THE YEAR IS A QUARTER OVER!

Can you believe it? The year is a quarter over! Yikes!

With April comes spring. Yay. Winter in most places is fading and warm weather is invigorating, at least for me. Energizes me. I’m working vigorously to finish the third book in a series so I can move to the next one that is begging to be written.

I’ve set goals for the year as to how many releases or at least the number I want under-contract for 2012. I’m going under the assumption that the Mayans were wrong about their calendar and push forward. Not really, but it is a great motivator.

So what inspires or motivates you to get down to writing to meet your personal deadlines? Self-inflicted pressure or outside influences, like an editor/publisher?

Last year was my first year to have anything published, starting with January. I had a total of six releases, which for the first year wasn’t bad, I guess. This year, I’ve had two so far and three more due to release over the next couple of months. I recently had an anthology of shorts which the first will release in December 2012 followed by the remaining stories in 2013 for a total of five short. This matches 2011, but I want to exceed that, so I’m working on a couple more so I can exceed my goal. With three-quarters of the year remaining, I think I can. That’s my motivation. Then, on to 2013.

I’m beginning to feel like a fashion designer, working on next year’s collection. Strange way to function. I lose track of what time of year it is if I didn’t look out the window and check the weather.

I’m keeping this short today, but I will close with a tiny snippet of my next release which is the sequel to the co-authored book with my husband, Mike. The new title is Love and Death in the Big Easy and is a paranormal/shape-shifter of a different kind. Unfortunately, don’t have a cover yet, but will have one soon.

LAST MINUTE RECEIVED THE NEW COVER AND HAD TO SHARE!!!

Blurb:

A Dog

Drake Martin, the Yorkie shifter, and Sufi of the North American Shape-shifters, returns and this time he has a new shifter to play tag with.

A Cat

Kady Martin, Drake’s wife, has a new alter-ego as Tabitha, the Russian Blue Maltese.

A New Game of Tag

Twenty-six years later, the dog and cat play more than tag when, with their son and mixed array of shape-shifting friends, battle a new monster in town.

Death follows the happily married couple as carnage and mayhem run rampant in the streets of the Big Easy. With help from family, the shifter clan, and white magic the loving pair maneuvers through rebellious children, while battling the terminal illness of a dear friend, and the menace bent on bringing the city to her knees.

Oh boy!

EXCERPT:

Kady’s voice jolted me awake. “Drake, get up. I hear something in the hallway.”

“What are you…?”

I fell silent as she crossed my lips with two fingers and listened. The scramble of small, rapidly moving feet clicked toward the staircase.

“A rat?” Kady asked in a noiseless mouthing.

I nodded yes. She pointed at me and made a quick circling motion, our signal to morph. We’d never had problems with rodents in the house. This one was in for a nasty shock. Kady transformed while I delayed long enough to open the bedroom door. A second later, Tabitha and Precious bore down on the heat signature of the rodent scurrying along the hall baseboard. A glowing green smudge moved across our line of sight as we closed in.

I arrived first, lunging for the throat with the intention of snapping a rat neck in shifter reinforced vise like jaws. To my surprise he evaded the strike. I latched on a bit further aft, on the animal’s hind quarters, still fully expecting to crush any bone caught in the bite. Another shock came when nothing of the sort happened. The rank little beast shrilled in pain, with only flesh wounds in the unyielding hide. A long flexible body wrenched around to address the source. The elongated blunt snout with gleaming white chisel teeth at the end zeroed in on the nearer eye, mine. I wondered, somewhat in confusion, how I missed the neck, when Kady, a gray blur of puffed out fur, snarl, and spitting weighed in. She seemed twice her normal Tabitha size. A paw with five small scimitar claws struck at the incoming rodent face. Despite the supersonic sweep of the feline claw, she caught only air as the head moved out of the way in a flash. However, forcing the mysterious enemy to avoid Kady’s blow saved me at least an eye.

The kill we assumed would be routine was turning out to be anything but.

The rat’s jaws snapped furiously at both of us. The slick furry hide and a speed no rat should have prevented Kady from getting a grip either by claw or fang. To save an eye from another pass by the rat’s teeth, I released my grip. Tabitha lunged in vain at the furiously pumping backside. The animal bolted for the front door. The heat signature intensified and expanded as it morphed to a fair skinned male of medium height. The naked human form paused for a second in the foyer before opening the door and plunged into the night. The guard had scarcely time to alert and shout before the shifter got by.

Kady and I stood in the buff at the top of the staircase. She turned away in modesty whereas I had other matters in mind. To the appalled guard, I said, “Search the grounds. We’ll check on the guest.”

He acknowledged the order without delay, apparently eager to put distance between him and a naked Sufi. I turned and headed to our room for a robe.

Happy motivation!

Cynthia Arsuaga

http://cynthiaarsuaga.weebly.com

http://romanticwordsbycynthia.blogspot.com

www.store.secretcravingspublishing.com