Where is Kendra?

Here I am! *waves arms*  No, really, I'm actually still alive and everything.  I'm still overcaffeinated.  I'm still covered in a shocking amount of Newf fur.  And I'm even still writing books! Yay!

So since I've had my head down for a while, which is what I tend to do when things go into a state of flux in my professional life, I figured it was time for an update on what I've been up to.

First, I have some releases coming up.  My newest novelette for Harlequin Cravings wil be released digitally on December 1st, and I actually think it turned out really well!  It's called Taming the Dragon, and...well, I imagine you can figure out what it's about, really.  I like dragons.  They're sexy:)  If you haven't checked out the first Cravings I did (and I really think the fact of its existence has sort of fallen through the cracks, unfortunately), it's called Reflected Desire.  It's a bit different than my usual stuff in that it's got a fairy tale hero, but for whatever reason this is my mom's favorite thing I've ever done, like ever ever EVER.  So I guess the fact that her love for Adrian Dulac actually started to creep me out is probably a decent recommendation for it.  She's a Once Upon a Time junkie, by the way.  I should have known she'd be into the mirror slave thing.  I just try not to think about it.  My eyes!  MY EYES! 

Oh, releases.  Sorry, um...yes, the other things I have coming up!  The fourth installment in my Dark Dynasties series, Immortal Craving, hits shelves on January 29th.  It's crazy how soon that is!  I'm really excited to share this one with all of you.  Shortly after that, in March, The Wolf's Surrender will be released from Harlequin Nocturne.  I actually wrote it a couple of years ago (ah, the vagaries of publishing), but revised it quite recently, and during the process I was like, "Hey! This is a fun story!"  If you like a slightly shorter read and want a yummy werewolf hero, I daresay you might enjoy it.  It's the only straight-up werewolf story I've ever done, and it was cool to go a little more "traditional" with the paranormal. 

So that's that.  It's very weird...I spend a lot of time feeling unproductive, and then I look at all the books I've written in just the past couple of years and think "I am insane." 

Now for the works in progress, along with that "state of flux" thing I mentioned.  Well, I'm writing away on the rebooted Fallen series, which was supposed to start a couple of years ago with Renegade Angel, except that wound up being a standalone because reasons and also publishing arghhhh.  This is why I drink so much coffee.  It's either that or whiskey.  I'm just glad to be picking these characters up again.  This book is called Sympathy for the Demon, which is the tale of big, sexy ginger angel Phenex.  He plays guitar and slays things.  Sometimes with his guitar.  I lurve him.  I'm scheduled for three books in that series at present, and hopefully there will be another three after that if things go well.  I also have plans for Vlad's story to finish out the Dark Dynasties, and am in the process of figuring out the details on that.

And then?  Well, it's kind of a weird time to be a midlist-y paranormal romance writer.  And by "weird" I mean "difficult and crazy making."  The subgenre is glutted, the market is what editors and agents will call "tight," meaning that it's gotten very difficult to sell anything, and unless one is a NYT bestseller (which sadly, I am not), you kind of live life on the bubble as far as contracts go.  This is all stuff I didn't understand when I was just a starry-eyed newb, but as I've stubbornly stuck around, I've learned.  SO, what does the current market mean for me?  Well, lately it's meant an unpleasant bout of writer's block, but that seems to be easing up.  It also means that a certain amount of reinvention may be in order.

That sounds bad, right?  Don't worry!  I'll still be writing paranormal.  But it looks increasingly like I'll be trying something new as well.  Believe it or not, I'm writing...A CONTEMPORARY.  Yep, it's true, no fangs, fur, or wings.  Surprisingly, I'm having fun with it, especially since I can let my snark run free in a way that's been a little more limited in set-ups where the world is in grave peril.  Which is, actually, why I've been prodded from various quarters to try writing one for years now.  My agent is very excited about what I've done so far.  That makes me smile.  Excited agents are good things.  Now, when and from whom will you see this marvelous new project?  That's in progress.  Details when I've got 'em.  And like I said, there will be a steady stream of Fallen books in the meantime, so I won't be vanishing!  But I realize I've been scarce lately online, and since I have an exceptionally awesome group of readers, I wanted to give you all a peek behind the curtain so you could see some of what's going on around here.  I've had my hair on fire a lot.  I just tend to keep my primal screams off the internet, because...well, it ain't pretty.

So there you have it.  It's...ALIVE!  I hope you all enjoy the things I have coming down the pike, and that some of you will be interested in my adventures in normalcy (the contemporaries) when they happen.  But of course, I have no intention of ever being completely normal.  I'm pretty sure I'm incapable of that. 

Okay, I am now going to head back to my recliner and laptop (because the wireless on the laptop is so craptastic that I am far less tempted to try and wander on the internet instead of working).  Thanks, all of you, for being my readers!  If I could, I would give you all a cookie.