Quixotic Crossings Arrives!

FINALLY....drum roll, please...

Quixotic Crossings was released by Club Lighthouse Publishing today.

The novel is Book #2 in the Collective Obsessions Anthology, a unique eight-part series set in the combined genres of mystery, the paranormal, historical romance, and dotted with a touch of the macabre and hints of classic Gothicism.

In Quixotic Crossings, fate continues to entangle the Larkin and Sullivan families amidst madness, murder and obsessive love. Colm and Molly's grandson Jean-Claude Sullivan finds his life driven by greed and perversely tainted pleasures. Beloved family chef Claude Mondoux watches helplessly as Colm slowly loses his mind in ghostly visions of Molly, while Colleen Larkin seeks love in the arms of another man with deadly consequences...

Quixotic Crossings is currently on sale at the Club Lighthouse web site, at Amazon (Kindle) and Fictionwise (Nook).

While the four-month delay in the release of  Quixotic Crossings was a tad frustrating, I'm now tickled pink that the novel is out and about. It's unlike anything I've ever written before: not quite a typical romance, and not quite chock-full of gothic mystique.

I think it's safe to say Quixotic Crossings stands proudly and very well on it's own.

Characters in the Kitchen

I'm excited to announce that the Larkin Community Cookbook is now available in Kindle and Nook editions, and as a PDF (Adobe Acrobat) download.

The cookbook is a compilation of recipes mentioned or prepared by characters in the Collective Obsessions Anthology.

It begins with the first family chef Claude Mondoux (Passion Forsaken), and carries on with the ill-fated Nicholas Bertrand (Quixotic Crossings), the much-beloved Mae Jensen (The Twain Shall Meet), and the drunken Cora Ann Hogan (The Twilight).

Diabolical Amber Whale executive chef Jack Sansovino (Hearts Desires) is also a dab hand in the kitchen, where he brews more than just seafood specialties.

Various members of the Larkin family have culinary talent as well, including Shannon, Derek and Dana, who prepare mouth-watering dishes for family and friends. Derek (Hearts Desires) also becomes a professional chef and opens his own elegant restaurant in Larkin City, known as The Silver Tassel.

Before her grisly demise, Carly O'Reilly (Enthrallment and The Keeper's Journal) whips up delectable dishes for her highly successful Harbor View Catering Company, where she also sells homemade foodstuffs.

Click here for more information.

Watching Paint Peel

Waiting for the release of Quixotic Crossings is similar to watching paint peel, or waiting for the kettle to boil, and so on and so forth.

Or perhaps I should liken it to scratching nails across a blackboard?

It's difficult to sit still and be patient as the publication of another book looms, especially when the title is one of your own creation.

May the saints preserve me...

Gothic-Writing Points

My blog post from April 2nd (Gothic Musings) was about writing in gothic style and explaining different visual inspirations. Oddly enough, last week I stumbled on an article titled Elements of the Gothic Novel by Robert Harris. Since I consider the Collective Obsessions Anthology in the realm of gothic fiction, I was interested in the article's points.

According to Harris, gothic novel elements include:

Setting in a castle; an atmosphere of mystery and suspense; an ancient prophecy connected with the castle or its inhabitants; omens, portents, visions; supernatural or otherwise inexplicable events; high, even overwrought emotion; women in distress; women threatened by a powerful, impulsive, tyrannical male; the metonymy of gloom and horror; and the vocabulary of the gothic.

None of the eight books in the Collective Obsessions Anthology are set in a castle, but rather a large mansion by the sea. The atmosphere is most definitely mysterious and suspenseful at times. As for "ancient prophecy" being connected to the structure or it's inhabitants, there is an element of divine fate playing itself out through several generations totaling more than 140 years.

The other points are covered as well: All titles in the Collective Obsessions Anthology have omens with touches of the supernatural, along with emotional drama (mental illness, murder, suicide, obsession), and women in distress. While most females in the storyline come across as rather assertive, a few of them are indeed threatened by unbalanced males at one time or another.

The "gloom and horror" ambiance is present, although neither dominates any one book in the anthology.

Although I've only included terms that apply to my anthology, Harris defines "vocabulary of the gothic" as the following:

Mystery (diabolical, enchantment, ghost, haunted, omens, ominous, portent, secret, spectre, spirits); Fear, terror & sorrow (anguish, apprehensions, commiseration, concern, despair, dismay, dread, frantic, grief, hopeless, lamentable, melancholy, miserable, mournfully, panic, sadly, shrieks, sorrow, sympathy, tears, terror, unhappy, wretched); Surprise (alarm, amazement, astonished, shocking, staring, thunderstruck, wonder); Haste (anxious, frantic, impetuous, sudden); Anger (enraged, furious, incensed, provoked, raving, resentment, temper, wrath); and Largeness (enormous, massive, tremendous, vast).

In addition, elements of romance are considered part of the gothic genre. These are: powerful love, uncertainty of reciprocation, unreturned love, tension, lovers parted, illicit love and rival love. The point that doesn't apply to the anthology is "uncertainty of reciprocation."

