Tag: fiction

Melinda’s Summer Plans (a snippet from Valentine 5)

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Melinda St.James, one of the younger (and more innocent) characters from the Valentine series, has decided on what she wants to do, when summer arrives. Here’s a snippet from the upcoming Valentine 5, which features a conversation between Melinda and Jo Fuentes. Enjoy!

 

 

“Hey, I know what I want to do this summer,” Melinda said. “I heard someone at school talking about the Pride Parade in June. I wanna go!”

Veronica, Val and Jo all turned to her in surprise. “The Pride Parade?” Val asked.

Melinda set her bowl on the coffee table and nodded enthusiastically. “Yes!” she said. “Can we go this year?”

“Uh, sweetie, do you know what the Pride Parade is for?” Jo asked.

“Sure,” Melinda said. “It’s about celebrating who you are, and being proud of yourself and your friends.”

Jo turned to Val and Victoria and smiled. “She’s so innocent, it’s too adorable,” she said. She turned back to Melinda, and said, “Well, you’re not wrong. Pride celebrates the LGBTQ community. It reminds people to be tolerant and open-minded, and embrace everyone’s differences. It helps the community be more aware of people like me.”

Melinda blinked at her in surprise. “What, do you mean, like, other Marines?”

Jo raised her eyebrows. “You’re really adorable, do you know that?”

Melinda beamed, and picked up her bowl of cereal. “Thank you.” Victoria leaned over and whispered something into Melinda’s ear.

Jo smiled at Val and Veronica. “This year, she should lead the Pride Parade.”

 

Monday Blog: Another Shot of Novocaine

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ASONImage

Greetings, everyone! Welcome to the first Monday Blog for the month of June. I’m releasing the sequel to Novocaine this month, so the blog posts will mainly revolve around this new book.

 

Another Shot of Novocaine

This story takes place between Rowdy and the upcoming Righteous. Erin is preparing to go on tour with Our Lady of Righteous Rage in March of 2013. However, someone from her past decides to resurface: her father, Aaron Michaels. He’s the lead singer for the band, Metal Hills. Erin finds herself looking forward to reconnecting with him, until he tells her something very disturbing.

Much like the other “side stories” from the Our Lady series, you can read this book independently of Our Lady, Your Fame Will Destroy You and Rowdy. However, if you have read the other books, that helps. While there aren’t any song lyrics in this book, I believe readers will enjoy Erin’s humorous outlook on life.

Another Shot of Novocaine will be available within the next two weeks. Until next Monday…

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Monday Blog: Novocaine

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Novocaine

 

Happy Monday, everyone! From now on, I will repost the Monday Blog from woolastonentertainment.com, on this WordPress site. This week, I wanted to talk about Novocaine.  This book is part of the Our Lady of Righteous Rage franchise, but it’s not a numbered book in the series. It’s more of a companion book. Even if you haven’t read the rest of the series, you can read Novocaine without getting totally lost.

Novocaine follows Erin, one of the characters in the Our Lady series, as she and her mother make a decision to move to Georgia to be closer to their extended family. This is shortly after Erin graduates from High School. She’s excited by the idea, at first, until everything goes to hell. Her uncle (her mother’s brother) made a faulty investment, and it may cost him his house. Erin and her mother find themselves without a place to live, and manage to make it from Georgia to New York. There, Erin eventually gets a job working at the Urban Collective, where she meets the members of the band Our Lady of Righteous Rage.

One of the most interesting aspects of Novocaine, is Erin’s transformation over the course of the story. She goes from bookish-nerd, to scared teenager, to bad-ass Goth/Emo chick. Many of the events that transform her, transformed me as well. That is to say, while this is a work of fiction, there’s a lot of truth weaved into this story. A great example, is how Erin is introduced to the music of Green Day. Her experience mirrors my own: using the power of music to get through a difficult time.

I don’t want to give the impression that Erin is just some brooding teenager. She’s dealt a pretty rough hand in this story, but she handles it the best way she knows how. In the upcoming sequel, Another Shot of Novocaine, Erin is a little older, a little wiser, and not afraid to speak her mind.

Next week: Your Fame Will Destroy You

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“Her Name is Lola Vencent” is full of hints…

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Concept for cover of “Her Name is Lola Vencent”

 

 

I have some very good news today: I just finished the draft for “Her Name is Lola Vencent”, the second book in the “Valentine Apart” series! I will release it next month, along with book three, “Jo Fuentes: The Black Queen”. So, what’s so special about “Lola Vencent”? It’s full of hints.

This book will reveal how Lola met Val’s father, Vincent. It will also be the first time, Victor Entienne, Veronica and Victoria’s father, will be featured as a character, and not just a memory. Plus, you’ll learn about how Lola met Allan and Mac Avery, and how she and Barbara O’Riley joined the Syndicate.

I’ve probably said too much here! But I’m sure you’ll enjoy this book. “Her Name is Lola Vencent” will be available this March.

