Category Archives: Novels

Magic, Monsters, and Myth Storybundle

By Bundle, Dayle A. Dermatis, Novels, Romance, Soul's Road Press, Young Adult

The Magic, Monsters, and Myth Storybundle has a wonderful variety of work, and as curator Kristine Kathryn Rusch says, “…this bundle is all about the sparkle. Sometimes the sparkle is magic. Sometimes it’s a made-up world. Sometimes it’s love.”

When she first approached me about putting Beautiful Beast in this bundle, I warned her that there was no fantasy in it. It’s inspired by a fairy tale, but it’s contemporary YA. She didn’t care, and ended up renaming the bundle because of the variety of subgenres she was including.

I then asked her (and Jason, who runs Storybundle) if they’d like an issue of Uncollected Anthology, and they said yes. The UA cooperative agreed that our latest issue, Deities, would be perfect. So you’ll find a story from me in there as well: “Shattered, Scattered, and Saved.”

Additionally, WMG Publishing included Fiction River: Tavern Tales, which I also have a story in: “Girls That Glitter,” a Nikki Ashburne story.

If you pay $5 or more, you get five books, and if you pay $15 or more, you get twelve. A pretty damn good deal! This will be going on for only three weeks, so don’t miss out.

Once again, the charity you can donate to when you buy the bundle, is AbleGamers. As I said about the most recent Storybundle I was in, gamers with disabilities already need equipment tailored to their needs, and now, those that weren’t already housebound are stuck at home. We read for escape, and we also game for escape. Let’s let everyone have their chance!

For more information, go to Storybundle.com. You probably know the drill by now.  😉

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I’m able to continue writing and publishing thanks to my wonderful supporters on Patreon.

Have some music with your ghosts

By Dayle A. Dermatis, Fantasy/SF, Novels, Soul's Road Press, , , ,

I don’t make playlists for all my novels. Some just don’t seem to need them. Or I just find myself wanting to listen to one song, which gets me in the mood for a particular novel or story.

Other novels demand them. Once while listening to Florence + the Machine’s Ceremonials, I thought, Woah, this song perfectly fits that gothic I’m planning to write! Wait, this one does too. And this one! In the end, I realized the album is the soundtrack to the novel (along with some Welsh music and a few other songs). (That novel, With Soft Whispers Laden, is on the To Do list, but not before Shaded and Spectered, the next two Nikki Ashburn books.)

But I’m here to talk about music and Ghosted.

Ghosted is set in Hollywood and nearby environs, an area saturated in music throughout its history. Recording studios, concert venues, the sunset over the gleaming blue Pacific providing inspiration…. So the playlist for the novel is full of California songs, as well as ghost songs and…well, just check it out. Maybe listen to some of the songs while you’re reading the book?

And if Ghosted makes you think of any other songs, let me know!

Ghosted Playlist

California Dreamin’ – Shaw/Blades
Caroline – Concrete Blonde
Celluloid Heroes – Blackmore’s Night
City of the Angels – Gowan
Come To Be My Friend – Shaw/Blades
Estonia – Marillion
Free Fallin’ – Tom Petty
Going to California – Led Zeppelin
Haunted – Evanescence
Hello (Turn Your Radio On) – Shakespear’s Sister
Lonely in Your Nightmare – Duran Duran
Nothing Compares 2 U – Sinéad O’Connor
Our Farewell – Within Temptation
Relax – Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Road to Dead – Paula Cole
Say Hello, Wave Goodbye – Soft Cell
The Smile Has Left Your Eyes – Asia
Stay – Shakespear’s Sister
Ventura Highway – America
Walking on Broken Glass – Annie Lennox
Watching You Without Me – Kate Bush
Welcome to the Jungle – Guns N’ Roses
Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses – U2
Why – Annie Lennox

And a reminder: if you’ve been waffling about getting the Sorcery & Steam bundle containing Ghosted and nine more fantasy books by amazing women writers, the offer is ending very soon. Help our project go out with a bang, and while you’re at it, help support our charity, AbleGamers.

Click here for more info!

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Sorcery, steampunk, ghosts, and magic

By Bundle, Dayle A. Dermatis, Fantasy/SF, Novels, Soul's Road Press

My new urban fantasy novel Ghosted is not yet available in stores, but it is available in this amazing bundle! I’m overwhelmed to be included in a bundle with these incredible authors.

