Yaoi & MM Romance Novels
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Check out the paperbacks for the Parliament of Twilight books — Episode 1 & 2 are available as well as the special illustrated edition of Episode 1.
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I’m sure that you’ve caught on that I’m doing a new series of entries on our blog. Here’s a little background, just in case you haven’t.
We had a release party on Facebook for our newest book, The Parliament of Twilight Episode 2 and it was lots of fun! We didn’t have many attendees (only 10 brave souls, if I’m being honest) but that was probably because I up and decided on Saturday to host an event on Tuesday. I’d read a marketing article that said events were a great way to reach people with the new Facebook page algorithms making everything all wonky. So, I thought, why not give it a try?
Anyone who is interested can still go and answer the two poll questions that I’ve posted to gather a bit of info about what to do for the next one. Remember, Episode 3 will be here before we know it!
One of the things we did at the party was answer questions from readers. That was so much fun for me! I loved doing it when we did our blog tour back in 2013 (while we were still baby authors!) and it was just as awesome as I hoped talking to people and answering questions about our process and characters. I’ve decided that I will post the answers as a series of blog entries over the next week or two.
This one comes from my sister-in-law, Jamie-lyn. It’s one of those questions that you think authors get all the time, but I can’t remember ever having to answer it. (Note: once again, this answer is copied directly from Facebook.)
Another question! This one is a good one too.
How do you guys come up with the characters?
For me, at least, it isn’t really like I create any of the characters. It’s more like they just show up with all their shit and take it upon themselves to move in.
Generally, the inspiration for characters come from things we watch or read, but more often than not, the character is an amalgamation of several different inspirations before they ever show up in the stories. But once they have been written, they take on a life of their own, growing past the original idea to become entities in their own rights.
For example, it’s well known in our inner circle of friends that Jacob Kruez’s original inspiration came from Zak Baggins of Ghost Adventures. Nevi and I were watching the pilot episode one night and we started talking about how cool it would be to see a story about an exorcist was wasn’t all serious and stuffy. We wanted to have someone who, like Zak and his friends, was sort of a frat boy ghost hunter. That person became Jacob.
But we weren’t done there. We layered in more and more, drawing on so many things that we loved (like anime and reality TV) until we had a 40-ish addict with a serious attitude problem who hated that he was an exorcist and hated the people he worked for even more. Throw in a contrived, totally fake day job as a TV ghost hunter and now, we had Jacob Kruez. In the telling of his story of redemption and falling in love despite his heavily cynical attitude, he’s grown and is becoming something amazing that no longer looks anything like his original inspiration.
Wow, I can really go on! Hope that answered your question!
That’s one of my favorites from the party. I really enjoyed the feeling of being a “real author” answering “real author” questions! It was a surreal feeling of realizing for the first time that I’m all grown up and living the dream I thought was impossible when I was a kid. So very cool!
Did you have some questions that you never got answered? Don’t be shy! You can message me, Dani Hermit, through our Facebook page or via email at hermitstarbooks@outlook.com with the subject “The Questions that Matter submission” and I will post the answers in our blog!
You probably remember me mentioning this last time, but we had a release party on Facebook for our newest book, The Parliament of Twilight Episode 2 and it was lots of fun! We didn’t have many attendees (only 10 brave souls, if I’m being honest) but that was probably because I up and decided on Saturday to host an event on Tuesday. I’d read a marketing article that said events were a great way to reach people with the new Facebook page algorithms making everything all wonky. So, I thought, why not give it a try?
Anyone who is interested can still go and answer the two poll questions that I’ve posted to gather a bit of info about what to do for the next one. Remember, Episode 3 will be here before we know it!
One of the things we did at the party was answer questions from readers. That was so much fun for me! I loved doing it when we did our blog tour back in 2013 (while we were still baby authors!) and it was just as awesome as I hoped talking to people and answering questions about our process and characters. I’ve decided that I will post the answers as a series of blog entries over the next week or two.
So, here is a fun question that also came from Lee. It’s one of those things that I think everyone who read the original Tales from the Parliament books was wondering. (Note: again, this is copied directly from the Facebook Post)
One last question before we head off to celebrate day one of our new release!
This is another from Lee, and probably the most difficult to explain of all!
What is UP with the chupacabras? Or am I just going to have to wait and see? (Oh, come on, you knew I was gonna ask this one.)
The chupacabras. The fucking chupacabras….
