The Prettiest Flower Can Be the Deadliest

And I'm still tweaking. At least this time it had to do with cover size from CreateSpace and I wasn't tweaking the story anymore. It's the part that takes the longest when it comes to the publication. Getting everyone else to say that book is OK and ready to go.

Before we get to the next character, I just want to let you know that tomorrow is going to be a double feature: we're going to talk about the two baddies in the story. I don't know that if there will be pictures, but there will be blood.

I mean bios.

Today, let's meet

Rosa Graciela Santos

born March 22, 1971, to Miguel and Liliana Santos. Long dark black hair and dark eyes, she's a slight girl with a big heart and a funny disposition. She has been friends with Alia and Coleen for years, and while she had other friends, she definitely prefers to hang out with them. She is from the ultimate broke home: after her step-mother made claims of abuse against Miguel, he lost his full time custody.

Somewhere around the fifth revision, I realized that Coleen's original purpose had been ripped away. I needed a character like Rosa: everyday. Simple, straightforward. I needed someone sweet and kind and fun and funny. Which was what Coleen was supposed to be originally. Someone else made editorial decisions that overrode mine (at the time) and after so many rewrites by that time, I was just to used to Coleen the way she was, and I liked her that way.

So I had to come up with a new character to fix the same plot point I was trying to create. There was a minor character, named Rose, who hung out with the friends in the first few versions. I changed her name, and pumped her up. And she's become a great, expansive character in my universe.

Yes, that's Jessica Alba. That's what Rosa looks like. Make her hair black and we're on the right track.

And don't disregard the title of this blog. You may want to return and review for a later book... 

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Previously, on Jenn's Blog:
Meet
Alia Bronson
Vincent Morchause
Coleen L'Etoile
Coray Logan
Billy Masters

Add it now! On Goodreads: 
Penumbra: Equinox

He's a catch...er.

It's almost time. I'm still tweaking. I'm ridiculous.

In the meanwhile, let's meet Vincent and Coray's other buddy...

William John Masters

born July 16, 1971 to wonderful parents, he has black hair, and brown eyes. He's a awkward, average height guy who makes a great catcher on the UGRHS baseball team. He and Vincent work so well together it's nearly scary. He's fascinated by sustainable designs and loves science of any sort. He knows that he's kind of third wheel in the Vin-Coray-Billy triangle, but doesn't mind. He knows that if he needed their help, they'd be there.

Billy Masters. A totally unexpected character. He was barely a mention in even the fourth and fifth revisions. I would say that it was probably only in the last four, five years that Billy came to life. And I like him. He's my other Billy (you'll meet Billy Babij in "The Art of Dying"), and I wasn't doing him justice until this most recent revision. He even comes back much later on and in another story.

I don't think I'll ever do a "Billy" solo novel, but I will have him cropping up everywhere.

And if you don't know who that is on the left, representing Billy, you need to get off your butt and learn all about Matthew Lewis. Start with "Harry Potter and the Socercer's Stone." Oh, yes, I stole him right out of the movie. And Billy really emerges like Neville in the story. The underdog who wears a sweater to a sword fight with a deadly snake. The other hero.

Oh, did I say that outloud? *grin*

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Previously, on Jenn's Blog:
Meet
Alia Bronson
Vincent Morchause
Coleen L'Etoile
Coray Logan


Add it now! On Goodreads: 
Penumbra: Equinox

BFF's Hottie Boyfriend. Not a bad thing...

Three days people. Just three more days. I'm getting ants in my pants!

And today, you get to meet Coleen's hawt boyfriend--

Coray Eion Logan

born January 24, 1971 to Yvette Dupre and Duncan Logan. Bright, baby blue eyes and dark, straight red hair, with an impressive stature well over six feet, he was raise alone by Duncan after his mother got herself in trouble with just about everyone from Duncan's family and was kicked out of the house. Mathelete, honors student and all around good-guy, he's always had a pretty typical life- cars, friends, dances, weekend fun and Coleen. 

Ah. Coray. My Irish lad. What a strange and interesting path this character took of all my main characters. He didn't even exist until about 2nd rewrite (mind you, second rewrite was 22 years ago). He was merely a passing suggestion so that the character of Coleen wouldn't be left out of the boyfriend/dating fun.

Coleen's real life paradigm wanted more. She didn't want just a suggestion of a boyfriend, she wanted a real character and she wanted him to be older than the main characters and hotter than Vincent. Well, ok. So I wrote the guy in in a big way. Huge. But it was one of the most bizarre sequences I'd ever written.