Here’s the deal: You pay how much you want for the first four books. If you pay $15 or more, you get a bonus of six more books, including mine. That’s a steal.

You can also choose how much goes to the authors and how much to a wonderful charity, AbleGamers.

From Curator Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Sorcery. Steam. Ghosts. A touch of romance. Mythic creatures. Some truly violent bad guys. And one little black cat.

We have everything in this bundle that a fantasy reader could want.

Including magic.

We have magic in all forms, from the magic that gods use when they come to Earth to magic that a familiar inspires when she helps a man with limited ability keep his spells fresh. We have vampires and werewolves. We have parasols and tea and lovely chocolates. We have FBI agents facing killers and assassins who can kill with a blink.

A fantastic story for every mood, and steampunk. Not enough to call this a steampunk bundle, but enough that we could add “steam” to our subtitle. (We can also add “steam” for another reason. One or two of these books have steamy scenes, that have nothing to do with engines and everything to do with heat between humans.)

We also have new releases in this bundle. Usually writers contribute the first books in a series or a book that fits the theme but has been published for a long time. Four writers—Dayle A. Dermatis, Catherine Banks, Michelle Fox, and me—decided to put their most recent book in the bundle. In fact, Catherine and Michelle have contributed books exclusive to StoryBundle. You can’t get those books anywhere else!

(Note: This bundle offer ends on March 15, so you have a limited time to grab it.)

The Books and Authors

  • Alchemy and Steam (anthology)
  • Blood and Magic, Ann Gimpel
  • Poison or Protect, Gail Carriger
  • Familiarity, Kristine Kathryn Rusch
  • Rare Stakes, Michelle Fox
  • For Love or Vengeance, Caridad Pineiro
  • Ghosted, Dayle A. Dermatis
  • Specters in the Storm, Pauline Baird Jones
  • Valkyrie’s Vengeance & Hunger Moon (Ragnarok: Doom of the Gods 1-2), Melissa Snark
  • Alys of Asgard, Catherine Banks

How do you get your mitts on all these ebooks. Click right here to go directly to the bundle’s page!

About Ghosted

After former party girl Nikki Ashburne accidentally overdoses and briefly died, she wakes up able to see ghosts.

A good thing, because she lost all her other friends in the process. Now she runs ghosts tours of Los Angeles with her spirit-friends’ help.

So when someone starts exorcising the ghosts of Hollywood, Nikki scrambles to find the perpetrator before her livelihood—and her only friends—vanish forever.

Come for the ghosts. Stay for the snark.

Just keep your mitts off Nikki’s friends.

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Let’s take a ghostly Ghosted tour!

By Dayle A. Dermatis, Fantasy/SF, Novels, Soul's Road Press

I thought it would be fun to pull together some information about a few of the locations in Ghosted. Enjoy!

Views of tombs in Hollywood Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

Hollywood Forever Cemetery

I love old cemeteries, and even though the Hollywood Forever isn’t the moss-encroached, ancient graveyards of Britain (where I’ve spent much happy times wandering about), it’s got a rich history and is wonderfully quirky. Not to mention being one of the most iconic cemeteries in the world, with a star-studded cast of permanent residents.

I mean, I’m writing a series about a woman who sees ghosts, and where are ghosts but at a cemetery? Except, maybe not in the way you think. Aaron Schwabach, for example. He’s not nearly famous enough to be buried there…

Los Altos Hotel

Fans of Buffy and Angel will recognize this as Angel’s Hyperion Hotel, which was featured in many episodes. I’ve never been inside (it’s an apartment building now), but there’s a wonderful courtyard just outside the front door, with a rectangular fountain that’s featured in the book.

Built in 1925, it was the home to many famous people of the time. It fell into disrepair, then was revived in the 1980s. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. A place with a history like that just has to be haunted, doesn’t it? With ghosts from various decades? That’s why it became my model for the Ballington Hotel in Ghosted.

Roosevelt Hotel

The Roosevelt Hotel is one of the surviving Art Deco hotels in Los Angeles, and although it’s not much to look at from the outside, the interior is gorgeous, especially the Spanish Colonial-style lobby. I’ve attended a couple of shows in the Cinegrill bar, where part of The Fabulous Baker Boys was filmed. You know, that scene with Michelle Pfeiffer on the piano.

Allegedly, the ghost of Marilyn Monroe haunts the Roosevelt. Or is it Marilyn…? You’ll have to read Ghosted to find out what my answer is.

