POSTED FOR TONI V. SWEENEY:
One thing about writing about a dynasty, it covers a lot of territory and a whole lot of people…centuries of events…millennia of generations… I took the easy way out. I decided to write about the beginning and the end of a dynasty, leaving out the middle—the rule of the kan Ingans of the Emeraunt Galaxy.
The Arcanian Chronicles series is divided into two parts: The Narrative of Riven the Heretic, consisting of seven novels) and The kan Ingan Archives (eight novels), telling of their rise to power and the inglorious end thirty-one hundred years later. The series didn’t start out that way, but, as usual with characters with which I have more than one dealing, familiarity bred contempt—and Aric kan Ingan and his Black Shield friends yanked the book out of my hot little hands, and, in their superiorly militant way, took over. If they’d let me handle things, the story might have ended differently; then again, knowing my penchant for Unhappily-Ever-After endings, it might have been worse!
As it stands now…
Family sagas are a lot of work because you have to keep track not only of the characters’ names and physical appearances, but also of their ages, especially if each novel encompasses a number of years. Sometimes it’s easier to make a tangible chart, a family tree or spreadsheet with all the relationships, ages, etc., so it can be referred to from time to time. In Sinner, the main character, Aric, goes from age twenty to thirty; the second novel opens ten years later and covers five years of his life. In the third novel, at the age of 46, Aric returns to his home. In the last novel, he’s in his 70’s, older perhaps not much wiser, but once again making a new start.
So…
What is all this leading to? To the promo for my new book. Sinner, the story of a man who falls in love with the wrong woman. (Don’t they all?) A man who was destined to be the most powerful person in the galaxy until Cupid skewered him with one of those little darts. A man accused of committing a crime and unable to prove himself innocent because to do so would reveal he’s committed an ever greater one. It’s got plenty of love, sex, and violence. A real winner!
Check it out.
Blurb:
Aric kan Ingan had it all.
Pampered and spoiled, he was groomed since the age of twelve to be heir to the throne of Arcanis…until his uncle surprised everyone by falling in love with an Earthwoman.
Elizabeth Sheffield wanted it all.
Headstrong and beautiful, she’d never met a man she couldn’t wrap around her little finger…until she met Aric.
The vengeful former heir and the margrave’s bride are instant enemies, trading insults and threats, until the unexpected happens: They fall in love.
While Aric and Elizabeth engage in their illicit affair, other forces in the kingdom gather for the more sinister purpose of rebellion and murder…
…with Aric as the not-so-innocent pawn.
EXCERPT:
On the fourth floor, outside the hallway leading to the royal apartments, Kozlu waited for him. The old man looked him up and down disapprovingly, staring at his travel-dusty clothes.
“You couldn’t take time to change?”
“Why should I? I’m only going to see my uncle.” His tone bordered on disrespect for the man who’d been his tutor as he’d been the margrave’s.
“Aric, it’s more than that and you know it.” Kozlu’s reply held the knowledge he was speaking to someone who had no intention of listening. He started up the stairs, not looking to see if Aric followed.
So it’s like that, is it? Already dispensing with respect since I’m no longer the heir.
“I suppose you want me to return to my rooms and dress in my most formal uniform, complete with metals and insigne, before I meet the creature?” He saw Kozlu’s face darken. “Why don’t I go back to the barracks and rout all the Black Shields, and have them mount a dress parade in the courtyard?”
“Lower your voice.” Kozlu nodded toward the guards on the landing below.
Realizing how close he was to letting his anger take over, Aric took a deep breath.
“You’ve been drinking, haven’t you?” Kozlu frowned.
“As much as possible,” he admitted. “It seemed the most appropriate thing to do.”
“You’d best calm yourself a little,” the elder suggestion. “You look as if you could kill.”
“If I thought I could get away with it, I might,” he muttered. As Kozlu looked around at him sharply, he said hastily, “Don’t worry. I’ll behave myself.”
They started climbing again.
“You may as well accept what’s happened,” Kozlu went on. “The council has.”
“The council isn’t losing anything.” Aric’s answer was sullen. “I was taken from my mother to be my uncle’s heir. For eight years, it’s been drilled into me how Arcanis will someday be mine, and now…to lose it to some mongrel Milky?” He shook his head. “I thought my uncle had more pride in our family. Even someone from one of the other planets—Gataeus, Scylla, even Nereis—would be better than a near-barbarian.”
“I think it’s you who’ve too much pride, Aric,” the old man answered quietly. “Someday, you’ll find yourself in the dust because of it.”
Aric looked rebellious and didn’t answer.
They reached the fifth landing, coming around a dark corner into the archway opening onto one of the stone-balustraded terraces.
Two people sat on a stone bench set in an arrangement of flower-filled urns surrounding a javancia tree, its thick branches offering protection from the ocean’s wind and the morning sun. One was obviously his uncle, and the other was…
She.
“Lord Aric, sire.” Kozlu bowed and backed out of his uncle’s presence, leaving him alone in the entranceway. For the barest moment, Aric was tempted to run after the old man, away from the unpleasantness awaiting him. Briefly, he regretted that third glass of brandy.
Buy Links:
Paperback from the publisher’s website: http://www.classactbooks.com/cat-romance/sinner-8712018-02-11-21-39-57-detail
eBook/Kindle from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sinner-Arcanian-Chronicles-Part-Book-ebook/dp/B07B614JNF/
Wishing you a happy weekend,
Toni