Deirdre Knight: Days of Our Writing Lives

Immortal warrior and Spartan slave River Kassandros has a special gift—the ability to transform into any weapon. But in a recent battle, he was trapped as a dagger, unable to become human again. His one hope of salvation is a mere mortal…

When Emma Lowery beaches her kayak on an uninhabited island off the coast of Savannah, an ancient dagger seems to call out to her. Compelled by dark forces, Emma draws blood with his blade, freeing River. Now he’s stronger, angrier—and exudes more sensuality than Emma can resist.

But a sinister power wants to claim River’s destiny, and his precarious freedom. The pair must join the Spartan warriors to fight Ares himself. But can they face sacrificing their love to protect humankind from the war god’s demonic plan?

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There are so many phases to any author’s life, at least in terms of creating a new novel, short story or other project.  Right now, I’m so fortunate to be in a kind of perfect storm where several phases are hitting all at once! My latest Gods of Midnight book, RED KISS, is out on the shelves, so I’m hearing from readers (always a coveted thrill), and after months of writing and creating a world (also known as a book!) in solitude, that interaction with my fans is solid gold.  It’s the anticipated moment, the one every author battles toward during the good—and frustrating—times of actually writing that book.

I’m also in a diametrically opposite season, which is that I’m writing RED ANGEL, the next book in the series, and am in that stage when the world of this book is starting to gel.  But there are also still lots of bits and pieces, scenes I’ve written that might not even happen to the end—or until the next book—but I’m hearing them, so I have to put them on paper.

To me, there’s such a wonderful balance to these two ends of the spectrum.  On one hand, the joy of sharing my finished creation of RED KISS, and on the other, delving into a whole new story at the same moment.  For those of you who are familiar with the Gods of Midnight, I’m writing Ari’s story right now. He was quite the character in RED KISS, especially, since he is best friend to River Kassandros, the shapeshifting hero of the book.  But there was also a bit of a cliffhanger at the end of RED KISS (no spoilers, don’t worry!) about ole Ari, and I’m having fun picking up that thread.

There’s another interesting “phase” to my writing life right now, which is that as I map out this new book, the rest of the series is starting to really shout at me much more loudly.  I always know where I’m going with a series, even far, far down the line, but I don’t necessarily start hearing those scenes, or interact with the characters at that later stage of the story arc.  I know I felt this way about the same point in writing the PARALLEL series, like the world’s foundation was laid out and the characters well-established, and it was then—as now—that the whole world of the series exploded in my mind.

I’m at that place at the moment.  The only frustration? It’s summer, my kids are out of school, there’s RWA to attend, clients to care for, RED ANGEL to write.  Which makes the burn to write ahead on next books a bit of a frustration, but a nice one, too.

If you haven’t checked out RED FIRE or RED KISS, I hope you will and I’d love to hear from you! There are excerpts of both books available on my website, www.DeidreKnight.com. Meanwhile, I’m giving away a copy of RED FIRE or RED KISS – winner’s choice – to a randomly selected winner. Simply leave your name in the comments.

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Eternity has become a prison for Ajax Petrakos. Centuries after he and his Spartan brothers made their bargain for immortality, Ajax struggles to maintain his warrior’s discipline. His only source of strength is his hope that he will soon meet the woman once foretold to him—the other half of his soul, Shay Angel.

Ajax searches for his destined mate on the haunted streets of modern-day Savannah, but he isn’t the first to find her. Shay, the youngest of a powerful demon-hunting clan, can see the monsters that stalk the steamy Southern night—an ability that draws the deadly attention of Ajax’s worst enemy.

As she and Ajax race to solve a chilling prophecy—one that could spell Ajax’s death if they don’t succeed—a fated passion arises, threatening to sweep away everything in its path.

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Leave a comment to enter the drawing, and read an excerpt of Red Fire here and an excerpt from Red Kiss here.