Santa Monica Pier

When I lived in Southern California, the best route to LAX from home was down PCH—Pacific Coast Highway, aka Highway 1. It’s an amazingly gorgeous drive, and one I’ve spotted in commercials and TV shows. Once, was delayed because they were filming something along the stretch near Mugu Rock in Ventura County. Speaking of Mugu Rock, I can’t remember which Iron Man movie it was in, but Tony Stark leaves his mansion in Malibu intending to head into LA, and then we see him blasting north past Mugu Rock. I fell out of my seat in the theater laughing. Um, no…that’s a hell of a useless detour!

Anyway. Driving to LAX, it was always a thrill to see the Santa Monica Pier, which has been featured in movies, TV shows, music videos…. In Ghosted, Nikki rides the iconic roller coaster. Ever wonder why there’s always one seat nobody sits in? Nikki knows.

I lived in Southern California for about 20 years, and other sites in Ghosted (and Nikki short stories, and future books) are ones I’ve visited, wandered about in, and experienced. If you have questions about other places in the book, let me know!

Aaaand remember, if you haven’t picked up the Sorcery & Steam bundle that contains Ghosted, it’s around only until March 15. $15 for 10 books, including two exclusive to the bundle. I’m overwhelmed to be in the company of these authors!

(Photo sources: Hollywood Forever, © Alessandro Campagnolo | Bigstock; Los Altos Hotel, Wikimedia Commons; Roosevelt Hotel, Jason Chang via Wikimedia Commons; Santa Monica Pier, Evasion Photography via Wikimedia Commons)

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Explore the universes between…

By Bundle, Dayle A. Dermatis, Novels, Romance, Soul's Road Press,

As I’ve said before (probably enough time that your eyes are starting to roll into the back of your head), I love portal fantasy. I love doorways, garden gates, secret passages, moss-covered stone steps curving away into the mist, you name it. I think it’s about the potential for magic. What special secret thing awaits, just out of sight? Come with me, take my hand and we’ll go find out…

I love portal fantasy so much that I’m editing a volume of it for Fiction River. I can’t say much until the contracts are signed, but the lineup of authors is stupendous! I’ve just figured out my own story—I just need to find the time to write it!

To keep me (and you) satisfied until then, check out the Universe Between bundle from Storybundle. If I wasn’t in this bundle, I’d be making grabby-hands at it. (I still made grabby hands at it. The bonus was that I got a free download for having a novel in the bundle. Mine!) Some of my favorite authors are in this bundle: Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Annie Reed, Leslie Claire Walker, T. Thorn Coyle… (I had the pleasure of copyediting both Leslie’s and Claire’s novels, so I can attest to their marvelousness.)

Here’s the deal: for $5, you get four novels, including mine. For $15, you get five more novels and an anthology of “between” stories. Plus, you can choose to give a portion of the money to an amazing charity, Able Gamers, which helps people with disabilities enjoy the imaginary worlds of video games.

My novel, What Beck’ning Ghost, is an atmospheric gothic romance.

For more information, and to purchase this bundle, visit Storybundle.

But do it soon…this will be available only for eight more days!

If you’d like to get this sort of information—and more!—directly in your In Box each month, you can sign up for my newsletter. Each issue has publication news about stories, collections, novels, and other fun stuff. BONUS: you get a free short story every month! What are you waiting for? Subscribe today!

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Love, in Stitches by Sophie Mouette is HERE!

By Author, Little Kisses Press, Novels, Romance, Sophie Mouette

I’m delighted to announce that, after much love and toil and many phone calls, Sophie Mouette’s new novel, Love, in Stitches, is finally here!

Love, in Stitches is the second book in the Hollywood Spice series, following Out of the Frying Pan. But you could conceivably read Love, in Stitches first if you really wanted to—the heroine is the best friend of the heroine in the previous book, but the events aren’t linked in such a way that the order is important.

What’s important is that it’s here! And it has a gorgeous cover! And it’s a funny and sexy romance between a fashion designer (who moonlights making pretty clothes for closet crossdressers) and a movie producer/writer who looks like a pirate.

Luanna Deveneax dreams of designing couture fashion. But when she loyally refuses to tell her employer about her side job—secretly sewing custom women’s clothing for high-powered LA crossdressers—her high fashion dreams flush right down the toilet.