Originally, Coray was a follower and worshipper of Echo of Silesia. (Honestly, she didn't even have a place name like that until 2 years go.) They caught Coray in the middle of one of his rituals, asking Echo for power. And that's when they found that Coray was Rebekah's great-great grandson and that Echo was her sister who was killed in Salem and that he was a proximal witch.

I've eliminated that proximal witch. There is another character (waaaaaay later on) who has power through an object, but not through the veneration of that object. That just started to get way too creepy and existential for me. Some of the characters that Katherine Rhodes handles later get a little existential, but I'm going to avoid most of that.

Anyway, they find out that Coray is this proximal witch and he's nearly as powerful as Alia. This causes a problem because back then, Rebekah hated the Bronson family because when she went wilding, Margeau was the regent Princess Witch. When Rebekah came back to herself, she and Margeau had it out. A good old fashioned magic battle so Margeau could show Rebekah there were things she had to learn from her.

The fourth rewrite (20 years ago) saw the elimination of Echo, the proximal witch, Rebekah's resentment and Coray being integrated into the regular witch population. The next rewrite saw him bumped to his original title of Prince Warlock, which word-flopped a few rewrites later to Warlock Prince. And it was only this last rewrite where I finally just opted to call him the Prince Witch and make him as big a character as he needed to be. Which is HUGE.

When I started writing this story, back in 1987, (yes, that long ago), my focus was totally on Alia. Even later on, the focus stayed on Alia and Vincent. But now, after so many years, the tapestry is richer with the weavings of all these other characters coming in. Coleen is a force to be reckoned with, and Coray is her fierce protector without being overbearing.

And while I have grown to love Coray, here's a little secret: I have never loved his name. I didn't pick it, and if I had, I don't think I would have spelled it this way. But he's just so Coray now, so interwoven into the whole forthcoming series, that I can't and won't change it. I can't imagine him being anyone else.

Now, who's the hottie up there? None other than Jared Leto. But, dear readers, it must be THIS Jared Leto. Not the nutter with the beard (though, appropriately, Coray does lose it in the distant future and ends up with beard and bad body odor), but for our story here and now-- this Jared is the one you can plunk into Coray's place.

_________________
Previously, on Jenn's Blog:
Meet
Alia Bronson
Vincent Morchause
Coleen L'Etoile

Add it now! On Goodreads: 
Penumbra: Equinox

Everyone needs a BFF

Really, you do. A girl should always have a best friend to talk with, and someone who -- even after months of not talking or hanging out -- can pick it up right where you left. Like nothing ever came between you.

Alia's lucky. Meet her BFF-

Coleen Claudia L'Etoile

born December 18, 1971 and adopted just hours after birth by Henri and Susan L'Etoile. Dark black wavy hair and bright green eyes, she's a sweet, kind, gentle soul who loves Coray with all her heart and adores her parents and her simple life. She and Alia have been best friends since Alia's family moved to the Saratoga Springs area when Alia was seven. She plans on going to college, being a teacher, maybe one day running her own school. She and Coray have been dating since he asked her to the Fall dance in sixth grade.  

Coleen was a character I didn't plan on. Or, I did, but I had a very different direction for her originally. She was a secondary character at best, and if we're still talking about the other, really old version of this, her name was Ariel. I think. it's been way too long. She was also an alien and she didn't live on Earth.

That whole story was a buggery mess.

Coleen seems to be the most frail of all the friends, but she had a quiet strength that no one really expects. She was originally based on a real person, but she has evolved far from that original paradigm, you wouldn't even recognize the original person in the new Coleen.

Katy Perry is the best parallel for her; dark hair, bright blue eyes and pale skin. She also has that wild side, and while Coleen hides hers a bit more than Katy, it's still there.  

We're down to 4 more days!! Woo hoo!
_________________________
Previously, on Jenn's Blog:
Meet
Alia Bronson
Vincent Morchause

Add it now! On Goodreads:
Penumbra: Equinox

Meet the Hot Neighbor...

Six more days.
*Happy Dance*

So today, let's meet...

Vincent Michael Morchause

Born May 5, 1971 to Richard and Sharon Morchause. Shaggy brown hair, deep chocolate brown eyes, tall enough to be a very effective starting pitcher for the Ulysses Grant Regional High. He's his father second oldest son, and has 3 younger siblings: Ellen, Scott and Olivia. He's dating Stacey and doesn't want to be anymore; she's overbearing and wants to control him while being sickly sweet. Brilliant mind, but lacking in confidence, he thinks that Community College is as far as he's going to be able to go. 

