trying. This works for horror this year, and I have a horror novel coming up that was supposed to be Urban Fantasy ... I kinda wrote a horror novel by accident. Oops.

Anyway, this is your last shot to get it before the Dragon Award nominations. The good news is that if I do get a nomination, the book will be back on the shelves just in time.

The final war is about to begin, in this conclusion to the Dragon Award Nominated series

Merle Kraft, Marco Catalano and Amanda Colt have battled against the mythical Council, a supernatural conspiracy that monsters fear. This war has brought them up against vampires, minions, and demons from Hell.. Along the way, they have accumulated allies among the police, the military, the mafia, college students, lowly street gangs, and even other vampires.

Marco and Amanda have overcome their biggest terror -- their passion for each other.

But now, they face the final threat, one that is the culmination of every threat before them. This creature from Hell has powers beyond anything they've ever seen before, and has allies of his own: including SpecOps minions, an army of vampires, and packs of werewolves.

And that was before Marco got bit.

AS I SAID, IT'S COMING BACK IN AUGUST.

And, while I think of it, enjoy the Dragon Award nominations.

Best Horror in the Dragon Awards, 2017

To begin with, let's have a conversation over what I've been making all the fuss about.

In 2017, I'm hoping to get one of these.

Take a look.

Nice, huh? They look nifty, right? They really are. They're about ten pounds each, perhaps more, of pure, handcrafted, blown glass. Each one of them is unique, so no two of them look a like. There is literally no other award like it.

Here, let's pull back a bit.

When I started the year, I out and out said that I would lay money on Live and Let Bite being the winner in horror for the second annual Dragon Awards, this September.

And it wasn't boasting. I figured it was simply logical.

It had everything good from the trilogy to date, and more of it.

It had more romance

It had more action.

It had more vampires.

It had an expansion of the vampire lore I'd already established.

It has SpecOps minions, it has terrorist attacks with RPGs, shootouts, vampires going to war with street gangs, the mafia, the NYPD, other vampires, leveling three separate buildings, gun battles with Vatican Ninjas, miniguns, mental warfare, a vampire that took a MOAB to the FACE, and everything short of demons... Because I'd already done that. I have shootouts that make Underworld look like a day trip to Chicago.

....Okay, wrong comparison.

But now ... I'm not entirely certain that people like it more than Murphy's Law of Vampires. 

It seems that Marina Fontaine suggest edthat there wasn't as much of a threat in Bite as in Murphy's.

Jim seemed to have an issue with how perfect some of my fight scenes went.

And JD Cowan's review seemed to encompass the entire series.

Though I'll admit, it was nice to see Injustice Gamer's review: "Declan thinks this will win him a Dragon Award. I'm not going to tell him he's wrong.....This is the best entry for the series so far."

Heh.

Anyway, Murphy's vs. Bite is going to be a coin toss. Which is strange, but not the first time I've been wrong. Please remember, I didn't think that Honor at Stake would go this far. I wasn't expecting any of the accolades it got last year. I didn't expect it to go farther than an "it's okay" while I worked on a half dozen other projects.

So ... what do I know?

Thankfully, as I mentioned in my last Dragon Award post, both Murphy's and Bite are eligible

Don't worry, I'm not going to kvetch if you prefer one of my books over another.

Again, I'm obviously the last person to judge.

Anyway, The Dragon Awards are open and ready for nominations, and I have a list of suggestions for you. If you already  have a good idea of what you want, just click here to go and vote for them immediately. The instructions are right there.

Or: sign up for my mailing list in order to get free stuff.

The Love at First Bite series. 

    

Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves

I've been told that Amazon really starts to help authors once they hit fifty reviews.

Well, I'll believe that when I see it.

Right now, though, I know that reviews, in general, help. Yes, I've seen spikes every time that I've gotten new reviews....

And that's all I have. I was going to do a nice, neat breakdown of what books have how many reviews.