With his rakish grin, dark, flashing eyes, and tiny gold hoop earring, producer and writer Derek Acosta looks like a sexy pirate. He kisses Luanna’s hand, making her weak in the knees…and offers her a job designing costumes for his first movie.

Far from her dream job—and you know what they say about mixing business with pleasure. But in the wild world of Hollywood, dreams come true in the most unexpected ways.

Sophie Mouette expertly weaves a seductive tale of desire, dresses, and delightful romance in Love, in Stitches, the second novel in the steamy and wacky Hollywood Spice series.

Ebook: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks | Smashwords
Print: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

And if you haven’t already, you might also want to pick up Out of the Frying Pan…

Ebook: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks | Smashwords
Print: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Powells

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Run away with the Escapist Bundle!

By Bundle, Dayle A. Dermatis, Fantasy/SF, Mystery/Thriller, Novels, Soul's Road Press,

I feel like a kind of lame writer right now because I’m running out of ways to say I’m delighted, happy, chuffed, squeeing, running around the house without pants on flailing my hands about some piece of good news.

I am all of those things over the fact that I’ve been invited into to participate in Storybundle’s Escapist Bundle.

This bundle is based around the Fiction River anthology Recycled Pulp. The stories in the anthology (which is included in the bundle) were all inspired by pulp-like titles, but none of the stories are pulp. They run the gamut of genres, and they’re all unusual and a great read.

The authors in the anthology were asked to include a longer work of fiction that related to our short story. That was tough for me, because my story, “The Imperfect Otter Empire,” is a odd but touching story about a woman watching the otters at the Santa Barbara Zoo (and then Stuff Happens). I don’t have any novels quite like that.

So I suggested Waking the Witch, a gothic mystery with a hint of romance, and the bundle coordinator was on board with that. I think it makes sense. You tell me after you’ve read the story and the novel, okay?

Of the novels and collections in the bundle, I’ve read a few, and they’re marvelous. I’ve read at least something by every author in the bundle, and I’ve loved their work, so I’m pretty confident it’s all wonderful.

This bundle is available for only three weeks, so hop on board now, while you can. You can get any ebook format, worldwide.

For a mere $5 (less than $1/book), you get…

  • Waking the Witch
  • Recycled Pulp
  • Isabel’s Tears by Lisa Silverthorne, a novel about a magical inn
  • The Pale Waters by Kelly Washington, the first novella in a four-part epic journey
  • Hot Waters by Erica Lyon, a steamy sea adventure novel

For $14, you get a bunch of bonus reading material:

  • Rebecca Senese’s ten-story science fiction collection Tales of Possibilities
  • Thomas K. Carpenter’s Revolutionary Magic, a historical fantasy and the first in the Dashkova Memoirs
  • Annie Reed’s A Death in Cumberland, a moody police procedural
  • Nebula Award finalist Cat Rambo’s Neither Here Nor There, a double collection of alt-world and real world fantasy stories
  • New York Times bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s The War and After, five historical fantasy stories of magic and revenge
  • USA Today bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith’s The Slots of Saturn, the origin story for his fan-favorite superhero Poker Boy.

You can pay more, of course, if you think 20 novels/novellas/collections are worth more than $14 (seriously, just round it up to $20, why don’tcha?)—and you can choose how much of that gets donated to the charity SMART (Start Making a Reader Today), which promotes the love of reading for children in Oregon. That is a charity I can get behind one hundred percent.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to run around the house without pants on flailing my hands, then curl up and read some seriously good fiction. I hope you do, too. The reading seriously good fiction in the bundle part. But feel free to run around the house without pants on flailing your hands too.

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Possessed, Undressed, and in a Mess

By Little Kisses Press, Novels, Romance, Sophie Mouette

Possessed, Undressed, and in a Mess sounds like the story of my life sometimes, but in fact it’s a brand new novel from my pen name Sophie Mouette (which is myself and the glorious Teresa Noelle Roberts).

I love this novel. There were times when one or both of us hated this novel, because it went through a lot of changes over the years (yes, years) as we worked on it on and off. We started it back when we wrote for Black Lace and Cheek, completely changing the tone of it a our editor’s request, and then the lines folded, and we had this idea that we loved, but weren’t sure what to do with.

We got busy with other projects, came back to it, tore it apart, threw out a bunch of stuff, and moved forward. Had long phone conversations about tone (is it erotica? erotic romance? spicy romance? We decided on spicy romance.) and the heart of the mystery (as usual, we started the book by adding way too many plot elements). Finished it, sent it to beta readers, got great comments that made us go back and tear some sections apart again.

