**UPDATE*** I tried to fix the LJ cut on this entry and LJ ended up eating the entire post :( 
If you commented before, please comment again so that I may reply to you. LJ apparently had too much of my cyber-champagne, lol.


Yes, as the title of the post says, I have amazing news. Amazing to me, anyway :)

 

 

There will now be books six and seven in the Night Huntress series featuring Cat and Bones, AND two "Night Huntress World" stand-alone books featuring side characters as the main protagonists.

 

"Night Huntress World" book one will feature Spade (a.k.a. Charles), as the main character, and "Night Huntress World" book two will feature Mencheres as the main character.

 

I am beyond excited, because I've wanted to do more books with Cat and Bones, plus get a chance to do full-length books about some of the secondary characters in the series. Spade and Mencheres have been yelling the loudest at me to get their stories told, so they won ;). Yes, these stand-alone books will have the same urban fantasy romance blend that's in the Night Huntress series. I can't say more, because the events in AT GRAVE'S END shake some things up - as you'll see in December - so if I told you hints about the plot for these two books, it would spoiler.

 

 

I also just accepted a deal to be in a new anthology set to release July/August next year from Avon. The theme of my short story is supposed to revolve around the devil or demons. It may be a Cat and Bones story, it may not. I haven't decided yet.

 

So, that's four new novels and an anthology *faints*. I am thrilled (and a little stunned) at this new opportunity. I've been pinching myself all weekend while the final details were being hammered out.

 

*pops cork* Cyber-champagne for everyone!!!

 

 

For anyone interested, here is the breakdown of how the deal happened...

 

When I signed with Nancy Yost in July, the first thing Nancy did was talk to me about my career goals and aspirations. I told Nancy it was my dream to write full time (while not going into bankruptcy, lol). I had some YA proposals to show her. Nancy asked if the YA market was where I wanted to shift my career, because in her opinion, I should solidify myself more in one market before branching off to another one. I explained that no, adult fiction was my main focus, but per my contract, I couldn't sell any new books in the adult market until late 2009. Nancy asked what I would want to do if I had no contract limitations. I told her I'd want to write stand-alone novels featuring side characters from my Night Huntress series as the main protagonists. Nancy said, "Let me see what I can do."

 

After having lunch with Erika, my editor, Nancy got back to me and said that Erika was very open to talking about side books for my series. I asked Nancy if I should write one of the 'side character' books for submission later. One of the things I'd previously been told is that it was harder to sell on proposal, because editors liked to see the finished product first. Nancy's reply was that my editor already knew I could write, so why write an entire book if it turned out Erika didn't like the plot/characters I'd picked? Then I would have wasted time. Nancy told me to just do a proposal outlining my ideas for two books, because that's all my publisher would need to decide if they were interested.

 

I wrote the proposals. Nancy reviewed and helped me tweak them. RWA slowed things down, plus my editor went on vacation, so the proposals sat for two weeks before Nancy could submit them. The second week of August, they were sent to my editor. Erika gave them a thumbs up and sent them onward for approval, except the person who had the final say was also on vacation (August is a big month for vacations in publishing). I bit my nails and waited. Thursday last week, the yes came down from the higher-ups, with an added bonus I hadn't been expecting - two more books in the Night Huntress series as well! And an anthology story! After another day or so of negotiating, where Nancy was able to get me added perks to the contract, I formally said yes.

 

This new deal has allowed me to realize my dream: after the first of the year, I'll be writing full-time (for you industry folks, the deal is in the "good" deal category on Publishers Marketplace, just a little off from the next level of "significant").  I'll need the extra time off from the day job, too, since I'll be holding to a pretty busy deadline schedule. Still, you won't see me complaining. I've been given an incredible opportunity and I'm going to put my all into making it the best I can!