But the short version is I've come down with some sort of illness that has my head filled with cotton and something is breaking up in my chest every time I cough, so I can only spend so much time looking at the computer screen before I go cross eyed, and literally lose every thought in my head.

Anyway. I bring up reviews because one of the reasons that Murphy's and Live and Let Bite came out so close upon the heels of each other is that I had a lot of people demanding sequels to Honor At Stake.  Honor has 56 reviews right now, more than any other novel I've ever released. I figure demand would be as high for everything else.

Murphy's? 16 reviews

Live and Let Bite? 11 reviews.

These reviews aren't even 10% of my sales on these novels.

So .... I'm going to ask you, faithful reader, if you could take five minutes, stop by, and leave a quick review about how awesome these two novels are.

You can quickly access any book by clicking on the cover below.

But, if you're one of the dozen or so people who have already left me a review, I'll mention that The Dragon Awards are open and ready for nominations. If you don't have any thoughts on what to nominate, I have a list of suggestions you might want to take a look at. If you already  have a good idea of what you want, just click here to go and vote for them immediately. The instructions are right there.

Or: sign up for my mailing list in order to get free stuff.

Until then....

Puppies.

Pardon me while I drink down another half a bottle of NyQuil, and expire.

Be well.

The Love at First Bite series. 

    

New reviews for Love at First Bite

Apparently, today is review day, starting with Robert Kroese's book, Aye, Robot, and continuing ... now, really.

To start with, there's Lori Bird, who wrote the original review for Honor at Stake on The Catholic Geek blog. She has her own website now, and reviewed Live and Let Bite there.

Seriously, go buy the book. It’s more than fun. I’ll give this one another 4.9 out of 5, and that minor point off the full five is just because some descriptions are a touch risque. I’d call it a heavy PG-13, but not R rating in that sense.

Speaking of the Catholic Geeks, Margot St. Aubin decided to review Murphy's Law of Vampires over on TCG site. 

As she put it.

Just when you think you are prepared for vampires— it’s not bleeping vampires but something else entirely.

Heh.

And, of course, we have the review by Jim McCoy, over at his own site.

I did a post awhile back about Hollywood and some books that need to be turned into movies. In this case though, I'm going to suggest that maybe this series gets the Game of Thrones treatment. There's a television series here. I mean that. We may need to give Finn a bit of time to get a little further ahead before it gets started but this makes sense as a series. It's written that way and it works that way. I have zero pull in Hollywood but if I ever get some (about as likely as my getting hit by lightning twice on the same day as I hit the lottery) I'm going to make Finn an offer for this one.

So .... that happened. And it's awesome.

If you're wondering why I think that this will make a great Dragon Award nomination ... you know why. Click here and nominate it if you agree. And if you don't, I have an argument for you right here.

And if you've read them already, you'll know what I mean.

And if you haven't, what are you waiting for?

The Love at First Bite series. 

    

Love at First Bite, part 4, is Coming

Book 4 of my Love at First Bite series is coming. It might be titled Good to the Last Drop, but I have a few other suggestions going the rounds. 

Here's the only problem I have.

I need a title.

I've already started a survey in my group on Facebook, as well as on my Facebook page, asking for suggestions. And I've gotten a lot of feedback.

I'm actually surprised, especially with some of the ones suggested for me.

Good to the Last Drop is currently winning, and I didn't even suggest this one. It's pulled ahead, and I can't believe it didn't occur to me. My family has been making this joke AT blood banks for years.

Greenwich Village of the Damned -- one of mine, and suggested by a chapter title.

Final Blood -- Book 4 will be the end to the main arc of the series. So "final" in the title has a good ring to it. Also, it's a take on First Blood -- you know, the novel that started John Rambo on his career.

Shadow of Murphy -- I originally suggested this because there are elements of Murphy's Law of Vampires that resonate in this novel. I won't say what, because that might spoil the surprise.

