Contests & Guest Posts - Other Humanotica News and Recap

This has been a fast and furious week. Just wanted to take a moment to remind everyone that there are two contests running at the moment where you can win a copy of the first book in the Humanotica series, Silver. Here are the links:

Contests:

At Booked Up Reviews, here's the link to the contest page:

http://www.boookup.blogspot.com/2012/03/blog-tour-part-3-darcy-guest-post.html (ends 3/31/12)


The other contest running is at Ramblings From This Chick, and that can be found at this link:

http://www.ramblingsfromthischick.blogspot.com/2012/03/guest-post-with-author-darcy-abriel-and.html#more (ends 3/29/12)

Review

And I'd like to share with you the latest new review that was just posted at Booked Up for Haevyn, the second book in the Humanotica series.

"This book is 4 star material, a brilliant must-read. I was blown away with the story and the fascinating world Darcy has created. ... I’m hooked; I can’t get enough of this amazing series and hope it’s not too long before we get another addition to it. If you love erotica, adventure, scifi and nail biting drama, you need to try this series. You will not be disappointed." - Booked Up Reviews

Link: http://www.boookup.blogspot.com/2012/03/blog-tour-part-1.html


Read an excerpt and more reviews for Haevyn at: http://www.darcyabriel.com/haevyn.html



Recap of Posts Regarding Backstory for the Humanotica Series

Read the first chapter at: http://dreneebagbypresentsfirstchapters.blogspot.com/2012/03/haevyn-by-darcy-abriel.html

Read my guest post, "Haevyn and the Dreaded Factorium" at: http://www.melissaschroeder.blogspot.com/2012/03/guest-author-darcy-abriel.html

Read about creating the city of Quentopolis on my blog: http://darcysnocturnalwhispers.blogspot.com/2011/12/creating-city-of-quentopolis.html

Read about naming the characters for this story on my blog: http://darcysnocturnalwhispers.blogspot.com/2012/01/haevyn-first-glimpse-and-something.html

Read about an early conversation with Haevyn on my blog: http://darcysnocturnalwhispers.blogspot.com/2011/06/in-speaking-with-haevyn.html

Read my guest post about "Haevyn and Emotional Cost" of living in a world such as Quentopolis.
http://www.boookup.blogspot.com/2012/03/blog-tour-part-2-darcy-guest-post.html

Read my guest post about "Haevyn and the Elite Logical Life Core" at:
http://www.ramblingsfromthischick.blogspot.com/2012/03/guest-post-with-author-darcy-abriel-and.html#more

Thanks!

Darcy

Haevyn Hits the Stands Today! CONTEST Time!

Today I'm blogging. Melissa Schroeder was kind enough, or brave enough, to let me post about my Humanotica world, in celebration of the release of Haevyn today. Stop by and comment and be entered to win either a d/l of Silver, the first book in the Humanotica series, or an autographed copy of the paperback.

On Melissa's blog I'm talking about "Haevyn and the Dreaded Factorium." Please stop by.

http://www.melissaschroeder.blogspot.com/2012/03/guest-author-darcy-abriel.html

Darcy

Haevyn - A first Glimpse, and something about names

I was going to share a bit about the E.L.L.C. - the elite logical life core, this week, but this morning I received the final cover for Haevyn.

Here it is, the cover for my upcoming novel, Haevyn, the second book in the Humanotica series, coming from Samhain Publishing. I've just been given permission to share it. Due to be released in March 2012.

My thanks to Kanaxa, who has done an absolutely fabulous job in capturing the essence of Haevyn with her imagery for this cover.

What's this story about?

Duty and honor demand the ultimate sacrifice.

Everyone has their poison. For Haevyn Breina, it’s her inability to resist a dare. This time it’s a challenge from her friend and lover, Grisha, to sneak into the popular, illegal cage fights that always end in all-male orgies. Eagerly she snaps up the gauntlet, unaware that she will end the night forever changed.

When expatriate humanotic warrior Entreus locks eyes with Haevyn at the sex-fueled event, he is instantly captivated. Despite a duty that binds him to an exiled malevolent sorcerer, he seeks her out in a shattering, illuminating encounter.