The honest truth is that I have no idea what’s up with the chupacabras. We needed a monster that Siris was terrified of and after running through the old stand-bys — mummies, vampires, werewolves, zombies — we didn’t like any of them. But the day came when we had to write a scene about Siris being terrified by a creature and Nevi wrote “chupacabra”.
We both died laughing and since then it’s been a thing. To this day, I don’t think that either of us are completely sure where the hell she came up with that.
And that lead to an interesting interchange in the comments that now has me thinking that maybe we need a chupacabra to appear in one of the upcoming Episodes!
LEE: I was always wondering what the Hell was so bad about them. Nobody ever seems to like a run-in with one, Siris especially. I think some of the other characters have expressed a kind of disgust toward them. I was just wondering if yours had some kind of twist where they were especially unpleasant, considering your unique take on some other creatures.
ME: We haven’t run into one yet, but who knows? They might be hella hot, vaguely Mexican shifters. Or they might be nasty redneck skeezy shifters. Or they could just be scary and gross. We tend to tackle things like that as we come to them.
What do you think? Should we explore the chupacabra issue? Or do you have other issues you think we need to explore? Don’t be shy! You can message me, Dani Hermit, through our Facebook page or via email at hermitstarbooks@outlook.com with the subject “The Questions that Matter submission” and I will post the answers in our blog!
So, we had a release party on Facebook for our newest release, The Parliament of Twilight Episode 2 and it was lots of fun! We didn’t have many attendees (only 10 brave souls, if I’m being honest) but that was probably because I just decided on Saturday to host an event on Tuesday. I’d read a marketing article that said events were a great way to reach people with the new Facebook page algorithms making everything all wonky. So, I thought, why not give it a try?
Anyone who is interested can still go and answer the two poll questions that I’ve posted to gather a bit of info about what to do for the next one. Remember, Episode 3 will be here before we know it!
One of the things we did at the party was answer questions from readers. That was so much fun for me! I loved doing it when we did our blog tour back in 2013 (while we were still baby authors!) and it was just as awesome as I hoped talking to people and answering questions about our process and characters. I’ve decided that I will post the answers as a series of blog entries over the next week or two.
So, away we go with the first and probably the most revealing question. (note: this is copied verbatim from the Facebook page.)
We got a doozy of a question in from Lee this morning! This is going to take a while to answer, so I hope everyone hangs around for the whole thing!
Here’s her question:
I’ve read your first three books, and was wondering, when did you realize you wanted to write something more episodic? Also, how do you keep your narrative smoothed out so that the story doesn’t just seem like a series of events, but something more cohesive?WOW. Okay, let’s start with the easy part! Keeping the narrative cohesive. NOTES, lots and lots of notes. We make outlines of the original stories and then we make outlines of the pieces that should have been in between the scenes in those stories. Then we plot out how much we want to include in an Episode. Then we double check that plot. And once the draft is done, we triple check to make sure that we’re still following the timeline.
But as to when and how we realized we needed to change the format of the books? That was something we had to realize over time. The three Tales from the Parliament books were originally written as the first books of their own series. They are set in the same world, but focused primarily on three couples and were in different points of time. We had Ghost House happening first with Jacob & Brodie. Monster next with Julian and Siris and Inertia starting up third with Skye & RT.
What started to happen, because all three stories were part of the same world, was that some of the minor characters began to move between the different stories. And then there were connections between the main characters (Skye is technically the villain at the start of Monster and one of the heroes of Inertia!) It was all getting way too hard to keep the timelines of these secondary characters intact (especially ones like Richard who are alive and well in one and not doing so great in another or the Wolf twins who appeared in Inertia after the planned events of Ghost House 2 & 3 without a proper explanation of what happened to them.)
This was making us completely crazy, but we were writing M/M erotic romances, so we had to put up with it and keep the stories focused on the main couples, right?
But in the process of releasing the second books of Ghost House and Monster, we had a major breakdown/breakthrough with the writing. There was a massive spoiler for Ghost House in the Monster story line. I mean HUGE. Which in the course of the time line, the characters in Monster would know this thing but the readers would be spoiled for a major plot point of Ghost House. What were we going to do?
Well, first we cried. A lot. And swore a bit. Threw things. Then we got our shit together and brainstormed for hours.
What we finally admitted was that we weren’t happy writing in the romance genre. There were too many rules and guidelines (most unwritten, to be honest, but people expect certain things when you call your book a romance of any variety.) We were in love with too many of our characters and wanted to tell all of their stories. And, most important of all, the dark, horrific, amazing world we were building had its own story that loomed over that of the characters. The only way to do justice to the story living inside of us was to change what we were doing.
