New Release: BLOOD AND LOTUSES

It’s time to celebrate another new release. Blood and Lotuses differs from my previous published novels and novellas in that it’s a romantic fantasy, rather than a fantasy or paranormal romance. You see into the villains’ heads as well as those of the lovers. The story is more violent than most of my books–and considering my Duals and Donovans series features carnivore shapeshifter heroes who don’t mind ripping bad guys into little tiny pieces if need be, that’s saying something. The stakes are higher. The sex is less explicit, although it’s extremely important to the way the story unfolds. And yet if you’ve read my other works, you’ll find some familiar elements. The conflict and villains might be allegories for modern politics. (Who? Me?) The heroine isn’t kick-ass in the urban-fantasy-heroine sense, but she’s tough. The hero has serious issues. And sex magic plays a crucial role.

Blood and Lotuses is my first solo indie title, and that’s a tale in itself. I’d submitted it to Samhain; my editor at the time liked it, but felt it was a poor fit for them because it wasn’t exactly a romance and contained some really dark elements including child prostitution and torture. I had faith this was a good book. I also knew it straddled genres enough that many publishers wouldn’t know what to do with it even if they liked it, especially since it’s novella length. I decided to self-publish. Last fall, I went to a great self-publishing conference to get myself prepared. (If this is held again, I heartily recommend it.) I had the manuscript edited by my wonderful friend Dayle Dermatis, and got a cover from Skyla Dawn Cameron’s Indigo Chick Designs. I even mentioned the book and my plans to self-publish it in my “year of yes” post at the beginning of 2014.

And then I froze. The notion of formating a book, figuring out new software, setting up accounts, intimidated me. Part of me felt like I shouldn’t spend my time working on publishing rather than writing, and part of me just didn’t feel like dealing with all those details. But more importantly, the idea of actually putting a book out there without someone else giving it their stamp of approval paralyzed me. Having an editor say, “I’ll buy this” reassured me my work was worthy. What if this one wasn’t? And what if I published the book and, even if the writing was good, it looked amateurish because I screwed up the formatting?

What finally broke me out of my paralysis was helping someone else. (Typical!) I work as a personal assistant for a Realtor as my day job. She’d written a book (not related to real estate) and wanted to publish it herself. As her assistant, I found myself figuring out the process for her while she was busy doing things I can’t do, like selling houses. And because my own ego and fears weren’t involved, and it wasn’t my “baby” I was dealing with, I was able to do so calmly and see it wasn’t that hard. A lot of steps, sure…but also plenty of opportunities to fix mistakes at every step of the process, even after you hit PUBLISH.

This experience taught me several things. I’m my own worst enemy sometimes. Sometimes the best way to get through a fear is to ask “What’s the worst thing that can happen?” and realize the answer is “Nothing that awful.” A guaranteed hourly wage, even if it’s not a huge one, can be a better motivation sometimes than possibilities of future fortune and fame.

And I want a personal assistant of my own some day. 🙂

A bit more about the book:

When love is outlawed, only the bravest lovers can defeat an inhuman foe.

A demon in the guise of a goddess is “purifying” the great city of Dakura by killing off its stores of love, desire, and beauty. Once the city is void of color and passion, the demon can claim the city for its base to conquer the whole mortal world.

Anchali, a priestess of the goddess of love and desire, infiltrates the temple of the false goddess, along with her reluctant guardian Thanom, a soldier whose wife was murdered in a demon-inspired purge. They’re hoping to get information to pass on to a rebel general who hopes to roust the cult from Dakura. What they find, though, tells them this isn’t a job for warriors.

It’s a job for lovers, using the power of passion to enact an ancient ritual.

Anchali can perform the ritual. But first she has to convince a broken-hearted man to love again.

Compared to that, defeating a demon is child’s play.

Warning: Contains more explicit violence and less explicit sex than usual in a Teresa Noelle Roberts novel, along with all the magic and romance you’ve come to expect.

At the moment, Blood and Lotuses is available exclusively at Amazon, though it will be coming for other formats and vendors after the ninety days of Kindle Select exclusivity is passed. Buy it here.