Grisha’s plan is in motion—to bring both his warrior lovers together and heal their scarred souls with a combined passion that he alone cannot provide. But Haevyn’s tormented past refuses to die. And Entreus will not rest until the Core that ruined his life is destroyed.

Amid ever-tangling emotions and a brutal plot to take over the city, the three lovers walk a tightrope that could be cut at any moment. Fighting for justice, bound by duty…and a love that could alter the foundations of their world.

Warning: Watch out for oiled-up, naked trinespined warriors battling for top position, feisty tracer females that fit oh-so-snugly in between, and sexy nights that segue into complex relationships. Beware of tebitcheckers wielding those nasty little contulators at illegal, testosterone-drenched cage confrontations.


Something to think about. In naming my characters I often look to name meanings or what I want the name to say about a person. With Entreus, I wanted sort of a gladiatorial sort of name and came up with his name. For Haevyn, it's sort of a play on what she's unconsciously seeking. And with Grisha - well, Grisha is a Russian from of Gregory. And if one looks up the meaning of Gregory, it means "vigilant watchman." I think in many ways this name is appropriate for him.

And those illegal cage confrontations are officially, or unofficially called...Cockrage Events. Man games.

Creating the City of Quentopolis

The mind really does have a way of working in mysterious ways and I have to admit mine works pretty strangely at times. In creating Quentopolis, the city-state at the heart of my Humanotica series, and which sits at rather a rift of time and space, likened perhaps to a worm hole, known as the "Dimensional Borders," I started playing around with some photos I had taken of machinery parts.

Some people do their world building rather more logically perhaps, but I don't think I'm often accused of being logical. And I can't draw for beans. But I do love photography.

The first image I played around with was a close-up of railroad ties. I came up with this first image you see here. What drew my eye first was that little dot in the middle and I tagged it as being the Central Business District of Quentopolis, with the rest of the city spreading out from that nucleus. This is also where the financial district--the Tebit Square Exchangeable would be located. And it is the political seat of the Concilium-Politico Offices.

There is a darkness to this city. This first image looks rather like it came from a science fiction piece doesn't it? Maybe sort of like a timepiece that one wears on the wrist if you look at it just right. The image was founded from what I think of as a steam or steampunk-based image. That's sort of what this series tends to be--scifantasy--erotic scifantasy.

I played some more, with another image this time. I think this one came from a wheel of an old steam engine, but I can't remember. In this image I started to see the main quadrants of Quentopolis. There is the central quadrant at the center of the intersecting four other districts of the city. Then we have the Waterfront District, or Moondown Water District to the right or east, which includes the factory and workhouses, the wharves, where the working class reside. To the opposite side of the central business district, on the left or west, is the Elite District, a total opposite to the Moondown District, as noted by its name, and above the Central district to the north is the Midlands District, a relatively uninhabited, mountainous region. To the northeast of the Midlands District is where the Dimensional Borders and the transit stations are located. Extasia, an isolated district, is where the official home of the Dominatae nobility is located. That would be on the other side of a range of mountains at the northern borders of the Midlands District.

Creating this world isn't a simple process, and does have a way of continuing to morph and change as I discover more about the city and its inhabitants, and it's architecture. But this is how it started as I tried to visualize the layout of the city and who might live there.

I moved from this to actually creating a rough map with a software program, and if you're curious, you can find it at the Humanotica website.

Silver, the first book in the Humanotica series, is available at Samhain Publishing, or any other retailer of fine books. Haevyn, the second book in the series is schedule for release in early 2012.

And currently I now need to return to working on the third book in the series, tentatively titled, "Kestra." The outline is underway and I'm excited to find out what new surprises and adventures the characters have in store.

Dominoes - No, not the pizza company...

I was reading a totally unrelated research book the other day and there it was. I had a moment of epiphany or revelation regarding the third story in the Humanotica series, and suddenly it was like a row of dominoes, where you tip the first one and it starts a chain reaction. I get so excited when that happens.