Vincent's original name was Scott. Scott was ripped right out of Teen Wolf. Ladies and Gents, if you're not old enough to remember Teen Wolf, go get yourself a copy and enjoy this wonderfully cheesy 80s flick. THAT is the way I imagine werewolves. And I would like to clarify right now that Vincent and his family are werewolves. At the full moon, they do not turn into wolves. Those are shifters. Werewolves are a breed between human and wolf, and have super natural strength and speed.

Vincent's name was taken over from another story (that you'll get a chance to read not too far in the future) where the main character is actually a baseball player. I couldn't use Vincent there because ... well that Vincent is actually based on a real person- Vincent my cousin.

Now, you've heard me say that this is my oldest story. It actually started out quite differently. Vincent was Scott and Scott was a werewolf. Right, fine. But Alia was named Brenda, and Brenda was an alien, not a witch. Fun facts about the prepubescent mind of me.

Don't go much further. It gets ugly in there.

So, who's that hottie up there? Kinda funny: his name is Scott Eastwood. And the instant I saw him, I knew that he was exactly what I imagined Vincent looked like. Enjoy that.

I sure do. 
_____________________________
Previously, on Jenn's Blog:
Meet
Alia Bronson

Add it now! On Goodreads:
Penumbra: Equinox

So close you can smell it...

(Or, Perhaps J. Rose Should Take a Shower...)

Seriously. ONE week people. I'm so unbelievably excited! This is a story that I love to read and read over and over. Because I love Alia and Vincent and Coray and Coleen and Rosa and Billy...

So, how about if I do a mini bio of each of my characters? Would that be cool with you? There are 6 main characters and I'm going to tell you a little about each one. And if there just happens to be a celebrity or model out there who happens to look like what I think they look like. Well. Bonus, right?

Let's start at the top, and meet our main protagonist:

Alia Suzanne Bronson-

born January 23rd, 1971 to Isabel and Darius Bronson. Long wavy brown hair, bright green eyes, not too tall, not too short. She's an all-around honor student and has gaggles of friends going into her senior year. Her boyfriend, Mike, is a sports fanatic and he sucks at being her boyfriend. She is an only child, and the apple of her father's eye. Her mother... another story it seems.

Alia's name was stolen, outright, from another book. I read Frank Herbert's "Dune" and fell in love with the name and the character. Ultimately, Alia of the Knife, in Herbert's world, succumbs to the darkness that hides inside her. But the character was so strong, so much a victim of her birth and circumstance that I needed to give her a different incarnation, one where she could be strong, fierce, and flawed and have a real chance to win the day.


It was strange that when the SciFi (now SyFy, natch) channel put out their Children of Dune movie, they nailed what I imagined both Alia Atreides and Alia Bronson to look like. Except for the green eyes. I would recommend you either read Mr. Herbert's books or go see if you can find SyFy's "Dune" and "Children of Dune" -- because Alia rocks, the stories rock and you will NOT be disappointed in them like you will if you watch David Lynch's version.

Seriously. Stay the HELL away from the David Lynch version. You will never be able to forgive yourself for those 3.5 hours of hell. Not even in Sting in iron underwear can save it...

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As an aside, after reading a letter of reorganization, I've decided that I will give Goodreads another chance. It never did me wrong; I hope I don't regret this.

So, add it now!
Penumbra: Equinox

Penumbra: Equinox Cover Reveal

Hi. 

You wanna see, don't you? It's right there on the right. But there's more, isn't there? And you want to see the whole thing...

Well, I want you to check it out. 

I'll show you. Hang on. I hope that your curiosity is piqued by this and you'll end up falling in love with these characters the way I have. 

This story is just the beginning of my world. There are many, many, many stories to come.

Fair warning, everyone. I got stuck in beta reader tie-up with rubbernecking delays; I *may*might*possibly* have to push the release date back a tad. It shouldn't be more than a week, and for sure, no later than Halloween. I will absolutely let you know if it's moving. For now, we'll still say October 15th...

And now, without further ado, here's your sneak peak.

What would you do to keep your friends from falling into evil?

It wasn't a question the group of friends at Ulysses Grant Regional High School wanted to think about. With Vincent trying to hide his werewolf side, Alia and Coray having to deal with the unanticipated news that they are witches, and Coleen getting slammed with the news she's adopted, they have enough to worry about.

(Never mind Vincent's and Alia's crazy exes, Coray's mother, Coleen's father and the magical creatures someone is sending after them to kill them. There was enough to keep anyone busy right through prom.)

But the day Vladimir Vaduva shows up at their school and people start turning up both dead and drained of blood, and Coleen very nearly goes mad because of him, it becomes a question they have to have ask.

As Rosa and Billy get pulled into the vortex, they realize they need an answer...

And they have the feeling they aren't going to like it.