Okay, so I know that according to the schedule that I gave you before I left that Vonna Harper was supposed to be here, but Vonna and I got our wires crossed. She appeared here in September, and I thought she wanted a second date here, but ah well.
This works out anyway because I have WiFi connection here, and this won’t take long. I have a book coming out with Berkley in January, a futuristic story entitled Ravished by a Viking, and I’m trying to do some different things to get y’all excited about it. I was talking to an artist friend of mine about some of the things I’d like to do, like T-shirts and art for the website, and she did a couple of water colors for me that depict places in the book.
Here’s the first one. This painting comes from her interpretation of a scene I wrote where one of the characters is describing her first view of Skuldelev Castle, the hero’s home. Don’t you think this would look lovely on a T-shirt or coffee mug?
What I need now is some text to go along with the picture. Of course, I’ll want to add my website logo to the bottom of the picture—very small and subtle. However, I want some kind of banner across the top that has a message that reflects something about the story.
I could just put “Skuldelev Castle” across the top, but I’d love something a little more exciting. So, I’m offering you a chance to do some brainstorming. I’ll even offer a prize. Like a free T-shirt—first off the printing press as soon as I finalize the art work.
Following is the back cover copy for the book so you know what the story is about. Have fun! Post your ideas here, and if one of you comes up with an idea that you spin off of someone else’s posting, well I guess I’ll have to give away two shirts!
What a Viking wants, a Viking takes…
When his younger brother goes missing, Dagr, Viking warrior and Lord of the Wolfskin Clan, will do whatever it takes to get him back. But nothing could have prepared him for Honora-a feisty, intelligent woman who is nothing like the women of his world-women who are content to serve their men in all things. Drawn to her despite her recalcitrant nature, Dagr is determined to show her who’s boss both in bed and out.
When the two enemies-turned-lovers join forces to find Dagr’s brother they are thrown into a rousing adventure full of danger, intrigue and erotic abandon. Can their passion truly unite them or will their different worlds lead to destruction for them both?
And here is the description of Dagr’s keep from the point of view of his future sister-in-law, Birget:
The journey to Skuldelev passed in silence. Strapped into the back seat of a small, two-man snow-eater, she watched the endless drifts of white, stirred only by the shifting winds and blowing toward the frozen sea that bordered the lowlands they crossed. In the distance, the jagged peaks of the Keel Mountains sawed into the face of Sunni, the sun goddess, stretching the shadows of night to cloak the mountains and the city fortress of Skuldelev at its base.
Birget straightened to peer over Dagr’s shoulder at the city few Bearshirts had ever willingly entered. Where her own fortress stood as evidence of strength and precision, the keep rising several stories high, Skuldelev stretched like a lazy dragon resting across the top of the foothills. The fortress wall hugged the contours, turrets spiking like ridges on the beast’s back. Even the great, gated entrance gave the appearance of a dragon’s large, crenellated head with its mouth gaping.
A shiver rippled down her spine. The day’s happenings had passed in a whirlwind, and only now did it strike her that this might be her home for the rest of her life—this foreign, craggy, monstrous castle where men as rugged and unforgiving of weakness as their clan-lord lived.