Certain Parts of Brooklyn -- This is actually taken from an exchange in the film Casablanca.

Major Strasser to Rick: Are you one of those people who cannot imagine the Germans in their beloved Paris? ....How about New York?

Rick to Strasser: "Well there are certain sections of New York, Major, that I wouldn't advise you to try to invade."

Bloody Love -- a original title, suggested by on of my acquaintances.

Murphy's Shadow -- another suggestion, and probably better than "Shadow of Murphy," if only so the cover artist can have most of the cover dedicated to the image.

Army of Light -- I've always liked the imagery of the term, used in Babylon 5. No one else does, apparently.

Shadows of Day -- This works for reasons.

At the end of the day, I suspect most of the titles will be used. Why? Because I'll stop needing titles after I run out of novels.

If you've missed any of my novels, click some below.

And if you haven't, ask yourself, have you reviewed them?

The Love at First Bite series. 

    

Latest Reviews of Live and Let Bite, et al

To start with JD Cowan has an awesome review for Bite over on his website, that I think is a great review for the entire series, to heck with just one nove. You can check out his review right here.

After a surprising first entry and a rousing second, author Declan Finn's Love At First Bite series performed the task I had been certain wasn't ever going to happen: He wrote a vampire series I actually enjoy.

How did he perform this feat? Well, he did a remarkable thing. It's as crazy as it is impossible. What he did was write a story where vampires were actually vampires, the characters aren't mopey millennials or pious boomers, and the plot progresses from point A to B. Basically he wrote a story that happens to have vampires in it.

I still can't believe it.

My April 2nd guest, Jim McCoy, recently reviewed Murphy's Law of Vampire, and he really likes Mister Day. You can check out his review here.

The book sizzles. The action sequences are impressive. Finn obviously spent hours mapping out the best way to do violence to vampires and other things before writing this. He has very carefully choreographed the fighting in this book. It's impressive. Marco and company are smart and dangerous. Catalano knows that he has to out-plan his enemies and he does so well. The action is so well described that I found myself moving in my seat along with the movements in the fighting. It was exciting. I had my adrenaline going. I wanted to kick ass along with him. It's probably better that I didn't though. I'm a three hundred pound man. I would have gotten in the way.

Something I've often commented on is the need for an epic villain. Finn delivers. Given the fact that the characters in the book can't figure out what Mr. Day is, I won't spoil the fun. But he is pure, unadulterated evil for a reason. He is deadly and vicious. He has a very interesting back story. He's the kind of guy that REALLY REALLY REALLY deserves every terrible thing that happens to him. He's tough as hell and smart. This is no Cobra Commander making stupid mistakes. Day is smart and savvy. He makes chaos because that is his nature. He is cocky but he's damn near indestructible so he should be. But Day does what he does in a logical manner. I wouldn't want to take this guy on.

These are both fun. I'm happy whenever I see a review like these.

If you'd like more news-based articles, I'm not really up to it. But if you follow my Twitter feed you've noticed Brian Niemeier and Jon Del Arroz have some interesting articles. 

Brian: Tor apparently put a hit out on a novel from Castalia House. Nice going, dudes.

Jon covers Marvel's Diversity problem, then he has a follow up dissecting how his first article was reported, and he has yet ANOTHER one about the blowback from the reporting.

Oh, and the publisher of the reprint for The Pius Trilogy has launched their short story streaming service, Lyonesse. One of mine is called "Zombie Jamboree."

Anyway, you can pick up any of the books mentioned above by clicking here. And please, while you're reading, remember the Dragon.

Be well all. And good night.

    

Generic Shoujo Garbage, I Think I Love You

Today Jon Del Arroz is filing in for Declan while he's on vacation. Be sure to check out Jon's book Star Realms: Rescue Run and blog.