It gives you this ahhh feeling, or maybe it's more of an ohhh sort of excitement. And you just lets the images keep flowing, trying to transcribe, jot them down, so you can remember for later. I stuff them into the folder, because really, I'm working on line edits for Haevyn right now and I can't get distracted by Kestra, although she's really looking for attention, but anyway. And let me just tell you, the cover for Haevyn is looking awesome. I've gotten a quick first glimpse of it. I'm so excited.

But rolling with the ideas, and letting a plot and the characters sort of marinate, and then, all of a sudden, one things leads to another, and to another, and suddenly the story and characters come to life, they begin to move, to relate, to dimensionalize.

I could say more about Kestra, but not right now. I'm going to reset those dominoes and let's see what else happens. A new pattern may just cause a chain reaction in a a whole other way I never even thought of. That's usually the way these things happen. And that's what I love above creating story. God, it's exciting!

In speaking with Haevyn...

I'm working my way through the almost final draft of a WIP that's been making me crazy. I've been having conversations with three of the characters. So, there's Haevyn, who's in a newly-formed special branch of the Regulate military. A very special branch. She's secretive, she has been from the start. She won't even talk to me, the person who's transcribing her story.

"Why him, Haevyn? What is it about him that keeps you coming back?" I take a bite out of the double cheeseburger.

There's a look in her eye, I can feel those secrets there, hiding, cringing in the corner, in the shadows. Her whole demeanor goes still, almost like a statue. I bet she learned that stance when she was in training. But then she slides a glance toward me.

"Do you mean, Grisha?"

"Yes, him," I say, then take a sip of the coke. Mind you, I was having this discussion in a McDonald's at Walmart's. Call me crazy, but she finally opened up about Grisha. Why here, why now, in the middle of a freaking fast-food place, I have no idea. But, hey, I'm going with it. I rummage for the notebook, the pen, I'm ready. "He's just a simple fisherman, really has nothing in common with you."

I see a curl of the lip, but in contrast there's a sheen of tears in her eyes, and she gets that far away look. Whatever memory it is, this seems to be one of the good ones. "He makes me laugh. He makes me...safe."

"Safe?" I ask as I dip the tip of a really salty french fry into the cup of catsup and pop it into my mouth.

A tear rolls down her face. "I've known Grisha since we were school friends. He was there at the most embarrassing moments of my life. He was there...before."

"But he doesn't know everything about you, does he?" I offer her a napkin, which she refuses, lifting her chin, a rather stubborn, set look to her face. The cheeseburger is starting to taste like dust. I so feel for this woman. I have to keep digging because there are so many layers to her.

"He knows enough. I don't need him to know more. He makes me laugh, he makes me feel safe. And in Quentopolis, that's a damned hard thing to do."

"And the other one?" I can't help asking.

"The other one?" For a moment she seems confused and then a look of understanding comes into her eyes. The tears dry and now I see something different. A fire simmering just below the surface. "You mean the warrior...from cockrage. I only met him the other night."

"Yes, but, that was quite a meeting wasn't it? Does he make you laugh?"

A look hinting at different secrets comes into her face, the heaviness of expression, the sensuality is almost tangible. Something darker here, burning in her gut. "He's a warrior, he's seen battle, he knows. And my goddess, to see him fight, to watch him take a man." She releases a shuddering breath.

Is it hot in here or what? I hunt around for the fire extinguishers. I clear my throat. Okay. Keep the conversation going. "What does he know?"

"The secrets. He's been to the abyss. He understands the darkness, the danger. He understands the primal rage that tries to consume you. He's felt it, he's been there."

Ahh, now I'm beginning to understand. These two men are very different indeed. Hmm, wonder how this will all work out for Haevyn?

But, boy, am I glad she finally opened up about the men in her life. Damn, she's been close-mouthed.

Of course, there is that other dude who needs to open up more. Jericah thinks he's too high and mighty to speak with this writer. If he's such a damned powerful sorcerer, how'd he get stuck in such a predicament anyway? In your face, pal, start talking. He's going to have to talk to me one way or the other. I get them all to reveal...eventually. I'm darned tenacious about that. I've got some ideas about his secrets. We'll see how right I am.

In the meantime, I've got to get the groceries. After all, that's really what I'm supposed to be here for.