Cherished Blog Tour and Giveaway!

I am so happy to be part of this blog tour for Cherished today!

Cherished is the second novella in the Mystic Wolves series by Belinda Boring aka The Bookish Snob.

Today I have a lovely guest post from Belinda about how she created the Mystic Wolves novellas:

I Dreamed A Dream – The Creation of the Mystic Wolves

Ever gone to bed one night and woken up so caught up in a dream, you’re almost positive it’s real? I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve woken up to slap my husband! He tries to reason with me and then rolls back over to proceed snoring. Thank goodness I love him, right?

I remember waking up one morning on the verge of hysterics. The most gut wrenching agony filled me and I thought my heart would break. All I remember was a gun and trying desperately to save someone. Nothing I did made a difference and the grief from the moment nearly crushed me. I texted my BFF, telling her about this horrible dream and how I just couldn’t shake how I was feeling. Her advice? “Write it out, Bel.” So I closed my eyes and started typing. From those feelings the Mystic Wolves was created.

If I could say what type of supernatural gal I am, I’d say hands down I love vampires! There’s something incredibly sexy about a man with fangs, all that danger and mystery just thrumming through him. So as I began writing and I needed to decide the “who” of my dream, I knew they weren’t human. Don’t get me wrong, I’m human (GO TEAM!) but reading paranormal romance is addictive so it was an easy assumption my characters would be some kind of creature. The vamp girl in me naturally leaned towards this story being about vampires but wait… Darcy had other plans – she was a werewolf and there was NO WAY she was going to be a blood drinking heroine. No worries, right? This opened up a whole different direction – one filled with delicious Alpha males and as I pictured Mason, I’ll admit I got chills. Werewolves it was and I didn’t look back!

Did you know that the Mystic Wolves was only meant to be a short story in an anthology? Yep, just one powerful scene that revolved around a dream theme. When I finished Without Mercy, it stood at 9,000 words and I was in love. Not wanting to wait, I released it one morning… SURPRISE… and the support I received back was amazing! The whole day was spent in a giddy fog as people embraced Darcy and begged for more. That’s when my BFF came forward again, “Bel, you should make this a series. Every 4-6 weeks release the next installment as small novellas.” My response? “Oooh I love it. Let’s see what happens.”

One thing I hear a lot about is that Without Mercy and Cherished are short. I hear you and it’s for a reason. No, I’m not being the mean author, although I do feel the urge to MWAHAHAHA every now and then. As a reader, one of the things I dislike the most is the LOOOOONG wait for my next fix in a favorite series. I know I’m not the only one either. By setting the Mystic Wolves up in monthly installments, I’m hoping people will enjoy getting little pieces at a time. Having something to look forward to that doesn’t require an act of sainthood patience.

I will promise you this; each installment is dictated by the characters. Depending on the story they want to share, each novella will vary in length. Right now, as Mason, Darcy and Devlin are whispering, Blood Oath will come close to 30,000 words. I know, not the full length novel but it’ll definitely be worth the read. The Mystic Wolves have a lot to share with everyone, lots of drama and emotion. But most all, you’ll find a lot of heart and swoon so thank you for reading and I hope you continue to enjoy the series!

Thank you so much for sharing that with us Belinda, Remember to check out my reviews of Without Mercy and Cherished.

And also to stop by Book Savvy Babe tomorrow for the next stop on the tour.

I am also giving away an e-copy of Cherished to one lucky winner! All you have to do is FILL OUT THIS FORM! Giveaway is open from today 2/10/11 till 9/10/11!