This last weekend, I discovered a Japanese drama by the name of Good Morning Call. The premise is that two high school students thought they separately rented their own apartment, with the intention of living alone. When they arrived, they found the place had been double rented. The reasons they can’t back out are thin, but that doesn’t matter as the story progresses. Epic trope-filled relationship drama ensues, filled with love triangles and evil popular girl clubs.

It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?  Shoujo is a whole manga/anime genre dedicated to this kind of storytelling.  It’s aimed at a young teenaged female audience and actually can come in all shapes and forms. A great fantasy series, Fushigi Yuugi, is a tale from the 90s where two middle school girls get transported back into a magical ancient China. While a plot does whirl around them, what’s most central to the story is the relationship between Miaka and a brooding man who has taken it upon himself to be her protector. It goes through all sorts of stages as other characters try to date Miaka, including the Emperor, but their souls are destined to be together.

I find myself loving the trope of that brooding man who deep down will protect the woman at any cost, even if he’s stoically focused on whatever his actual problems are.  It’s fun watching the female protagonists pick away the layers to find out the trauma that brought them to this point. In Good Morning Call, Uehara’s parents died in an accident when he was young, and he quite literally has to fend for himself with little to no support. Tamahome in Fushigi Yuugi has a similar story, as he appears greedy on the service, but in truth is solely providing for little brothers and sisters in his family who are dirt poor and have no one else to help them. As the women in these stories uncover these layers, they  are justified in their intense love for these men who, at the beginning, appear to be selfish idiots.

The main focus in these stories is always about coming into your own and discovering love. And that’s what makes it so exciting. That intense emotion that we had as teenagers IS silly, and causes us to do the most ridiculous things. While a lot of this anime can come across as immature and trite, it creates fun because of that. The way that these shows blend comedic humor in situations, with intense love pangs, and very often tragedy that accompanies it, actually pushes the full emotional spectrum and creates more three-dimensional characters than a lot of western stories.
At the same time, almost all of shoujo stories are heavily trope-filled. I can predict almost every episode of Good Morning Call as it gets into the opening scenes of an episode. It completely relies on the character moments and your love of the characters to make the show work, as do most of these series. Nana was a series that had a lot of the same scenarios: girl going out to live on her own for the first time, trying desperately to find love, looking in the wrong places and ending up in some awkward situations. It still stands completely distinct because of how the unique characters interact in other ways.

My favorite in the genre is an anime called Your Lie In April. We have two high school students, but this one is actually from the male perspective. He’s a dorky kid, and finds a blonde goddess who plays music on such a high emotional level that it floors him. He’s also got a hang up in a trope where his mother died (typical to find orphans in these shows) at a young age, and she was the reason that he played the piano, consequently leading him to never play since. His love for this girl is so pure, and comes out through his music, which she prods him into taking up again. She pushes him to excellence, and he overcomes his mental blocks through love and through playing. It’s really beautiful, and there is quite a bit of tragedy in it which I won’t spoil as the show  makes for a satisfying, cathartic experience.

In my own writing, I’ve pushed the boundaries in science fiction and fantasy of how much romance plays a central role to the story. Some have criticized me for that, but I find that these types of human connections transcend situations and genre, which makes it fun to focus on. These shows, while often trite and silly, do firm up those relationship elements to an extent where it helps to create very real characters.

Declan himself pushed the boundaries of vampire horror in Murphy’s Law of Vampires with his own take on the relationships of the dead. It’s really fun to watch, and in our genre, I find that these tropes are not explored nearly enough. You, dear reader, may want to check out some shoujo yourself to connect with feelings you haven’t explored in years, or to find a way to add some depth to genre writing. I’ll be here to chat and be a shoulder to cry on when you finish watching any of these series.

Check out: Fushigi Yuugi (Fantasy), Aria (science fantasy), Your Lie In April (Modern, light supernatural), Nana (Modern, no supernatural)





Don't forget to sign up for Declan's mailing list. His short, Bad Date is still available for free to new subscribers.

For good storylines with some great romantic tension, check out the Love At First Bite Series