A warm welcome to author Eden Darry joining us today to celebrate her new release “Bitten”.

Welcome Eden 🙂

Hello and welcome. Thank you for reading my very first blog post. When NineStar Press told me I was doing one for Love Bytes, the initial excitement gave way to nervousness. Fortunately, I was watching The Secret Life of Kittens when the email came through and the programme was about to do a revisit with Peanut, the runt of the litter, which took my mind off writing a blog post for about an hour.

Once the programme finished, I started wondering what to write about. What would interest people? I’ve had lots of practice with writing stories, but this blogging business is new and different and I’m not good with change. I’m also a procrastinator. A champion procrastinator in fact, and I can find a hundred and one alternative tasks to complete instead of the one I’m meant to.

It doesn’t help that I’ve read lots blogs written by other people and they’re very, very good. I toyed with a few different ideas for topics but couldn’t fix on one. After a while, I decided I needed a cup of tea so the thinking needed to stop for a bit.

Then it came to me; how could I write a blog post when I’d never written a blog post before? Research was the key here. Hours and hours of research. I sat back down and Googled ‘things to write about in a blog post’ and all it came up with was stuff about link backs, calls to action and optimizing my SEOs… I was confused. This was not what I expected. I made another cup of tea. I baked a cake. I washed the car.

Halfway through an article about inbound leads I was interrupted by our neighbours, the magpies. It sounded like the local cats were after their baby again because they were making a terrible racket. They live on a balcony one floor up and to the right of us and they’ve been there for a couple of years now.

Generally, they’re good neighbours; I mean, they aren’t going to take in a parcel for you, but they keep the nest tidy and are very polite. When cats aren’t trying to kill their babies, they’re quiet too.

This actually reminds me of something which happened last year. At about twelve one night (I think it was a Tuesday) my girlfriend and I were woken up by screeching. At first I thought it was the foxes but that’s a whole different blog post.

We looked out the bedroom window and over by the dimly lit covered parking area, we saw about three cats circling a small lump I assumed to be a fledgling magpie. Fun fact; fledgling magpies are still taken care of by their parents for about a month after they leave the nest. They usually hang about in the bushes.

Anyway, the fledgling magpie looked like it was about to get killed by the cats despite its parents’ valiant efforts to scare them off. My girlfriend, being an animal lover, ordered me to go downstairs and save it. At midnight. In my pyjamas. In the dark.

Now, I like horror novels. I like horror films too. My latest story is a horror, so you get the picture. The thing is, I also have an overactive imagination. As I was making my way downstairs all these scenarios were going through my head. The best one, was that it wasn’t a fledgling magpie over by the dimly lit covered car park at all. No, it was a crafty serial killer’s clever ruse.

The scenario went like this; I would get downstairs and discover the baby magpie was a realistic looking stuffed toy put there by the murderer to entice an animal lover such as myself.

In Silence of the Lambs style, he’d have a nondescript black van waiting with the engine running and I’d be bundled inside, never to be seen again. Clearly there’s plot holes a mile wide with this scenario, but it was the first draft and I was in my pyjamas.

Obviously none of this happened. I was fine (though I’m keeping the idea on the back burner). It really was a fledgling magpie. A very nice lady who was hanging out her window smoking a cigarette, threw me a tea towel so I could pick it up (I’d read somewhere about baby birds getting rejected if you touch them because their parents can smell you. Could be nonsense, but I didn’t want to take the chance after all the effort I’d just gone to.)

Long story short, the fledgling magpie was saved and the parents were very grateful. I like to think we’ve had a bond ever since. (I’ve got no reason to believe we actually have.)

I just realised I’ve gone off on a tangent with that story, so let’s get back to my blog dilemma and issues with procrastination. Right, so I’d baked a cake, washed the car and I didn’t think I could manage another cup of tea. I sat down to read an article about blogging, then the magpies started up with their screeching and interrupted me.

I looked out the window, and sure enough another fledgling magpie was being set upon by cats. The parents had obviously been taking arse kicking classes since last year because they were swooping down like majestic eagles and knocking over cats as if they were skittles. (No cats were hurt, I promise.)

I did go downstairs again, because after everything we’d been through together I’m very invested in the magpies’ survival. They’re excellent procrastination material.

Unfortunately, it meant I couldn’t continue with my research that night and I would need to carefully consider my blog topic at a later date.

I’m also going to have to go now because the kettle is boiled and the windows look like they need cleaning.

P.S in case you were worried, Peanut is alive and kicking (phew)

Author: Eden Darry

Title: Bitten

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: July 10, 2016

Category: Romance Genre: Horror

Pairing: FF Identity: Cisgender

Length: Pages: 59

Cover Artist: Natasha Snow

Book Blurb

Dr Gray Davis is looking for a peaceful, sun-filled holiday on a remote island, but then she meets Beau Pickford. The attraction is immediate.

Unfortunately for them, Brody Douglas is also on holiday, and a stone carving he found by the river makes him sick—sick enough to kill him. But when he awakens, he’s not what he was before, and Gray and Beau find they have to fight for their lives and a way off the island.