But my favorite part was very early on in the process, during a phone call where we were bouncing ideas back and forth. I said something, Teresa built on that, I built on that, etc., until suddenly I felt an actual chill come over me as this crazy, different, no-idea-where-it-was-coming-from thought burst into my brain like a firework going off. And I said it out loud, and Teresa actually gasped, and said, “Oh, yes!” and we both laughed and laughed. I never would have come up with the idea if it hadn’t been for the back-and-forth brainstorming that lead to it. The meeting of creative minds. It’s what makes collaboration worth its weight in gold.

(No, I’m not going to say what the idea was. You’ll have to read the book, and see if you can figure it out.  😉  )

And without further ado, the book!

PUM cover webA séance gone wildly wrong leaves hotelier Angela Georgenes sharing her body with a randy Victorian ghost. Someone’s after a treasure allegedly hidden in the hotel and the ghost wants to tell Angela—but can only communicate when Angela’s on the verge of orgasm.

Talk about awkward.

Angela—and the ghost—are both hot for new handyman Tyler Woodruff, but is he a knight in a shining pickup or the thief? In truth, he is there under false pretenses: he’s a fortune hunter who liberates unappreciated artifacts. Distracted by Angela’s wicked imagination and uninhibited bedroom antics, he doesn’t want to fall in love with her any more than she does with him.

But admitting their true feelings is the only way the ghost can reveal the nature of the treasure—and the real threat.

It’s got some spicy scenes—fairly conventional ones for romance, I’d say—but the focus is on the romance and mystery. And it’s funny. Did I mention it’s funny?

Available in print at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and soon at other venues such as Powells and Bank of Books.

Available at many online retailers:
Kindle  |  Nook  |  Kobo  |  Smashwords

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Book signing!

By Andrea Dale, Appearances, Dayle Ivy, Erotica, Novels

I will be participating in a big honking romance writers book signing on Sunday, March 17, as part of the California Dreamin’ Romance Writers Conference. Lots of amazing writers will be there; I don’t have a list of who-all signing, but I promise it’s going to be stellar!

The deets:

Date: Sunday, March 17, 2013
Time: 1-2:30 pm (bookstore opens at 12:30 for anyone who wants to start browsing early)
Where: Doubletree Hotel in Santa Ana, CA

I’m definitely signing Waking the Witch (gothic novel by Dayle Ivy) and “Braceleted” (erotic romance by Andrea Dale), and I hope to have several other books there as well. (Let me know ahead of time if there’s a title you’d like, and I’ll make sure to have it there for you!)

Hope to see you there! xo

Who am I today?

By Andrea Dale, Bibliography, Dayle A. Dermatis, Erotica, Fantasy/SF, Novels, Romance, Sarah Dale, Sophie Mouette

This question has come up in different forms: Why do I have so many pseudonyms? How do I find your non-erotic stuff/how do I tell the difference between your erotica vs non-erotic works?

Here’s a handy reference guide!

I have different pseudonyms because I write in different genres. It’s to help my readers easily find what they’re interested in. I also try very hard to be clear when I’m promoting something, what genre it’s in. If I say fantasy, I mean fantasy, not erotica. And so forth.

Dayle A. Dermatis – fantasy, science fiction, occasional non-fiction. I did sell one short, sweet romance story under this name, but it appeared in small presses a long time ago. When I put it up for sale as an e-book soon, I’ll use my sweet romance pseudonym (and if anyone is confused and buys the story and then realizes they’ve already read it, I’ll happily refund their money because if they’ve been a fan of mine for that long, they totally deserve it!).

Andrea Dale – erotica and erotic romance

Sophie Mouette – erotica and erotic romance co-authored with Teresa Noelle Roberts

Sarah Dale – spicy romance co-authored by with Sarah J. Husch

Kendra Wayne – erotica and erotic romance. An alternate name for Andrea Dale, really, for when I’m going to have two stories in the same anthology. Also the name I write under for Custom Erotica Source.

Andrea Loewen – romance, some with paranormal elements. There may be some sexual scenes, but if there are, they’re not full-on erotic. I haven’t yet sold anything under this name, but I have several things making the rounds.

All of my publications are listed on my Bibliography page, divided up by pseudonym with the genre noted.

Questions? Comments? Fire away!