Even the most obsessive character in the anthology (Mike Sullivan, who appears in The Twain Shall Meet) never has doubt that the object of his desire will return his affections. He is actually quite certain she will be his in the end, even when all odds are stacked against him (re: incarceration in a sanitarium).

Gothic tales and the writing thereof may not be to the taste of everyone, but the genre continues to fascinate me.

QC Cover Hint

I've received word that Quixotic Crossings will be released the last week of April, which I'm assuming comes around the 25th. The book is part two of the Collective Obsessions Anthology.

There are also some hints forthcoming about the book cover. A little bird told me it might depict a mansion in the fog, which thrills me to no end. I can't wait to see it!

I'm more excited about the release of Quixotic Crossings than I was by Passion Forsaken, probably because some of the characters in Quixotic Crossings are deeply disturbed, which most authors agree is much more fun to write about. The paranormal also comes into play in the second book, along with murder and other psychological mayhem.

This is the current short-blurb for Quixotic Crossings:

Fate continues to entangle the Larkin and Sullivan families amidst madness, murder and obsessive love. Colm and Molly's grandson Jean-Claude Sullivan finds his life driven by greed and perversely tainted pleasures. Beloved family chef Claude Mondoux watches helplessly as Colm slowly loses his mind in ghostly visions of Molly, while Colleen Larkin seeks love in the arms of another man with deadly consequences...

I've already prepared three excerpts from Quixotic Crossings, which will be made available online once the book is released.

Gothic Musings

Now that the Collective Obsessions Anthology  is complete, I've recently been pondering my next project.

Because I'm such a fan of "Gothic" novels from the 1970s, especially titles written by Dorothy Daniels, Marilyn Harris, Marilyn (aka Clarissa) Ross, and the Dark Shadows series of paperbacks, I know anything I do will likely be in the same realm.

It's more than fog-shrouded mansions, shrieks in the night and mysteriously beleaguered heroines. Elements of the unknown are important to the stories, granted, but plot and dialogue are my first priorities. Blending macabre ambience into storyline seems to follow in a natural order for me. However, I'm often inspired by Gothic visuals such as well-done portraits or certain morbid garb.

Inspiration is an individual phenomenon. We are all moved by different people, events and thoughts. I'm rarely motivated by people per say, but certain events, thoughts, dreams and visuals keep my writing juices flowing on a regular basis.

On that note, certain images often inspire an idea or remind me of a scene I've already written.

Although the following image is meant to portray the abuse of absinthe, when I first saw it I thought of Molly Larkin in Passion Forsaken as she languished in the attic at the family mansion with her bottle of laudanum:

The image below also reminds of Molly Larkin in Passion Forsaken, this time as she decides her fate near the end of the book:

And Molly again as she carries out her fate near the end of Passion Forsaken:

I do not claim ownership of the images referenced above. Lucky for me, Magickal Graphics has a bountiful supply of stunning pictures. I simply love browsing their various galleries for inspiration.

Please Note: The three referenced "Goth" images remain the sole copyright of the individual artists. If I knew their specific names, I'd credit and link to them without hesitation. I have absolutely no talent in that direction, so I truly admire their stunningly beautiful work.

As for new books to follow the Collective Obsessions Anthology, I do have a few story ideas brewing, which I've already started to put on paper.

And so the Gothic muse turns...

At Loose Ends

A few days ago I wrote the final page for Megan's Legacy, and shortly thereafter sent the manuscript to my publisher.

Sounds like a rather simple statement, doesn't it? However, completing Megan's Legacy also signals the end of the Collective Obsessions Anthology. Having been consumed by the storyline and it's characters for more than twenty years, it's a jolt to realize I no longer have to get up at the crack of dawn and work until midnight to make a dent in my planned visions for the books.

Just a year ago I thought I'd never see the light at the end of the tunnel, yet here I am. The rigid daily schedule I kept for so long is now history. I'm sure there will come a time when I'll impose the same schedule on myself for another project, but at the moment I'm a bit at loose ends.

One of my favorite regimens was to write longhand by night just so I could get away from the computer screen, and then type my notes by day. I'm not a natural typist, frankly, so writing longhand was enjoyable for me. I also had a few quirks that went along with the scribbles: round-stick grip black pens only, and countless pads of quadrille paper (five squares per inch on each side). I may have to start my next project sooner rather than later just to get back into my nightly swing.

I've been catching up on my mail (electronic and postal), playing with the "kids" (my beloved dog and cat), and updating my Twitter and Facebook pages. I'm also enjoying the Good Reads and Library Thing forums, along with paying attention to the news and watching favorite television programs. I feel like I've been away for months, finally returning home to take care of mundane but important business.

To know that all eight books in the Collective Obsessions Anthology will be released this year and next is keeping my head in the clouds. It's akin to a natural high, and I'm not sure I'm ready to come back down to earth yet.

But real life marches on...