Purchase Links:

NineStar Press

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

All Romance Ebooks

 

Eden lives in London with her partner and their small, earless rescue cat. She runs her own business, and when she’s not working or writing, can usually be found rowing up and down the Thames.

Twitter: @EdenDarry

Gray Davis settled back into her seat and sighed. She closed her eyes, shutting out the low, excited hum of the passengers around her. She had been waiting for this holiday for months. Last year, she finally qualified as a GP and taken up a position in a busy surgery in West London. Gray loved her job, but lately it seemed like she hadn’t done anything except work. When the weekends came, she was too exhausted to go out with her friends. As a result, her love life was pretty barren as well. Gray’s best friend, Julia, finally staged an intervention. One Sunday morning, she had forced her way into Gray’s flat with an armload of travel brochures.

“Gray, I’m not leaving until you book one of these.”

Gray picked up the first one on the stack. “Sapphic Cruises? No chance.”

Julia simply sat down on Gray’s sofa, smiled sweetly, and leaned back with her hands behind her head. “Pick something, or I will beat you to death with the entire stack. I got on the tube with those. They’re bloody heavy.”

“I don’t need a holiday. I’m fine.” Gray plonked down on the sofa opposite Julia. She knew she was acting like a moody teenager.

“Gray, nobody has seen you in months. You haven’t had a girlfriend in what, three years? You’ve probably closed up down there.”

Gray laughed at the serious look on her friend’s face. “That’s not possible. Besides, I don’t want a girlfriend. I don’t even have time for a goldfish.”

“That’s what I’m saying!” Julia leaned forward and clasped her friend’s hands gently. “I know your career is important to you, but you have to slow down, Gray. Take some time to come out with us once in a while. And,” she gestured at the brochures, “book a fucking holiday.”

Defeated, Gray sat back and perused the glossy covers, shuffling them like a deck of large cards. She was exhausted. She’d been working non-stop for months at the new practice, hoping that by putting in the hours, it wouldn’t be too long before she was made a partner.

She’d been working towards this for such a long time. Being a partner would mean sharing in the surgery’s profits, as well as the added responsibility of hiring and managing staff. Not to mention the even longer hours. Maybe she did need a trip.

Gray stopped when one brochure caught her eye. On the front, a group of smiling women were holding hands as a blazing sun set behind them over a sparkling clear sea. She sensed Julia looking expectantly at her. “Why are they all LGBT travel brochures?”

“I told you. You need a break, and you need to give your vagina a spring cleaning. Two birds, one stone.”

Gray snorted with laughter and opened it.

So, here she was, on a plane, waiting for it to take her off to an island in the Caribbean. She glanced at the two empty seats next to her and then up the aisle where a couple more people made their way down, she wondered if she might get lucky enough to have all three seats to herself. Grinning, she closed her eyes and leaned back again.

Gray willed her mind to shut down and relax, even though it kept returning to work. Julia was right, she did need a holiday. The practice manager wasn’t thrilled at the idea of her taking time off. When Gray told her, she pursed her lips as if she were sucking a lemon and said, “You’ve only been here five minutes, and you want time off already?”

Gray tried not to let her thoughts run away with her. She was good at inventing disaster scenarios. Her biggest fear since booking was when she came back and they told her they’d picked another doctor for the partner position. It was unlikely, and if it did happen, there were plenty of other places she could work—even go in as a partner without the probationary period this surgery required. Even so, it didn’t stop her worrying. She liked it there, and it had a good reputation.

She wished she hadn’t let Julia badger her into it if she was going to spend the whole two weeks stressing about her job.

Gray must have drifted off, because she woke suddenly as someone huffed down into the seat beside her. She felt a strong leg press against hers and a sharp elbow in her side.

“Oh shit, sorry.”

Gray opened her eyes and sat up, annoyed. Typical that she would be sat next to the person who thought they deserved more space than everyone else. “Can’t you be a bit more careful? You’re right over on my side.”

“Sorry, sorry. These seats are so small. Once we take off, I’ll move into the aisle seat, I promise.”

Gray turned to look at the woman next to her, about to ask that she at least move her leg, when she stopped, unable to speak. Oh my God, she’s gorgeous. The woman was tall and muscular. Her thick brown hair was cut short and framed a face with cheekbones most models would die for. Her full mouth widened into a cocky grin that said stare away, I’m used to it.

It was the grin that helped Gray find her voice. Out of all the seats on the plane, she was the one stuck next to the lesbian Lothario. Refusing to give her the satisfaction, Gray flicked her eyes over the handsome woman dismissively. “Thank you.” Turning away, she felt the woman put a gentle hand on her arm. It tingled in the place where they touched. Gray smelled something citrusy and fresh as she leaned close.

“I’m Beau Pickford, by the way. What’s your name?”

She thought about making up a name for the hell of it. Beau Pickford was still pressed against her, and it was annoying. Although, in all fairness, the seats were small. “Gray Davis.”

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