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The Dark Side of Valentine

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“I’ll kill you myself. I’ll kill you in the most violent way I can think of.”

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If you’ve read the books in the Valentine series, you may have noticed, the story started out with mild violence, which progressed as the story continued. Yes, bullets have been fired and people have been shot. In fact, a few people have died. In a story involving a girl who carries a pair of handguns and is friends with a lot of hit men and hit women, there has to be some sort of body count.

The Val Entienne you have come to know in the previous books in the series, is going to change in book 4. She’s a little darker; she has to be. Now more than ever, Val wants to protect her family, and this time, the threat isn’t an assumed one. This time, the threat is very, very real. Rafferty has made it clear, he wants Val dead.  So, it’s kill or be killed.

You can expect a few deaths in this part of the story. Not to include any spoilers, but keep an eye on Val’s demeanor, from here on, because it’s going to change.

 

New Books Coming Soon!

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Even though this is only the first month of the new year, I’m happy to report I have made a lot of progress, where my upcoming books are concerned. I started four manuscripts last year, just before NaNoWriMo. Within the past seven days, I completed three of them! I have one left, and it should be finished by the end of this month. SO, good news: three manuscripts ready to enter the editing phase. Bad news: three manuscripts ready to enter the editing phase! Editing will be tedious, but its necessary.  I’m looking forward to releasing new books this year.

Sample from “Jo Fuentes: The Black Queen” (Valentine Apart Series)

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          “You know, I read about you, before I came up here,” Jo said. “I read all about how you like to sleep with young women who get speeding tickets in your town. And I read all about that little incident involving the under aged driver, who didn’t want to sleep with you in order to get out of a ticket. I also read about the massive number of complaints that have been filed against you, for sexual harassment, misconduct, and racial profiling. Black suspects and Latino suspects being questioned by you and beaten by you. It seems like a lot of the men and women in your precinct don’t like the things you’ve done.”

            Rennick laughed nervously. “So, you think you know about me?” he said. “Right now, a speeding ticket is gonna be the last thing you have to worry about!” He turned to leave, and placed his hand on the doorknob. When he tried to turn it, it wouldn’t open. He tried it again, and again, but it still wouldn’t open. “Hey!” he shouted through the door. “Dowd! Michaels! Open this damn door!”

            Dowd and Michaels could see their chief through the small window on the door to the interrogation room. They looked at him, then turned away from the door.

            “Hey!” Rennick shouted again. “I said open this damn door! I know you can hear me!”

            Dowd and Michaels ignored him. So did every other officer who walked by.

            “You think they locked me in here, with you,” Jo said. She raised her hands, and placed them on top of the table, just as Rennick turned to face her. “But that’s not it. The truth is, they locked you in here with me.” She stood up from the table, and walked around it. Before Rennick could draw his gun, she had him in a choke hold.

Feminism in W.E. Books

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Valentine

                         Haverdy  Oyama , Val Entienne &   Amy Edwards

 


Thinking about W.E.’s 22 anniversary, I can’t help but think about the primary part of W.E., which is the books. Thinking about the books, led me to think about the characters in them. When I was a child, I gravitated towards books with stories about female characters who weren’t afraid to do whatever the male characters did. I was never a big fan of stories about princesses. I was a bit of a tomboy, so stories about ultra-girly characters didn’t interest me.  When I started writing, my female characters were bold, brave, and they weren’t afraid to do any of the things the male characters would do.  The definition of feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social and economic equality to men.  I didn’t want to create female characters who were “damsels in distress”.

 

Take Haverdy Oyama of Fortune’s Wing, for example. Haverdy is a tomboy, through and through.  She wears her hair short, like a boy, and she even wears the boy’s uniform to school. When her brother and his friends find themselves fighting monsters created by the Winged Seven, Haverdy has no problem picking up a sword and running head-first into danger.

Val Entienne of Valentine is equally as brave.  Despite her pink hair, when her father needs help, she’s a regular “ride or die” kind of girl. She arms herself with a pair of handguns and drives all the way to California to rescue him. She gets caught in a gunfight on more than one occasion, but she doesn’t run and hide.

Even when some of the guys in her life doubt her abilities and her talent, Amy of Our Lady of Righteous Rage learns to play the guitar and become a rock star.  She’s also a firm believer in the idea that girls can do anything boys can do.  And the person behind the concept for the retail store in the series, the “Urban Collective”, is Vanessa, another female character.

Should the sword-wielding hero always be a boy? Certainly not.  What about the gun-toting Patron Saint? The badass guitarist? I enjoy creating female characters who succeed in male-dominated situations. In Fortune’s Wing, all of the girls are ready to stand with Fortune and fight. In Valentine, it’s Val the members of the Syndicate are afraid of.  The female characters in the W.E. books have demonstrated the meaning of feminism and redefined what it means to be in a “woman’s place”.

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