The final decision was that we would “rebrand” from Wandering Stars Press to Hermit & Star Books, take down the second books, and start from the logical beginning of the Parliament of Twilight story. It’s honestly the best choice that I’ve ever made in regards to my writing. I’m having so much fun telling the pieces that I thought would be forgotten or ignored. I’m enjoying exploring pieces of our world that were going to be left in darkness. And I’m loving being able to let all the characters have a place in the spotlight.
So, yeah. That was quite a question to answer! But there it is. Do you have questions for the authors as well? You can message me, Dani Hermit, through our Facebook page or via email at hermitstarbooks@outlook.com with the subject “The Questions that Matter submission” and I will post the answers to our blog!
Hello! Just wanted to drop a quick reminder that Parliament of Twilight Episode 2 is coming out this Tuesday! We’re having a little celebration on Facebook to commemorate the occasion. Why not join us? And don’t forget to get in your pre-orders for Episode 2 (or pick up a copy of Episode 1 if you haven’t already!)
Very excited to have woken up this morning to find that we have our very first Amazon review on the Parliament of Twilight: Episode 1! And it’s a great one! I couldn’t have made up a better one myself.
On that note, I feel like I have a few random opinions and things to drop here for you.
Firstly, I love reviews. And I dread them. I think that’s true of all authors. You never know if the person who wrote it is your next biggest fan or was completely offended by how you portrayed your alternate steampunk history version of a cyborg Genghis Khan. In that moment before we open our eyes and read it, the mind of an author has already crafted about half a dozen different versions of what the review is going to say.
We brilliantly extol our favorite moments or characters. We dissect every weakness, real or imagined, in our narrative. We fear that the reader couldn’t stand our not-quite-redeemed bad boy. We hope that they also fell in love with our slightly damaged romantic interest. We pray they laughed at our jokes and we just know that they didn’t get any of them.
But once that initial rush of emotions passes, we open our eyes and read the review.
In this case, it was a glowing commentary on the first book of our series. In the past it has been a scathing dressing down. Both kinds of reviews affect me as a writer and as a person. Like all other people who put my work out there, I don’t particularly like negative reviews.
But I still appreciate that someone took the time to write something about my work. I learn from every negative review. Whether the lesson is that there’s no way I can please everyone. Or that the warning label marking our books as erotic horror needs to be more prominent. Or that the way we portray Jacob Kruez (the aforementioned not-yet-redeemed bad boy) is so spot on that we’ve utterly offended someone.
The glowing reviews, on the other hand, reaffirm that I don’t totally suck at this writer thing. They help me move forward with the next book. (Did I mention that we’re doing first edits Episode 3 right now? Only a few weeks until we’re shipping it off to the editor’s desk.) They let me know that what I want to communicate with my stories is getting across. And, let’s be honest, they just feel good when I stroke my ego with them.
But no matter what the content of the review, I think that its important for them to be left. Doubly so if the author is either published through a smaller press or self-published (as we are). Do it if a work entertained you, made you cry, made you think, or offended the very core of your ideas about a steampunk cyborg Genghis Khan. If that book gave you a reaction of any sort, taking a few moments to rate and review on Amazon, Goodreads, or just talking about it on your social media outlet of choice will help the author.
Every little bit builds us up. Every mention online gives us the chance to reach more readers and tell our stories to even just one more person. And I don’t know about other people who are publishing, but that’s really the point for me. To tell my stories to whoever will listen.
Thanks for listening to me ramble. If you’re interested in our books, check out the shopping page for links.
Just wanted to let our loyal readers know that there is a super awesome sale going on today on ARe. They have hundreds of titles on sale for what works out to being 50% off (after the rebate they’re offering). This includes all of our published titles and the pre-order for the Parliament of Twilight: Episode 2, live on their site as of this morning.
And if you just can’t wait for the eBook release on May 5th, we do have the print version of both Episode 1 & 2 available right now on Lulu.com with a sweet little 10% discount that isn’t available on any other website.
And for those of you who are into the illustrated editions, Episode 1 is available in print and eBook everywhere. No official release date for Episode 2’s illustrated edition, but Nevi only has a few more pages to finish up. We’re hoping to have more news on that in a few weeks.
Not a fan of ARe? No problem! The eBook is on pre-order on these sites as well: Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble.
I’m very excited to announce that that pre-order for the eBook of Parliament of Twilight: Episode 2 is available on Smashwords! There is still some processing to be done, but it will be available on Amazon for pre-order as well in the next day or so. Still need your copy of Episode 1? Check out our links here for your favorite supplier of either eBook or Print editions.
Parliament of Twilight: Episode 2
Release Date: May 5th, 2015
Available on Smashwords, Amazon (link now live!)
Summary:
When faced with terror and assassination attempts, the men of the Parliament of Twilight must show what they are made of.
Will Brodie be able to save himself from the very real horrors of a haunted house on the fake ghost hunting show? What about the wheelchair bound assassin known as Night Owl? What is he going to do with this new partner and a mission that could prove to be impossible? Can Julian find a way to feed his demanding nature that doesn’t involve Marius smuggling prostitutes into the hospital?
And what about RT’s new romance with the much younger Kayden Miles? Will Kayden’s father prove to be their undoing or the least of their worries?
The next installment of the Parliament of Twilight series delivers mortal peril, real demons, internet porn, and the beginnings of young love. More questions are asked than answered, but these boys are just getting warmed up!
EDITED to add Amazon pre-order link.
It’s finally here! The cover for the Parliament of Twilight: Episode 2! But first, have you picked up your copy of Episode 1? No? Well stop reading right now and head over to our shopping page to get your copy from your favorite online dealer.
Got it? Good. Now, on to Episode 2!
Summary:
When faced with terror and assassination attempts, the men of the Parliament of Twilight must show what they are made of.
Will Brodie be able to save himself from the very real horrors of a haunted house on the fake ghost hunting show? What about the wheelchair bound assassin known as Night Owl? What is he going to do with this new partner and a mission that could prove to be impossible? Can Julian find a way to feed his demanding nature that doesn’t involve Marius smuggling prostitutes into the hospital?
And what about RT’s new romance with the much younger Kayden Miles? Will Kayden’s father prove to be their undoing or the least of their worries?
The next installment of the Parliament of Twilight series delivers mortal peril, real demons, internet porn, and the beginnings of young love. More questions are asked than answered, but these boys are just getting warmed up!
Do you like the sound of that? I hope so, because that’s just the tip of the iceberg. These boys really know how to get themselves into trouble. There are plans for at least 9 episodes in the series and we are 100% certain that they won’t be done even then!
But, you’re not here to listen to to go on and on about the far flung future of the Parliament of Twilight. You want this sexy cover with pivotal character RT Wilmont, don’t you? Well, here it is! Enjoy!
And the full wrap version as well….
Pre-order links to come very, very soon! Official release date TBA.
Wow, has it really been nearly three months since my last post? HOW did that happen? We’ve been neck deep in personal drama, writer angst, and WORK WORK WORK! There are a few things that we need to update everyone on.
First, Dani Hermit is taking over the main cover design duties. For personal reasons, Nevi Star is taking an extended sabbatical from doing professional art. So, after much discussion we have decided that she can work on the art for the Parliament of Twilight at the pace that suits her. We will be releasing 2 versions of the books. The first will be the “regular” editions and they will come out much faster. Dani will be doing the covers using her mad photoshop & digital art skills. When Nevi’s art is completed and formatted, the “special edition” with illustrations and hand drawn covers will be released.
Both versions will be available in eBook and paperback, though we are still discussing only having the illustrated versions done in paperback since they don’t look as nice in eBook version. Haven’t made any choices on that front yet, but we will keep you updated.
What that means for you, the fans, is that the Episodes will be able to be released a little bit faster and a little bit cheaper! Episode one is available right now on Lulu.com in paperback! The eBook is taking a little longer to get formatted but I will post the links the moment that they are live and working.
In personal news, we lost our baby kitty Owen just before Christmas. We are still broken hearted over this loss and were depressed for quite a while. But fate brought two new kitties who needed a loving home across our path a few weeks ago. Khoshekh and Erika are adapting quite nicely to being pampered princesses and we are adapting to being a two cat household. It’s still surprising for me to leave one room where I was petting a kitty to find another cat waiting for love and attention!
Nevi and I are working on finishing up the final scenes for Episode 3. We’re already excited to begin the plotting for Ep 4! The editing and formatting on Episode 2 are only a couple weeks from being done. Less if they aren’t as demanding as the ones for Ep 1 were.
We are working (very casually) on a couple side projects that we are hoping will see the light of day later this year, but for the most part we are focusing on writing and publishing the Parliament of Twilight books.
That about covers it. Sorry for the rambling! And thank you to everyone who has been supporting us through this confusing, heart-breaking, insane, amazing journey!
Hermit & Star